The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-11 00:00:00

and the inner line wanders rather irregularly about

half-way between.. Ca Vecchia is particularly inte-
resting, because it is the newest specimen of Austrian
fort building, and indicates the result of their expe-
rience. In the first place, then, it is entirely built
of earth, the men living in bomb-proof sheds, so to
speak, covered with earth, and forming by their roofs
a wide ramp behind the parapet. By this means the
defenders are always close to their work, and never
under fire except when at their places on the walls.
In the next place, the thickness of the parapet is 24
feet, which is considered necessary to resist even the
comparatively small rifled guns likely to be brought
against it. Thirdly, between every two guns when
in a position at all exposed is a traverse, 24 feetlong
and 12 feet thick, made of large gabions of 7 feet
high and 4 feet in diameter, the interstices between
each gabion being packed with fascines, the top
being also of fascines, and then two or three feet of
earth. But the circulation of men through
.the
works must not be interrupted, so passages are
made just under the shelter of the parapet and
running all round the fort. The roofs of these holes

through the traverses are bomb proof, and afford
the men a shelter under which they can seek safety
if the enemy's shot and shell are coming too thickly.
Out of this passage, and at right angles to it, there
leads from each traverse into the parapet a small
chamber where ammunition is kept in small
quantities at a time for immediate use. The road
into the fort from behind dives under ground
through a passage of wooden beams supporting the
earth at the sides and on the top, galleries on each
side lead up into the interior of the work, but the
main passage is continued to the main ditch in front.
Covered caponnieres flank the ditches, being placed
at three of the angles. The gorge is closed by a
parapet also of earth, and two small bastions pro-
ject in rear of each end of the fort, armed with three
field guns each. The whole was two months in pre-
paration, and cost about £lOO,OOO. • It is constructed
for 35 guns. Numerous earthworks have been built
this year between the old works, besides three new

forts, and the sum mentioned above as the cost of
one of the latter may give an approxithate idea as
to the expense which the retention of Venetia has
been to Austria.

Verona is, however, indifferently armed. The
guns are few compared with the extent to be de-
fended, and of small calibre, those rifled being sel-
dom heavier than so-called 12-pounders.

The sympathy of Austrian officers Tor English,
ideas was very.strongly illustrated this evening. An
engineer; speaking of visiting England, said that
one of his greatest wishes is to hear Charles Dickens
read his own •works. He added,."'. Pickwick' is my
constant companion, and I read its thrcingh at least
once a year." There is a mine of wisdom and true
liberality, combined with faithfulness, in the Aus-
trian army that is little understood in England, and
which only needs working by a master hand to bring
forth some very precious metal.
Of the immense preparations• for provisioning
Verona I will speak in another letter.

September 6.
The more a fortress extends its 'defensive works

the greater becomes the garrison necessary to occupy
them, and as men cannot live upon earth nor Vero-
nese marble every fort that is built involves, not
only the cost of its erection, but a permanent in-
crease in the stores of ammunition and provisions
for the soldiers, and in these respects Verona has
been well prepared for a siege. The great cost of
ammunition for heavy guns and the difficulty of
its transport may possibly have something to do
with the low calibre of the guns at present mounted
on the works. Venice can be more easily sup-
plied since there is communication between it and
Vienna by railway and sea, but the only route
open to Verona since the early part of July
has been over the Brenner pass, where the toilsome
ascent must be made by horsed carriages, and trans-
port must have been rather scarce, for the north
army was partly delayed in its early movements by
want of a sufficient train. But the fortress has no"
reason to complain of being insufficiently provisioned.
Some thousands of tons of cheese have lately been
sold there to the public ; many herds of cattle browse
in the grassy ditches surrounding the works; while
theatres, old convents, and other available places
have been taken up to hold the corn and oats in-
tended to provision the garrison for six mouths, and
the army of operation for two, as well as I could
ascertain.

In spite of her deficiency in funds, Austria ma-
nages these matters in a truly imperial style, and the
provision stores and bakeries, which I visited yes-
terday, are well worth attention, though they arc
not quite finished, and have not yet disburdened the

impromptu granaries of their unaccustomed stores.
Near the Porta Vescovo certain buildings have
been erected by the military engineers, showing,
like all Austrian military edifices, considerable archi-
tectural grandeur, and containing huge receptacles
for grain, together with all the' arrangements neces-
sary for supplying fresh bread daily for 40,000 men.
The system is a patent of a Belgian, Devaux by
name, and is most complete. Time and space pre-
vent me from detailing the whole apparatus, but I
will endeavour to explain the most interesting part
of it.

Every one knows how difficult it is to preserve
grain for a long period from damp, worms, rats, and
other "small deer," and a system that will effect
this is worth much expense when this is compared
with the value of the lives that depend on a due
supply of wholesome food. The reservoirs intended
to contain the corn are 130 in number, each of them
being 42 feet (Austrian) in height and 7 feet square,
made of iron plate pierced with small holes all
over its surface. A hollow cylinder of the same
metal, also pierced with holes, runs up the centre
of each reservoir, and communicates at the bottom
with a tube, through which a blast of air can be
driven by a fan when required. I was informed that
each reservoir will contain 1,000 measures of 451 b.
When a new supply of grain is to be brought in it is
run into the establishment in railway trucks, and the
sacks are emptied into square receptacles consisting
of large iron boxes let into the ground, and from this
time forth the food is touched by no hand of man till"
it is taken hot out of the oven in the form of the ex-
cellent bread supplied to the soldier. To carry the
corn to the top of the reservoirs an endless leather
band covered on its exterior surface with a number
ofseall buckets is employed. The apparltus on this
principle most familiar to the general reader is pro-
bably the machine used to clear the channel of a
river from mud. As the hand revolves by the ac-
tion of a steam engine, each bucket scrapes up its
share of grain and conveys it to the top of the
house, dropping it into long iron troughs, which
pass over the tops of all the reservoirs.
In each trough works an Archimedian screw,
which passes on the corn without ceasing to its
furthest end, or drops it into any selected reservoir
trbyoutgl. There is
openinghel.
When
of,a small door in the bottom of the
of course, a door above each re-
servoirone is filled its door is shut and the

next opened, and so on. If the wheat or oats are dry
and clean when put in, the natural circulation of air
through the centre shaft and the holes in the exte-
rior of the iron reservoir cases is sufficient to preserve
it for some time ; but if more drying is needed, or
if it be required to guard against worms, &c., the
top of the centre tube is closed and air blown into

ei t from
f exit underneath.except through
ughit'hhee
n um draughterouhs ass
small
n Ito
oml
ees nis
s
butthusstula:loluagvhibthraetcioonrnas, andto rneontdeo
driven
createsrender
onlythe
drieslife iet
f,
any worms that may be in it such a burden to them,
that they cannot enjoy domestic ease nor brint,, up
their young, but are driven, Tantalus like, to de-
spair in the midst of plenty.
But even this is not considered sufficient. The
great weight in each reservoir might cake some of '
the corn at the bottom, and in any case a little cir-
culation is good for it, so shutters are provided at
the bottom of the reservoirs near the ground to let
out the corn when necessary. Spouts under the
shutters convey the grain into troughs with Archi-
median screws, and these lead it, tumbling over and
over, to the endless band and buckets which raise it
again to the top, where it goes through the usual
routine, having been well mixed on its way. Then
there arc steam mills for grinding, steam apparatus
for mixing the .dough, and small carriages to run
the bread into the ovens, of which there are twelve.
,Eit attendant the completion of the whole establish-

ment, the sacks are stored partly in large granaries
on the premises and 33 other depots of various kinds
in the town of Verona. From the quantity that I
have seen I should say that the attempt to starve
out the garrison of Verona would be a very hope-
leSs enterprise. And this reminds me that the Gari-
baldians were lately hard pushed for subsistence, the
Italian commissariat department being evidently not
yet in a satisfactory state. As soon as the armistice
was established I am informed that they constantly
asked food from General Kuhn, and received it too;
for though he had a regular system of rewards for
his own soldiers, to be given to those who should go
in groups of two or three by night to harass the
Garibaldians, and keep them ever in a state of wake-
fulness and irritation, he was very ready to relieve
them when they were no longer foes. General
Kuhn speaks with gratitude of the way in which
Garibaldi treated his prisoners, while those taken by
the regular Italian army were by no means so for-
tunate. The Garibaldians are -spoken of as being
very insubordinate and ill-disciplined, and Garibaldi.
himself ,is said to be reconciled to the disbandment
of the Volunteers. They would be very difficult to
bre* into a steady military life. Garibaldi himself
is at Brescia, and said to be slowly improving, but
he suffers from the wound received at Aspromonte,
though the new one is quite healed. The Sole
reports that the old General has given the sword
that he wore in Sicily to Colonel Chambers, and
grieves that " this monument of valour of which
the Italians would be over proud has passed into the
hands of strangers." _ _

MILAN, Sept. 7.
The good intentions of the Emperor of the
French in demanding a plebiscite of the Venetians
are not accepted as theyare said to have been meant.
People say that the reorganisation of the province
is thereby delayed and the King placed in a false
position. It is a dangerous experiment, and may pos-
sibly lead to some disagreeable scenes. The Aus-
trians will have to display much good temper while
the inhabitants of Venice itself are being polled, and
it will always leave an opening to say that the pro-
vince was under the influence of the Royal army,
which occupies it at present. The Minister of War
and the Commander-in-Chief are taking measures
to break up the army in view of the cholera, which
has broken out at Alto Friuli. The official Gazette
of Florence announces that four army corps will be
quartered along the line Piacenza-Ancona. The
other corps will enter into more commodious quar-
ters in Venetia. There have been cases among the
soldiers at Palma and other places, so the authorities
are taking strong measures against it. Should this
scourge reach Ancona it is likely to make fearful
havoc there, for the town is ill drained, and evil
smells salute the nose from heaps of old rubbish
lying clos3 to some of the most frequented streets
near the harbour.

On arrival here last night I was supplied with files
of the Times, and it is most satisfactory to see that
the Chlum difficulty has been cleared up by your
Special Austrian and Military Prussian Correspon-
dents. The query "What's in a name?" has received
a very sufficient answer on this occasion. Lipa lay
at the foot of the hill where Benedek and his Staff
remained during most of the day ; Chlum was be-
hind, and a little to the right. The capture of the
former would have been of little comparative im-
portance ; the latter was the key to their position.
Mr. Layard, M.P., left Milan for Venice this
morning.

MISCELLANEOUS AMERICAN NEWS.

-_O-

Up to the end of July our importations of foreign
wheat this year have been 45 per cent. in excess of
those up to the same date last year, but only 10 per
cent. beyond those of 1864. The chief arrivals
were during the earlier months, and those of July,
owing to the satisfactory prospects of the English
harvest, were of only about the same amount as in
the July of the two preceding years. Russia con-
stitutes our chief source of supply. She has con-
tributed 29 per cent. of our total importations,
while the proportion from the United States has
been only 2 per cent. The quantity from France

has been 23 per cent., from Germany 25 per
cent., and from all other countries 21 per cent. Of
flour our importations have been nearly double those
of last year, and about 11 per cent. in excess of
those of 1864. Six-sevenths of the entire quantity
arrived from France. Of other descriptions of
grain, and especially of !Indian corn, the importa-

tions have been large. The advices from America
regarding the harvest seem to indicate a deficient
wheat crop, but an unusually abundant yield of
Indian corn, which for home purposes in that coun-
try is the most important staple. A few weeks back
the reports of the growing wheat were disastrous

from most of the Western States, from the effect of
protracted rain, but the subsequent accounts have
been less discouraging. In California there is un-
usual abundance, and a probability is asserted of a
surplus of 850,000 quarters for exportation. The
crop of Indian corn this year will, it is said, be the
largest ever produced in the United States. In 1840
the total crop was 47,000,000 quarters, in 1860 it
was 104,000,000 quarters, and this season it is
estimated at 130,000,000. In relation to the sup-
ply of this country the American wheat crop has lost
its direct importance, the total receipts during the
last two years having fallen to an insignificant point,
owing to the superior power of Germany, Russia,
and France to ship to us at present prices ; but of
Indian corn our imports this year have been very
greatly in excess of those of the two preceding years,
and the consumption will most probably be stimu-
lated by the moderate terms on which the American
dealers may now be able to send it forward.

The Philadelphia correspondent of the Times
begins to discover that the Radicals have not
vanished into thin air. He recognises the difficul-
ties before the Conservatives, as be terms his own
party. " For a year, or perhaps two years," he
says, " the chief part of the President's Adminis-
tration, which ends March 4th, 1869, he will be
baffled by a hostile Congress, and for success during
this period the National Union party can only look
to one of those great political revolutions that come
only once in a generation. They have started well
and favourably, and with perhaps the best platform
of principles that have yet been put forth by any
American political organisation. But in this coun-
try it is difficult even for virtue to detach hundreds
of thousands of voters from an old organisation
they have so often followed to victory. . . At
present all the enthusiasm is against the Radicals,
and the new party have the vantage ground, for it
possesses Presidential patronage, and is the attack-
ing body. But the extreme difficulty of it achiev-
ing success has led me candidly to lay these facts
before the public. A long and difficult, but, it is to
be hoped, successful campaign is before the new
organisation just born in Philadelphia." We have
all along said that the National Union party can
only look for success to a great political revolution,
which we hope may occur, for it is desirable that a
threatening question should be decided amicably
and speedily. The correspondent terms the party led
by Congress a dominant faction, but it is in reality
the sentiment of the Northern people, and a repeti-
tion of the great blunder made in England during
the Civil War will again occur if the English people
are deceived on this point. Such a revolution may be
the result of the wise and moderate sentiments ex-
pressed by the National Union party, led as that party
is by many of the most prominent statesmen in Ame-
rica. All the people require is faith in these pro-
fessions. If Congress be sustainel in its opposition
to the President's policy by the feeling of the mass
of the people, the National Union party will effect
no good. But we have reason to believe that so
ably haS the Convention been organised, and so
powerfully supported, tha:diitnisnpaiyri ng thesucceedss
necessary
effect-
ingllceeary the desired change, and
confidence in the people. The President is working
eaarsn
ne sl
at lry and
k,
edhlvs i tcha
rtehee
rtosingularg am
the
ob determinationect on wwlhi
ce

le has set his heart, indeed, we may say, pledged

his very existence. But he cannot stand unless the
anticipated change in the feelings of the people takes
place. In truth no force can stand unless it be in
accord with the national sentiment.

Robert Reid, a Liverpool tinker, murdered his
wife in Thurloe-street, of that town, in 1862, and
disappeared. A reward was offered for his appre-
hension, and the American police thus stimulated
had for.seine time been on the look-out for him.