The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-11 00:00:00

otherwise, should he talk almost with complacency
of the 'vast conspiracy' of which the traces are
hardly anywhere to be seen ?"

THE GALES.

WOOLWICH, V'ednesday.

The damage done to the G pavilion of the new
Herbert Hospital at Woolwich, as stated in The Sun
on Tuesday, by the gales was found on examination
yesterday to be very serious. The roof is completely
shattered, the stoves at each end of the ward are
smashed by the falling of the rubbish, the gas fittings
broken down, the beams and purlins, 12 in. thick,
are broken asunder, and the pavilion, which was
ready for the reception of invalids, presents a re-
markable scene of devastation and ruin. During
the whole of yesterday and the previous day the
slates and remnants of the roof were blown about
in all directions, falling on and destroying the glass-
covered ways, and rendering it a matter of danger
to approach the building. The long iron fence was
propped up with balks to afford security to the public
along the highway adjoining, and the building was
inspected by a special committee of officers from the
War Department in London, to propose measures
for making good the damage with all possible speed.
HULL, Wednesday.

The gales of Monday and yesterday swept with
great violence along the Humber, and considerable
damage to shipping was the result. Some of the
smaller ferry steamers ceased running and took
shelter in the docks, and for a time all communica-
tion with the vessels in the roadstead was cut off.
Yesterday a mussel dredger, named the Venus, the
property of her captain, Mr. C. Smith, of Grimsby,
left Hull for the former port. Although warned not to
leave the dock with such a sea running the warning
was not heeded, and before the Venus got half way
to Grimsby she was struck by a sea which swept her
decks and carried her captain overboard. The ves-
sel was at once hove to and every effort was made
to save the unfortunate man, but he was carried
away by the rapidly ebbing tide and drowned. On
Monday evening a Grimsby cod smack, with a crew
of three men, and five apprentices of various ages,
sprang a leak at sea. The captain made for the
Humber, which he only gained in time to save him-
self and crew, for his vessel suddenly went down on
the Trinity Sand at the mouth of the Humber. The
crew at once took to the small boat, and after many
narrow escapes they landed at Patrington on the
Yorkshire bank of the river, from which place they
were forwarded to their homes by the agent of the
Shipwrecked Fishermen's Society. The crew only
saved the clothes they wore, and when they landed
they were entirely destitute.

LIVERPOOL, Wednesday.

It appears that in the case of the schooner Sin-
gapore, lost on Taylor's Bank, at the mouth of the
Mersey on Tuesday, the captain flatly refused the
assistance of a steam-tug at a time when it is more
than probable that with such help he could have
saved his ship. The matter will, however, be venti-
lated at the Board of Trade inquiry, which will be
held in due course. The screw steamer Palestine,
which sailed for Boston and New York on Dec. 23,
has put into Queenstown short of coal and with loss
of bulwarks, but there is apparently no further da-
mage. The Palestine meantime returns to Liver-
pool for coal and repairs, and will probably be able
to proceed on her voyage again in the course of a
few days.

WEYMOUTH, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
The weather remains still very boisterous in this
neighbourhood. The barometer continued to fall
during last night and to-day, and reads as low as
29.12 inches at the level of the sea. The Wey-
mouth and Channel Islands steamer Aquila, Capt.
Brache, arrived in Weymouth harbour at 3 p.m.
to-day, being nearly 24 hours after her usual time,
she having experienced such heavy weather between
.Jersey and Guernsey yesterday morning that the
captain deemed it advisable to remain at Guernsey
until the wind moderated. The Aquila again put
to sea this morning at 6 30, and after a very rough
and squally passage succeeded in reaching port at
the above time. Several vessels have put into Port-
land harbour again to-day with, generally, damage
to bulwarks, boats, and sails from the heavy winds
and seas experienced in the Channel. The Coast-
guard have again hoisted the storm signal drum, by
orders from the Board of Trade, in anticipation of
more gales, and there seems every probability at
present of a verification of the warning signal. The
wind is strong from W.N. W., with frequent flashes
of lightning in the S.E., which is, doubtless, a pre-
cursor of another stormy night in the Channel.

SCOTLAND.

The steamer Zanthe, which arrived at Greenock
from Islay on Tuesday, reports having towed into
the Sound of Islay the bark Flornia, of and from
Ardrossan ; fell in with her off the Mull of Cantyre.
The bark had lost all sails except foresail and main-
topsail, and the crew were partly disabled. The
captain of the bark reports having passed a water-
logged vessel. The crew were on the poop making
signs for assistance, but he could render them none.
Their own boats seemed to have been carried away.
The Zanthe reports that there were four barks and
one brig at anchor off the lighthouse at the north
entrance to the Sound of Mull, all having sustained
damage in sails, &c. A brig is lying in Laggan
Bay, anchored about 400 yards from the rocks.
The crew, except three, are disabled. The Islay
steamer offered to tow her to a safe place, but the
offer was declined. The following vessels had put
back to Greenock :—The Malestris, Brown, bound
from Greenock to Porto Rico, with loss of topmasts,
bulwarks, and jibboom, and other damage ; and
the Sapphire, Liverpool trader, bound from Green-
ock to Liverpool, with bowsprit carried away.
Naval and Military Intelligence.

Her Majesty's store ship Gladiator, with supplies
for the fleet on the coast of Ireland, from Devon-
port, was compelled to put into Falmouth for shel-
ter on Monday afternoon, owing to the westerly
winds and severe weather. She remains there.

The Reindeer, screw corvette, the only wooden
vessel under construction at Chatham Dockyard, is
ordered to be completed and ready for launching by
the ensuing month of March. She will be armed
with a few heavy guns instead of an armament of 17
guns she was originally designed to carry. In order
to enable her to mount the heavy ordnance intended,
she .has been constructed with considerably greater
strength than any previous wooden ship, angle iron
being worked into her timbers, and her bulkheads
of iron.

The sailing ship Ganges, 20, fitted for a training
ship for boys, was put in commission yesterday
at Devonport, for duty at Falmouth. The
boys brought from the eastward by the paddlewheel
steam-vessel Medusa, Commander Thomas Potter,
have been transferred to the Ganges.
The screw steam corvette Archer, 13, Capt. Fran-
cis Marten, from the West Coast of Africa, which
arrived on Tuesday, continues in Plymouth Sound,
waiting the appointment by the Lords of the Admi-
ralty of the eastern port at which her crew will be
paid off. The following is a list cf the officers and
men belonging to her who have died of yellow fever
between the Bth October and the 24th December,
1865 :—Mr. W. C. Couzens, master's assistant, died
October 18 ; Mr. L. J. Potter, clerk, 26th ; Mr. F.
Sugden, assist.-paymaster, 30th ; Mr. W. C. Cole,
acting sub-lieutenant, November 2 ; Mr. John Stott,
assist.-surgeon, 6th ; and Mr. John Turner, second
master, December 18 ; John Lynch, leading sea-
man, October 8 ; John Nicholson, private, Royal
Marine Light Infantry, 28th ; John M'Donald,
colour sergeant, Nov. 3; Joseph Ilutchings, A. 8.,
10th ; Frederick Balls, first-class boy, 13th ; John
Wilson, warrant officers' servant, 17th ; John
Donaghue, captain's servant, 13th ; James Bicknell,
30th ; Charles Mortley, A.S., 30th ; George Col-
lins,
captain of the afterguard, December 2 ; 1
George Timbury, A. 8., sth ;Edward Clark, 0.5.,
20th ; Ralph Whittle, leading stoker, 20th ; and
Henry Brown, first-class boy, 24th.
An order has been received at Chatham garrison
directing Capt. Howes, Royal Engineers, under or-
ders to proceed to Ireland, to be attached to the staff
of the department of the Commanding Royal Engi-
neer at Chatham. Lieut. Hogg, Royal Engineers,
has received orders to proceed from head-quarters
to Devonport, there to join the Commanding Royal
Engineer's department at that station.
Capt. Morton P. Eden, adjutant of the Ist division

of the Depot Brigade, Royal Artillery has been ap-
pointed assistant-superintendent at the small arms'
factory, Enfield.

Ensign Longford, 2d battalion 13th Regiment,
has received orders to join the depot of the corps at
Chatham. The order for Lieut. Hawks to join his
regimental depot has been cancelled, and he is now
directed to proceed to join his service companies.

The Fox, screw storeship, Staff-Commander F.
Moriarty, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday morning
from Plymouth Sound, and at high tide was admitted
into the steam basin to discharge stores. She has
received some damage to her starboard fore chain-
plates.

The Rev. Mr. Kirkwood has reported his arrital
at Colchester as officiating Presbyterian chaplain to
the troops, vice Rev. Mr. Cannon, transferred to
Shorncliffe.

Capt. Isdell, of the 44th Regiment, has assumed
the command of the troops at Landguard Fort,
Harwich, vice Capt. Caldecott, of the 38th, who
has received leave of absence.
The anchors received at Woolwich from the
Northfield iron and steel works at Rotherham, in
Yorkshire, and manufactured on Capt. Rodger's
intended small palmed principle, have been submit-
ted to a severe test under the hydraulic press. The
last was proved yesterday in the presence of the au-
thorities of the yard. They are intended for service
on board the Indian transport vessel Crocodile, and
all endured a strain of 56 per cent, higher than that
prescribed by the Admiralty regulations. They were
thus tested at the special request of Capt.Rodger,who
was prevented from being in attendance by severe
indisposition. The elongation of the arms, or the
greatest variation of angle, when the strain was on
was five-eighths of an inch, and when the machinery
was slackened they regained their usual form,
showing no permanent set, which was highly satis-
factory. Before their removal from Rotherham the
anchors were fire tested in the presence of one of
the foremen smiths sent down from Woolwich for
that purpose. The test is consequently completed,
and they will be retained in the yard until the com-
pletion of the Crocodile for sea. The whole of the
expenses attending the testing, &c., will be borne in
the account of Messrs. Wigram, the contractors.
The Scorpion's anchors, supplied by the same firm,
are expected at Woolwich also to undergo a similar

proof.
Sir Richard Mayne, K.C.8., and Mr. F. Malla-
lien, Chief Commissioner and Inspecting Superin-
tendent of Police, paid their half-yearly visitation
of Woolwich Dockyard yesterday, and inspected
the men's quarters, &c. Sir Richard was accom-
panied by his son, Capt. Mayne. They were re-
ceived by Commodore Dunlop, C. 8., and made a
tour of the departments of the yard, visiting the
Prince Albert steam turret ship, the Sylvia, and
other vessels under construction and repair. Capt.
Mayne, who has been appointed to the command of
the surveying vessel Nassau, now building at Pem-
broke, took a special interest in the inspection of
the Sylvia, sister vessel to the Nassau, and which is
to be fitted out in a superior manner for surveying
purposes, with chart-room on deck and all the
modern appliances. They also inspected the cap-
stan house, joiners' shop, &c., and visited some pat-
terns there. The visit to the Royal Arsensal was
necessarily deferred.

Captain Shaw's Last Annual Return of
Fires for 1865.

___.___

Yesterday Captain Shaw, the late Superintendent
of the London Fire Brigade, and at present the Chief
of the new Metropolitan Fire-brigade, issued his last
annual return of fires to the committee a the late
London Fire-engine establishment, for 1865.
The report states inter alia that, in pursuance of
instructions received from the committee for ma-
naging the London Fire-engine Establishment, Cap-
tain Shaw had the honour to lay before it the report
of fires of 1865 :

The total number of calls during the year has been
1,727. Of these 99 were false alarms, 126 proved to
be only chimney alarms, and 1,502 were fires of
which 512 resulted in serious damage of buildings,
&c., and 990 in slight damage.
" The fires of 1865 compared with those of 1861
show an increase of 15, and compared with the
average of the last 32 years the increase is 641.
" 1 have appended several classified tables, with
particulars of trades, &c., including the causes, &c.

,
" These lists do not include trifling damages by
fires not sufficiently important to require the attend-
ance of firemen, neither do they include ordinary
calls for chimneys on fire.
" Our list of casualties, 46, is as usual above that
of the preceding year. This ispartly to be accounted
for by the increase in the number of fires, but it is
in a great measure due to the fearlessness and enter-
prise of the men in thedischarge of their duty. Suc-
cess in extinguishing fires cannot be attained with-
out a certain amount of risk, and so long as the
work is done as at present no diminution can be
expected in this item. I have received from the sur-
geon of the constabulary a detailed report, from
which the following is an extract

" There have been 130 cases of illness, totally in-
capacitating the men from duty, against 133 for the
year 1864. Of this number 46 have arisen from ac-
cidents, being an increase of 5 upon the previous
year, being 84 cases arising from ordinary sickness,
but being a decrease of 8.
"It is my painful duty to record four deaths from
natural causes during the present year—an event
unprecedented in the annals of the establishment.
" In addition to these, accidents from cuts and
lacerated wounds, contusions, fractures, sprains, and
scalds, and injury to eyes, making the total number
46. During the past year all ranks have conducted
themselves to my entire satisfaction, not only giving
renewed proofs of that energy and fearlessness of
which it has been my duty to report favourably every
year, but also showing an improvement in the more
important attributes of their profession—prompti-
tude of action, unity of purpose, and above all, that
combination of coolness, steadiness, energy, skill,
and judgment which can alone enable men to cope
with great emergencies.
" It must be satisfactory to the committee, on
parting with a body of men in whom he has always
taken so great an interest, to know that the liberal
policy which they have pursued towards them has
led to this result. Before this report has reached
the hands of the committee, the London Fire-engine
Establishment, which has existed for 33 years, will
have passed over from the Fire Insurance Companies
to the Metropolitan Board of Works, under the title
of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade ; and it would be
idle to deny that this change has been and still con-
tinues to be a cause of grave anxiety to me and
those who served with me ; but I may at least be
permitted to express a hope that so long as the
force retains those qualities which have gained your
approval, thew may stand well in the estimation of
their new masters. (Signed) "E. M. SHAW."
The following was also issued yesterday by Mr.
Sampson La w, the Secretary of the Royal Society
for the Protection of Life from Fire, of the fires at-
tended and the number of lives saved during the
year 1865 :—During that period 706 fires were at-
tended by the fire-escape conductors, as the stations,
now numbering 85, are located at half-mile distances
from each other all over London. This, number of
fires represents pretty closely the number of night
fires that have occurred in London during the year.
The fire-escape conductors rescued 67 persons by
means of their fire-escapes, besides which service,
rendered great assistance in many cases to persons
who would otherwise have incurred considerable
danger of suffocation, and likewise have acted as an
auxiliary to the fire brigade, in enabling them to
direct the hose of the engines from the summit of
the fire-escapes whenever required.
- -

One notable instance of an extra service, ren-
dered by one of the conductors, is worthy of recall-
ing, that of the rescue of 178 men, women, and
children from the falling building at Westminster
on the 26th of January, all being assisted down the
fire-escape and order being restored—all by the
exertions of one man.

The whole force at present numbers 100 strong,
the cost of the 'establishment continuing at the
charge of the Royal Society until the Metropolitan
Board of Works are in a position to undertake it.
The report next refers to the number of lives
saved, and the premises in which the fires took place,
without referring to those cases where the services
rendered by the escapes were not of such a character
as to come under the character of " lives actually
saved."

The following is the quarterly return of lives
saved :—" Fires attended up to March 31, 171; lives
saved, 11. June 30, fires, 176 ; lives saved, 8.
September, fires, 197 ; lives saved, 29. December
31, fires, 162 ; lives saved, 19.

The report also gives some interesting particulars