The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 23, 1861.

FROM THE GAZETTE OF LAST NIGIIT.

THE BLOCKADE OF GAETA.
FOREIGN•OFFICE, FEB 22.
With reference to the notification, dated the 6th day of
February inst., and inserted in the Loudon Gazette of the
Bth February inst., on the subject of the blockade of the
fortress of Gaeta, it is hereby further notified that the
Right Hon. the Lord J. Russell, her Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has received from
the Marquis d' Azeglio, the Sardinian Minister in London,
the following official communication :
The Capitulation of Gaeta on the 13th inst., having put
an end to the Blockade of that place, officially notified to
the Government of her Britannic Majesty on the 4th of
February, the Undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary of his Sardinian Majesty, has the
honour, by order of his Government, to bring to the know-
ledge of Lord J. Russell, Principal Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs of her Britannic Majesty, the termination
of this Blockade, and begs him to accept the assurance of
his highest consideration.
(Signed)
Lcndon, Feb. 19, 1861.
WHITEHALL, FEB. 20.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Most Noble
George Douglas, Duke of Argyle, K.T. ; the Right Hon.
Thomas, Lord Kingsdown, the Right Hon. Sir George
Grey, Bart., G.C.B ; Robert Wigram Crawford, Esq. ;
Pearce William Rogers, Esq. ; William George Anderson,
Esq. ; William Strickland Cookson, Esq. ; and Edwin
Wilkins Field, Esq., to be her Majesty's Commissioners
to inquire into the constitution of the Accountant-General's
Department of the Court of Chancery, and the provisions
for the custody and management of the Funds of the
Court.

V. E. D'AZEGLIO.

manufacturer,lMarch 4 and 27,lateleven, at the Liverpool
District Court.
William Henry Davis, farmer, Ash, Surrey, March 4,
at twelve, and 25, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy.
And,re Marchw it
eY, upholsterer, Chiswell-street, Mid-
dlsaxhalf-past twelve, and April 12, at one,
at the Court of Bankruptcy.
e ob6e, r t
at l
SCOTCH BANKRUPTS.

George Aitchison, shoemaker, Old Monkland.
Daniel M'Gregor, tobacconist, Glasgow.
Charles Penney, manufacturing chemist, Glasgow.
George Fowlie, druggist, Turriff, Aberdeenshire.
Andrew Paton, merchant, Kilwinning, Ayrshire.
John Phillips, grocer, Girvan, Ayrshire.
James Gordon, general merchant, Inverness.
Robert Watson, tinsmith, Campsie, Stirlingshire.

But the most material mischief, and what archreolo-
gists will much regret, is that which has been done
to the fine old Abbey gateway. For a long time
the local authorities have contemplated the resto-
ration of this beautiful specimen of mediaeval
architecture, but as the , plans prepared by Mr.
Scott, of London, involved an outlay of above
£l,OOO, which is the amount at their disposal for
the purpose, the work has been delayed for a modi-
fication of the plans. The principal of the three
arches and the western tower have for a long time
been in such a dilapidated state that it was deemed
to he prudent to shore them up, and stop up the
passage through the gateway. During the last
fortnight workmen have been employed in removing
the lead from the roof, weighing several tons, and
the large oaken beams, which were thought by
some to be too heavy for the tottering state of the
building to sustain. Four men were at work on
the scaffolding yesterday afternoon, a little before
five o'clock, when the wind again became furious,
and made the building oscillate. As portions of
the walls crumbled and fell down, the men felt
their position to be unsafe, and descended the
scaffold to go to the other side of the archway to
nail up some boards, to prevent persons walking
under the archway, to prevent accident. They had
scarcely left the scaffold five minutes when a sudden
gust of wiad came on and blew down a portion of
the western tower, and with it the whole of the
fine arch of the gateway on the north side fell.
Had the men remained at work on the scaffold they
must inevitably have been killed. When they
heard the crash on the spot which they had left but
a few minutes previously they were greatly
alarmed, and regarded their escape from death as
purely providential. The Abbey gateway, history
states, was built in the reign of Henry H., about
200 years after the famous Abbey. On removing
the oaken timbers from the roof a few days ago
there was found a record, evidently made by a
workman, of the repair of that building in the year
1702. The partial destruction of this work of an-

tiquity by the hurricane has excited considerable
interest in the town, and the spot has been visited
by persons throughout the day, At the Great
Western Railway station the hurricane stripped
the roofs of their zinc coverings and broke several
windows. No damage, however, occurred to any
of the carriages or trains.

CHATHAM, FEB. 22.

The gale which prevailed yesterday afternoon
and evening from the S.S.W , and lasted during
nearly the whole night, was one of the most fear-
ful ever experienced in this locality, and more re-
sembled the tornadoes of tropical climates than
anything usually known in these latitudes. The
damage done to the shipping at this port, and also
to the property in the neighbourhood, has been
very considerable. During the time the hurricane
was at its height, two Government lighters, lying
off the dockyard alongside the Elizabeth, Kelso
master, from Moulmein, with timber for this dock-
yard, sank, each of them having a considerable
portion of the cargo of that vessel on board. Im-
mediately the disaster was reported to the officer
commanding the Wellesley, 74, the guardship at
the port, a number of sailors were despatched to
the Elizabeth to render that vessel assistance, or
there is no doubt she would have filled and sank
from the imminent peril in which she stood.
Every precaution was taken on board the vessels
of war in harbour to prevent their dragging or
breaking adrift, but, in consequence of the good
anchorage afforded, the whole of them rode out
the gale in safety. In several parts of the
town, and also in the neighbouring city of
Rochester, the fury of the gale was particu-
larly felt. A large windmill, erected on a very
exposed position at the top of Frindsbury-hill,
belonging to Mr. Kimmins, miller, was partially
swept away, two of the large sails and a portion of
a third being blown down and shattered to pieces,
causing considerable damage to the premises be-
neath, on which they fell with a tremendous crash.
The new range of buildings in course of erection for
the Royal Engineers at Brompton Barracks had a
portion of the zinc covering on the roof stripped off
by the gale. Considerable fears were entertained
for the safety of the large glasshouse erected at the
top of the building for photographic purposes, but,
every precaution having been taken for its safety,
it experienced no injury. A iblock of new houses
being erected on the New-road, facing the south,
where they experienced the full effects of the gale,
received much damage, and had a quantity of the
roofing torn off. Several houses in the locality have
been partially stripped of their tiles, and, during
the period the hurricane was at its height, pedes-
trians in the streets stood in the greatest peril from
falling chimney pots, slates, and tiles. In the
country around the effects of the gale are percep-
tible by the number of fine trees which are up-
rooted and scattered in various directions, many of
them presenting the appearance of having been
torn up and hurled some distance. The gale mode-
rated this morning, and during the afternoon there
was only a light wind from the south-south-west.

WARWICK, FRIDAY.

The gale which prevailed yesterday has been
unprecedently violent, and has done very great
injury to property in Warwick, Leamington, and
the adjoining district. The hurricane blew here
with such fury between the hours of 1 and 3 in the
morning, and again at 9 p.m., as to shake houses so
that few could sleep. While cottages have been
overturned, a church has been partly unroofed
(Lmscote), and the damage is greater than ever
previously effected by a gale in this neighbourhood.
Mr. J. Kemp, grocer and chandler, had a most
narrow escape with his family in the Warwick mar-
ket-square. He was sleeping with his wife in the top
story of a house surmounted with a sloping " half-
roof" and two very large stacks of chimneys, and
his two children, who had been aroused from their
sleep by the violence of the hurricane, had scarcely
crept into bed with their father and mother before
one of the chimneys was blown down, and broke
through into the bedroom, and the fragments
prevented all egress from the room in the usual
way. Mr. Kemp fortunately recollected the exis-
tence of a concealed and closed up passage behind
the bedstead, the only part of the room left intact,
and, using a small iron safe as a battering ram,
he at length rescued his wife and children from
their perilous situation. Many ancient cedars
adorning the lawn of Warwick Castle and 50
cedars and elms in the Priory grounds have been
in the same manner destroyed. The violence of
the storm will be regretted by very many excur-
sionists from Birmingham who frequent the summer
picnics and fetes in these beautiful grounds. At
Stratford-upon-Avon, Charlecote, Wellesbourne,
and in fact throughout the southern portion of
Warwickshire, the damage done to the timber of
this finely-wooded county has been unprecedented
and immense. The road from Leamington to War-
wick has been completely obstructed, so that traffic
was stopped owing to the wrecks of fallen trees.

LEICESTER, FRIDAY.

A gale of almost unexampled soverity visited this
town and district for several hours on Wednesday
night, accompanied with heavy rain. In the town
chimney-pots, tiles, and slates were blown about
like chaff, and the strongest buildings shaken;
while in the whole county surrounding stacks of
corn were demolished, and some magnificent timber
uprooted. On Thursday evening the wind rose
again, and continued to blow from the same
quarter, with almost equal power, and many small
buildings, walls, fences, and stacks of timber were
overthrown. No serious damage to property or
personal injury has resulted.

BRISTOL, FRIDAY.

Another gale, equal in violence to that of Wed-
nesday night, visited this place last evening. From
5 to 7 p.m. the wind blew with great fury, varying
from S.W. to W.S.W., from which latter point it
continued till about 10 p.m., when its force abated.
The mercury fell till 6 p.m., after which hour it
rose rapidly. Telegraphic communication between
London and the north, and this city is still sus-
pended, the damage done to the wires, previously
uninjured, last night being considerable. A house
in Somerset-square, Cathay, suffered severely from
the violence of the storm, and its inmates narrowly
escaped with their lives. A tall stack of chimneys
in the rear of the premises was blown down, and,
falling on the roof, the fragments forced their way
to the ground floor, destroying the furniture in the
se-veral rooms, and depositing an immense quantity
of bricks, tiles, &c., ou the parlour floor. Two
women, who were the only persons living in the
house, had only quitted the room a few moments
before, and thus escaped destruction. The cross of
St. Raphael's-court, Bedminster, a recently-erected
edifice, together with about half a ton of masonry,
was dislodged. At Clevedon, Keynsham, Shore-
hampton, Thornbury, Mangotsfield, Brislington,
and other places, serious injury resulted from the
storm. At Weston-super-mare, Trinity Church, a
new building, which was nearly finished, has be-
come a complete wreck. Upwards of 25 feet
of the spire was literally dashed to atoms, many
portions falling through the roof and causing sad