The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-18 00:00:00

Naval and Military intelligenoe.

In consequence of the fatal accident which oc-
curred off Chatham dockyard on Saturday last by
the capsizing of the cutter from the Fantome' 12,
during a squall, when two seamen, name Thomp-
sett and Minton, were drowned, an order has been
issued that for the future no boats will be allowed
to use their sails when engaged in passing to and
fro between the vessels and the dockyard.
The officers belonging to the depots now stationed
at Chatham are required to go through a course of
instruction in the use of the Enfield rifle, under
W. Nott, before proceeding to join the service com-
panies of their corps in India and China.
The four companies of Royal Artillery at Wool-
wich, under orders for China, have been reinforced
by a transfer of the required number of men
from the other battalions to fill up the vacancies.
The companies are now full strength, and the
whole of the men, having gone through medical at-
testation and been pronounced efficient for service,
are awaiting orders for embarkation. The other
six companies of artillery at Woolwich, under
orders for Nova Scotia, Canada, and the Mauritius,
are likewise ready for departure.
The third of the new class of gunboats, the Leven
(two of which, the Algerine and the Lee, are in a
forward state for service), arrived at Woolwich
yesterday awning from Northfleet. The fourth, to
be called the Slaney, will be launched and for-
warded to Woolwich for fitment to-day.
The paddlewheel steam storeship Rhadamanthus,
Master Commander Browne, returned to Woolwich
yesterday morning from Portsmouth. She was ad-
mitted into basin, and is ordered to commence em-
barking steam machinery and boilers for the
western yard..

The Paddlewheel steamer Spitfire, in basin at
Woolwich, after a thorough readjustment of ma-
chinery and sundry repairs, is now ready fop re-
commission.

The steam storeship Reaper, in Woolwich basin,
is ordered to be fitted with Griffith's patent screw-
propeller, which possesses the advantage of enabling
its angle to be altered at sea, so as to place the
blades in line with.the keel when under sail, with-
out, the necessity of unshipping the screw. To
give her as much advantage as possible of canvass
she is ordered to be rigged barque fashion. She is
intended to convey the guns and war stores belong-
' ing to the gun-boats under orders for China.
Solne plates of newly-discovered metal resem-
bling ordinary steel, and denominated by the paten-
tee homogeneous metal, have been introduced at
Woolwich dockyard, under the sanction of the
Lords of the Admiralty, and are ordered to be put
through the mud test,cor proving the strength of
metal, and to verify its competency for the pur-
pose of making ships' boilers. This metal has the
advantage over malleable iron of being considerably
lighter, and much more durable.
Mr. R. H. Pearson, of her Majesty' ship Pem-
broke, has been appointed First Assistrnt-Eugineer
to her Majesty's ship Cornwallis, at Hull, vice
Mr. Matthews, who exchanges.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieutenant J. W. Arm-
strong, to the Cormorant ; Spencer Chapman,
naval cadet, to the Furious; Jahn M. Hockley,
master in command, to the Volcano ; and
Pierce Mansfield, acting assistant-surgeon, to the
'Waterloo.

LOYAL PANOPTICON.

On Monday a meeting of the shareholders in this
company was held at the London Tavern, for the
purpoie of taking measures for the protection of
their interests as against the mortgagees of the pro-
perty, who are desirous of disposing of the whole
of it by auction. The chair was taken by Dr.
Martyn.
The SECRETARY then read a report prepared by
Mr. Clarke, the promoter of the institution, from
which it appeared that receipts for rents and admis-
s.ous from the 18th of March (the day the institu-
tion was opened) to the 30th of June, 1854,
amounted to 3,917/. 15s. 5d., which was so satis-
factory to the council that they declared a dividend
at the rate of 4 per cent, upon the paid-up capital.
In June, 1855, however, there was on the profit
and loss account a balance of 2,055/. 19s. I Od. ; the
receipts for the entire year having been only 8,548/.
2s. 7d. This state of things led to the final close of
the institution on the 31st of July, 1856. The
next month a special meeting was held, when the
council informed the proprietary that 25,0001. was
necessary to liquidate outstanding liabilities, and
to leave a balance of 3,0001. in hand to carry on the
institution. Failing in raising this sum the ac-
count; 117,7031., the assets con
sisting of the building land and its contents, valued
at 30,0001., showing a loss of 87,703/. The mort-
gagees were proceeding to sell ofi the whole concern
when they were, at the suit of Mr. Clarke, re-
strained by an injunction from the Court of Chan-
cery, Vic:.-Chancellor Kindersley holding that a
power to a trustee to mortgage did not give him
the power to sell ; and, a fortiori, did not give
him authority to give another the power to sell.
That injunction was afterwards removed, on the
ground that, as Mr. Clarke had been a party to the
mortgage
,be was not competent to seek relief from
his own act. It was, however, still opera to any
shareholder not a member of the council to apply
for its renewal.
.
After a long discussion, it was then resolved that
the sale of the institution by the mortgages would
be illegal ; that it was desirable to resuscitate the
institution under the Limited Liability Act ; and
a committee was appointed to carry out the views
of the meeting:

His Royal Highness the General Commanding-
in-Chief has signified to Major-General Breton,
commanding the South-West District, at Ports-
mouth, his int-ntion of inspecting, one day this
week, on South-ea-common, the troops quartered
in Portsmouth Garrison who are under orders to
embark for China. Preparations are being made
to give eclat to the first official visit of the gallant
Duke to Portsmouth.
The Shannon, 51, Captain Peel, C. 8., V.C.,
got away from Spithead under steam yesterday
morning, at a quarter before eight, for China, with
munitions of war, reinforcements of men, dm. Vhen
a mile to the eastward of the Nab she made sail and
shaped her course down Channel under topmils,
jib, and foretopmast staysail, with a strong easterly
breeze. She was shortly out of sight.
The sailing sloop Electra, 14, Commander Mor-
ris, received counter orders on Monday evening to
those she had previously received to go into Ports-
mouth harbour to be paid off. She accordingly
discharged her freight, 14,176 ounces of gold, into
the steam tender Sprightly to be landed, and then
sailed for Chatham to be paid off. She had on
board Mr. Williams (chief mate), Mr. Whiteman,
(second mate), and six hands, part of the crew of
the ship Lord George Bentinck, of Liverpool, which
foundered in a heavy gale on the 22d of November
last off the Falkland Islands. The boat and those
in her got adrift from the ship, and having no oars
could not regain the ship, and were compelled to
leave Captain Lindsay, the steward, and two sea-
men on the wreck, the ship at the time lying on
her beam ends, in a heavy sea. For six days and
nights they drifted on the sea with no provisions or
water. On the morning of the seventh day the
men in the boat proposed to draw lots to sacrifice
one to save the others, but was fortunately pre-
vented carrying this horrible alternlative into effect
by a sail heaving in sight at 8.30 a.m., which proved
to be the brig Cuba, of London, Capt. Gray, who took
the starving seamen on board, clothed, and otherwise
treated them with the greatest kindness, and pro-
ceeded with them to the Falklands • six of the crew
there shipped in other vessels, the other six and
Messrs. Williams and Whitehead came to England
in the Electra, with the news of the catastrophe.
The Secretary of State for War has issued direc-
tions that the office of Paymaster of the British
depots and detachments of ationed at Chatham shall
be abolished after the Ist of April next, and the
staff kept up for that purpose discontinued. It is
also ordered that, with the view of lessening the
great expenses now incurred in keeping up that de-
partment of the service, the whole of the troops on
the British establishment attached to the Provi-
sional Battalion shall be handed over to Captain J.
H. Matthews, Paymaster of the Invalid Depot at
Chatham.
Thy Lords of the Admiralty have sanctioned a
change of divisions between Captain W. R. Max-
well, of the Chatham division of Royal Marines,
and Captain P. M. C. Croker, of the Plymouth
division.