The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-13 00:00:00

THE NAVY,

A notice was yesterday affixed to the dockyard
gates at Chatham that tenders will be received by
the Admiralty for the purchase of the remains of
the wreck of the Hussar, 44, burnt at Shoebury-
ness, as they now lie on the sands. The vessel is
to be solid entire; but the person purchasings her
will have to deliver up the copper and metal bolt
and fastenings, for which so much per pound will
be allowed. At low tides work can be performed
about the wreck for rather less than two hours.
Orders have been issued by the Admiralty to fit
at Sheerness the upper topsails of the iron_clad fri-
gate Resistance on Mr. Cunningham's principle of
reefing from the deck. The Defence is being fitted
also on the same plan. By this arrangement the
chain topsail tye will be the only running gear re-
quired for setting and taking in the topsails, thus
giving extreme simplicity to the equipment aloft, a
point of immense impoTtancein screw ships of war,
as lessening, if not entirely doing away with the
chance of fouling the screw, in the event of the
masts being shot away in action. Another impor-
tant feature in this mode of rig is that the upper
topsails can be set and taken in by the crew under
cover on the gun deck, without exposing them aloft,
or even on the upper deck. Thus, in the event of the
screw cn: the machinery becoming damaged, say in
engaging a battery, and its becoming desirable to
withdraw from under fire, sail can be made upon
the ship by the crew from their fighting quarters.
The absence of running ropes about the sails—the
only working gear being the chain topsail tye
—affords greatly increased safety against the sails
being rendered useless by ropes being shot away.
The:Cunningham system has been in use on board
all the troopships, except the Himalaya, for some
considerable time, so that it is not altogether new
to the service. It is extensively used in the mercan-
tile marine, and was referred to in The Sun of the
28th January, 1854, in noticing the melancholy loss
of the ship Tayleur, which occurred chiefly owing
to the inability of the crew to reef her topsails.
The Plover, 5, screw, commander A. L. Corry,
arrived at Spithead yesterday, under canvas and
steam from the eastward, on her way to the West
Coast of Africa, where she will be employed in the
suppression of the slave trade.

The Medea, 6, paddle, in charge of Capt. H.
Broadhead, commanding the reserve at Portsmouth,
tested her machinery (for commission) yesterday,
in Stokes' Bay.
The Nelson, 90, screw, was undocked from No.

10 dock at Portsmouth yesterday and placed at a
berth in the harbour. The midship caisson, at the
junction of 10 and 7 docks, was afterwards floated
out of its position and removed from the dock to

he steam basin, to 'enable workmen to complete
he laying or the blocks over the invert.
The Calcutta, 84, was placed yesterday in No. 1

lock in the Dcronport dockyard for examination.

Thescrew steamship Renown, 89, Capt. A. Forbes,
just returned from the Mediterranean, went yester-
day from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze, where
she was inspected by the Port Admiral.
The paddlewheel merchant steamer Sir Walter
Raleigh, belonging to Messrs. L 'ngdon, Moore, and
Co., of Plymouth, is ordered to be docked in Devon-
port yard, prior to being purchased for the Govern-
ment.

The lighter Rochester, C. Heather master, after
a long passage from Chat ham to Portsmouth, arrived

yesterday at Plymouth, with cement for the break-

water and metals for the public arsenals.

Steam was got up yesterday on board the Panta-
loon, 11, and she proceeded from Hamoaze into

Plymouth Sound to try her engines.
Supernumeraries were c3nveyed yesterday to the
paddlewheel steam sloop Firebrand, 6, Commander

J. M. Bruce, in Plymouth Sound. _ To-day she will

embark about 200 of the crew paid off from the St.
Jean d'Acre, 99, Commander John D'Crea, in Ha-

moaze, and proceed with them for the eastward.

The hired transport Conway yesterday went
alongside Woolwich pier, in preparation to ship
guns and Tower stores, and will receive 700 tons of
gunpowder for Quebec. She is expected to sail from
Woolwich on Wednesday next. The Avosella has
also arrived at Woolwich-pier to ship war stores for
Halifax.

The following officers, acting and sub-lieutenants,
have passed their examinations at the Royal Naval
College, Portsmouth, as lieutenants :—Messrs. C. S.
Harford, D. D. Yonge, A. T. Nugent, F. Walters,
J. M. N. Boyd, H. R. Berners, E. T. Trafford, W.
E. Miller, E. B. Royse, J. Howes, G. R. Heneage,
S. T. Purdon, and H. F. Stevenson. Second Master
for Master T. Dobbin.

THE ARMY.

The following circular memorandum has been
issued from the recruiting department to the army
at home and recruiting districts :

" Horse Guards, Sept. 7.

" Men who have been discharged at the expira-
tion of their first period of limited service are not to
be re-enlisted or re-engaged until recruiting is re-
sumed, except for the Royal Artillery or Royal
Engineers.—By command, &c.,
" J. YORKE SCARLETT."

The headquarters of the 12th Lancers left Don-
c aster yesterday, en route from York to Aldershot.
The headquarters of the 10th Hussars will be sta-
tioned at York, which city they reached yesterday.
Orders were yesterday received at Chatham gar
rison for quarters to be prepared at the north-
square,, for the officers, men,
Brompton Barracks
and horses of the 4th, or D battery, 9th Brigade,
Royal Artillery, which is now en route from Ireland,
and may be expected to arrive at Chatham in the
course of a few days.

Another large discharge of troops took place at
Chatham yesterday, when co non-commissioned
officers and privates of various cavalry and infantry
regiments, the whole of whom had been forwarded
to the invalid depot from India and the colonies,
received their discharge at St. Mary's Barracks.
Each man was furnished with a railway warrant,
which would take him to his destination free of cost.
Most of the troops discharged yesterday were ex-
cellent soldiers, who had, howeaer, on the comple-
tion of their period of service preferred their dis-

VALETTA, Sept. 7,—The Sanspareil, 76, Captain
Bowyer, arrived this morning from Devonport and
Gibraltar. She left Devcnport on the 20th ult. and
Gibraltar on the Ist, and trings out supernumeraries
for the Mediterranean fleet and Armstrong guns.
The corvette Scourge, 6, captain W. J. Jones, also
arrived this morning from Constantinople in six
days, the Dardanelles five,And the Piraeus of Athens
three. She is conveying back to Gibraltar his Ex-
cellency Lieut.-Gen. Sir 'Vm. Codrington, K.C.8.,
and staff, consisting of Lieut.-Col. Pane, Lieut.-Col.
Fremantle, and Lieut. Praid. She leaves for Gib-
raltar to-night or to-morrow morning. The British
screw steamer Rangoon, with a portion of the Malta
and Alexandria electric able on board, is still here,
awaiting the arrival of tha screw steamer Malacca,
with another portion of the cable from England.
The Malacca left England on the 19th ult.. and was
to call in at Mahon to pick up Mr. Canning and a
staff of telegraph labourers belonging to the firm of
Messrs. Glasse, Elliott, and Co., who have been en-
gaged laying a submarine cable for the French Go-
vernment. Mr. Forde, superintending engineer on
the part of the British Government, and Mr. Clif-
ford and Dr. Whitehouse, electricians, on the part
of Messrs, Glasse, Elliott, and Co., owners of the
Malta and Alexandria cable, arrived from Marseilles
a few days ago. Dr. Esselbach, electrician for Go-
vernment, arrived on the same day from Italy. As
in laying the other sections of the cable, the valu-
able assistance of Captain Spratt, commanding the
Medina, and his staff of surveying officers, will be
made use of. The submergence of these two sections
will complete the line. The Mohawk will, it is be.
lieved, again assist in the operation, as likewise the
Scourge, should she return in time from Gibraltar.
The following is the proportion of powder, shot,
and shell to be supplied to the Defence, 22, at Chat-
ham, for two 100-pounder Armstrong pivot guns,
and 16 100-pounder broadside guns on her main
deck, under orders to that effect received from the
War-office yesterday :—Cartridges, filled with
121 b. of powder, 1,660; empty, 380; powder, in
bags of 151 b., A 4, 304; LG, 192. Shells, filled—
common, 320; segment, 220; shells, empty—com-
mon, 220; segment, 320. Solid 100. pounder shot,
580.

charge to remaining longer in the army. There
were comparatively few discharged from incapacity
for further military service. Under the new regu-
lations authorised by Major-General Eyre, the whole
of the discharged men received the arrears of pay
due to them before quitting their barracks, instead
of at the railway station, as was formerly the case.

The Ordnance Select Committee of Woolwich
Arsenal have been engaged for some days past in
testing with much severity one of the Armstrong
100-pounder guns, in order to prove its extreme
power of resistance. The gun has now undergone
100 rounds of fi, ing with charges of 141 b. of powder
and projectiles increasing in weight from 100 lb. to
I,ooolb. The I,ooolb, projectile was of such length
as to extend nearly two feet beyond the muzzle.
Ten rounds were fired with these enormous bolts,and
the gun is reported to be totally uninjured, The
recoil of the gun was very violent. It is understood
to be the unanimous decision of the select committee
that no further attempt should be made to burst
it, as its strength is deemed abundantly sufficient
for all practical purposes. As the 2011 g. elongated
shot has been proved to be most suitable as a charge
for the 25-pounder Armstrong gun, the War De-
partment have instructed the authorities at Wool-
wich to make no further delivery of the 25-pounder
shot, but to issue the 201 b. projectile in future.
This species of ordnance is intended to supersede
the old 32-pounder cast gun, as well as the brass
howitzer, which are ordered to be set aside, none of
the old ordnance to be issued for the present except
the 68-pounder, which is still to be continued in
use as a fortress gun on the coast.