The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-20 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The following circular has been addressed to
general and other officers commanding abroad, by
the Under-Secretary of State for War:—

" War-office, Jan. 19.
Sir,—The committee upon whose report the new Royal
warrant for the commissariat was founded, having recom-
mended the prospective abolition of the grade of commis-
sariat clerk, but that in respect to the existing established
clerks no new commissions in the commissariat be granted
until such of them as are found duly qualified and fit for
promotion are provided for ; but the committee would ob-
serve that the improved position and increased responsibility
consequent upon the adoption of these recommendations,
appear to call for additional care in making appointments to
the commissioned ranks of the commissariat,' I am directed
by Secretary Major-General Peel to request that, with a
view to carrying into effect the recommendation of the com-
mittee in respect to the established commissariat clerks
serving under your orders, you will convene a board, over
which you will be good enough to preside, to consist of the
commanding Royal Engineer, the senior commissariat
officer, and another officer selected by yourself as most suit-
able from his educational acquirements, or otherwise, be-
fore which board all the clerks in question should be ordered
to appear on the same day, and who,, after having been sub-
jected to a viva twee examination on professional subjects,
should, under the rules prescribed in the accompanying
directions from the civil service commissioners, prepare
written answers to the questions in the accompanying
papers.

.
" The senior commissariat officer and the commissariat
officer under whose immediate orders the clerk under exami-
nation may have been serving, should then be requested to
state their opinions as to his character and qualifications,
and at the close of the proceeding the report of the Board
in each case, with their observations upon it, should be put
under a sealed envelope and addressed to the Civil Service
Commissioners, but with a covering letter to this depart-
ment.

"As many of the clerks have been several years in the
public service, and may not have been prepared for the
present ordeal, it will be at your discretion, either before or
after examination, to intimate to each clerk that the present
test of his fitness to hold a commission from the Crown is
in accordance with the conditions of his probationary
appointment, and the only difference from former practice
is in the mode of applying it. lf, therefore, his examina-
tion be deemed unsatisfactory by the authorities at home,
he will have no further claim upon the public beyond a
passage to England (unless he prefers to remain in the
colony), and such gratuity as may be awarded him.
"If, however, he should fall short of the requirement of
a commission, but should in the opinion of the head of his
department have acquired such experience in office duties,
and have executed them with such diligence as to render
his assistance in an office desirable, you will be so good as
to inquire and report whether, under such circumstances,
he would be willing to accept an assistant-clerkship under
the 71st and 72d clauses of the commissariat regulations,
at his present pay, and a fair equivalent for his allowances.
" The examination will, of course, take place at head-
quarters, and the Secretary of State relies upon you for the
careful carrying out of these instructions, it being of the
greatest importance, under the improved organisation of the
Commissariat, that every precaution should be taken to
prevent the permanent ranks of the department being
encumbered with inefficient officers. —I have, &c.,

" li. liiwns."
Yesterday morning corporal punishment was
inflicted on a private belonging to the depot of the
53d Regiment, at Chatham, named Peter Burns,
who had been tried before a district court-martial a
few days previously, on a charge of striking a non-
commissioned officer, who was in the execution of

his duty. For this crime the prisoner was sen-
tenced to receive 50 lashes, and afterwards to
undergo a term of 56 days' imprisonment. After
the punishment, the prisoner was conveyed to the
garrison hospital, where he will remain until he is
able to undergo the remaining portion of his sen-
tence in Fort Clarence military prison, Rochester.
The prisoner has been a great number of years in
the regiment, in which he served a considerable
period in India, until invalided home, having been
wounded in the right hand at Lucknow.

The following additional vessels have been char-
tered by the Hon. Council of India for the convey-
ance of reinforcements to India—viz., the Janet
Mitchell, 1,000 tons, for Madras ; the Victor Em-
manuel, 1,200 tons, for Calcutta; the Eliza Mary,
639 tons, for Calcutta ; and the Alliance, 599 tons,
for Bombay.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and Pills.—
Diphtheria—Sore Throat.—The public believe this to be a
new disease, and medical men are frightening every one by
publishing letters in the leading papers recommending cer-
tain means of prevention and cure, to be followed under the
personal direction of the writer. Diphtheria is not a new
complaint; it is typhoid fever, with ulcerated throat, an
accidental complication, which has been for years most
successfully treated by Holloway's febrifuge remedies,
which allay the fever, reduce local inflammation, and cure
the worst cases of diphtheria with certainty and rapidity.
The prophylactic virtues of Holloway's remedies stand un-
r:valled ; they purify the blood and expel the virus, thus
removing the susceptibility to diphtherite, or any other
febrile or ulcerative disorder.