The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-13 00:00:00

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A court-martial assembled on bcard her Majesty's ship
Victory in Portsmouth Harbour yesterday morning, to try
Mr. Thomas Warduer Wellington Spear for conduct unbe-
coming the character of an officer, in telling a wilful and
deliberate falsehood to Commander Victor Grant Hickley,
his commanding officer. Another charge was that of
drunkenness. The Court adjudged him to be placed at
the bottom of the list of paymasters in the navy, and there
to remain.
The Mauritius, No. 5 steam transport, 2,300 tons, 300
horse power, Captain Cruickshank,
arrived at Spitheal at
8 o'clock yesterday morning from Gravesend, having made
the run in 18 hours.
Cleopatra, iron screw, merchant chartered steamer, ar-
rived on Thursday evening at Spithead; and the Mauritins
iron screw charterted steamer (Nro. arrived this morning
at Spithead. The latter vessel left GraveCsend at 2 'a.m.
on Thursday, and arrived at Spithead this morning at 7
o'clock. She has lately undergone some very extensive
alterations and improvements suvested by her chief
engineer, Mr. M`Nicol ; argil, carried into effect by the
Messrs. ..auminers, Day, and Co., civil engineers, of Sou-
thampton. Her quarter beats are fitted with Clifford's
patent lowering gear, and her propeller is by Griffith. On
her voyage round she was pat naler canvas to see the
effect on the propeller, and after au bout's trial it was
proved to the satisfaction of the owners and the com-
manding officer that it did not afftct her an eighth of
a knot an hour. The fact is of value to the public, and
to the government in particular, on a:Toilet of the enor-
mous expense saved by the brass frame work, which is a
matter of necessity at the present moment to lower and
heist the screw, and this at an average cost to each of her
Majesty's ships of war of 15,001.
The Austrian ambassador and suite visited the Niagara,
United States' steam corvette, et Portsmouth, on Thurs-
day, and also the Victory, which saluted his Excellency
with 15 guns.
Major-General Breton, Lieut.-Governer of Portsmouth,
entertained at Government-house on Thursday night Capt.
Hudson, Lieuts. North and Whiting, Dr. Palates, of the
United States' corvette Viagara, and Chevalier Pappalardo,
Consul ; also a numerous company invited to meet them.
The Eurydice, 26, Captain J. W. Tarleton, C.B. (1855),
which was paid off at Chatham yesterday, has been in corn-
mission upwards of three years, having sailed from Ports-
mouth in April, 1851. This vessel formed one of the squa-
dron directed to proceed to the White Sea, and during the
summer of 1854 was employed in the blockade of Arch-
angel. The crew have been extremely healthy, only one
death having occurred. On the vessel being raid off yes-
terday Captain Tarleton addressed the petty officers and
crew, expressing his approbation of their uniformly good
conduct since he had been in command._ He also stated
that Prince Albert and the. Prince of Wales had signified
their approval of the good order andsragrilarity which pre•
veiled on board on the recent occasion of their taking a
cruise in the Eurydice from Osborne to Spithead.
The Mariner, 12, sloop, commander W. R. G. Palliser
(1856), was paid off at Chatham yesterday. She was com-
missioned at Plymouth in 1854, since which period she has
been employed in the West Indies for the purpose of assist-
ing in the suppression of the slave trade off Cuba and the
other Spanish islands. During the time she has been in
commission one death occurred on board from fever, two
men were killed by falling from aloft, and one man was
accidentally drowned. The Mariner brought home super-
numeraries from the Orion, 91, Captain J. E. Erskine.
A fter being paid off yesterday, she was placed in ordinary
at Chatham.
The officers of the factory depai trsent of the dockyard,
Woolwich, having tested the strength of Messrs. Short-
ridge, Howell, and Jessop's homogeneous metal, and hav-
ing obtained the maximum of steam in a small boiler of
100 pounds the square inch. have received an Admiralty
order to furnish a couple of high pi essure and condensing
boilers of that metal, for the purpose of entering into more
extensive experiments, with a view of introducing the
homogeneous plates, which are considerably lighter than
iron, in the use of boilers generally for the service of the
steamships of the navy.