The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-23 00:00:00

THE ARAII ,

A number of young officers who have been re-
cently gazetted to West India regiments hare been
attached to the depots at Chatham for the purpose
of going through a course of rifle instruction and
battalion drill, previously to their proceeding to
join the service companies of their respective regi-
ments in the West Indies.

In consequence of the increasing number of of-
fences by persons fraudulently giving themselves up
to the military authorities under the false pretence
that they are deserters, instructions have been issued
from the Horse Gaards that all parties so offending
shall be prosecuted, under the provisions of the Mu-
tiny Act. In accordance with this order a man who
gave the name of Francis Smith, alias Hartup, was
yesterday charged before the magistrates at Ro-
chester with having surrendered himself to the
military authorities, under the false pretence that
he was a deserter from the 2d battalion of the 23d
Royal Welsh Fusileers. The accused, it appeared,
had on several previous occasions put the authorities
to considerable trouble and expense by representing
himself to be a deserter from various regiments. On
one occasion he received food and lodging for the
spate of two months before his fraud was detected.
He has also represented himself as a deserter from
one of her Majesty's ships, but after being detained
his statement was found in that case to be untrue.
The magistrates directed him to be imprisoned with
hard labour for two months.

---
TIE ROYAL MILITARY ACADE3II7 ,

WOOLWICH.

WOOLWICH, Nov. 22.

The decision of his Royal Highness the General Com-
manding-in-Chief in the matter of the cadet inquiry at
Woolwich was communicated to the cadets by the Adju-
tant-General, Sir James Yorke Scarlett, to-day. General
Sir Richard Dacres and Staff were present, and also the
Adjutant-General of Artillery and Engineers and other
officers. The announcement was to the following effect :
"The Duke has decided that the general tenour of com-
plaints made by the cadets is groundless and frivolous ; and
that they have committed acts which, in boys of more ten-
der years, would be visited with the castigation they de-
served, but which were not to be excused in gentlemen of
more mature age. He wished thorn to understand that no
amount of scientific knowledge would be of use, to make
them efficient officers, unless they learnt to subject them-
selves to discipline; that their coming to the Royal Mili-
tary Academy was a voluntary act on their part, and they
must conscquently submit to the rules in force at the limo
of their admission. He finally expressed his regret that ho
should be obliged to visit with punishment those who should,
by their influence and example, have prevented !heir juno,rs
from committing the gross breech of discipline of which
they have been guilty."
Ten names of cadets were then read out, who are ordered
to bo " rusticated" for the present term, and two of that
number for the next torn_ 1

PRESENCE OF MIND.—At the theatre of Nice
a few nights back, says Galignani, a curious incident oc-
curred. In the performance of " Cenerentola," one of the
actresses, Madlle. Mistrali Vetant, having gone too near the
fcot-lights, set fire to her dress, but Ronconi, who was sing-
ing by her side as Don Magnifico, extinguished the flame
by pressing the dress between his hands. In so doing,
strange to say, he did not interrupt for a moment the mor--
twin ho was singing, and the actress, on her part, deriving
confidence from his remarkable calm, wenth on with the per-
formance as if nothing had happened.
The
Ronconi
that so pleased with the self-
possession displayed b
that they summoned him three times before the curtain with
(loud applause.