The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-17 00:00:00

VOLUNTEER RIFLE CORPS.

The following circular to Lord Lieutenants of
counties has just been issued from the War-office :
War-office, Oct, 14.
My Lord—l have the honour to inform you that
her Majesty's Government have determined to issue
immediately to Rifle Volunteer Corps an additional
supply of long Enfield rifles (pattern 1853), to the
extent of 25 per cent. on the effective strength of
the corps. This supply will raise the aggregate
issue to 50 per cent. on the effective strength °Me
force; and I have to request that you will be good
enough to communicate this decision of the Govern-
ment to the commanding officers of the various
corps in your county, who should at once forward
the prescribed requisitions to this office for such
portion of the supply as they may be entitled to
under the regulations.
At a later period I shall be prepared to issue a
third instalment of arms of the same pattern as the
50 per cent. now granted. And I hope to be in a
position, in the course of next summer, to supply
the short rifle with sword bayonet, tl a limited ex-
tent, in exchange for the long one at present issued.
I have the honour to add, that the amount of
ammunition for effective members to bo issued at cost
price, on the requisition of the commanding officer,
is raised from 100 rounds balls per man, GO rounds
blank per min, 176 percussion caps per man, 20
percussion caps per man for snapping practice (as
laid down in the memorandum of the 13th of July),
to 200 rounds balls pa man, 120 rounds blank per
man, 352 percussion caps per man, 40 percussion
caps per man for snapping practice.
I have the honour to be, my Lord, your obedient
servant, SYDNEY HERBERT.

The Earl and Countess of Derby will receive a
distinguished circle of friends at Knowsley Park, near
Prescott, early in the ensuing week.
The Earl and Countess of Bessborongh have been
seeing company at Bcssborough House, County Kilkenny.
The noble earl and countess are expected
,to arrive in Lon-
don from Ireland in the course of next month, to be present
at the marriage of Lady Cecilia Gordon Lennox and Lord

Bingham.
The Earl and Countess of Tankerville have left
his lordship's shooting quarters in the Highlands en route

to Chilliniham Castle, near Wooler.
The Earl and Countess Stanhope and Lady Mary
Stanhope and Hon. Mr. Stanhope have arrived at Torquay

from Chevening-park, near Sevenoaks.

The Countess of Longford and Lady Louisa
Pakenham have arrived in town from the Queen's Hotel,
Upper Norwood.
Viscount Palmerston arrived in town on Saturday
from his seat, Broadlands, Hants. _

The Lord Chancellor will give a dejeuner at
Strathedon House, Knightsbridge, on the 2d proximo,
being the first day of Michaelmas term, when the noble
and learned lord will receive the judges and Queen's coun •

Previous to the reception.. of the judges, the Lord
Mayor, the Lord Mayor elect (Alderman Carter), the Re-
corder, and other civic authorities, will wait on the Lord
Chancellor, when his lordship will signify her Majesty's
approval of the choice of the citizens of London.
Lord John Russell has returned to town from
Scotland.
Lady Eleanor Butler, youngest daughter of John,
17th Earl of Ormond°, died a few days since at Soirento,
near Naples. Her ladyship was in her 70th year, and was
married in August, 1808, to Cornelius Viscount Lismore,'
which marriage was dissolved in 1820.
THE ARTIC OFFICERS.—We understand the Ad-
miralty have given directions for the grant of sea-time to
Capt. M'Clintock during the period he was in command of
the Fox ; but this, we presume, will have to bo done by
Order in Council. Lieutenant Hobson's commission as
commander will shortly be signed, if it has not already
reached that gallant and enterprising young officer.—

. •
United Service Gazette.
SARAWAK.—By the Esk we learn that the retri-
butive expedition had returned to Sarawak, after inflicting
severe punishment on the Kanowit people, for the treache-
rous murder of Messrs. Fox and Steele. Tho principals
had been executed with 14 other Fost-men ; about 200
Dyaks also were killed who had taken up a position above
Kanowit.—Straits Times. _ _ -

A MAN KILLED BY A BULL.--On Tuesday last a
man, named David M'Dowell, was killed by a bull near
Armagh. He met a herd of cattle with a bull, which were
being driven on the road to the grazing. M'Dowell, know-
ing that the bull was vicious, as he attacked others on seve-
ral occasions, called to the driver to pass him on as quickly
as possible, standing the while at a gap on the roadside.
Immediately the furious animal came up he rushed at de-
ceased, followed him over the hedge, caught him on his horns,
and pitched him up in the air. Deceased fell on his head,
and died in twenty minutes. On Wednesday the coroner
held an inquest on the body, and the jury returned a verdict
in accordance with the facts.
ROBERT STEPHENSON'S BURIAL.—On Saturday
an application was made to Sir George Comewall Lewis for
permission to inter the remains of this distinguished en-
gineer in Westminster Abbey. His consent and that of
the Deah and Chapter were granted, and the remains are
to be placed in the nave of the Abbey. The ceremony will
take place on Friday next. The friends of the deceased
will meet in the cloisters at eleven o'clock. Mr. Charles
Manby, of the Institute of Civil Engineers, will forward
cards of admission to those desirous of being, present.
SIX CHILDREN POISONED WITH SWEETMEATS.

Considerable excitement has been caused within the las,
few days at Northtawton, a small town in the north of
Devon, in consequence of the following occurrence :—Six
children, belonging to different families, were seized with
vomiting, and. Dr. Budd, a physician, on being called in,
stated that they had been poisoned. On inquiry it was
ascertained that they had eaten coloured sweetmeats called
" birds' nests," which were purchased in the fair of a man
named Ryan, of Northtawtou. All of that description were
shortly afterwards seized by Mr. Superintendent Grant, of
the county constabulary, who was informed by Ryan that
he bad purchased them of a confectioner 'of Exeter named
Sherry. On the following day Superintendent Grant ob-
tained a warrant and took possession of a quantity ofcolour-
ing matter, found on the premises of Sherry, and handed it
over to a chymist for analysis;
ELECTION EXPENSES.—Mr. Robinson, of Lan-
caster, the elector auditor for the southern division of the
county of Lancaster, has published "a full and true account
of all the expenses incurred by the Hon. Algernon Egerton
and Mr. Win. John Leigh, to serve in Parliament MI- the
said division," at the last general election. This account is
a very explicit one, though a few of the items are given in
a summary form. The first item is—expenses paid by agents
previously to the day of nomination £B2O lls. 3d. Next
comes advertising, printing, and stationery, £636 16s. 10d.,
and this sum is divided among 70 firms, the names of all of
which and the amount of each account are given. Next,
there is the item of £720 3s. 4d. for tho use of rooms, and
to make this item the summary of 77 different accounts are
stated. The same plan is followed with most of the other
items; which are as follows :—Bill pelting,-£43 14s. Gd. ;
hire of coaches and railway fares, £1,621 17s. sd. ; profes-
sional charges, £1,124 Ils. 3d. ; expenses paid to clerks,
messengers, &c., including check and poll clerks, £749
3s. sd. ; general expenses, including telegrams, bell-ringers,
refreshments for cabmen, horses, &c., £142 Os. 2d. ; pro-
portion of sheriff's expenses, £377 88. ; election auditor's
statutory fee and commission, £10; proportion of reason-
able expenses, advertising, &c., £l2 15s. Bd. ; retained for
disputed accounts, £lB 105.16 d.— total7 £6,310 14s. 4d.
AN ADMIRALTY TEST OF THE GREAT EASTERN.
—The Admiralty give us two formulse by which they test
the relative merits of steamships; the former involving the
speed, midship section, and indicated power the latter in-
volving the weight instead of the midship section. To ap-
ply these tests to the Great Eastern wo require, of course,
to have her indicated power, midship section, and weight,
and these we are able to supply with a sufficiently near
approximation to the truth for our present purpose. Before
leaving the ship we ascertained that the total indicated
power, developed when the engines did their best, was about
7,200-horse power. Wo have further found by approximate
calculations that with the draught of water with which the
ship left Portland (25 feet aft, 21 feet forward, mean 23
feet) her midship section must have been about 1,600 square
feet. Further, her weight must have Wen at least between
17,000 tons and 18,000 tons—say, 17,500 tons. We know
that this must be near tho weight, and at any rate cannot
be in excess of it, because the mere iron in the hull weighs
8,030 tons, the engines and boilers about 2,000 tons (reckon-
ing the weight three-fourths of a ton per nominal horse-
power), and there were 6,003 tons of coals on board, in all
16,000 tons. To this we add 1,500 tons only for the weight
of woodwork, roasts, spars, and rigging, paddle-wheels and
screw, water in boilers, and everything else on board, which
certainly cannot weigh less than that amount. Taking,
then, these quantities—the speed 15 knots, the midship
section 1,6:.0 square feet, the displacement 17,500 tons—
and substituting them in the two Admiralty formulni suc-
cessively, we get for the Great Eastern's charnetaiistic
numbers 750 and 316 respectively. Now, 11011 C of the Ad-
miralty vessels reach such numbers as these. We have the
Ag,ameinnon giving 634, the Miranda 680, the Tribune 686,
the Algiers 687, the Simoom 688, the Desperate 697, the
St. Dean D'Acre, 701, the Princess Royal nearly 725, and
the Cruiser nearly 728, by. the first formula ; and we have
the St. Jean D'Acre giving 201, the Tribune 202, the
Princess Royal 203, the Cruiser, 220, the Desperate 224,
the Simoom 240, and the Miranda no less than 247 by the
second formula; but the very best of these fall, as will be
seen, considerably short of the Great Eastern's numbers in
both cases.—Nechanive aagazine.