The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-28 00:00:00

TH E .4 RY.

Lieut.-(b1. Fleming, -WoolWich division Royal
Marine Light Infantry, was yesterenv instructed
in garrison orders, to proceed to Plymouth, on corn
mud duty at that garrison.
The ancient piece of ordnance, described in The
Sun of the 15th inst., which was presented to Go-
vernment. by Sir J. Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak,
packed, NNfl x
oISr,
e(e!:tvee;(l,aalvicerteo-
-1:0‘11.en.
1g 11).oe INen c'aoroel yh
, ,
Windsor, in charge of Mr. Morris, master wheel-
wright, under whose design the gun has been
mounted and fitted. Cul. Tulloch will proceed to
the Castle this morning in order to 11 ceive and
execute the Queen's instructions relative to the
dis-
posal of the gun. • During her inspeci ion
of the' Arsenal in the summer of iti.i7 this gun,
among a number of about 40 aneicnt pieces of ord•
mince captured from the pirat:cal inhabit4mts of
Borneo in 1851, attracted her notice, and 1) direc•
lion of Lord Panmure, who was present, it was im-
mediately ordered to be laid aside and mounted in
lal apnrooriato yle, to be deposited in the armoury
lof Windsor Castle. The carriage. I; I .)er, and nth( r
appurtenances are composed ofsolid Spanish maho-
gany, ingeniously decorated with beanie filigree
work and bronze dolphins to correspond with the
ornaments on the gun. The work has been pre-
, trounced a perfect masterphc2 of ingenuity and
I labour.

&V.! LL PA recE Ls POST;
. _________4--__:_.
At a meeting of the Society of Arts held on Wed-
nesilav—T. A Nieholay, E3q., in the chair—M7..
l'eterGraham, member of the council, broiight be-
fore the society for discussion the report. of the
committee :.:pointed by the council to consider the
subject of a " Small Parcels Post." The report
tended to show that the present rate of :loz,tage Oil
parcels amounted to a prohibition, exalt in very
few cases, and also that the private means of trans-
mission were so expensive and uncertain, tne cost
of porterage to and from railway stations being so
great, that great difficulty was txper!cueed in con-
veying. small parcels from one part of the country
to another. The Post-office, however, already had
Pin agency established and paid far, which might
be called a general 'porterage fcr the delivery of
letters, and Which would render a Feparnte porter-
age fir small parcels unnecessary over a large por-
tion of the kingdom. The committee were therefore
of opinion that at a payment of 4s. for a parcel of
a pound weight; the post might do at a profit t,1.1:,t1
which private employers cJuld not do for a n. . ,
larger sum. Examples are g.von to slTtvih•
great number of changes of eouveyanec
1.:1 result of
til)11,:::::11:e
Public
antaltairl:‘)aci..et-I:s
eel would undergo in tranAmission fiiioc
g
of the country to another. The pr ,(c'
is,
...,..ry
scat
this was that hardly any small I rue plft
thus losers Of a corOderable ammo! „
evidcoce
f om
these long distaoces, the railwa3l:.(t•lin6Pf933l:2.6.l)t2aill:Cer
Italica ;T._
traffic. Vi.tio is extracts were quotedl , .
,ciceincit
O-..• 31r. llii.'. evidence
givenbe tm•e tiL 'Cohn;
cOnveyanceof mails by rbaollANl:
a-r‘ii eel 4, :Ind tended to
nionstion the
principally referred to. .
m lowlandjtteeaft
111.fel ill
and eKpensive their
and other
I‘c-ttc mcciaai
irr:rNs ~31:1:i31.1,111;10Nsr.vilhi;t1,1,a1
ic:sm:::.,,-,
shownit entoil
appeared that some .
transmissiodin:Nffiovii
of
the
ru
ph ( emaucluit, a consider-
able rate for the ton . „ r
'Le 0 malls, and the re-
post-office authot.ties to their applica-
plies of the _
't fOrNard thiet
gptioa:itr.!ctiefoofr
tioas seemed to demonstrate that, as most of tho
books. and small parcels sent throUghthepost would
not otherwise be tent at all, and, moreover, as tne
Post-office was in the habit Of paving Vic railwa,.-
compames at a higher rate than books( Hers paid for
their parcels, the companies were gainers, both by
an increase of traffic and by the higher rate of ye-
tuuneration. Other evidence to a similar effect Wa3
adduced in' the report, which concluded by answer-
ing some of the objections to the proposed measure,,
and urging this very important' subject on the
attention Of the public, and especially of all those
interested -in the industry and 'ednrnerce of the

_
country.
A discussion ensued,in which Mcszs. Aldc:lunn
Mcchi, W.- Haves, Llurence, SalomonQ. Hs rry
Clu.ster, E. Chadwick, C. 8., Sir Thomas Phillips,
-- Edwards, Prof. sor Tennant, S.W. Brooks, ,ind
the Chairman, took part.