The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-20 00:00:00

THE ARAIY.

With the view of qualifying the troops belonging
to the East India depots at Chatham to take part in
the siege operations intended to be executed at that
garrison during the ensuing summer, the non-
commissioned officers and men of the regiments of
the Line have commenced practising escalading
operations, in conjunction with the corps of Royal
and East India Engineers, the fineness of the
weather permitting these operations, which are di-
rected by an officer of Royal Engineers, to be car-
ried on without intermission.
During yesterday and the previous day large
parties of non-commissioned officers and men of the
Royal Engineers, belonging to the survey com-
panies stationed in various parts of the country,
arrived at head-quarters, Brompton barracks, Chat-
ham, for the purpose of being put through a course
of instruction with the Lancaster rifle. In conse-
quence of the new regulations issued under the
authority of the Duke of Cambridge, the men of
these companies of Royal Engineers will only be
trained once with the L mcaster carbine, as the time
for an annual course of training usual with the other
branches of the service would greatly retard the
operations of the trigonometrical survey of Great
Britain in which they are engaged.
Orders have been received for the breaking up of
the Military Train Depot at Horfield barracks. The
men will join the 2d battalion on its arrival home
from India, this corps having been much reduced by
men volunteering into the Line. Captain Blake will
take command vice Captain Hill, until the Ist of
May, when Colonel Robinson will assume the com-
mand.

His Royal Highness the General Commaiding,
in-Chief, attended by Colonel Tyrwhitt, Aide-de-
Camp, went down to Woolwich yesterday morning
and witnessed the trial of a new method of lubri-
cating the barrels of the army rifles, proposed by
Mr. Whitworth. The Duke arrived at Woolwich
at half-past 10, and drove direct to the practising
range in the Plumstead marsh, where were already
assembled, in anticipation of his Royal Highness's
arrival, General Sir F. Burgoyne, G.C.8., Inspec-
tor-General of Fortifications; Major-General Hay,
Inspector •General of Musketry ; Major-General Sir
W. F. Williams, K.C.8., commanding the garrison,
Colonel Bloomfield, Aide-de•Camp to the Queen
and Second Commandant ; Colonel Bingham,
Adjutant• General to the Royal Artillery; Brigade
Major Shaw ; Captain Boxer, Superintendent
of the Royal Laboratories ; Captain Freeth,
Deputy-Assistant Quartermaster-General, &e. Mr.
Whitworth personally directed the trials with one
of his own rifles and one of the Enfield large bore.
The target stood at a distance of 500 yards from
the firing station, and after firing a number of
rounds, the distance was increased to 800 yards.
The method was perfectly successful, and as regarded
the superiority of the two rifles, as is usually the
case under favourable circumstances, it was unani-
mously decided in favour of the Whitworth rifle.
A new species of cartridge is about to be introduced
which has been for some time past under the con-
sideration of the select committee of the Arsenal,
and which it is confidently asserted will redeem
and fully establish the reputation and principle of
the Enfield rifle, and remove the inconvenience of
fouling, recently complained of by the Indian army.
The 12-pounder brass artillery gun some time
ago presented to her Majesty by the Emperor of
the French was yesterday removed from the Arsenal
store at Woolwich by a detachment of the Royal
Horse Artillery, and conveyed to the Royal Reposi-
tory.

LOSS OF THE STEAMER GENERAL
WILLIAMS.

Letters from Malta announce the loss by founder-
ing of the screw steamer General Williams, Jona-
than Peter, master, in lat. 36 10 N., and long.
18 20 E., on the 3d of April, when on her voyage
from London to the Piraus of Athens, Smyrna, and
Constantinople. She was laden with a general
cargo, consisting of iron and sundry other merchan-
dise. All hands were saved by being taken out
of the sinking vessel a quarter of an hour before
by the French brig Augustin Elize, Joseph Azibert,
master, which was foitunately passing at the
time, and landed at Malta, in all, 42 individuals,
including four passengers, of whom one was a
ess
e l f
o for r
e tv
coe
uka
dle hors, s
sut,
he
refusing d
water
female. The conduct of Captain Azibert, in stand-
uwi nuhgdi
ecbrhy,
tand
e sinkingalso
whisendeavoured
subsequent•
even compensation, cannot be too much praised. It
appears that the vessel reached Malta without any
disaster at noon on the Ist of April, and taking her
departure thence perfectly tight and seaworthy on
the same night, met next day with stress of wea-
ther ; the sea carried away port gangway, rails,
bulwarks, poop, and bridge ladders, seven warps
and towlines coiled on the quarter hatch, and the
lid of one of the bunkers, which latter they
lost no time in battening up with canvas and.
planks. Another sea carried away the other gang-
way, and the main gangway gave way. At half-
past two a.m. of the 3d April, 9 feet of water was
found in the engine-room, and soon after, rising
even still higher, extinguished the fires, when the
ship was hove to under the fore and aft foresail,
and all hands were set to pump and bale out the
water. At 6, finding this increasing, they pro-
ceeded to cast overboard some rod iron of the cargo ;
at 7 sighted the French brig, and made a signal of
distress ; and at half-past 8 she hove to under their
lee, and her captain consented to stand by the
steamer, which at 11 was visibly sinking:, where-
upon the two lifeboats and gig were launched,
into which all hands hurried, the master (the
last to leave) having sounded and found four-
teen feet of water in the hold, and higher than
the donkey engine in the engine-room. The crew
had not reached the French brig many minutes when
the steamer foundered, stern foremost, with
all she had on board, nothing having been saved
but a bag of specie taken in at Malta for Smyrna,
and the ship's chronometer: The vessel, which
belonged to the Greek and Oriental Steam Naviga-
tion Company, was iron built, and had a tubular
mizen mast of the same metal. During the gale,
which was from the N.N.W., with a tremendously
heavy sea, the vessel laboured and strained very
much, and some of her plates must have opened.
There was also sharp lightning for three or four
hours; but none of the crew seem to think she had
been struck by the electric fluid.

PROSPECTS OF WAR.—It was noticed that Lord
Derby on Monday evening stated that, before finally aban-
doning all hope of an adjustment, the British Government
had suggested one more proposition, the nature of which
h e was not at present at liberty to state. This proposition
is understood to have been despatched to Vienna only on
Monday afternoon, and the answer is not supposed to have
been yet received. The public, however, have learnt so
thoroughly to estimate the duplicity practised daily during
the past few months that the restoration of confidence,
without some violent change first being witnessed in the
relations of Europe, is now regarded as an impossibility. It
is felt that, even if a transitory respite is obtained by "con-
cessions" from Austria, it will simply be a question as to
which is the next Power from whom concessions are to be
extorted in like manner at the cannon's mouth. The idea
that the Emperor Napoleon intends by a bona fide disarma-
ment to undo the work on which, at a cost of 10 or 10 112117
liens sterling per annum, he has been engaged for_the pest
four years, or that, as regards his naval priParownwrala
inwilltutisyvencssato merue_chragstneepaupsyssediremswarl7 to 61

IZ OYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
I)
Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean.
On EAS rER MONDAY, will be produced Shakspeare's
historical play of KING HENRY V.
King Henry V., Mr. C. Kean; Chorus, Mrs. C. Kean.