The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-28 00:00:00

THE AUSTRIAN NAVY.

The follawing account of the Austrian naval
development in the Adriatic is taken from the
Constitutionnel:—
" What proves that Austria has had a clear
view of her interests and has displayed great ad-
dress in protectinr, them is the progress of her
mercantile navy in the Gulf of Venice, and the ex-
tension of the commercial movement in that sea;
Her three trading ports are Venice, Trieste, and
Fiume. The last two are free ports. Venice lost
that privilege in 1849, but was made an entrepot
in March, 1851. Before the present war began
exportation was receiving wonderfully rapid de-
velopment at Trieste. The Lloyds of Trieste, the
chief trading company in Austria, possessed in
1856 no fewer than 68 steamers, of 13,260 horse-
power. The Company of the Danube was far from
reaching so important a figure. That is easily ac-
counted for. Lombardo-Venetia is the most in-
dustrious province of the Austrian empire ; next
come Bohemia and Lower Austria ; and these three
absorb more than half, if
.not two-thirds, of
the whole commerce of Austria; as the imports
there exceed 54 per cent., and the exportsll2 per
cent. of the whole trade of the empire. Now,
Venice, Trieste, and Fiume are the only ports where
this business is transacted; they tend, on the one
hand, to deprive Hamburg and Lubeck of
their old relations with Central and Southern
Germany ; and, on the other, they open up
new markets in the East by Constantinople
and Alexandria. To protect this trade a mili-
tary marine was necessary. Austria did not neglect
it. The insurrection of 'Venice in 1848 suddenly
stripped the Government of Vienna of its war ves-
sels, chiefly manned with Italians. The move-
ments of the army were greatly embarrassed in
consequence, and the siege of Venice became diffi-
cult. This circumstance, stimulating the incurable
jealousy of Austria against Prussia, which power
was then meditating the creation of a military,
navy, convinced the Vienna Cabinet of the neces-
sity of possessing a naval power proportioned to the
military and commercial requirements of the empire
and the no less urgent necessity of placing this
power elsewhere than at Venice. The task of
organising this navy was confided to the Archduke
Ferdinand Maximilian, the Emperor's brother, and
a new Ministry was created for the formation
and management of the fleet. The first act of the
Austrian Admiralty was to forbid all foreign
military vessels to enter the military ports
of Venice, Pola, and Lissa, and afterwards the
bay of Cattaro also, which was declared a military
port in 1854. The Marine Academy was trans-
ferred from Venice to Trieste in 1848, and from
Trieste to Fiume. The dissolution of the German
fleet having occurred at this epoch, Austria took
into her service a number of German and Danish
officers, and more recently, in 1857, she applied to
her ports the French system of maritime inscription.
Since 1848, Pola has become her principal naval
port, with its dock, arsenal, and large storehouses
distributed in perfect order. She there built her
first line-of-battle ship, which, it is said, is now
concealed behind a stockade in the pass
of Malamccco. At Venice and at Muggia,
near Trieste, steamers are being constructed,
and in order to stimulate the zeal of her engineers
she has purchased vessels in England to serve as
models for them. It is in this manner that she has
created the nucleus of a fleet composed of one screw
liner of 90 guns, three screw frigates, two screw
corvettes, ten sailing frigates and corvettes, and a
i certain number of brigs and gunboats. The whole
together form a fleet of 108 vessels, carrying 910
guns, exclusive of five floatinc, batteries, and
manned by 595 officers, 7,275 sub-officers and sea-
_ _

men. There is evidently nothing in this force that
can be placed in comparison with the naval power
of France. The Austrians are well aware of this,
since, following the example of the Russian fleet
at Sebastopol, they hide themselves behind fortifi-
cations."

MUSEUM OF PATENTS, SOUTH KENSINGTON.—
Number of visitors for the week ending June 25 :—Morn-i
ings, 1,236 ; evenings, 825 ; total, 2,061. Since the open-
ing of the Museum free daily (May 12, 1858), 111,911.
SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.-- During the
week ending June 25 the visitors have been as
2 follows :
On Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday, free days,n
3,the
three
on
Monday and Tuesday, free evenings,
students' days (admission to the public 6d.), 1,181 ; one
students' evening, Wednesday, 103 ; total, 7,507. From
the opening of the Museum-, 959, 872.
The Sadler's Wells troupe of pantomimists, after
a protracted stay in Germany, owing to their continued
success, arrived in London early.yesterday morning by the
General Steam Navigation Company's steam-ship Neptune,
AVM iiamburg,