The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-10 00:00:00

SARDINIA.

The King of Sardinia has issued the following
order of the day, dated from his head-quarters at
Alessandria, May 5 :
" On the 3d and 4th the enemy attempted to pass the Po
opposite Frassineto and Valenza. The troops of the 17th
Regiment,. the Bth battalion of Bersaglieri, the Ist, 17th,
and 18th batteries, entrusted with the defence of that posi-
tion, stood the enemy's fire with intrepidity, and frustrated
his attempt. His Majesty the King, highly satisfied with
the firm and praiseworthy behaviour displayed by these
troops, and with the intelligent manner in which they were
commanded by their chiefs, Colonel Bozzoli, Major Volpel-
landi, and Captains Sobrero, Dho, and Roberti, has given
orders to the undersigned chief of the staff to inform all the
corps of the army thereof by the present order of the day,
his Majesty being convinced that the first result will be
followed by other greater ones, which will increase the re-
putation and glory of the Piedmontese army.
" By order of his Majesty,
Lieut.-General Chief of the Staff DELLA ROCCA."

The Piedmontese Gazette publishes ashort account
of th.p cannonade at Valenza on the 4th, stating the
number of wounded at 10, besides Captain Roberti
and one man killed. The latter, a corporal of
Bersaglieri (or riflemen), named Albini, being
mortally wounded, nevertheless crawled to a hillock
in order to have one shot more at the enemy. The
operations of the enemy near Frassineto are officially
described as follows :

" After some insignificant encounters of cavalry during
the first days of the war, and in which our troops retarded
the enemy's march, we have now tomention facts of greater
importance. On the 3d of May, about thirty minutes past
four p.m., the enemy in considerable force reconnoitred
the left bank of the Po, opposite Frassineto, with an
attempt to cross over to the right bank. The
enemy's forces were drawn up near Terranova, protected by
the dam of the river, whence they opened a heavy fire of
musketry and rockets against our advanced posts. The
troops of the 17th regiment, with the 17th battery, which
were stationed there for the defence of that point, bore the
enemy's fire with intrepidity. Major General Chev.
Cialdini, hearing the cannonade, hastened out . of, Casale
with the 15th regiment of infantry, two squadrons of the
Monferrato light cavalry, and the 3d field battery, to the
assistance of the troops, in order to drive the enemy back
from the river, had he succeeded in crossing ; but before his
arrival there, after nightfall, the enemy had already ceased
firing and retired. During the night, at about half-past
one a.m., the enemy attempted to construct two pontoon
bridges opposite Frassineto, but being harassed by a brisk
fire from our batteries, he renounced his project and
again retired about 8 a.m. The reconnaissances made
by the troops of Casale after the engagement, showed that
the enemy had abandoned Balzola, and subsequently Ter-
ranova and Villanova. We have to deplore the loss of six
killed and 27 wounded, all privates and non-commissioned
officers."

The Piecimontese Gazette of the 6th contains the
following :

" His Majesty's Government would have willing, during
the present war, proclaimed those liberal principles, accord-
ing to which the mercantile vessels of the enemy are allowed
a certain space of time to leave the ports of the State with-
out molestation. The Government has been unable to
do so, because the territory of the State Is invaded by a
powerful army which oppresses the occupied provinces
with acts of violence of every description, thus disobeying
both the rules of the law of nations and those of
humanity recognised in our present state of civilisation.
• Orders have therefore been given to lay an embargo on the
Austrian vessels lying in the ports of the State. This mea-
sure of precaution and security was imperiously called for
by circumstances. And although the enormous requisitions
and extortions of all kinds practised by the enemy on our
territory, to the injury of the unarmed population, justify
even now an order of capture of the said vessels, neverthe-
less the Government still reserves its decision in that re-
spect. Meanwhile the Government hastens to notify to all
whom it may concern that-the property of neutrals that may
be on board the sequestrated vessels shall be immediately
restored is their owners, conformably to the declarations in
favour of neutrals signed by the high powers at the Con-
gress of Paris in 1856. The application of such principles
can naturally only be invoked in the case of such vessels as
shall scrupulously observe strict neutrality."

The Ost Deutsche-Post, the Austrian semi-official
organ, appears to prognesticate the ultimate non-
success of the mission of Count Karoly to St.
Petersburg. It says Under existing circum-
stances neither the French ambassador nor the
envoy extraordinary will succeed in obtaining from
the Russian Government a precise declaration as to
its intentions. That power will not bind itself to
any one, and will remain faithful to the programme
of Prince Gortschakoff not to middle directly in
European complications. All that Count Karoly
has been able to learn from Prince Gortschakoff is
that for the moment events must speak for them-
selves."

The Austrian Gazette publishes an article which
has for title, " Let us be united! Forward!" and
concludes with the words, "Let us march! To
Paris !"

The Government of the Two Sicilies has given
notice, by its agents at the different European
Courts, that his Neapolitan Majesty intends to

observe the strictest neutrality towards all Powers
during the present complications.

A Berlin letter, in the Elberfeld Gazette, says:
—" The last accounts from Hungary state that
great agitation prevails amongst the Magyar and
Sclavonian populations, anxious to recover the
rights wrested from them ten years ago. Agitation
also prevails in Gallicia and in the Polish pro-
vinces of Austria."

"It is affirmed," says the Independance of Brus-
sels, " that the great Powers will come to an
understanding to guarantee the neutrality of the
Duchy of Parma, a neutrality which the Duchess
herself is anxious to secure."

" According to our private information," says
the _Nord, " the retreat of the Austrians is the con-
sequence of an order sent from Vienna, where a
new plan of campaign has been decided on."

AUSTRALIA.

LIVERPOOL, MONDAY.

The clipper ship Mermaid has arrived from Mel-
bourne with 60 passengers, 14,000 ounces of gold,
and 1,500 bales of wool. The advices by her have
been anticipated.

FALMOUTH, MONDAY.

The ship Sussex, Captain Fothergill, arrived off
the port today from Melbourne, in 84 days. She
has on freight about 80,000 ounces of gold. She
landed her mails and some passengers.

THE ROYAL GUN FOUNDRY AT

WOOL WICH.

At a time like the present, when some of the most
powerful states of Europe are launched into perhaps
long and sanguinary war, and into the vortex of
which no one knows how soon this country may be
drawn, the interest of the public is naturally
awakened to the consideration of the efficiency of
the various departments employed in the manufac-
ture and preparation of war materials. The occa-
sion is therefore a favourable one again to advert
to a subject which occupied our columns some
months back, viz., the royal factories recently
established at Woolwich for the manufacture of
ordnance and warlike stores. It is not the object
of this notice to enter into the question whether or
no these works are established on a legitimate basis,
or whether they are likely to prove a saving of the
publio money, but merely to show the vast quanti-
ties of ordnance, shot, shell, and other warlike
stores, which, in the event of war, could be produced
from the Royal Arsenal alone. Since the com-
mencement of the present year the greatest activity
has prevailed throughout the Ordnance Depart-
ment of the Arsenal, and though for the past few
weeks the operations in the iron gun foundry have
been suspended during the repair of the four old
furnaces, and the construction of two new ones, the
preparation, proving, and shipment of the contract
guns have proceeded with the greatest activity ; the
average number of heavy guns despatched from the
gun. wharf per week being no less than one hun-
dred. This great demand has been created by the
arming of the numerous vessels of war lately put
into commission, and the changing at the various
coast and other defences of the old unservice-
able 24-pounders for long 32 and 68-pounders.
Notwithstanding this un isual shipment, the con-
tracts for the supply of guns for the present year
are smaller than those of last year, while 300 pieces
of heavy ordnance have been ordered from the new
foundry during the present financial year. The
store of cannon of all calibres now in the Arsenal
is sufficient to supply all demands for years to come,
there being between 15,000 and 20,000 pieces of
serviceable ordnance on the various wharves, which
could be prepared and despatched to any part of
the world at the rate of 200 per week. With the
six furnaces, which will shortly be in working
operation in the gun foundry, it will be capable of
turning out ten 68-pounders per week. When the
whole ten furnaces are erected, the foundry will be
capable of producing twenty new guns per week, a
number which, without taking into account the
contract entrusted to the Gospel Oak and Low Moor
works, would be sufficient to supply all , ordinary
peace demands for cannon. A very large series of
worshops is now in course of erection close to the
new foundry for the manufucture of the Armstrong
guns. The works will take in the old Lancaster
shell factory, which contains thirteen furnaces and
nine steam hammers, so that without going to any
very great outlay for plant, Mr. Armstrong, who
will superintend the factory, will, as soon as the
works are completed, be in a position to supply his
guns as fast as they are likely to be required.
A great deal of mystery has been thrown round
this most destructive weapon, and Government
have certainly done all in their power to prevent
the secret of its nature and construction from
transpiring. The jealous care with which the
drawings and models have been guarded has, as
might have been expected, proved ineffectual for
this purpose, the gun having been publicly mann
factured in Newcastle-on-Tyne and openly used for
practice in Woolwich. It is a waste of time to
try to prevent those who are interested in obtain-
ing the information, from becoming acquainted
with every particular connected with its construc-
tion. Mucn has been said about the danger to
which England would be exposed if- any adverse
power were enabled to construct these weapons ;
but it should be rememberedhat the same time that
the knowledge of the principles upon *hich the
gun is made will not of itself enable foreign go-
vernments to construct it. The detailed descrip-
tion of our machinery, our engines, and our small-
arm rifles has never been kept concealed from the
world, and yet the mechanical skill necessary for
their manufacture has never been found in foreign
countries. The Armstrong gun is a piece of me-
chanism which would tax the skill of English
artisans, even when directed by the inventor. How
little, then, need we fear that foreign nations would
be able to manufacture it, even if supplied with de-
scriptive plans and drawings. The principles upon
which the advantages possessed by the weapon de-
pend are not novel, even as applied to gunnery. In
external appearance the gun differs very little from
the ordnance commonly in use, except in being a little
more than half the diameter in proportion to the
weight of shot carried, and not quite half the weight.
It may he familiarly described as a hollow tube, the
bore extending from the muzzle out at the breech: The
upper portion of the bore, from the chamber to the
muzzle, along which the projectile passes, is rifled
by about 30 grooves, 1-16th of an inch wide and
1-10th of an inch deep, which have a spiral pitch of
one complete turn in 16 feet. The other portion of
the bore, from the chamber to the extremity of the
breech, through which the charge is introduced, is
smooth, and rather wider than the rifled part.
Immediately behind the chamber in which the
charge is exploded, and about a foot or so from the
breech, there is a square slot., some four or five inches
across, which extends from the upper surface of the
gun, and cuts right across the bore. When the
charge has been inserted through, the breech a solid
piece of iron is dropped intn the slot, and by a screw
placed in the breech is firmly forced against the
conical base of the chamber, forming an effectual
break, which is capable of resisting the explosion.
To the projectile, however, is owing in a great
measure the efficiency of the gun. It is formed of
iron, elongated in shape, like the Mink bullet. Two
grooves are cut at different places along its length,
into which are cast belts of lead which project about
one quarter of an inch beyond the diameter of the
shot. The projectile and the charge of powder are,
as we have said before, introduced through the
breech. The plug which fits into the slot is then
dropped and screwed into its place, so as effectually
to prevent any lateral escape of the explosion. When
the charge is ignited the conical spot is driven forward
into the rifledportion of the bore, which being rather
narrower than the diameter of the shot, the leaden
belts are firmly forced into the grooves, and the
whole bore so effectually wedged
passage of the shot that there i up during the
s absolutely no
" winclao•?.
" or escape of the explosion, until the
shot has left the muzzle. Thus the whole of the
propulsive power of a given charge of powder is
utilised, and an enormous range obtained. The con-
struction of the body of the gun itself is ingenious,
though not perhaps quite novel. It is entirely of
wrought iron. Iu the original plan proposed by
-AIL Armstrong the bore was intended to be of steel,
strengthened outside by massive cylinders of
wrought iron welded on while at a high tempera-
ture, and firmly fixed to the steel core by the con-
traction consequent upon cooling. This plan has
been altered, and the cores are now either made of
wrought or cast iron. The wrought iron cylinders
are made like the twisted steel barrels of a fowling-
piece, by winding red hot bars of wrought iron
spirally round a polished metal drum of the re•
quired diameter. These successive spirals are then
pressed and welded together, forming a tube whose
greatest tensile strength is in a direction transverse
to its length. These tubes, in lengths of one or
two feet, are welded to the core in a state of incan-
descence, and are contracted firmly to their places
on cooling. Outside this a second covering of the
same descriptionof wrought iron cylinders is welded,
which completes the gun. This peculiar combina-
tion of iron cylinders, the tensile fibres of which
run in different direction's, has the effect of prevent-
ing the expansion of the bore during firing. It
stops the vibration so destructive to the strength of

iron, and it renders the piece considerably stronger
than the cast-iron gun of the srme calibre,
though only one-half the weight of metal is used
Of the effects produced by this wonderful weapon
the public have already been partially made ac-
quainted ; but it may not be out of place here to
advert to them again. The iron 92-pounder,
Armstrong's gun, tried at Shoeburyness, was found
capable of throwing its projectile, with perfect
accuracy of aim, a distance of five miles with 5 lbs.
of powder, one-half the charge of an ordinary 32-
pounder, which carries but lt mile. At a distance
of 3,000 yards (the extreme range of a long 32-
pounder), of 25 shots fired at a target 10 feet square
by an ordinary gunner, every one struck the mark.
Looking at the gun as a piece of mechanism, it is a
perfect weapon. Yet, notwithstanding the severe
tests to which it has been subjected, there are many
who think that the delicacy of its construction will
materially impair its effectiveness in actual warfare.
This is a question which cannot be decided until
the gun has been tried in the field, but looking at
the simplicity and strength of its construction it
does not appear at all more likely to get out of
order or to be injured than the ordinary artillery
now in use. An order has already been issued for
the supply of these guns during the present year,
but as their advantages become more generally
appreciated, and the artillery men are more accus-
tomed to their use, they will doubtless in a great
measure supersede the ordinary artillery. It is but
a few years ago that the Government were entirely
dependant for the supply of shot and shell upon
private contractors ; but it having been suggested
that the Government, by taking the manu-
facture into their own hands, could produce at
the rate of £6 per ton that class of shot for which
they were paying £l3 per ton, a small experimental
factory was erected, which, being considered suc-
cessful, was enlarged. At the present time the
laboratory department are producing from 26,000
to 28,000 shot and shell per week, or between 70
and 80 tons per day. Working day and night it
would be possible, in case of an emergency, to pro-
duce at the rate of 36,000 per week. As abstract
numbers of production give no idea of the quantities
of materials expended in actual warfare, it may be
mentioned that during the siege of Sebastopol,
which must be considered one of the most stupen-
dous sieges of modern times, the English never had
more than 209 pieces of artillery employed at once
throughout the whole siege, extending over twelve
months. The shot and shell expended was not
more than could be now turned out by Woolwich
in six or seven weeks. Thus, with the present
stock of guns in store, and the various foundries in
full operation, Woolwich alone could supply war
material sufficient for carrying on perpetually two
such sieges as that of the great Russian stronghold.
In the small arm department the supply is on an
equal scale ; the present machines, if kept con-
stantly at work, will produce 2,000,000 Minie
bullets per week. Notwithstanding that the pro-
duction of shot and shell is carried on at the rate
of 80 tons per day, so great has the demand been
lately for arming the navy and storing the maga-
zines of our various fortresses and defences, that
the shipments from the wharf have exceeded the
production, and great inroads have been made in
the apparently inexhaustible piles with which the
various quadrangles of the Arsenal are covered.

THE IMPROVEMENT OF OUR COINAGE.

There are at present circulating in the British
four distinct kinds of pence, with their satellite
halfpence or farthings. In the first place there are
the heavy pieces, popularly known from the broad
band surrounding both obverse and reverse as ring"
pence. Of these, which were strurk at the old Soho
Mint by Messrs. Boulton and Watt, between the
years 1797-1799, 16 go to the lb. avoirdupois, and they
have certainly worn remarkably well, although they
must have worn out a vast number of pockets in the
sixty years of their existence. At the close of
1799, pence, halfpence, and farthings of respectively
18, 36, and 72 to the lb. were struck by the same
firm, and these circulated alone with their weighter
brethren until 1805, when a further improvement,
as it was deemed, took place. In that year,
24- pence, 48 halfpence, and 96 farthings
to the lb. weight were considered fair pro-
portions for the copper coinage, and new
digs having been got up for the purpose,
Boulton and Watt again set to work in producing
these comparatively light coins. It will be seen
thus that within a space of eight years three kinds
of inferior coins were stamped into vitality and
became current. This was not, however, con-
sidered sufficient, and an Irish coinage of great
extent, and in which the one pound weight was
divided into 26, 52, and 104 pence, halfpence, and
farthings respectively, took place in 1806, and
continued to go on simultaneously with the last-
named English variety up to 1823. In that year
the Irish coinage was abandoned, and although
there have been distinctive copper tokens struck
since for the Isle of Man and for the States of
Jersey, of like proportions to those for Ireland, yet
it may be said that the arrangement of 24 pence,
48 half- pence, and 06 farthings to the pound lb.
weight has prevailed throughout Great Britain ever
since 1823, and is that of the present day.
It will be admitted from this record of facts in
connection with the copper coinage that there is it
sufficient medley of recognised and legal pieces of
money in circulation among us; but there is in ad-
dition to these, as most know to their cost, a very
large percentage of non recognised and illegal
discs of copper, of which the public can
" make neither head nor tail," and which are
altogether discreditable to an enlightened com-
munity. Is it not high time, then, we ask,
that, whether the decimal system be adopted or not,
the whole confused jumble of copper coins, nearly
6,000 tons in weight, should be sent once more into
the foundry, there to be united with some more
spiritual, or at least more valuable metal, and then
reissued in a uniform and handsome shape ?
By judicious combinations of metals, lightness,
beauty, and value may be attained; and these are
the desiderata for a new coinage. In the United
States Mint experimental pieces have been issued
of nickel and copper. How these will stand wear
time will reveal, but their dull grey colour is not
pleasing to the eye, and they are of dumpy form, too
thick for their small diameters. The bronze coins
of the Napoleon 111. and those of the Victoria
Canada Mintages are, indeed, models in this last
respect. For ourselves, we believe that the new'
clay metal aluminium, which promised to revolu-
tionise in other respects the world of metals, will
be found a most excellent material for admixture
with copper for the purpose in question. It is true
that its properties are not yet fully developed, but
enough is known to augur for aluminium a brilliant
and useful future. Melted with copper in different
proportions, any shade of colour between those
of zinc and fine gold may be obtaihed, and we
look forward to the day when Dr. Gra-
ham of the Mint, and some of his scientific
confreres, shall arrive, by experiment or other-
wise, at an amalgamation of aluminium and copper,
from which may be cast a new coinage—decimal or
duodecimal—that, with the aid of the engraver's
art and the skill of the machinist, shall surpass in
proportions, colour, and practical utility the coinage
of every other country. This matter has been dwelt
upon at some length because it is right that the pub-
lic should comprehend it thoroughly, and be thus
enabled to bring the force of their opinion to bear
upon the Government in effecting a wholesome and
necessary reform. Mr. Disraeli professes to bow
to public opinion, and declates that it is the most
potent of all agencies. If we can enlist it, there-
fore, in behalf of v decimal coinage, the good work
in introducing .it may be said to be begun.—
Mechanics' Magazine.