The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-05 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, Field
Marshal Commanding-in-Chief, held a levee on
Saturday at the Horse Guards. Upwards of 100
officers attended.
Colonel Borton, C. 8., at present in command of
the troeps at Colchester, is about, it is understood,
to leave that station, having received an appoint-
ment in Dublin. Colonel T. H. Tidy, A.A.G., is
named as the successor of Col. Borton at Colchester.
The 17th Lancers are expected to leave Colchester
on the 15th inst.
Lieut.-Col. Desborough succeeded Col. Brougham
in command of the Royal Artillery at Shoeburyness
on the Ist inst.
The troopship Tamar, Capt. Stirling, arrived in
Portland harbour from Portsmouth early on Saturday
morning to embark detachments of the 75th Regi-
ment, which have been stationed for the last six
months at Portland and Weymouth. The Portland
detachment was under the command of Major Dulles,
and the company from Weymouth under command
of Capt. Suttie. The latter company left by the
9.30 a.m. train for Portland, the band playing
" Auld Lang Syne," and both soldiers and civilians
gave several hearty cheers as the train left the sta-
tion. A quier and better conducted corps than the
75th have never been quartered at Weymouth, and
their departure is generally regretted by the inhabi-
tants. The troops embarked on board the Tamar,
and left Portland at noon for Dublin, but it is pro-
bable she will call into Plymouth to remedy some
slight defects in her rigging. The 75th are relieved
by detachments of 62d Regiment, who arrived here
from Pembroke between 5 and 6 on Saturday morn-
ing, the other portion of the regiment having pro-
ceeded to Gosport.
The paddlewheel steam frigate Gladiator, 6, Capt.
E. Aplin, left Hamoaze on Saturday for Plymouth
Sound. She will leave shortly with stores for the
squadron on the coast of Ireland.
A second series of experimental shell firing with
percussion fuzees took place at Portsmouth onThurs-
day and Friday last, in the presence of the Ordnance
Select Committee. Capt. Astly C. Key, C. 8., con-
ducted the experiments, the object of which is the
selection of one efficient description of fuze for use
with all guns in the Navy, rifled or smooth bore, in
the place of the several kinds of Moorsom's, Boxer's,
and others now in use, none of which can be used
with shells indiscriminately from rifled and smooth-
guns. The practice was made, as on the former
occasion, at the old wooden frigate America, moored
in one of the shallow creeks on the upper part of
Portsmouth harbour. The trials are not yet con-
cluded ; but the Petman fuze has proved to be as yet
the most reliable of all. The effects of firing at the
America is something frighful ; a visit to her as she

_ .
now lies, with the tide flowing and ebbing through
her all but sideless and deckless frame, would fur-
nish material for an unanswerable essay for the
benefit of those who still advocate the supremacy of
wood over iron in the construction of ships of war.
The committee formed at the Royal Naval College,
Portsmouth, for the relief of the widows and rela-
tives of the officers and men who unfortunately
perished at the destruction by fire of her Majesty's
late ship Bombay, off Monte Video, on the 14th of
December, 1864, and at the wreck of her Majesty's
late ship Racehorse, on the coast of Shantung, China,
on the 4th of November, 1864, have brought their
labours to a close by a final distribution of the funds
remaining in their hands, and have published a state-
ment of the receipt and expenditure of the sums com-
mitted to their charge, for the information of the
subscribers. In the Bombay 91 lives were lost—two
officers and 89 of the crew. In the Racehorse 99
lives were lost-11 officers and 88 of the crew.
Owing to the prompt receipt of subscriptions from
private sources for the relief of the wives and families
of those who perished in the two ships, the com-
mittee were enabled to commence the payment of
allotment money immediately after the Admiralty
ceased to pay it in January, 1865, and continued to
pay it until January, 1866, thus averting consider-
able trouble and pecuniary distress. The balance-
sheet of the committee, issued at its last meeting on
the 27th ult., gives us subscriptions received to that
date from the 16th of February-, 1865 :—To the
special fund for her Majesty's ship Bombay, £2,794
3s. 6d. ; ditto, her Majesty's ship Racehorse, £1,530
;
2s. 7d. ;to the general fund, £2,594 2s. 7d. and
bankers' interest, £B2 16s. 4d.—the total a.r_ount is
thus £7,001 ss. Of this sum £3,554 10s. has
been paid in allotments and relief to the wives and
families of those who perished in the Bombay, and
£2,898 15s. to the wives and families of those
who perished in the Racehorse. Out of this
sum the widows of the crew of the Bombay receive
each £77 10s. from the special fund subscribed for
that ship, and £l6 19s. from the general fund.
The widows of the crew of the Racehorse receive
each £22 18s. from the special fund for that ship,
and £l6 19s. from the general fund. Due pro-
vision has likewise been made by the committee for

securing the awards to those of tender age, so that
the money shall be applied to their exclusive benefit.

The balance-sheet shows an expense of £4OO for
advertising, printing, stationery, portages, and
other expenses, which, with a cash balance of £l4B,
brings up the whole to £7,001 ss. The Admiralty
have given the gratuity of a year's pay to each of
the widows of the crews of both ships, but, as will
be seen by the committee's statement, the main re-
lief has been furnished from private sources—from
the officers, seamen, and marines of her Majesty's
navy, as also from army
officers and from civilians.
Lieut. C. P. Boger, late of her Majesty's ship
Duke of Wellington, has been appointed to the
Victory of Flag Lieutenant to Vico-Admiral Sir

Thomas Pasley, Commander-in-Chief at Ports-

mouth.

The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty M'Dowall, engi-
neer, to the Racoon, for service in the Whiting ;
James Ritchie, engineer, to the Sphynx ; David
Francis, first-class assist.-engineer, to the Racoon,
service in the Whiting ; and George John James,
second-class assist.-engineer, to the Racoon, for
service in the Whiting.

For the purchase of stalls and boxes in the Cen-
tral Hall of Arts and Sciences, to be erected at
Kensington, the sum of £17,300 has been already sub-
scribed, the price for a box in the first tier in perpetuity
being £l,OOO, payable by instalments ; for one in the se-
cond tier, £5OO ; and for a stall in the amphitheatre, £lOO.
—The Builder.

THE MAYOR OF SUNDERLAND SNOWBALLED.—
After the conclusion of the contest for this borough
the mob attacked and maltreated peaceable pedestrians, by
assaulting them with snowballs, and so far forgot the re-
spect duo to the occupant of the civic chair as to make an
organised snowball charge upon him as he was walking
down the street.