The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-29 00:00:00

THE BRITISH FORCES ON THE NORTH
AMERICAN AND WEST INDIA STATION.

Considering the present disturbed state of affairs in the
United States, it will be interesting to our readers to be
made acquainted with the actual force under the command
of Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, K.C.8., on the
American seaboard, together with those on passage, which
has been carefully compiled from official sources, and com-
prises the number of ships, guns, men, horse power, ton-
nage, and the names of the commanding officers on the
North American and West India Station :

Ships. Guns. Men.
Nile
St. George
Immortalite 51 570
Mersey 4O 600
Diadem ..32 485
Ariadne 26 400
Challenger
Cadmus ..21 270
Jason 2l 270
Terror
Rinaldo. l7 170
Racer ll 120
Imaum .. 10 81
Desperate .... 7 170

Barracouta .. 6
Bulldog .. 6
Hydra
Spiteful 6
Cygnet
Landrail
Nimble 5
Plover
Steady
Nettle
Onyx 2

Kite
Kingston
Pyramus
Weymouth
Despatch
Devonport
Doterel
Dromedary
Marianne
Medway
Safety
Tenedos
Thames

Tons. Corn. officers.
2622 Capt.E.K.Barnard
2864 Cpt,Hn.F. Egez ton
3059 Capt. G. Hancock
3733 Capt. H. Caldwell
2483 Capt. G. Randolph
3214 Capt. Vansittart
1462 Capt. J. Kennedy
1466 Capt. H. Hillyar
1711 Capt. E. von Donop
1954 Capt. F. Hutton
951 Corn. W. Hewett
579 Cora. A. Lyons
1776 Cdre, H. Dunlop
1038 Com. J. Ross

400
300
500
220
280

1053 Com. G. Malcolm
1124 Com. F. MAiillop
818 Com. H. Hamilton
1054 Com. W. Wilson
428 Com. A. Thrupp
425 Corn. T. Martin
428 Lieut. J. D'Arcy
428 Corn. H. A. Corry
431 Corn. H. Grant
211 gun-boat
211 gun-boat

- 170

300 steam-tug
harbour
920 receiving-hulk
826 receiving-hulk
sheer-vessel
anchor-hoy
receiving-ship
convict-ship
receiving-ship
convict-hulk
receiving-hulk
convict-hulk
convict-hulk

4 --
6 -

Total 506 6192 8260 37569
ON PASSAGE.
Conqueror 99 1070 800 3265 Capt. Sotheby
Donegal 99 950 800 3245 Capt. S. Osborn
Sanspareil 70 550 400 2339 Capt. G. Bowyer
Phaeton 5l 340 400 2396 Capt. E. Tatham
Himalaya 6 112 700 3453 Capt. J. Seccombe
Medea

Total 331 2317 3450 15533

The Duke of Somerset arrived at his official resi-
dence at the Admiralty last night from Mr. G. Tomline's
seat in Norfolk, his grace having been sent for by telegraph
in :order to attend the Cabinet Council to be held this
afternoon.

The Marquis and Marchioness de Beaumont,
Count Arnsteine, and the Baron Bejera, have arrived at
the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, from Paris.

Mr. and Lady Margaret Beaumont have left
town for Bretten Hall,: Wakefield, Yorkshire, in order to
be present at the funeral of the late Mrs. Beaumont, which
takes place to-day at Bretten church.
We ( Canadian News) believe we are correct in
saying that the whole of the mail in the North Briton
was saved, although some portions of it were so damaged as
to be almost illegible. Many of our papers testified to the
length of time the mail room must have been under water
before the bags were saved.
AMERICAN INTERFERENCE WITH A BRITISH
SHIP.—The following is important as showing the risks to
which our shipping is exposed by the war in America :
The ship Storm King, which arrived at Quebec on the 9th
inst., reports that she was run into in the Irish Channel,
soon after leaving Liverpool, by the American ship Ports-
mouth, bound from New York to Liverpool. The American
ship mistook her for another vessel of the same name that
left Liverpool for some of the ports in the Southern States,
with military stores. The American declared that it was
his intention to sink the vessel, which he attempted by
running into her, broadside, and again at the bow. The
Storm King experienced heavy weather throughout the
entire passage, and arrived severely damaged. The bul-
warks were carried away, and part of her bow. The other
vessel was slightly damaged.—Canadian News, Nov. 28.

SUDDEN DEATH.—Mr. Brent, the deputy coroner
for West Middlesex, held an inquest on Wednesday night
at the Portman Arms, (treat Quebec-street, touching the
sudden death of a gentleman of fortune named John Mon-
tague Uperoft, 60 years of age, residing at 301, Marylebone
Road. Mr. Norton, the deceased gentleman's medical ad-.
viser, deposed that he was found dead in his bedroom on
Saturday morning last. The cause of death was phthisis and
polypus of the heart and disease of the lungs. The deceased
was a man of largo property, being worth at least £120,000,
and a large amount of money was found in his house. As
no relatives had come forward to claim it the witness had
deemed it his duty to employ a solicitor to seal up and take
charge of the deceased's repository, and to take such other
proceedings as the law directed. In conformity with the
medical evidence, a verdict of death from natural causes
was returned.

EXTENSIVE CONFLAGRATION.—At an early hour
yesterday morning a fire broke out in the premises of
Messrs. Holland and Sons, cabinet makers, Ranelagh-street,
Pimlico. A very short time after the outbreak several
engines were in attendance. The flames spread with great
rapidity, and the premises, consisting of a series of work-
shops three storeys high, 60 feet long, and 30 wide, extend-
ing from Ranelagh-street to Belgrave-street, were soon
one mass of flame. At 2.30 the building was gutted, and
valuable property to the extent of £30,C00, consisting of
costly sofas, tables, and bookcases, was destroyed, nearly
the whole of the furniture intended for the Grosvenor Hotel
being consumed. At 4.30 the fire was got under, but up
to the present time it is smouldering. The Messrs. Hol-
land are partly insured, but not to the full extent of their
loss. The salvage of the timber-yard is considerable. At
the commencement of the fire a number of valuable horses
were saved.

MEETTNG OF MINISTERS.—Viscount Palmerston
received Earl Russell, the Duke of Newcastle, the Right
Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and several other
members of the Cabinet, early in the forenoon yesterday, at
his Lordship's official residence in Downing•street. After
tho separation of the Ministers Lord Palmerston caused
summonses to be issued for a Cabinet Council this afternoon
at his residence in Downing-street, at 2 o'clock. Com-
mander Williams, R.N., the naval agent in charge on board
the contract mail steamer Trent, on his arrival in London
on Wednesday, at once proceeded to the Admiralty, and
was for several hours
.occupied with the members of the
Board in town.

GAMBLING IN PARIS.—A somewhat singular case
was yesterday submitted to the Imperial Court on appeal
from a judgment of the Civil Tribunal. A person named
V—, formerly a keeper of a tobacco-shop, claimed
12,000 f. from a M. C—, for, as he said, money lent, and
in support of his demand, he produced a number of bills ac-
cepted by that person, and which fell due in the years 1849,
18:51, 1853, 1854, and 1859, but were not paid. M. C—
disputed the claim on the ground that the sum was part of
one of 20,000 f., which he had lost in playing with the
plaintiff at draughts, and that the money lost in gambling
cannot be recovered at law. Tho plaintiff did not deny that
he and the defendant had been for the space of 12 years in
the habit of playing almost every day at draughts in the
Cafe do Londres, in the Place de la Madeleine, but he
alleged that they had only done so for the things which
they took in the cafe, and that he had made advances to the
plaintiff partly for his personal necessities, partly to pay the
expense of lighting the cafe when, as repeatedly happened,
their play was continued until a late hour in the night. To
this M. C— answered that he was a richer man than
V—, he could not have borrowed from him, and that the
latter part of the statement was not correct. The Tribunal
examined numerous witnesses who were acquainted with
both parties, and had seen them play, and came to the con-
clusion that the bills in question had been given for money
lost in gambling. It therefore dismissed the action.
Against this decision V— had appealed, but the Court
esterday confirmed the previous judgment.—Galignanits
Messenger.

CATTLE FOR USE, AND CATTLE FOR STlONV.—Eng-
lish graziers eagerly purchase lean, and sell at the best
prices when fat, Highland and Scotch polled cattle and
Welch runts. Black-faced Highland and Cheviot sheep, for
half the year at least, fill the butchers' shops of London with
very choice legs and loins. In Lincolnshire and the ad-
joining counties you may see square miles of Lincoln sheep
feeding down turnips, and thus protecting what was waste
from returning to its original barrenness. But it is only by
exception that these favourites of the butcher appear on the
champ clos of the Royal Agricultural tournaments. Nor-
folk and Suffolk have a breed of polled cattle which the
dairy farmers of these counties highly esteem. There were
just six specimens at Leeds, all, sent by one locally patrio-
tic nobleman. Sussex boasts and highly values a breed of
large red long-horned cattle, bearing the county name,
which seem like an enlarged edition of Devons. Like the
Devons, they are famous draught cattle, and are amongst
the picturesque features of the Sussex strong clay valleys,
as they slowly toil along before that inheritance from the
Saxon, the huge wooden turnwrest plough. In the great
metropolitan market—where, after years of toil, they come
fat—they are not despised by the butcher who has to feed
sailors and soldiers, for at least " they are sweet, and die
well"--look well in joints, and yield good prices and a
fair share of hate' nal fat. At Leeds five special prizes brought
from the same herd two specimens of Sussex's pride—a bull
and a heifer; while of the polled Angus, the special favourite
of the meat-merchants of London, the producers of the beef
that always head the price currents of Newgate and Leaden-
hall carcase butchers, there was just one specimen, bred in
Aberdeenshire and fed in Forfarshire. This is the kind of
cattle that will bear the bell at the forthcoming Christmas
Cattle Show.—Add the rear Round.i