The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-08 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Dart, 4, strew despatch gin vessel, comm's-
sinned at Portsmouth by Commander Marcus Low-
ther, is completing her stores and general equ'pment
for service on the 'West Coast of Africa.

The Earnest, woaden gunboat, 60-horse power, is
ordered from Portsmouth to Harwich, to relieve the
present gunboat tender to the steam :Coastguard
ship at that port.
The Hector and Pallas; irorclads, under orders b
join the Channel fleet at Portland, remain at Spit-
head, but are expected to sail at the late:-A early on
Monday morning. The Hector «i'l tow an unarmed
mortar float round for lighter service at Portland.
A considerable augmentation has been made in
each department of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich,
in fulfilment of orders from the Secretary for War,
and at no time since the outbreak of the Russian
war has there been such a demand for extra hands
as at present, about 400 artificers having been
added to the Royal carriage department alone.
Some difficulty, it is stated, is experienced in obtain-
ing the temporary services of competent men, such
as able and experienced carpenters and wheelwrights,
to up the vacancies creatcd by the removal of a
number of men belonging to those trades to the new
iron works. Now that a presring demand has been
made by the Admiralty for a ready supply o:arma-
ments for the ships of the fleet it is found necessary
to meek for an additional number of men to supply
the places of those who were rejected when the old
carpenters' shops were converted into smitheries and
machinery rooms, and the. Carpenters' branch wrs
much reduced. A large number of gun carriages,
slides, &c., is being constantly issued and shipped
for Portsmouth, Devonport, and Chatham, and 50
others, partly completed, are promised for Ports-
mouth by the end of the present month. They are
to consist of 6,- and 12-ton gurr, for ships' use, and
7-ton for land service. The weight of the carriages
and s'ides is respectively 37icwt. and 56icwt.
They are all of the new Wrought-iron plan now
genergy introduced for land and sea sea-
a:ce. The Wt.'. Department steam vessel Lord de
Grey and Ripon, T. H. Moore, master, yesterday
shipp 1 ten 12-ton g-ins, &c., for Portsmouth, and
went down the river to t'ie Lower Hope on W-1,
f t ersomeer e p
found satisfactory,
alterations to her boilers
which w
her average speed
r r
be' ig 10} 1-rots per hor--.
The War Department vessel. Taames, J. Hornsey,
mister, in coir-n..nd, sa".ed from Wooh:ch.i`
pr •tia"y laden ...th stores, under orders to cr" at
Pr- het, to sFp powder for Shoelnilynen, to pro-
ceed to Sheerness, Upnor Castle, rid Chatham, and
to land guns, shot, shell, &c., at the latter place.
Tae chartered :ransport Leonard H's, yesterday
went down to Woolwich A -sena', unde7 orders to bhip
s`gyres
paddlewheel vessel Medusa, Com-
mander Thomas Potter, yesterday cow-Irene- i u-i-
-shipping the large amount of annup,:tion ordered
11 for
Majesty'sD üb-i incltd.ng 15 tons of br" cartiidgel
to be returned to Woolwich from Portsmouth, as
referred to in The bun of yesterday: An ade'rona'
nu-nber of hands were sent on board in order t 3
effect the removal into l;ghters for despatch to
Gravesend, for embarcation as early as possible, and
which may probably be completed to-day. the
Medusa may then re'xrn to her post at Sheerness.

HerMajcsty'spadd'ewheel steam fi:gato Leopa-d,
18, Capt. Capt. C. T. Leclee, from China, arrived
i Plymoul Sound yesterday evering. She left
Madeira on the Ist irr,t. The Sparish frigate Gerona
bad captured off that island the steamship Tornado,
from England, ostensibly for carrying i";cit aid to
the Peruvians. and had sent her to Cati:z. Tao
Gerona was left looking outfortheCyclone, another
steamer a"eged to be engaged in the sa me prrsu';;
as the Tornado.

The Volunteers and the Bels'r '1 T 7- National

The jo'nt labours of the Beig:an Connr'ssion and
the English Volunteer Conarrottel have resuhed in
' the issue of a tolerably perfect programme of the
proceedings at Brussels, commencing on the 2ad
ist. The Volu steers w:.l be able to compete, as
in previous years, at the oreinary shooting of the
Tir Na'ional, 225 metres (about 250 yards), with
the same regelations that appl'ed last; year. But
the clz-ss of shooting wh: eh more pzrticularly appea's
to our riflemen will be that at long ranges, now in-
troduced for the first time in Belgium. Prizes have
been offered by the the Government, and the
Garde Civique, and one series open to riflemen of
all countries bearing mirtaty weapons without
covered or magnifying eights or hair triggers. Zhe
ranges will be 450 mutes (about 500 yards) and
550 metres (about 600 yards). The targets will
be sim"cr to those -used at Wimbledon for
the Swiss Carton prizes, two yards square, with
a bo-l's-eye of 24 :nches, counting four points ;
a centre of 48 inches, counting three points,
the outer counting two points. Five shots are
allowei at each distance, two sighting shots in addi-
tioa. There will be no charge made for entrance
fees or sighting shots, but the list of competitors
will be closed on the 20th. Entries are to be
made to the Hon Secretaries of the English Com-
mittee at 79, Basinghall-street. A special competi-
tion has been also arranged for English Volunteers
only, prizes having been offered by the Belgian rifle-
men who visited Wimbledon last July, by the
Chasseurs Ecla;reurs of Brussels, by the second legion
of the Garde Civique of Brussels, and by others.
Seven shots are to be fired at 450 and 550 metres,
regulation long Enfield rifles, with Government
ammunition, alone being admissible to this con-
test. Targets and scoring aro to be on the Wimble-
don system, and the Hythe position adopted. These
prizes must be shot for in uniform, 14 marks to be
made at the shorter range to qualify competitors to
shoot, at 550 metre-, two sighting shots allowed at
each range. There will be no entrance fee for th's
competition.

The special fetes organised for the entertainment
of our Volunteers aro numerous, and show that the
Belgians are determined to repay, with heavy inte-
rest, the hospitality received by their representatives
in this On Saturday evening, the
22d there, torchlight reception to the Vo-
lunteers countrys
to last
b e a July.
7 whence they are to
b e marched
a ra
e betdt
to
railway
oe
trbei Niiaey o
Hotel
eslt station,
vn
p. e
to be
there
pre-
sented with the viii d'hon!zcn r by the burgomaster—
the same evening a route is to be given by the Lite-
rary and Artistic Club. On Sunday there will be
Gardena,
dena, and a ball given by the
an official reception at the Tir National steeplechases,
a
evening a military concert
atßnd a
etubnei
obznael
lye
rgOiicienua
on Tuesday evening a ball, given
by the Societe de Grande Harmonic; on Wednes-
day a fete, illuminations, &c., in the gardens of the
Zoological Society ; on Thursday a State visit to the
Opera by the King, when seats will be specially re-
served for Volunteers ; on Friday an excursion to
Antwerp on the special invitation of the Garde
Civique of that city ; on Saturday a public banquet
and promenade concert.

he South-Eastern and Chatham Dover Railways
have agreed to start trains from their several metro-
politan termini at 7.25 a.m. on the 22d inst. Special
boats and trains will convey the Volunteers from
Dover to Brussels, in time for the reception in the
evening. The fares will. be, for return tickets aval-
able for a month, 325. 6d. first class, and 225. second
class.

The English Volunteer Committee have bad a by
no meaLls easy task in arrang,ng these details, the
active honorary secretaries having anything but a
sinecure in their respective departments. L;eut.
Farley (29th Kent) has visited Brussels this week
to perfect the programme, Mr. Bigmore (Ist Sirrey)
hr N;tig charge of the Enghsh cotrevondence. It
is folly anticipated from the interest manifested by
Volunteers from all parts of the country that a large
number wilt avail themselves of the opportunity of
spending a pleazant holiday in Belgium.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SIIILLING DAY.—Yel-
torday Vie acirnisons on payment wero ; ditto by
satisou ticiies, 1,013 3 total, 4,363.