The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-16 00:00:00

THE DERBY DAY

This morning the principal thoroughfares of the
metropolis leading to Epsom presented the usual
appearance that characterises the " Derby Day."
From an early hour the railway stations were
crowded with persons of all classes, and the streets
and roads in the south and south-western parts of
London were a scene of bustle and animation.
Vehicles of every description, from the dash-
' ing open carriage and four to the coster-
monger's cart, and conveyances of a nondescript
character, some evidently improvised for the occa-
sion and full to overflowing, rattled along the roads.
The bulky hampers were abundant, while the occu-
pants of the more humble coaveyances had made
ample provision for their "creature comforts," to
which in some instances justice was already being
done. The pavements were lined with spectators,
and there was the usual amount of " chaff"
from omnibus tops and along the road, while
the spectacle presented by some of the turn-
outs caused much amusement, and elicited com-
ments by no means complimentary to those who
availed themselves of those grotesque modes of con-
veyance to the Downs, and were replied to in a
similar strain, but the utmost good humour pre-
vailed. The arrangements of the police were
excellent, and, with one exception, we witnessed no
accident, and that not of a very serious nature. A
man in some hybrid sort of vehicle, between a
cart and a gig, was proceeding at a rapid pace
along the Kennington-park-road, and when close to
the Horns a band of _music struck up, and the ani-
mal, whose appearance emulated that of the far-
famed Rosinante, under the influence of some
musical proclivity, or actuated by some other Cause,
came to a dead stop, and sent the driver, who was
then engaged in gallantly saluting some ladies
stationed at a window, flying over his head.
The man, who was more surprised than hurt,
regained his feet, and mounted his seat, but
the horse, which was a " jibber," immediately com-
menced a series of operations incidental to that
eccentric animal. Planting himself firmly on his
fore feet, he struck out with his hind legs with a
violence that threatened to demolish the frail
vehicle. He then swayed from side to side, as if
under alcoholic excitement, and finally attempted,
but without success, the performance
technically known as " bucking." Ultimately,
under the influence of the argumentun: ad
baculum liberally supplied by his driver, he started
off with great speed, as if to atone for his pre-
vious escapade.
Perhaps at no part of the Surrey side was there
a greater crowd assembled than at the Elephant and
Castle, which for some time was rendered almost
impassable to pedestrians. The Horns also, and
other places in the neighbourhood, were thronged,
and here for some minutes there was a dead lock
from the number of conveyances that thronged the
part from Kennington and Kennington-park Roads.
Notwithstanding the arrangements made by the
railway authorities at the Waterloo and other sta-
tions
the accommodation was inadequate to the
demand, and hundreds were compelled to forego
their visit to the Downs.

The preceding remarks apply with little variation
to other parts of London which this day exhibited,
the same motley features and the same spirit of
drollery and excitement which are invariably evoked
by the Derby Day.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPQNDENT.)
EPSOM, Wednesday.
With the first dawn of day those who had passed
the night in the usually quiet town of Epsom were
astir, in order to complete the preparations they
had begun to celebrate the national holiday with
becoming spirit. The great effort seemed to be in
the commissariat department, for in a great many
instances shops hitherto devoted to the sale of pots
and pans, boots and shoes, and wearing apparel of
every description, were converted into " genteel
dining-rooms ;" and in the windows were displayed
a variety of edibles, consisting of bilious-looking
hams, beef boiled to the consistency of rock, pork-
pies remarkable for antiquity, and other delicacies,
I to satisfy the hungry crowd that visit the quiet,
and we might almost say, sleepy town of Epsom.
In the principal streets there was also a great display
of glazed calico flags, which, if not adding to the
beauty of the place, at least give it a holiday ap-
pearance, and thus while the inhabitants testified
their feeling, they were not at much expense in do-
ing so. The roads leading to the far-famed Downs
were also early alive with persons, all anxious to
take advantage of the unusual supply of specie in
the town, and many with the most peculiar articles
were to be seen wending their way to the
world-renowned race course. The conveyance of
aqua Pura was enormous. It seemed as though all
the costermongers in the metropolis had turned
to but one line of business, as their barrows for
the disposal of fruit and vegetables were on this oc-.
casion converted to a totally different use. From
three to four barrels, some of which had contained
paraffin, herrings, salt-fish, and flour, were fixed on
the fragile vehicles and filled with water from the
nearest source of supply, and then laboriously
transported to the course to supply the thirsty bi-
peds and quadrupeds of the lower orders, or perhaps
to be used in washing the salads of the more aristo-
cratic visitors. However, be the purpose what it
may, we should say from the great many engaged
in the business it was exceedingly profitable, and
that it involved no very great outlay of capital.
The early trains by the South Western and London
and Brighton and South Coast railways brought
an immense number of visitors, and, although many
availed themselves of a fly, thousands betook them-
selves to the old, old route of a long constitutional
walk through the long and narrow lane that skirts
the corn-fields to the Downs.

THE COURSE.
The Downs are crowded to an extent that we
have seldom seen. The hill opposite the stand and
far past the paddock, and up on the left to the
" corner," is one dense black mass of carriages and
people—a houseless population as numerous in its
crowds and as varied in its elements as that of the
metropolis itself. It is a real Derby gathering, and,
if possible, a Derby gathering exaggerated with all
its queer melange of high and low—blacklegs and
lords, card-sharpers and countrymen, gentlemen
and ladies, knaves, fools, showmen, holiday folks,
foreigners, trampers, lame, halt, and blind ; all, in
short, whom toil or money could bring together
near London, and what does that not comprise ?
Here is a blind man reading the Scripture, while
near him two other blind men led by dogs are play-
ing so vehemently on whistles as unconsciously to
drown his voice ; beyond these is a juvenile band
whose performances one cannot overlook or pardon,
even on account of their youth ; and to these, after
a brief interval of Aunt Sallys and cocoa-nuts,
succeeds a conjuror, apparently swallowing whole
reams of coloured paper.
Where is the course ? asks a stranger. The place
where it used to be is black and surging like the
ocean in a gale. Here and there a stray policeman
surges up and down like a stormy petrel, a soldier
of the Guards is borne helplessly along on the bil-
lows, or a parasol floats past like some tiny memo-
rial of a wreck. There is a Babel of discordant
sounds. The shrill voices of the ladies who sell the
cards, the sharp crack of the tin guns firing for nuts,
bells ringing everywhere apropos of nothing, Mr.
Dorling himself riding frantically up and down, and
every one pushing, swejring, making futile at-
tempts to smoke, or loOking out for some friend
to admire the extraordinary paletot which has
been got up regardless of expense for this spe-
cial occasion. Raise your head a little and look
across towards the hill. There is another nation
there, surrounded by and entrenched behind all
the vehicles in the world. Fifty thousand deieuners
in the open air are simultaneously going on. There
is a wilderness of parasols, pink and blue, and deli-
cate white, a prevailing voraciousness which you
abhor, because it is so far off, and in the immediate
foreground all the travelling jonglcurs have congre-
gated to amuse the people on the hill, who seem to
be thinking of hampers and sandwiches, and cham-
pagne, and Fortnum and Mason, and everything,
in fact; but the great business of the day. Under
the Grand Stand is a sort of disused wine-cellar,

whitewashed clean enough, but as small, as
ill-placed, and as inconvenient as can well
be imagined, Here the visitor finds himself
among apparently a new race of pigmy men,
with their gay-coloured silks shining brightly un-
derneath great overcoats, who converse by winks and
nudges of the elbow, and who, with bridle and
saddle round their necks, proceed with solemn
gravity to soat themselves in the scales and test in
an amateur manner their precise weight before
weighing by the proper authorities. There is nothing
in the whole proceeding that is of interest. From
the weighing-room there is always a general move
to the paddock, the cool quiet of which pretty
meadow comes in like a rest after the turmoil of the
course. There is an odd muster always here—peers,
trainers, jockeys, owners, backers, betters, all more
or less engaged with note-making on little slips of
paper or small books, and all on the look out for
authorities, " horsey" men, and what not. From
this point a rush is made to the seats on the Grand
Stand, where thousands are now waiting with
anxiety the solving of the Derby problem of 1866.

LONDON GAZETTE.—This Evening.

CROWN-OFFICE, MAY 12.

MEMBERS RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT PARLIA
MENT.
Town of Nottingham
—Ralph Bernal Osborne, Esq., and
John Russell (commonly called Viscount Amberley), inthe
rmooemrleyo,fESegir., RwohbeeeretelJeueetikeens
fCerliftthone,eaßidartt.,ewanndhae
determined to be void. bee Samueln
WAR-OFFICE, PALL-MALL, M
by
bpyu rpcuhracshe
a,
sveic e
viceA r Arthur
Au
-r.
;LeieourtenentanstamAuretlhuGar }nietztt
6th Regiment of Dragon Guards LieutAeirnanlts. George
whowh
o retiresr vire
s;
Clayton Swiuey to be Captatiani,n,
George Smith,
PAT
ft rr
ei cdkdGe oßdemu ar
bn e
beto
c
to be Lieutenant,' by purchase,vice —w=ney ; Cornet
Henry Blackburn Hamilton to be Lieutenant, by pur-
chase, vice Godman ; Murdoch Gillian Maclaine, Gent.,
to be Cornet, by purchase, vice Garnett ; Thomas Gor-
don Grieve, Gent., to be Cornet, by purchase, vice,
Hamilton.
7th Hussars—Veterinary-Surgeon John Burr, from half-
pay, late Military Train, to bo Veterinary-Surgeon, vice
John Barker (Ist Class), who retires upon temporary
half-pay.
17th Lancers—Sir Charles Nugent, Bart., to be Cornet, by
purchase, vice Henry Faulkner, promoted.
Palmer to be
Royal Engineers—Lieutenant Henry Spencer
Second Captain, vice W. S. Boileau, placed upon tem-
porary half-pay.
Ist Regimen' of Foot—Lieutenant Charles B. Steer to be
Captain, by purchase, vice John Henry Nott, who re-
tires ; Ensign Robert Charles Dudgeon to be Lieutenant,
by purchase, vice Steer ; Richard Eaton Bouchier, Gent.,
to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Dudgeon.
3d Foot—Lieutenant Shapland Graves to be Captain, by
purchase, vice William Ross Turner, who retires; En-
sign David Glynne Griffith to be Lieutenant, by pur-
chase, vice Graves ; Richard Compton Maul, Gent., to
be Ensign, by purchase, vice Griffith.
sth Foot—Captain Francis Henry Ponder to be Major,
without purchase, vice Brevet-Colonel Milman, pro-
moted, without purchase, to a half-pay Lieutenant-
Colonelcy.
13th Foot—Staff Assistant-Surgeon Wilmot Horton Tre-
vor Power to be Assistant-Surgeon, vice Charles Henry
Legit, appointed to the Staff.
16th Foot —Lieutenant Charles Tempest Sheringham to
be Captain, by purchase, vice William Fleming Marlon,
who retires ; Ensign John Randal Mackenzie Clunes to
be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Sheringham ; William
Llewellyn, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice
Clunes.
17th Foot—Lieutenant Duncan Malcolm Irvine to be In-
structor of Musketry, vice Lieutenant John Emmett, de-
ceased.
25th Foot—Captain Thomas Rowland to be Major, by
purchase, vice Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Robertson-
Ross, promoted, by purchase, to a half-pay Lieutenant-
Colonelcy ; Lieutenant Horace William Scriven to be
Captain, by purchase, vice Rowland; Ensign Arthur
H'trry Turner to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice
Striven.
45th Foot—Ensign James Clarendon Ramsbottom Wier-
wood, from the 69th Foot, to be Ensign, vice Molly,who
exchange&
46th Foot—Capt. Frederick Sayer, from half-pay 23d Foot,
to be Captain, vice Charles S. M'Alester, who retires
upon temporary half-pay; Lieut. William Francis Spen-
cer to be be Captain, by purchase, vice Sayer, who re-
tires ; Ensign Robert Brereton to be Lieutenant, by pur-
chase, vice Spencer; John Thompson Scott, Gent., to be
Ensign, by purchase, vice Brereton.
48th Fool—Lieut. Wm. R. Tudor has been permitted to
retire from the service by the sale of his commission ;
Lieut. John F. W. Kane, from the 78th Foot, to be
Lieutenant, vice Croker-King, who exchanges.
51st Foot—James Hay Dunlop, Gent., to be Ensign, by
purchase, vice F. W. L. de Malachowski Griffa, who re-
tires; Assistant-Surgeon Geo. S. Burnside has been per-

mitted to resign his commission.
53d Foot—Lieut. Itobt. Prince to be Captain, by purchase,
vice Brevet-Major James Herne Wade, promoted by
purchase, to a half-pay Majority ; Ensign Thomas Bar-
nett Hitchcock to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice
Prince ; Aubone George Fife, Gent., to be Ensign, by

purchase, vice Hitchcock.
65th Foot—Captain and Brevet-Major James Paul to be
Major, without purchase, vice Brevet Lieut.-Col. Young,
promoted, without purchase, to a half-pay Lieutenant-
Oolonelcy.
69th Foot—Ensign Lawrence Bomford Molloy, from the
45th Foot, to be Ensign, vice Isherwood, who exchanges.
76th Foot—Ensign Thomas William Best to be Lieutenant,
by purchase, vice Augustus George West, who retires ;
John Bladon Metcalfe Taylor, Gent., to be Ensign, by
purchase, vice Best.
78th Foot—Lieutenant Charles Edgar Croker-King, from
the 48th Foot, to be Lieutenant, vice Kane, who ex-
changes.
87th Foot—Ensign Horatio Edward Paget to be Lieu-
tenant, by purchase, vice William W. Jeudwine, who
retires ; Ensign Wm. Scott, Gent., to be Ensign by pur-
chase, vice Paget.
89th Foot—Lieutenant George Francis Dowdeswell has
been permitted to retire from the Service by the sale of
his Commission.
97th Foot—Paymaster F. Scrivener, from 103 d Foot, to
be Paymaster, vice Paymaster with the honorary rank
of Captain Henry Lewis de la Chaumette, deceased.
99th Foot—Captain H. F. Winchelsea Ely to be Major,
without purchase, vice Patrick Johnston, promoted,
without purchase, to a half-pay Lieutenant-Colonelcy.
103 d Foot—George Pumfrett, Gent., late Lieutenant and
Adjutant 17th Lancers, to be Paymaster, vice F.
Scrivener, transferred to the 97th Foot.
Rifle Brigade—Ensign Francis John Rogers Sheridan to be
Lieutenant, by purchase, vice the Hon. Bernard Thomas
Howard, who retires ; Lindsay Henry John Barnard,
Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Sheridan.
Ist West India Regiment—Lieutenant West Holmes Hill
has been permitted to retire from the Service by the
sale of his Commission.