The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVE_NING, OCTOBER 13, 1866

purpse. French, English, and Swiss, we all meet here for
a trial of strength whose bloodless triumphs are almost as
welcome to the vanquished as the victors. (Much cheering.)
Once more we thank you for your reception of us. You re-
ceive us this night into the bosom of your country upon
trust, and I hope, before we part from you, your present
generous confidence will have been confirmed by experience.
And now allow me to introduce to you in turn each one of
my comrades. (Cheers.)"

Colonel Deherpe briefly responded for the French
riflemen.

Cheers were then given for the King of the Bel-
gians and others for the Queen; after which the
Bourgmestre offered the yin d'honneur, and refresh-
ments of a more substantial kind were also provided
for the company. It was midnight before the cere-
mony of the distribution of the medals in the court-
yard had concluded, and after 1 o'clock this morning
when the proceedings of the reception came to an
end. The Belgian authorities felt very much at
being obliged to postpone the Tir and the fetes from
September. But of the splendid success of their
efforts yesterday there can be no second opinion ;
and the appearance of the Belgian capital last night
will not readily be forgotten by any one who saw
it, while the procession of its own civic guard and
the foreign riflemen defiled through its stately
streets and beautiful boulevards.

mised rebellion will have collapsed ; Andrew John-
son's official days will be as easily counted as the
days of any other period having a fixed termination.
'though he may pardon Davis, it will only be to
turn him loose among a people impoverished and
desolated by his treason. There will be nothing
left upon which obstinacy or malignity can build a
hope for the future. The stern alternative will be
presented, submission or worse, and when that day
comes, then the South will take leave of Andrew
Johnson, and, obeying the commands of self-preser-
vation, will accept and ratify the amendment,
which while it strips them of their past unfair
political advantages in representation, places them
on an equality with other States as parts of the
American Union of free States and of a free
people."
Horse racing has lately assumed in 'the United
States a position of importance. Certain-well-known
gentlemen of high social position have formed them-
selves into an association under the title of the
American Jockey Club. They have recently laid
out a course superior to anything of the kind ever
before attempted in the United States, in West-
chester county, near the quiet village of Fordham,
in Jerome Park, comprising about a hundred and
thirty acres of land, which will become in a little
while the fashionable resort for gentlemen of the
turf, and not only for them, but for all (ladies in-
cluded) who take delight in seeing noble horses, and
in witnessing the exciting incidents attendant upon
their running. Races are already advertised to take
place in Mobile during the present month, and at
New Orleans in December. There are four millions
five hundred thousand horses in the different States,
including thorough-breds. These latter command
high prices. Colonel Hampton has been offered for
•' Monarch" $20,000. " Priam" cost more than
this to import. " Kentucky," who will be one of
the horses to run in the forth-coming races, could
command almost any price at which his owner might
be disposed to value him.
The artillery experiments at Fortress Monroe
began 21st September, and lasted two days. The
target was a solid wall of granite, nearly eight feet
thick in the middle, and nearly twelve feet at the
ends. Four plates of four-inch iron were placed in
front of this, some resting directly on the stone,
some having an intermediate backing of sand. Two
guns of twelve and ten inches (Rodman's patent)
were used, and the gunnery officers had the use of
a railway from the firing point to the target, the
range being 350 yards. The guns were alto-
gether victorious, for it only required eleven shots
entirely to smash the target, these experi-
ments being considered conclusive against
masonry and brick forts at the range by the artil-
lery officers of the United States on the ground.
The first three shots did not produce any very decisive
result ; but the next two fired that day had an ex-
traordinary effect. The fourth shot was fired from
the 12-inch rifle, the elevation being half a degree,
charge of powder 551 b., weight of projectile (bolt)
6201 b., and initial velocity of the shot 1,079 feet a
second. The effect of this shot was more decided
than that of any previous one. The diameter of
the indentation produced was 13 inches, its depth
54 inches. The wall at the rear of the target was
forced, or bulged outwards to a considerable extent ;
many of the blocks previously started were shat-
tered into small pieces, and several new seams were
opened. The fifth shot was fired from the same
gun ; elevation, one-third of a degree, charge of
powder 551 b., weight of projectile (bolt) 6201 b.,
initial velocity 1,103 feet a second. This shot
struck upon the lower plate at a point about three
feet from the ground, cracking the plate in a most
extraordinary manner, and tumbling to the ground
several of the blocks of granite loosened by the
previous battering. This shot, it should be remem-
bered, struck the plate over the sand backing. On
the second day after the first two shots were dis-
charged the third was fired from the 15-inch Rod-
man, with the same elevation, charge, projec-
tile, &c., as before. No remarkable results were
noticeable ; the work of demolition was simply
hastened. The 12-inch Rodman rifle was now
brought into use. The piece was given a half-
degree elevation ; charge of powder 551 b., weight
of projectile (bolt), 6201 b. The shot impinged
upon the upper edge of the upper plate, and glanced
off into the masonry, in which it nearly buried it-
self. Whole blocks of granite were tossed from
their beds of cement like straws before a gale.
Pieces of granite weighing hundreds of pounds were
cast a distance of 50 yards from the target. The
iron bolts and girders were snapped like pipe-stems
and sent shivering through the air for hundreds of
feet. The fifth shot was fired from the same gun,
with the same elevation, charge, and projectile.
The effect was to split the upper iron plate in seve-
ral places, and add to the general smash-up. The
indentation did not, in extent, vary greatly from
that of any previous shot where the iron was not
actually penetrated. The target was now reduced
to a mere wreck, and the last shot was fired at the
south end of the wall, which was not covered by
the plates, but which had been strengthened by the
addition of 4 feet of masonry at the rear. The
smash-up was astonishing ; blocks of granite at the
rear of the target—or nearly 12 feet from the point
of impingement—were wrenched from their fasten-
ings and thrown upon the ground, and the wall was
generally disturbed and cracked throughout. Had
the wall been a section of a real fort mounted with
ordnance the guns would have been dismounted or
rendered useless. A new target is to be built and
the experiments resumed.
_

From Panama we learn that there are now on
either side of the Isthmus six steamship lines.
These are the Pacific Mail Steamship Company,
embracing eleven or twelve first-class steamers, mak-
ing regular tri-monthly trips between New York
and San Francisco ; the Panama, New Zealand, and
Australian Royal Mail Company, with four fine
steamers—the Matura, Kaikouri, Ruabine, and
Rakaia—making semi-monthly trips between the
two termini. The General Transatlantique Company
(French) running four steamers—the Luisiane,
Noveau Monde, Imperatrice Eugenic, France—
between the ports of Aspinwall and St. Nazaire,
France. The Spanish Mail Packet Company, run-
ing one steamer—the Montezuma—monthly between
Aspinwall and the Island of Cuba. The Panama
Railroad's Central American Steamship Line, with
two steamships—the Guatemala and Salvador—
carrying freight, passengers, and the United States
mails semi-monthly between Panama and San Jose
de Guatemala, touching at intermediate points.
Beside these there are a number of lines of sailing
vessels on either side of the Isthmus, doing a great
business in the way of freight. The Isthmus,
in this respect, may be considered the central spot
of the globe— the half-way house in the inter-
change of nations—and its only thoroughfare is the
Panama Railroad, probably one of the mightiest
enterprises ever carried forward from the airiness
of conception to the substance of achievement.
It is almost inconceivable the amount of business
done upon this railroad. The swamps, the moun-
tains, and the abrupt defile had to be overcome
in its construction, and at last the railroad
stands completed. Only 48 miles in length, the
capital and human life expended in its building was
so immense that the millions, in the pecuniary con-
sideration, are not counted with exactness, and it is
said that under each railroad tie an Irishman sleeps
the eternal sleep ; while thousands of the Chinese,
whom they imported as labourers, in their desperate
misery, committed suicide by the knife or by spring-
ing into the jaws of the alligators which infest the
Chagres River and other streams. Everything was
conquered—the pestiferous malarias, the marsh, and
the mountain ; and to-day we have the Panama
Railroad as the grand, universal higliway between
the two oceans, occupying a central position on the
globe, and doing an immense business in the way of
freight and passengers. The officers of the road on
the Isthmus must be efficient, because they are
popular among the influential people. The princi-
pal officials are Col. G. M. Totten, chief engineer
and general manager on the Isthmus ; Wm. Par-
ker, Esq., superintendent ; Wm. Nelson, Esq., com-
mercial agent. (The latter has been a resident for
17 years, and is much respected).
Intelligence received at New York from Mexico
(via San Francisco), dated the 19th inst., states
that the French troops and fleet had abandoned
Guaymas, and that the town was occupied by the
Liberals. The Liberal General Martinez had slaugh-

tered the garrison of Xerez. The Austrian General
Lanuberg had been killed. The Imperialists made
no attempt to enforce the blockade of Matamoras.
The Empress has suffered greatly from the mental
strain. The difficulties of the position of her hus-
band, Maximilian, have been sufficient to unsettle
the mind of a stronger frame than that of the
Princess. The Emperor is said to have forwarded
through New York a telegraph message in cipher at
a cost of £l,OOO. The example of the French is
said to have raised the style of living among the
Mexicans. Already the shops, carriages, dress,
habits of living, cooking, household conveniences,
and, in short, the whole routine of life have materi-
ally improved. The capital is in better condition
—sanitary and other—than has ever before been
known. The streets are kept perfectly clean, and
the utmost order and regulation prevail in every
district..

The Quebec Journal states that since the spring
a thousand ship-carpenters have left that city for the
Western States of America.

New Orleans is said to be the only city that paid
more income tax in 1866 than 1865.

A little girl in the employ of the Wollcottville
(Connecticut) Manufacturing Company possesses most
wonderful arithmetical powers. She counts 2,000 percus-
sion caps and puts them in 20 boxes, 100 in each, in one
minute, and never makes a mistake.

The Board of Equalisation has determined the
amount of property in New York to be as follows :—Real
estate, $1,196,403,416 ; personal, $334,826,220. Total,
$1,531,229,636. _ _

R. A. Alexander, the wealthy and well-known
turf-man of Kentucky, has retired from the racing world,
and sold out his large and valuable stock of blood horses.
Asteroid brought $7,000; Bianca $1,500 ; and Bay $l,OBO.
Forty-three other trotting, pacing, and running horses
were sold, bringing prices varying from $5O to $BOO. His
stock of Durham bulls, calves, Alderney and Southdown
bucks, were also sold at low prices.

A new steam fire-engine of the second class,
built by the Gould Machine Company of Newark, was
tried in that city on Wednesday, in presence of Chief
Engineer Kingsland, and other officers of the New York
Fire Department, firemen from Brooklyn, Jersey City, and
other places, and pronounced an improvement upon any
yet constructed of the same class. It has been taken to
Philadelphia, where it will be received and tried by the
Hibernia Company, and thence sent to Carlisle, for which
place it was made.

The steamer' J. R. Gilmore, bound from Cin-
cinnati to the Arkansas River with a valuable cargo of
assorted merchandise, struck the wreck of the steamer
Courier, two miles below Mound City, Illinois, on Wed-
nesday night, Sept. 19th, and sunk almost immediately.
The passengers and crew escaped With their baggage. The
Gilmore was valued at $28,000, and was insured for
$21,000. Her cargo was valued at over $200,000, and wa
principally insured.
MILITARY.—PARADE OF THE SEVENTH.—CoIoneI
Clark has issued the following order :--" Headquarters,
Seventh Regiment, National Guard, New York, Sept 18,
1866. [General Orders, No. 7.] In compliance with
brigade orders, this regiment will parade, for inspection, in
full uniform (with knapsack and haversack) on Tuesday,
Oct. 2. Roll call of companies at a quarter past nine a.m.
Field and staff will report to the colonel, and the non-
commissioned staff, band, and drum-corps will report to
the adjutant at the same hour. The resignation of
Quartermaster C. T. M'Clenachan having been accepted,
he is hereby honourably discharged from the service. The
regular drill season of this regiment will commence on the
Ist of October. All officers and non-commissioned officers
will be required to thoroughly understand their duties,
and should bo perfectly qualified to instruct recruits.
Punctual attention at drill, and an earnest effort for
military improvement, are enjoined upon the officers and
members of the regiment. By order of Colonel Emmons
Clark. Wm. H. Kipp, Adjutant. R. L. Weed, Sergeant
Major."