The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-19 00:00:00

THE ARMI

Gen. Sir R. Dacres, attended by the garrison
staff, yesterday inspected on Woolwich_common the
Ist, 2d, 3d, 4th, and sth batteries of the 13th bri-
gade Field Artillery, recently arrived at headquar-
ters from India. The batteries were paraded in
heavy marching order on the review ground, and
from the fact of their having sustained heavy losses
and rendered most important services in the late
campaign, they excited much interest. The General
expressed himself in terms of high commendation as
to the result of his inspection, which was fully ac-
quiesced in by every one present.
By direction of the General commanding at Malta
garrison, various junior officers attached to the Royal
Malta Fencibles Artillery will proceed to Wool-
wich to join Lieu t. Portelli, who is undergoing a
course of gunnery and equitation exercise under the
brigade officers of the Royal Artillery. The officers
named for the purpose are Limits. W. Sciortino, J.
Rutter, P. Bernard, F. Gatt, and G. Speranza.
The arrangements for the subdivision of the depot
brigade of Artillery being complete, the strength of
the depot at Warley is to be augmented by the for-
mation of an additional battalion. A separate staff
at each of the stations—viz., Woolwich, Sheerness,
and Warley, is under considerations. Lieut.-Col.
Radcliffe and Dr.Fogo have been ordered to do duty
with the Warley depot.
The colonelcy of her Majesty's 22d Regiment of
Bombay Native Infantry has become vacant by the
death of Gen. G. R. Kemp on Monday last. The
deceased General was in the 82d year of his age.
The non-commissioned officers of the 10th brigade
of Royal Artillery have forwarded to Mr. Tuohay,
professor of sword exercise and gymnastics to the
Royal Naval College, and her Majesty's ships Ex-
cellent and Britannia at Portsmouth, a valuable ring
and an address, in which they express their thanks
for the very able manner in which he instructed
them in the new sword exercise. This exercise, as
remarkable for effectiveness as simplicity, contains
but four cuts, four guards, and two points, the latter
delivered direct from the guards. The " attack" and
" defence" is apparently a system of loose play, snch
as might be expected in a melee, and containing but
few movements. It has been now some time adopted
throughout the naval service.

The 33d company of Royal Engineers, which has
been placed under orders to proceed to Malta, has
been augmented to 120 non-commissioned officers
and men from the depot companies at headquarters,
Brompton. The 31st company, which'embarks
for Gibraltar, has been completed to 100 men of
all ranks. Intelligenee was yesterday received from
the office of the Quartermaster-General that the 31st
and 33d companies will leave Chatham about the
23th, and embark on board the Himalaya screw
steamer. The 34th company, which has just arrived
at Chatham from Shorneliffo Camp, is to be raised
to its proper strength of 100 men of all ranks before
proceeding to Bermuda to relieve the 26th com-
pany, which returns to England. Lieut. R. H.
Vetch will take the command of the 34th to Berm ude.

Several important alterations and improvements
having been effected in the carriages and waggons
for the 12-pounder Armstrong guns, the Ordnance
Select Committee, on the recommendation of the
Superintendent of the Royal Carriage Department,
ordered the same to be adopted forthwith. The im-
provements effected include the removal of the
elevating screw-plate, instead of which the carriage
is fitted with a longer elevating screw, the gun
being secured to the carriage by a chain and ring.
Solid pins, with an eye at the end for a leather tie,
are substituted for the split pins at present used for
securing the washers of the elevating screw bolt and
traversing screw. A stout iron plate is placed over
the eni_ of the lid of the centre-box of limber to pro-
tect it when limbering up, and the top of the box is
covered with canvas to keep out wet. Grooves are
also made along the platform of the waggon to allow
the moisture to escape and to admit a current of air
underneath the boxes. The tops of the oilcans have
been strengthened, and the key for unscrewing the
metal plugs removed to the centre limber box, so as
to be out of the way of the knapsack.
A notification was yesterday received at Chatham,
that the recent experiments made with thel2- pounder
(81cwt.) Armstrong guns having
led to the conclu-
sion that the use of primers may be dispensed with,
a new vent-piece for guns of the above calibre has
been approved, in which the diameteraed ofof
tthhee ver-tical part of the vent is 0.222 in.,
hori-
zontal part, o.3in. It has also been directed that
the old pattern vent-pieces which have been issued
should be returned into store, and the vents altered
to the above dimensions.

THE LAW OF ARREST FOR DEBT IN FRANCE.
The Civil Tribunal of the Seine has just decided a question
of some importance relative to the right of provisional
arrest for debt in the case of foreigners. M. Laffrentz, a
foreigner, who was arrested on the 3d inst. for a debt of
5,781 f , the amount of three bills of exchange, drawn by a
M. Schucmaker; and endorsed to MM. Mitchell and De-
pierre, applied to the Tribunal by counsel, demanding that
his arrest should be declared null, on the ground thac M.
Mitchell, being also a foreigner, was not entitled to exercise
the right of provisional arrest. On the other hand, the ad-
!came of MM. Mitchell and Depierre argued that, although
anMitchell, the gerant of the company, was not a French-
:s,a the other partner was, and that the company must
partnersen_tlY be entitled to the same privileges as if all the
imperial wi3LeFrentchmen. After hearing the Advocate
• /mai doeided
rest, the Trib 14, Who spoke against the validity of the ar-
in his individual ea that, as Mitchell was net acting
arrest vas good
French company, hasty, but as the representative of a
maintained accord in law, and must ,be

JONES 8 TARGET v. THE ARMSTRONG

GUN.

These interesting experiments were resumed at
Portsmouth yesterday, with the plates placed in an
upright position, instead of at an angle of 50 deg.,
as on the trial which took place on the 21st ult.
The tests of yesterday can only be applied to the
principle as advocated by Mr. Jones as affording
comparative results of the effect of the 100-pounder
Armstrong throwing a 1101 b. bolt with 141 b. of
powder upon iron plates placed in a vertical posi-
' tion and at an angle of 50 deg. The results of the
firing yesterday and on the previous trial will afford
most valuable data from which correct deductions
may be drawn as to the precise effect of shot upon
iron plates, whether of ships or batteries, at various
angles of inclination. It has been argued that these
results might have been obtained by less expensive
methods ; but the partisans of such a creed can
know but little of the matter they so coolly decide,
for no manipulation of figures could give the results
which have been and will be gained from the firing
at the angulated target when the two trials are
fully reported upon and concluded. The
practice took place from the same gun, with the
same weight of projectile and charge of powder as
were used on the last trial. The target, it may be
requisite to repeat, was faced with four plates, two
on the left of 41-inch iron, and the two on the right
of 5-inch. The 5-inch plate on the former trial,
with the plates at an angle, received only one shot
which made an indentation of » of an inch at its
deepest indent. The 41--inch plate averaged an
indentation of 11 inches. No. 1 shot yesterday
struck the junction of the midship 42 and 5 inch
plates a little above the centre, making indents on
the edge of the 41-inch of 1; inches, and on the
edge of the 5-inch of 1 inches, but showed no
symptoms of cracks. This shot was a remarkable
illustration of the support afforded by the strips of
iron plate let into the face of the wooden backing
to support the edges of the armour-plates against
the impact of the shot, and proves that the expen-
sive process of tongueing and grooving the edges of
the plates can only tend to render thean vastly weaker
than they would be in their normal state as plain
metal slabs. The former trial proves this as con-
clusively as the one of yesterday. No. 2 shot
struck the midship 41-inch plate—the one that had
been so tremendously pounded on the last trial—
and brought it down upon the Griper's deck from
off the face of the target, the parts of the plate
where it had been so severely punished previously
by the shot separating and flying off in large scales,
and being scattered about the Griper's deck, while
the main pieces remaining on the deck, instead of
unfortunately falling overboard, as did one subse-
quently, afforded a capital opportunity for its exa-
mination. No. 3 took effect in the centre of the
midship 5-inch plate, making an indent of 1* inch.
No. 4 made an indent to the right of No. 3 of 1
inch, with several cracks, the diameter of the indent
in all the instances being about 7 inches—that is,
taking in the bulging inwards of the plate, the given
depth of the indentation being only in the circum-
ference of the part of the plate struck by the shot.
No. 4 struck the upper part of the remaining 4-1-
inch plate on the outer edge, and broke out a semi-
circular piece 18 inches in diameter, separating the
layers of the metal to some distance, and driving
portions of the surface of the plate on a level with
its reverse. No. 7 struck the outside 5-inch plate
right on its centre line, one-third of its length from
the top part, making an indent of 1-1- inch. No. 8
shot struck the same plate, on the same line as the
last shot, but one-third of the distance from the bot-
tom; and No. 9 struck on the same central line,
and between 7 and 8, the indentations averaging 14
inch, and the edges of the plate bulging outwards
from'the centre where three shots had been planted
in a perpendicular line. No. 10 shot struck the 4-1-
inch plate on the lower part of its inner edge, the
outer circumference of the blow being 2 inches,
however, from the actual edge of the plate, and
broke off an irregular-shaped piece 24 inches in
length by 17 inches in breadth, and causing a severe
crack two feet distant from the centre of the blow,
also starting one of the pine backing bolts back
through the inner skin. No. 11 shot's outer and
upper circumference touched No. 5, fracturing the
plate 12 inches by nine, the broken piece being only
supported in its position by the other portions of
the plate. The 12th shot struck the outer edge of
the outer 5-inch plate, carrying away a portion
about the diameter of the shot, and causing a crack
in a perpendicular line through Nos. 7,8, and 9
shots on the same plate, the crack being three feet
in length and open a quarter of an inch. No. 13,
the closing shot, brought down the outer- 5-inch
plate from the target, and toppled it overboard most
unfortunately, so that any further examination of
its state at present was precluded. An examination
of this plate would'havelbeen the',most importantland
interesting part of the day's proceedings, as giving
the most conclusive evidence of the comparative re-
sults of firing at vertical and oblique objects. The
Plate was immediately buoyed, and will be reco-
vered for examination with the remaining two
plates still on the face of the target, which will be
removed from their present position for that
purpose. Until this has been done no precisely
accurate conclusions can be arrived at as to the ac-
tual difference in the effect of shot, of the same
calibre, fired at plates in an upright and an oblique
position. On laminated plates thegreat injurycaused
by the shot's impact, it is not on the outed surface,
where the blow is actually struck, but on the inner
surface, or reverse, and -consequently, as bef ire
stated, no positively correct results can be arrived
at until the inner surface of the plates have been
carefully examined and contrasted. From an exa-
mination of those portions of the plates which had
balged off from the pine backing it could be, how-
ever, plainly ascertained that the fracture on the
plates' reverse, caused by the indentation of the shot
when the plates were upright as yesterday, was
vastly greater than when they were placed obliquely
as on the last trial. One other matter was obvious
at the close of yesterday's firing, and was one of no
little importance. It was that if a plate's fastenings
on an upright side of a vessel were destroyed the
plate itself must fall overboard and leave that por-
tion of the side defenceless, whereas this would not
so readily happen on sloping sides. When the
plates have been removed from the target, and the
one recovered that has been sunk, and all carefully
examined, it will be necessary to return to the sub-
ject again, containing as it does points of the very
highest importance relative to the form of our future
iron ships. The principle advocated by Mr. Jones
may be correctly termed deflection, whereas the one
tried yesterday was resistance.

A NEW FIELD FOR THE COTTON

S UPPL Y.

While the narrow-minded and conceited people
of the rebellious States are offering their corrupting
cotton bait with one hand, and presenting with the
other a blank to be filled and returned by England
and France, recognising them as a power in
Christendom, the enterprising people of the North
have turned their attention to a field that will
furnish an abundant supply of the raw material for
nearly the whole world. That field is Central
America. It contains a greater area of cotton-pro-
ducing land than all the " Seceded" States alto-
gether, and the quality of the cotton is as good as
the best that is produced in any country. In the
Southern States the cotton plant, an annual, is
killed every year by the frosts ; whereas in Central
America it is perennial. The best variety, the
auguilla, commercially known as the Sea island,
is a native of Honduras, and was introduced into
South Carolina shortly after the revolution. The
cotton of Central America is equal in quality to
that grown in Jamaica, South Carolina, or Florida,
and superior to the best productions of India
or Egypt. The yield per acre is more than double
that of the Southern States, there being two
crops a year. The soil is almost inexhaustible, the
climate is delightful, and labour cheap. On the
Pacific coast there are extensive plateaux, which are
only waiting the attention of the careful and thrifty
planter; and the forest trees which would need to
be cleared are such as always find a ready market
at remunerative prices in the Northern States and
Western Europe—such as mahogany, cedar, and
Brazil wood.

The climate of Central America, though warm, is
not oppressive; it is not so debilitating:as:to prevent
white men from engaging in active out-door QM-
ployment. It is exceedingly healthy. Free labour
is abundant and cheap. There are no slaves, and
the services of the natives can be procured at the
average rate of 25 cents (ls Old) per head per day.
This is less than one-half the cost of slave labour in
the cotton districts of the South.
There is little doubt but that the prime movers in
the "filibustering" expeditions sent out to Nicara-
gua well understood the importance of that country
as a cotton-growing region. Poor Walker was
only a tool for the wicked and crafty projectors of
the present rebellion. To possess themselves of
Central America was the first part in the " Seces-
siore' programme. They are not so mad as to sup- ',I
pose that the Southern States can, for any lengthened
period, influence the cotton market. They were
anxious to extend the area of their power at as
early a day as possible—in advance of the attention
of other nations being drawn to that section.
Their clamour about "King Cotton," their anxiety
to secure the favourable notice of Europe, has partly
been occasioned by the fear that some rival would
appear on the stage to put all their assumptions
and pretensions to the test. That rival has ap-
peared, and through Northern enterprise it will
soon be made apparent to the sham, greedy, tinsel-
rigged chivalry of "
w
Secession,"iil ultthimatatethlye
enind in
which they have precipitated
discomfiture as cotton producers. The advantages

THE SUN'

which were kindly left for them by the not over-'
scrupulous Manchester manufacturers, and the too-
indulgent weavers of Lynn, will pass for ever,
Their attempts to perpetuate and extend fraud and
violence, their lust of dominion, their greed for
gold, have blinded their eyes to their own interests.
They had not mnch to hold up for the admiration of
the world ; but their " peculiar institutions" were
tolerated, Now the little which they had will be
taken from them.

The people of Britain are getting aroused to their
interests, and we hope to their duty. They see that
it will not do to trust to the caprices of such a race
as the chivalry of Carolina, and they are beginning
to active steps for their yearly supply of cotton
from other resources. India and Jamaica will soon
be able to provide for the mills of England. On the
other hand Massachusetts can look with safety to
the fields of Central America for as much of the
raw material as she requires, and of a better growth
than she has been accustomed to receive from her
disagreeable neighbours of Mississippi and Carolina.
We should like to see the two countries, England
and the United States, co-operate in the develop-
ment of Central America. From all that we can learn
of the productive capacities of that region (and our
authorities are entirely reliable and pretty com-
plete) the same attention bestowed upon it which
has been given to the " cotton zone" of the
Southern States would be five-fold more remune-
rative. We should like to see earnest inquiries in
that direction commenced by English gentlemen
who are interested pecuniarily infthe growth of
cotton, and by that other numerous and influen-
tial class whose sole aim is to overturn and de-
stroy the barbarous dominion of slavery.—London
American.