The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-23 00:00:00

Naval and littilitaly intelligence.

Some interesting experiments have been made at Chat-
ham iu the prescnoe of the officers of the Royal Engi-
ne-re, under the sanction of the Secretary of State for
War, for the purpose of testing the merits of an invention
submitted to Lord Panmure, which, it was consideree,
would have the effect of giving an increased effect to the
charges of gunpowdei used in the sapping and mining
operations carried on by the men of the Royal Engineers
at Chatham. A strong box was proposed to be ma-fe
capaWe of containing a charge of 151 b. weight of gm -
powder ; one side of this box, which was atlowed to re-
main open, was placed in the oidinary manner a4ainst a
large beam of tim )er, intended to represent a stockade.
On the charge big ignited by means of the voltaic bat-
tery, the beam was blown to a distar.ce of 15 feet. An-
other box was then made, to contain the same ..aright of
gunpowder, but firmly closed on all sides; the effect of
the explosion in this instance was to send the balk of
timber a few inches over 15 feet. A third experiment
was t'aeo m ide with a box of the same size, and filled
with the same weight of gunpowder used for tie former
charges, but in this instance a portion of the box was
covered with sandbags, placed at the sides, for the pur-
pose of acting as a resistance to the gunpowder in that
direction, the principle being the same as that hitherto
adopted in the Royal Engineers. • On the powder
being fired the charge blew the beam of timber to
the distance of 50 feet, thus proving the superiority of
the methods practised by the Sappers and Miners. The
results of the experiments were considered very satis-
factory to the Engineer-officers.
The launch of the Renown, 91, will take place at Chat-
ham on Saturday afternoon next.
Merey, 40, is commenced on the 7th, or new, slip.
The following are her principal dimensions, viz.:—
Length bet Ween ptrpendioulars 300 ft oin.
Breadth, extreme
Depth in hold l9 10
Burden Horse-power, 1,000 3,726 70 94 tons.
Her Majesty's ship Niger, Captain the lion. A. A.
Cochrane, on ti e 13th of November was the flagship of
the Admiral Commander-in-Chief, Sir M. Seymour, at
Canton, where she hal recently-arrived from Singapore
tit Lsbuau and Manilla. On her pas Sage to Cart in dui
was struck by a sudden squall off the coast of Borneo,
which carried au, ay.her mainmast.

Toe Duke of Wellington, 131, captain Caldwell, C. 8.,
fl g of Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Saunders Dundas,
K.C.8., is ordered into Portsmouth harbour to be paid
off. •

Nimrod, 6, screw do patch gun vessel, Commander
Roderick Dew, armed with two 68-pounders and four
'short 32-pounders (little better than carronades), will be
ready for sea by Wednesday next, and await her final
in-tructions before leaving for China. It is to be re-
gretted that she is not furnished with. two additional 63-
pounders instead of the ustlets 32's ; a couple or fi.ur
brass 24-pounders or braes howitzers woutd answer all
purposes for close qui. rthr , and be also available for
shore service.

Dy the .sitatli of Vice-Admiral. Sir Joshua Ricketts
Ro a ley, Bart., noticed in The Sun of Saturday, the fol-
lowing promotions tr.ke place 0., the Flag List :—Rear-
Admiral of the Red Sir Charles Sullivan, Bar,-., to be
Vic -Admiral of the Blue Rear-Admiral of the Wbite
the Hon. Sir Richnri Saunders Dunda.q, K.C.8., to be
Rear-Admiral of the Red ; Rear-Admiral of the Blue
Elinry Smith; C. 8., to be Rear-Admiral of the White`;
Captain Henry pandas Trotter, Commodore Command-
ing the squadron on the Cape of Good Hope station, to
be Rear-Admiral of the Blue.

_ -
The freightship Norman Morrison has gone up to
Deptford from Woolwich to discharge naval stores from
Bermuda.
The iron screw steam storeship Industry, Master
ComMander Hodges, aailed from Woolwich on Saturday,
In charge of Mr. Barnes, the dockyard pilot, laden with
boilers and steam gear, for the western yards..
The gunboats fitting at Woolwich for the Chinese
expedition are nearly completed. The majority of the
officers and the allotted number of matinee are ap-
pointed to the whole of the vessels.
Terror, 14, floatng battery, returned to Sheerness
froth her late trial trip on Saturday, about 10 a.m., and
acchored at the dockyard moorings. Captain Edward
Pe''e v Heisted, of the steam reserve, with Mr. J. H.
Langley, inspector of machinery afloat, and Mr. En wood,
accommied her; we hear
foreman shipwright afloat,
the trial upon the whole was most satisfac'ory, and they
got about five knots, an hour out of her in spite of the
boisterous state of the weather ; her steering qualities
have also proved far better than could be r xpectect, con-
sidering her build and subsequent dead water in which
the rudder has to act ; but she will make another trial
when the weather is more propitious to ascertain her
precise speed. She ran in a gale of wind from the east-
ward, and appeared more buoyant than could be ex-
pected, considering her enormous weight.
The foil )wing appointments have been made :—Cotn- '
mender A. Little, .to the Melville ; Commander J R.
Hoed, continued to the Belleisle ; Lieut. A. R. Tinklan;
to the Belieisle ; Lieut. Win. Codrington, to the Ajax ;
Lieut. G. S. B isat.quet, to the Melville ; Lieut. H. L.
A., L. Maitland, to the Waterloo ; C, Alder, Midship-
man, to the Furious; W. A. S. Snait,., Staff Surgeon,
to the hospital, Hoag Kong ; R.. J. C. Grant, Second
Master, to the Hogue ; A. J. Barrington, Second Mas-
ter, to the Banterer; C. E. H. Farraiit, Second Master,
to the Blenheim ; H D. Walker, Master's-Assistant, to
the Himalaya ; T. N. Bridges, Master's• Assistant, to
the Furious ; M. S. Grey, Master's-Assistant, to the
Porcupine ; F. C. H. Petch, Ma.ster'e-Assistant, to the
Volcano ; S. J. Spark, Paymaster, to the BrUetsle ; B.
J. Bennett, Paymaster, to the Melville ; J. W. R. B.
Galsworthy,Cork, to the Victory;
to the Melvilo ;J. Caa(nhers, N. l
to theiasßseellif Clerk,
Clerk, eisle.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]--Jano Hallett, of Whitty Head,
near Netherbury, Dorset, suffered for many years from
a bad leg. From the knee to the ancle it had several
wounds, s'i that she was livable to stand or move about
the house. She tried a variety of means and applica-
tions,F ri Friend,
d u
but without obtaining a cure. By the blessing
God and using only three pots of Poor m
au R
and
taking three
Poorhieeb Mausoxes
of
pill2,she was perfectly cured.
Dr. Friend, for wounds and erup-
tions of every description, is sold in pots, is. 10. and
2s. 9.1. each. His Pilulse Antiscrophulm, for all im•
purities irf the bloods is sold in boxes, la. lid., 2s. 9d.,
44. 6,1., 11.8.,-and , 22s.,.eacb, by all medicine vendiri
throughout the United Kingdom and Colonies.