The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-05 00:00:00

Nil VAL INTELLIGENCE.

The Board of Admiralty paid their annual visit
of inspection to Sheerness Dockyard and the ships
in the harbour on Monday. The members of the
Board present were Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander
Milne, K.C.8., Vice-Admiral Sir Sydney Col-
poys Dacres, K.C.8., and Rear-Admiral Sir
John Charles Dalrymple Hay, F.R.S., M.P. Lord
Henry Gordon Lennox, M.P., secretary to the
Board, and Mr. E. J. It3ed, the Chief Construc-
tor of the Navy, were also present. The Board
arrived at Sheerness by train at 12 o'clock, and
were met by Vice-Admiral Sir Baldwin IV. Walker,
K.C.8., Commander-in-Chief at Sheerness; Cap-
tain-Superintendent W. King Hall, C.B , of the
dockyard, and the principal officers of the port. The
Board visted the storehouse, the masthouse, the
steam-factory, the Naval Barracks, and the ships
in the basin and docks. A new steam fire-engine,
lately delivered at Sheerness, and manufactured by
Messrs. Shand, Mason, and Co. of Blackfriars-
road, London, was next inspected. The furnace
was laid with wood and shavings, and in 10 minutes
after applying a light the engine was started
with steam of upwards of 801 b pressure. A jet
two inches in diameter was first tried, and
attained a pressure of 1001 b on the square
inch. After working this for some time, some
stop valves were opened and others closed, when,
without stopping the engine, six jets were all work-
ing at the same time. Various other alterations in
the jets were shown, proving the power and effi-
ciency of the engine. The trial was in every re-
spect satisfactory. The engine is of the double
horizontal construction, and is the largest of its
kind, the weight being nearly three tons. A similar
engine, by the same firm, is nearly ready for Pem-
broke dockyard. The Board then embarked on
board the Admiral's barge and inspected the Lap-
well, to consider the advisability of building large
basins and docks, and a satisfactory opinion of the
place was expressed. The party after the inspec-
tion returned to shore and dined with Admiral
Walker. On Tuesday morning their Lordships
inspected her Majesty's ships Formidable and Cum-
berland, and were received on board the former ves-
sel with manned yards and the usual salute. After
leaving the Cumberland they embarked on board
Admiral Walker's steam yacht Wildfire, and left
Sheerness at 11 o'clock for Chatham.

The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieutenant Horace J. M.
Pugh to the Peterel ; Lieutenant 11. C. Wallis to
the Lion ; Lieutenant Charles A. Crespin to the
St. Vincent ; Lieutenant Robert W. Evans and
Lieutenant Alaric F. Grant to the Rattlesnake, ad-
ditional, far disposal.

The St. Petersburg Gazette says that there is now
in the Rut Aim' capital the richest Chinese library in
the world. It consists of 11,607 volumes, 1,168
wood-eng.'avings, and 276 manuscripts. The books
are on all .sorts of subjects, and among them are
several rare works, one or two of which are unique,
there being; no copies of them in even the largest
libraries of China. The library was collected by
11.Skatchc di, now Consul-General in Pekin, during
a residences of fifteen years in the Chinese Empire.
Recently N. Skatchoff offered to sell it for 9,000
roubles (£.1..,400) to the Imperial Library at St.
Petersburg aa'd the Russian Academy of Sciences,
but both iu3thutions were compelled to decline the
offer for want .of funds.

At Alton, iu Staffordshire., the overseers have pui
the names of the female ratepayers as claimants o:
votes on the chub 3h door.

The statue of Lcopold I. which has just been
" inaugurated" aV Antwerp is in bronze. The King
is represented on. horseback, with head uncovered
and hat in hand as if saluting the people. The
following inscript. On in French and Flemish appears
on two sides of di t.l pedestal :—" The Commerce
and People of Antwe.v.p to Leopold, First King of
Independent Belgium ; voted 1856 ; erected 1868."
The other two sides bear the words spoken by the
King in 1836 when on a, visit to Antwerp, and his
reply in 1831 to the delc gates of the National Con-
gress :—"Human destim ',es offer no task more noble
and useful than that of being called to maintain
the independence of a r ration and to consolidate its
liberties."