The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1866.1

Plumstead, and Charlton are included in the garrison Inquirer thus describes the scene :—" Yesterday
for the purpose of this act, and a register of names is the goodly. Quaker City welcomed to her hearth-
prepared by the Government detectives. stone the Southern loyalists, who, throughout the
Major-Gen. E. C. Warde, C. 8., commanding at weary long years of the late rebellious strife, insti-
Woolwich, will commence the usual half-yearly in- gated by their traitorous "countrymen and neigh-
spection of his district this morning, when the depot bours, never faltered in their allegiance to their
brigade Royal Artillery, in command of Col. E. country and their Government, and, despite the
Wodehouse, C. 8., will be mustered for the occasion. many disasters to the Union cause in the earlier
The paddlewheel despatch vessel Helicon, Com- campaigns of the war, they could be neither bought,
mander M. Singer, from the Channel squadron, ar- nor coaxed, nor driven from their self-immolating
rived in Plymouth Sound on Tuesday last, and left devotion to the Union ; and though the heart of
again on Friday with men for the squadron. I the North ever throbbed in sympathy for their
The armour-plated screw steamship Zealous, 20, sacrifices of property and life, yet no aid could
Capt. R. Dawkins, was towed on Thursday from the I then be extended. But yesterday was a day on
Steam Reserve in Hamoaze to her sailing moorings I which the pent-up affections could most appro-
off Devonport dockyard, where she will receive her priately be allowed to gush out from the over-
complement of seamen and marines. flowing hearts of their brethren. Thus the city.
The crew of the paddlewheel steam frigate Leo- turned out its representative citizens in all depart-
pard, 18, Capt. Charles T. Leckie, in Devonport, ments of life to keep step with the many attendant
will be paid off on Saturday next. delegations from all the Northern States, gathered
The whole of the shot, shell, guns, and other War in our city, to do honour and reverence to the men
Department stores belonging to the screw sloop who unflinchingly had welcomed a baptism of blood
Swallow 9, 60-horse power, Master:Commander E. as sweeter than an apostacy from their faith in
Wilds, have been received at the. Ordnance stores Republican institutions. The whole city gave evi-
-1 Chatham, and the vessel is now being dismantled dence of its joyful sympathy with the patriotic
previously to being put out of commission and objects of the loyalists. A great display of flags
placed in the third division of the Steam Reserve in and bunting was seen on all sides, flung out to the
the Medway. breeze by those who thus sought to testify their
The screw two-decker line-of-battle ship Rodney, appreciation of the services of the city's guests.
78, 2,770 tons, 500-horse power (nominal), in dock Along the route of the procession the streets were
at Sheerness, has a large number of shipwrights and lined with thousands of enthusiastic citizens, who
other workmen employed on her in' effecting the heartily cheered the leading participants. The
various alterations and making the necessary re- escort was of a character never surpassed in the
pairs to adapt her for a flag-ship for service in history of our city. The out turning of the Union
China. From the extensive nature of the repairs League, National Union Club, Republican Invinc-
ordered to be carried out, she will be in the ship- ibles, Boys in Blue, Firemen, and other city escorts,
wrights' hands for some considerable time to come. alone would have ranked the procession a great one.
The screw sloop Cameleon, 17, 200-horse power, But a peculiar feature of honour was the presence
attached to the third division of the Steam Re- of so many high dignitaries of the nation, thus
serve in the Medway, is still in the shipwrights' testifying their absorbing devotion to a cause. An
hands, and is undergoing an extensive repair to unequalled sight in our city was the marching on
both hull and machinery, the alterations and re- foot of ten Governors of States, nine Senators,
pairs now being effected rendering her almost a besides well-known generals and leading literati. The
new vessel. The whole of the machinery has been entire demonstration was a perfect success, beyond
taken out and removed into the steam factory for all just cavil or condemnation."
the customary overhaul and repair. If the Dumb Convention suppressed with a high
In consequence of the slackness of work now hand every attempt at oratory, the Convention of
prevailing at the joiners' department in Chatham loyal Southerners suppressed as forcibly all ob-
'dockyard, owing to the circumstance of iron being noxious sentiments. Senator Wilson, of Massa-
now chiefly used as a material for shipbuilding, chusetts, was interrupted in his speech, and notwith-
an Admiralty order directs a considerable amount standing the interrupter was a Union soldier he was
of work to be sent to the Chatham yard from the summarily ejected. The Senator's address was as
dockyards at Woolwich and Sheerness, by which follows :—He said that the delegates from the North
arrangement the services of the hired hands now were not there to make platforms, but to meet the
working at the establishment will be retained. truly loyal men from the South. There was, he
The Irresistible, 68, screw, Coastguard line of-, said, a sort of organised raid being carried on through
battle-ship, Capt. John Borlase, C. 8., arrived in the country, where speeches were made, and boast-
Portsmouth harbour yesterday froth Southampton ings as to what was going to be done. (Laughter.)
Water. She will be placed in dock for repairs and They had thought, in their simplicity, that they
refit. lived in a country where the people were masters of
Intelligence has been received at Chatham of the President, of Congress, and of the Supreme Court,
arrival at Constantinople of the Imperial Ottoman and that they lived in a country where the voice of
war frigate Orkhan, Capt. Amed Bey, one of the the people was to be heard and obeyed. But now
newly heavily armour-plated iron frigates built for they were told by the President that he had a policy,
the Sultan at the shipbuilding yard of Messrs. and meant to carry it out. (Laughter.) He could
Napier and Sons, Glasgow. The Orkhan is of 4,222 tell the President, however, that Congress was
tons burden, British measurement, and is the third master of the situation. (Cheers.) Here there was
vessel of the same kind which has been constructed some disturbance in the Hall, some one exclaiming
by the firm for the Turkish Government. Her sides that he was an American soldier, and did not wish
are of the same thickness of iron as those of her to hear the President reviled. There wer shouts re-
Majesty's iron ship Minotaur, 26, 6,621 tons, 1,350 commending his being turned out, which was soon
horse power, and she is pierced to carry 40 guns of done, and then Senator Wilson proceeded with his
heavy calibre. Her armament at present consists of remarks.
16 guns, including one 300-pounder 12-ton gun on People seem to suffer throughout the Union from
the forecastle, 14 150-pounder rifled Armstrongs on the extortion of vendors of food much in the same
the main deck, and one 150-pounder Armstrong on way we do here. The Pittsburgh Commercial sug-
the upper deck. Her engines, manufactured by gests that the price will increase as long as they can
Messrs. Napier and Sons, are of 550-horse power get it. This is the established rule laid down by
nominal, and at the official trial realised a mean market dealers for exacting exorbitant prices for
speed of 12.75 knots, or nearly 14 statute miles, their commodities. Under this rule the reign of
per hour.
high prices will continue as long as the people will
Pending the report to be made to' the Board of pay them. Nothing is plainer than this. And it
Admiralty by Mr. L. E. Fletcher, C.E., on the re- is scarcely to be expected that those who profit by
cent boiler explosion at Chatham dockyard, no deci- the arrangement will be the first to modify it. A
sion has been arrived at by their lordships as to the New -York paper, for the complaint is a wide-
nature of the further inquiry to be undertaken on spread one, suggests, as the only remedy, that people
the part of the Admiralty into the circumstances exercise some temporary self-denial in the articles
connected with the late accident. In the meantime, of butter, butchers' meat, &c., declining to per-
however, the officials connected With the several de- chase or purchasing sparingly till some yielding of
partments concerned have_ been called on to report prices is effected. This would be sure to remedy the
ou the various points on which information is re- evil, but will people adopt it?
quired by the Lords of the Admiralty. The reserve of General Grant is maintained, and
The Bomarsund and Petrel, War department the position he has assumed, or is about to assume,
transports, have arrived at the Ordnance wharf, has given rise to much speculation in the press. He
Chatham, with the guns shot, and shell from the has accompanied the President in his Western tour,
Swallow, Master-Commander E. White. and in all grand occasions has stood by his side.
The Lord Warden, sailing Indianian, one of Yet although he supported Andrew Johnson by his
Messrs. Green's Blackwell fleet, embarked at Spit- presence, he has carefully abstained from commit-
head on Wednesday the following troops, which ting himself to any political opinions. In this re-
arrived the same afternoon at Portsmouth from Win- spect he has shown a marked contrast to the blunt,
chester, for transport to Madras :—Capt. N. J. outspoken statements of his chief. The general be-
Pauli, 3d battalion 60th Rifles ; Lieut. R. C. Robin- lief is that he stands where Henry Ward Beecher
son, Rifle Brigade; Ensigns Freud, Dick-Lauder, does, about mid-way between Congress and the
Smith, and Doyle, 3d battalion 60th Rifles ; Staff Executive. By nature he is Conservative in his
Assist.-Surg. Alexander; 3 sergeants, 143 rank and ideas, cool in no ordinary degree, without sentiment
file, 7 women, and 8 children, 3d battalion 60th and without enthusiasm. He disapproves of the
Rifles. The Lord Warden was appointed to sail from course taken by the President in the New Orleans
Spithead for Madras yesterday morning, but up to affair, and the chances are that both parties when
sunset she remained at anchor, detained by the strong they come to their senses after their wild excite-
south-west winds prevailing in the Channel. ment will find Grant master of the position, having
The steam transport Thames, Captain Pickering, never lust his prudence, nor committed himself to
belonging to the firm of Templey, Darke, and Co., extreme views. Sensible and moderate men will
of London, has completed shipping a heavy cargo then know hoer to appreciate the course taken by
of war stores, &c., for Quebec, making a total of this most distinguished officer.
1,576 tons measurement, and sailed from Wool- The Union State Central Committee have selected
with-pier by the four o'clock tide on Thursday. the following gentlemen as delegates at large to re-
ller cargo consists of 24 field battery 9-pounder present West Virginia in the Convention of Southern
guns; 8 21-pounder howitzers ; io 20-pounder loyalists, called to meet at Philadelphia, on the 3d
guns; 1 light battery of 6-pounders for the Artil- of September next :—His Excellency, Governor A.
lery Militia, and 5 carronades for the bastion walls ; I. Boreman, United States Senator W. I'. Willey,
700 sets of harness and various appointments for United States Senator P. G. Van Winkle, General
cavalry; 4,000 boxes of shell ; a large amount of B. F. Kelley, General I. Hardin Duval, General T.
2oz. shot in tin cases, known as Case shot; and a M. Harris, General J. A. J. Lightburn, General D.
number of bale goods from the Tower. She also has H. Strother (Porte Crayon), Hon. B. M. Kitchen,
9 cabin passengers—namely, 6 adults, 2 children, Hon. James Burley, Hou. John Atkinson, Hon. W.
and 1 servant. Notwithstanding the advance of the E. Stephenson, Hon. Greenbury Slack, Hon. Edwin
season, it is to be hoped that the passage may be Maxwell, George W. Norton, Jacob Hornbrook,
still sufficiently free from ice to admit of the Thames J. C. M'Grew, Nathan Goff, and D. S. Pinnell.
making her voyage in safety. At about two o'clock on Sunday :morning, 26th
August, a train of some 45 cars, loaded principally
with coal oil and hides, stopped at the Narrowburg
(New York) station to wood and water. Many of
the cars contained the oil in huge tanks, two on
each car, holding probably 50 barrels of oil each, in
open bulk, the rest being in barrels upon box cars.
At the end of the train 'was what is called a " ca-
laboose," or rough carriage for second-class passen-
gers. After stopping here awhile the conductor,
James Fredenburgh, distinctly heard the whistle of
an " extra " freight train, which was following,
closely approaching. He hurriedly ordered the en-
gineer to " start the train immediately," and was
obeyed, but pulling out the valve too far for so
heavy a train, to use a railroad phrase, the train
" broke," or, in other words, the coupling which
bound some of the cars parted, and a portion of the
train stood still on the track. Discovering the acci-
dent, the engineer was signalled to back up, which
he did, while the conductor, brakesman, and pas-
nf
sstopping
n pp uponin g them,
at t
h e but
depot h having ihnagd slowedve
very
pas-
sengers in the calaboose run up to make the connec-
tion. Just as they were doing so the other train
came
littlefo r hnemen purposetwn ,
and simply ran the engine under the caboose, and
nearly covered itself up with the debris. An ex-
itrhene tPi
oe nt
laoms ieosn
itook
very place,
d
r. o 1 eDu e
ebt el
yi n gn
ptphnrsoi
twe
nthine
spot where the first explosion occurred, on one side
stood three ,comfortable country cottages, two of
them belonging to Mr. A. S. Hendricks ; the other
to Mr. Joseph Bevins, the village blacksmith, in
which he and his family resided. The most distant
one was occupied by Mr. Hendricks, while the
lower part of the other was occupied as a joiners'
( shop. In the upper part lived Mr. Charles C.
Wil-
lams, his wife, and two children,
the latter aged
'respectively about two and a half
and five years.
The oil and flame was thrown about in such quan-
tities that before Mr. Williams had time to become
thoroughly awakened the fiery brands were falling
his sleeping room. Then other explosions were
heard in quick succession, and it was the impression
of all that their houses had been struck and set on
fire by lightning. Mr. Williams sprang from his
bed, seized his two children, and shouting to his
wife to follow him, ran down the inside stairs to the
stoop or porch, with steps which led down by the
side .of the house. In his excitement he evidently
never saw that the whole street through which he
was plunging was Quo Hying mass of blazing oil

MISCELLANEOUS 1111-ERICAN NEWS.

The following story illustrates the wild doings in
the State of Arkansas. The Jacksonport Era, of
the 11th August, says that a man named McKinney,
an overseer hired by a planter in that county, was
BtoPped on his way to the plantation the Tuesday
ve
folded, previous, by four men, who robbed, blind-
'autl tied him to a tree. The Era says that
as soon as released he went to Cotton Plant and
obtained a State warrant for the two he recognised__
re their' names—who were
Stracener and Berry were
arraigned before Justice Lentz of Cotton Plant.
The evidence for the State was in accordance with
the above facts. But one of the accused parties—
Berry—adducedt by which he proved that
u hour the outrage was
he teas
atanotherepvit.alnecaet,
h
perpetrated.
It is believedwetrheattthhee
aNtotntnespseliscev io
deposed this testimony of
Berry. Upon this evidence both parties were
ore-
leased. When the trial was concluded, McKinney
saonmdehiisn frie:dsleftCotstooneonPlanthorse back. hut
for their
waggons,homes—
some a
nl some
five miles north of Cotton Plant andtheSltirascteann,egrs,a
E
Berry party overtook them. One c,
brother-in-law to Berry, and a witness for him,
rode up to McKinney and commenced abusing
him, and finally challenged him to a pistol combat,
or duel, on the ground. McKinney readily ac-
cepted, and leaping from his waggon, pistol in hand,
about twenty feet apart, the firing between the
parties commenced. Each party fired three shots,
any one of which would have proved fatal. Staggs
received the first shot in the mouth, the next in
the throat, and the third in the breast. McKinney
was shot three times .in the breast. When these
shots were fired, the parties turned their backs upon
each other, walked about the same distance from
the scene, and both fell about the same instant, one
upon his back and the other upon his face, and died
with pistols in hand. This occasioned a good deal
of promiscuous shooting_ twenty random
shots--between
the respectiveb friends of both
parties. But fortunately no other damage was
done.
Philadelphia has lately been living on it sensa-
tions." First, there was the reat Union Con-
vention—next, the arrival of the President and his
distinguished supporters, and now we have the pro-
ceedings of the loyal Southern delegates. The

half knee deep ; and onward he went, dashing into
the fire in almost a nude state, hying on nothing
but his night garment. In travelling through this
sheet of flame one of his children dropped from his
arms, and he went back and picked it up. Ilis
determination and strength sustaining him, he
reached a spot where the fire had not yet spread and
fell. He was picked up by his neighbours, and
with his children was taken to a hotel near by,
where, as has been previously stated, the children
both died and have since been buried. Besides the
cars, oil, houses, shops, and stores which were
swept away, as it were in a moment, the trees,
shrubbery, and garden, full of green things, were
actually burnt to a crisp by the burning oil. The
ties of the track were entirely consumed, and the
iron rails were bent and twisted in every conceivable
shape by the extraordinary heat. Men were imme-
diately put on the work, and the next day the road
was again in running order.
The proceedings and findings of the Military
Commission' before whom was tried Major Gee,
formerly in command of the rebel prison at Salis-
bury, North Carolina, on the charge of cruelty to
Union prisoners, have just been made public. The
Commission find that Major Gee, while in command
of theten thousand
ufainled in d to
provide for the prisoners,
about number, either food, clothing,
rations, fuel, shelter, water, or hospital attendance,
sufficient to preserve health or sustain life, that the
prisoners were not supplied with sufficient water for
culinary purposes, or even for satisfying thirst, or
with food, except in very small or inadequate quan-
tities, and this though an ample supply of water and
wood could have been obtained in the immediate
neighbourhood of the prison. The findings enu-
merate at length the privations and outrages to
which the prisoners were subjected, and say that
the hospital accommodations and medical attend-
ance furnished prisoners when sick were so slight
and inadequate that when once sent to the hospital
of the prison they rarely.' returned alive, and that
by reason of that failure a large number of said pri-
soners, about 500 a month, whose names are un-
known, died from disease, starvation, and exposure
during the months of November and December,
1864. The Commission, however, on the ground
that the accused was to blame only for the weakness
in retaining the position when unable to carry out
the dictates of humanity, and that the rebel Go-
vernment were fully responsible for all these in-
humanities and outrages, acquit the accused both
on the charges and specifications. In approving
the proceedings and findings of the Commission,
Major-General John C. Robinson, commanding the
department of North Carolina, dissents from the
conclusion of the Commission, that the only respon-
sibility of the accused was weakness in retaining the
position as commandant of the prison. He says
that, while the evidence clearly establishes the fact
that the higher authorities of the rebel Government
were fully responsible for their violations of the laws
and customs of war, and the accused was constantly
calling their attention to the condition of the prison,
and asking for supplies, it is believed that he had
it in his power to relieve much of the sufferings
of the prisoners under his charge. Not only
were prisoners starved, but suffered from want
of water and fuel, which they might have pro-
cured for themselves. Because it was feared
that they might have effected their escape,
prisoners were shot down in cold blood, and the
perpetrators of these murders were allowed to go
unpunished. There seems to have been more
anxiety to prevent the escape of prisoners of war
than to preserve their lives.
We understand that her Majesty's Government
have agreed to give the Imperial guarantee for a
sum of £4,000,000 to be raised on the security of
the revenue of the confederated British colonies in
North America. Of the sum to be thus raised
£3,000,000 is to be applied to the construction of
the long-talked-of International Railway between
llalifax and Quebec, or rather to the junction of
that line with the Grand Trunk at Riviere du Loup.
The remaining £1,000,000 is to be applied by the
Confederated Government to the purchase of the
territorial rights of the Hudson Bay Company,
leaving to that company still the right of trading
over the territory 'and ,holding the trading ports
which are necessary-'for carrying on its trade. The
delegates from Canada are expected in England
daily to complete the arrangements with ' her
Majesty's Government. The governors of the
Hudson Bay Company are, we believe, prepared to
recommend to the proprietors the,acceptance of the
£1,000,000 as the purchase-money of the terri-
torial or sovereign rights which they fluid under
their charter. We are also informed that the
claim of the company against the United States'
Government arising out of the Oregon question is
likely shortly to be settled, and that the amount to
be received under this head will be somewhere about
£250,000.
In the New York Senate a resolution had been
adopted, welcoming Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States, and General Grant and Admiral
Farragut to the State. This was reconsidered,
and for the avowed purpose of showing that they
would give no honour to Andrew Johnson, his
name was stricken out, and the " President " was
wblcomecl with " the other distinguished personages
accompanying him." Afterwards an additional re-
solution was adopted welcoining General Grant and
Admiral Farragut by name, but the Senate refused,
by a vote of 7 to 13, to include the name of William
H. Seward. In the course of the discussion
Senator Low denounced the President in the most
violent language, and was followed on the same
side by Senators Kline and Williams, the latter of
whom made a coarse attack upon the President,
and stated that two young men from his office had
been killed in the New Orleans riot. He'held the
President responsible for their murder, and " their
blood cries to Heaven for vengeance." Senator
Godard declared the President had attained an in-
famous reputation, and said his- object in desiring
to omit the name of the President, was, first, be-
cause he refused to do homage to an individual
whose course could not fail to produce another civi

Pennybaker. The following named officers are ap-
pointed as an auxiliary committee, to act one for
each State, in the order as named :--Maine--Colo-
nel Albert W. Bradbury, Portland, Me. ; New
Hampshire, —; Vermont, —; Massachusetts—
Major-Gen. Dennis N. Couch ; Connecticut—
Major-Gen. Wm. B. Franklin ; Rhode Island,
New York—Major-Gen. Slocum ; New Jersey—
Major-Gen. Gershom Mott; Pennsylvania—Major.
Gen. Joseph H. Knipe ; Delaware —; Maryland—
Brig.-Gen. J. C. Sullivan ; Kentucky—Major-Gen
T. L. Crittenden ; Missouri—Brig.-General C. B
Brown ; Tennessee--Major-Gen. Alvin C. Gillom
Ohio—Col. Len. A. Harris ; Indiana—Major-Gen
John Love ; Charles Black
Michigan Major-Gen. Orlando B. Wilcox ; Wis.
consin —Major-Gen. Hobart ; Minnesota—Colone
John Ball ; lowa—Major-Gen. Fitz Henry War.
ren ; Kansas—Major-Gen. Hugh Ewing. • Wes'
Virginia Durbin Ward, Chairman.
Kilby Smith, Secretary.
Mr. Oliphant, M. P., arrived at Boston a
fortnight ago, accompanied by two young Japanese gen
tlemen of high rank, who were sent to England to ob.

Thos.

an education. They propose to pass their autumn vacs
tioa in a tour through America.

The editor of the San Francisco (California'
News Letter announces that " Ecce Homo" was written LQ
Mr. John Hamilton Thom.

Mr. Beckwith, the American Commissioner for
the Paris Exposition of 1867, is making efforts to have sent
to it tho model of an American school-house, with all its
appliances.

General Beauregard has left France for New
York.

war and, secondly, because he did not desire, by
the mention of that individual's name, to stir up
the dangerous passions of the outraged union men of
the western part of the State. Mr. Lent inquired
what this meant. Was he to understand the Pre-

sident of the United States was not to be protected,
and would not be safe as he passes through the

western part of this State ? Mr. Godard did no

say there u;as-any danger. But if the Senator did
not understand the' feeling.of the West he did ; and

he would say that they hate that man.
_ _ _

The Pre

sident could hardly be expected to avoid all allusion
to pending political questions in the speeches he
made during his recent trip to Chicago. He ;mist
necessarily say something about the condition of the
country, and it would be difficult for him to do this

without indicating his own decided opinions. The
difficulty with him is that he is too frank ; he can
. .

conceal nothing, and he lets out not only his poli-
tical views, but his own personal and partisan
feelings. In his reply to the welcome by the Mayor
of Trenton, New Jersey, he could not finish with-
out the exhortation, " Now, when the issue has
come, believing, as I do, in the integrity of the

American people, you are invited to come forward,

and at the ballot-boa discharge your whole duty."

Secretary Seward also showed that his thoughts
were moving in the same channel, and he thus en-