The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-12 00:00:00

BAIL TVA Y INTELLIGEVCE.

BOMBAY, BARODA, AND CENTRAL INDIA.
The half-yearly report of the directors of this
company is as follows :
"By the following extracts from the resolution
of the Bombay Government the proprietors will be
glad to learn that the long-vexed question of our
approach to Bombay has been satisfactorily settled:
The completion of these plans, and the estimates
based on them, has established the following points
in favour of the direct line from the Veturnee river,
via Bassein, to Dhadur, as compared with the line
adjoining the Great India Peninsula railway at
Purseck :-1. The direct line will cost less ; 2. It
is shorter by eight miles ; 3. Its curves are few
and easy, while those on the other line are
many and sharp.; 4. It maintains the gradient
of 1 in 503, which rules the line from Ahmeda-
bad to the Veturnee river,
tire line presents a ruling pradient of 1 in 100.
v while the alterna-
These advantages appear to his lordship in council
quite conclusive in favour of the direct line between
the Veturnee river and the Dhadur station of the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway, and Government
sanction the adoption of that line accordingly.' On
the 3d. Oct. last 15 spans of the Nerbudda-bridge
had been finished, and arrangements were in pro-
gress for the vigorous prosecution of the works.

The following is an extract from Mr. Forde's re-
port on the subject 11. Every preparation is
being made for the erection of the Taptee viaduct,
position to say
awnidthlecoonnfisdidenereethtialtatl
baontthntohweseinw,a,
orks (the Taptee
and Nerbudda) will be completed before next mon-
soon.' ' 12. The first iron bridge north of Broach
will be ready iu a few days for an engine to cross,
and I have sent up parties to commence all the
•bridges between Broach and Baroda, in the hopes
that they may be so far advanced before materials
arrive for the Nerbudda as to'be able to have all the
tackle at liberty for the latter work.' The progress
reports
of t
works
03rlks
st
eAug.,xee
o executed,
give the following state-
mentz

Between Surat and Ahmedabad, 143 miles.
Of earthworks
~ brickwork and masonry 98 per cent.
„ ballasting spread on line
•19 per cent.
„ fencing
t•u•rvie.e. 4ji3i7perar
icleens.t.
• • 4O per cent.
;3:
fßeljeaetrisvti nhe aNevnuoerSnkutiN• av ta ya
n .
ertiiccliz
....
..
... d .
....... o. n. r.y.
487 per cent.
per cent.
In reference to the supplies of iron materials, &c ,
from England, over 67,000. tons of weight and mea-
surement have been shipped for Bombay up to the
19th Nov., 1859. The. directors regret to have to re-
port the loss of the ship Jessica,. with over 1,300 tons
engines ; the risk of this company. four ballasting
of our materials on
.board, including four
conversion of the fully paid-up
however,fully
t, which received
Augusten last, the neces-
insured. By our Act of Parliament,
stock were granted;
tsshhareayrreopiyoawolfeartsshsefeonrtcoot
hnmetphaenitli. into
and in conformity
.with its provisions in this re-
spect, a resolution will be submitted to the decision
of the shareholders for the conversion or consolida-
tion into stock of such shares of the company as
shall have been fully paid up before the 31st Dec.
inst. The directors cannot close their report with-
out adverting to those satisfactory symptoms of na-
tional improvement which are seen in India. Since
the negotiation of the late loan by the Government
the public have become better acquainted with the
-vast resources of the rich territories we possess in
India—resources whi▪
ch only require a few years of
peace to be developed in an extraordinary manner.
That loan is now dai▪ ly ri▪
sing in the estimation of
the capitalists of this country; and they cannot
examine into the securiti▪
es upon which it is based
without feeling satisfied that the guaranteed stock
of the Indian railway companies has become even
more secure of receiving the stipulated interest, and

The report of the effects of the experiments re-
cently made on the Trusty, 14, floating battery,
with the new description of shot fired from the
Armstrong guns at Shoeburyness having been laid
before the Admiralty, orders have been received at
Chatham for the floating battery to be thoroughly
repaired, and the whole of the thick iron plates
which were cracked and broken by the shot to bo
replaced by wrought iron plates of a corresponding
thickness. Mr. G. Cotsell, the master. blacksmith,
has received orders to prepare the plates, which are
to be made under his superintendence.
The cost of repairing the brig Coquette, run into
by the Vulcan, has been estimated at about £230,
and the Admiralty have instructed the Admiral
Superintendent at Devonport to have the repairs
executed by contract at some merchant shipbuild-
ing yard.
The paddlewheel steam storeship Dee, 4, Master
Commander T. C. Pullen, from Woolwich, arrived
on Friday at Plymouth, with boilers for the Jason.
The steam tender Sprightly, G. Allen, master, from
Portsmouth, arrived on Friday at Plymouth, with
seamen gunners for the Conqueror and CentuTion.
On Saturday she embarked supernumeraries,•and
sailed for Portsmouth.

The screw steamship Revenge. 91, was taken out
of No. 3 dock at Keyham, at Plymouth, on Friday,
and placed alongside the sheer hulk.; she is cop-
pered to the deepwater line.

On Friday, while under tow of a steam-tug, and
in charge of a pilot, the ship Albuera, belonging to
Messrs. Dunbar, of London, ran foul of his Nether-
lands Majesty's screw steam corvette Citadel Van

Antwerp, at anchor in Plymouth Sound. Part of
the Albuera's channels was carried away, and she

lost her main and foretop-gallant masts: The cor-
vette's flying jibboom and foretopsailyard were car-
ried away, and her catheads injured: The defects
of the Citadel Van Antwerp were made good imme-
diately, and she sailed on Saturday for her destina-
tion.

The Urgent, screw troopship, Commander 11: W.
Hire, tested her new boilers in the steam basin on

Saturday, and the result was perfectly satisfactory.
The engines of the vessel are in excellent condition,
and she is now fit to perform any service. On
Monday (this day) she goes to the trial ground in
Stokes Bay to try her speed, and will afterwards
return into harbour to complete for service at the
Cape of Good Hope and China. This vessel, in 15
days after her steaming into the basin, has had her
old boilers taken out, her new ones with their mount-

ingo, coal boxes, &c., took in and fitted, and steam
up for testing them. Great credit is due to the offi-
cials of the department for their energetic exertions
at a time when the ship's services are so much
needed.

he Bacchante, screw frigate in the steam basin
at Portsmouth, got up steam on Friday for the test-
ing of her new machinery by the officers of the
steam department. Her machinery is of 600-horse
power, nominal, by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons, and
Field, and she is the first vessel tested under the
recent Admiralty order "to try all boilers, pipes,
and all the parts of nginesp under water pressure,
up to double tile amdunt of working pressure." The
Bacchante was accordingly tried under a pressure
of 401 b. to the square inch, and every part stood the
test in a most satisfactory manner.
Mr. G. Grandidier, Paymaster R.N., attached to
the office of the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral
W. Bowles, C. 8., at Portsmouth, has received the
appointment of Secretary to Rear-Admiral Elliot,
commander of the Channel Fleet.

The Powerful, steam vessel, commanded by Cap-
tain Richards, in addition to a general cargo of
war stores, has received, at the Royal Arsenal, two
heavy siege train batteries of 68-pounder guns,
with the usual siege train equipments, and will
leave for China on Wednesday next. The Thunder,
steam vessel, has left for Hong Kong, with a cargo
of war and commissariat stores, and the Mauritius,
N. 3, steam vessel, taken up by the War Depart-
ment, is ordered to ship a similar cargo for the
same destination. The Ist and 2d batteries of the
4th Brigade Royal Artillery, having undergone a
course of training with the Armstrong gun, will
embark for China during the present month. Much
activity now prevails in the royal carriage depart-
ment, in the manufacture of mortar-beds, it being
intended to refit some of the mortar-boats for service
in China.

The authorities of Woolwich Arsenal have been
apprised by the Secretary of State for War that
their suggestion relative to their observance of a
general holiday in the establishment from 10 a.m.
on the Saturday preceding Christmas day until the
following 'Wednesday morning has been approved,
consequently the establishment will be closed during
that period. The Commodore Superintendent of
Woolwich Dockyard has notified, for the informa-
tion of the artisans of the yard, that, with a view
ofremedying the inconvenience other wise sustained,
no one will be permitted to quit the service of the
yard without giving 48 hours' clear notice, except
under special circumstances or previous permission.
Two additional batteries of Armstrong guns were
on Friday proved at the Arsenal butt, 'Woolwich,
by firing two rounds of heavy charges of powder
and double shot, with perfect satisfaction as to the
durability and. character of the guns; and two
other batteries underwent the same ordeal on Sa-
turday, with the same result. They were subse-
quently removed in cases to the military store de-
partment, to be packed for immediate transmission
by the overland route to China. The total number
now ready for the expedition, and which will be
despatched during the present week, amount to 30.
Since the adoption of Sir W. Armstrong's inven-
tion by the Government, numerous competitors
have entered the field, and the War Department has
sanctioned the carrying out of experiments with
various specimens of breech-loading rifled:ordnance,
which are stated to possess great advantages over
the Armstrong gun. On Friday last, a model gun,
constructed upon principles invented by the head of
a large engineering firm at Lambeth, was received
at the Royal Arsenal, for examination, by the Ord-
nance Select Committee ; and a rifled gun, invented
by Mr. Jeffery, of Stepney, which was forwarded to
Woolwich about three months since, has been tested
at Shoeburyness, and is said to have proved the
most extraordinary weapon, in point of range and
efficiency, yet introduced. Mr. Gosling, of
Woolwich, also requests permission to test an in•
vention which, he states, will much enhance the
efficiency of the Armstrong gun.
A number of heavy guns have recently been for-
warded from the Royal Arsenal for the coast de-
fences, and others, including rifled ordnance, are to
be prepared for the some purpose. In addition to
the extensive new works now in progress for the
fortification of Dover, three new batteries are to be
provided at Ramsgate, one of which will command
the mouth of the harbonr.
On Saturday Mr. J. Large, the Assistant-Sur-
veyor to the Navy, visited Chatham dockyard to
make an inspection of those ships which are now in
course of construction at that establishment.
The assistant-surveyor, after transacting some
official business with several of the heads of depart-
ments connected with the dockyard, proceeded with
Mr. 0. W. Lang, the master-shipwright, and other
officers of the yard, to inspect some of the ships on
the stocks,—viz., the Atlas, 91, the Bulwark, 91,
the Undaunted, 50, the Rattlesnake, 21, and the
Orpheus, 21, all of which are to be fitted as screw
steamers. He also visited the Rodney, 91, and the
Severn, 51, both of which are in dock being con-
verted into screw steamers; and afterwards In-
spected the slips on which the Royal Oak and the
Belvedere, two 91-gun line-of-battle screw steamers
recently ordered by the Admiralty to be built at
this dockyard, are to be constructed. After spend-
ing some time at the dockyard, the assistant-sur-
veyor, accompanied by Mr. Lang, was rowed out
to the screw-frigate Ariadne, 26, Captain E. W.
Vansittart, lying at Folly Point, which has been
fitted at this dockyard. Mr. Large spent some time
in making a thorough inspection of that vessel, the
result of which was in the highest degree satisfac-
tory, the assistant-surveyor expressing his unquali-
fied approbation of the manner in which all her fit-
ments have been completed at this dockyard, and
giving his opinion that she is not surpassed by any
other frigate of her size and tonnage in the world.
Several hundred shipwrights are now employed
on board the Atlas, 91, the Rodney, 91, the Un-
daunted, 51, and the Severn, 51, at Chatham, in
order that those vessels may be completed with the
utmost despatch.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—J. W. Lowe, master, to be
agent on board the Melbourne transport ; Edward
Eckersley, second-class assistant-engineer of the