The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-09 00:00:00

ARY AND NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

Brigadier-General Lefroy, R.A., at present hold-
ing the office of President of the Ordnance Select
Committee, has been appointed Director-General
of Ordnance and Commandant of the Royal Ar-
senal, Woolwich, and we are informed that Colonel
Milward, C. 8., R.A., Aide-de-camp to the Queen,
Assistant-Director of Ordnance, will be Deputy-
Director-General of Ordnance, and Deputy-Com-
mandant Royal Arsenal. The want of a supreme
head over the vast establishments in the Royal Ar-
senal has long been felt, the departments having
worked independently of each other. The constitu-
tion of the present Ordnance Select Committee will
be considerably modified.
Ensign J. W. Graves and Ensign S. Phillips, 2d
Battalion of the I.th (Royal Iris!i) Regiment, from
the depot at Colchester, embarked at Gravesend
yesterday on hoard the si.ip Flying Spur, for
Melbourne, to j the service companies of that

regiment.
An order his been issued from the War 0111c.2
announcing the introduction into the sa-vice
of a new description of wrought-iron muz-
zle-lording 10-inch 18-ton gun, of which the fol-
lowing is the official te Ithnic d description :--Length
of gun, 14ft. 2in. ; mean weight of gun, 18 tons
241 b. ; mean preponderanc?, Bcwt. lqr. 241 b. ;
length of bore, 145-sin. ; length of r;fling, 118 in. ;
calibre, 10in. ; "A" tube tough steel. Tais new
description of ordnance is of the general type re.-
presented by the 7,8, and gin. guns. They are
rifled upon the Woolwich system with seven grooves,
having a twist increasing from one turn in 100
calibres at the breech to one turn in 40 calibres at
the muzzle. The only guns of this nature which have
as yet been completed-8 for her Majesty's ironclad
ship Hercules—are specially vented in the following
manner :—The vent enters the bore at llin. from the
end, and-upon the right-hand side, at an angle of 45
deg. to the vertical axis on the transverse section, and
directed to the axis of the gun. The vent consists
of a steel bush, lined with copper, screwed in from
the exterior against a platinum tip screwed up from
the interior. This tip has a flange, or button-
shaped head, protecting into the bore, as a means
of preventing the gas escaping into the joint. A
projecting head is left upon the bush to enable it
to be removed when required by a spanner. The
bottom of the vent is enlarged to a diameter of
-32 in., tapering up to -222 in. (the diameter of the
vent channel) in a length of one inch. The guns
are sighted in the ordinary manner at a deflectional
angle of Ideg. 10min., but this angle is only to be
regarded as provisional. -They are fitted with
" plates, metal, elevating," and " pivots." The
caseable faces are graduated for the application of
the road tangent scale.
Mr. W. B. Robinson has, by direction of the Ad-
miralty, visited Sheerness for the purpose of in-
specting the dockyard works and accounts.

The Rev. Father Michael Conway has been ap-
pointed Roman Catholic Naval Chaplain at Sheer-
ness, at a yearly stipend of £l2O, vice the Reverend
Father Lee.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Sub-Lieutenant George Iyat,
to the Juno ; W. A. Stevens, assistant paymaster,
to the impregnable : George M. Jackson, assistant
paymaster, to the Pembroke; John B. Creagh,
assistant paymaster, to the Cambridge ; and Chas.
E. Tremaine, assistant paymaster, to the Valiant.
The following appointment has been made in the
Naval Reserve :--To be Lieutenant, T. Augustus
Fox.

LIQUID FUEL AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR

COAL.

The experiments made from time to time prove

the practicability and expediency of employing
mineral oils as a substitute for coal have been fol-
lowed by the adoption in many cases of the former
material instead of the latter for the purpose of
generating steam for manufacturing purposes. While
the completesubstitutiou of liquid fuel for coal is now
considered impracticable, it has been proved, in mak-
ing the tests by which that opinion has been arrived
at that liquid fuel possesses many important ad-
vantages. Though numerous plans projected for
the purpose of procuring the adoption of oils for
coal have been followed by failure, the burning
of liquid fuel has been brought into practical
working, its use being now so adequately under-
stood that it can be ex tetly arrange 1 and fully
controlled. In some of the more delicate pro-
-o,2s.,:ies of iron manufacture li.juid fuel has been
employed with beneficial results. Creosote,
the oil used, is burned in an ordinary reheating
furnace of large size. A flue clear flame envelopes

the form of iron which is being heated, and under
ordinary circumstances the material is ready for
fashioning in little more than hall the time required
when coal is used. Another advantage afforded
is that, as the heat is equal in every part
of the furnace, it is never requisite, as some-
times happens when coal is used, to replace the
metal in the furnace to complete the shaping
of it. The finished article, whatever it may be,
is produced with the metal much less " fatigued"
than usual.

The creosote is converted into
vapour in an auxiliary boiler, and the vapour is sup-
plied through a coil of pipe which takes the place of
the usual fire, the supply of vapour requisite to
produce the desired heat being regulated by a stop-
cock, in the same way and as easily as the supply of
illuminating gas to an ordinary burner. In the gene-
ration of steam for marine purposes the maximum
theoretical efficiency has in som cases been almost
reached. The chemical composition of the fuel used for
the purposes slecified appeared on experiment to
possess a maximum evaporative power of 13.0231 b
(converting water at GO degrees Fahrenheit into
steam at 212 degrees), and in the practical trials an
evaporative duty of 12•5361 b. was obtained, or the
maximum less about half a pound. With additional
care in regulating the supply of air and other de-
tails it is expected that an evaporative efficiency of
131 b. of water per lib. of oil burned will be obtained.
Taking the average duty of coal at 71b of water per
llb of coal burned, the weight of oil required to
fuel a vessel would be only about one-half that of
the necessary coal. Further, calculating that a
ton of coal, as stowed on board a ship, would occupy
43 cubic feet of space, and that 34 feet would suffice
for a ton of oil, the quantity of oil equivalent in
efficacy to a ton of coal would occupy only 17 cubic
feet, so that the saving in stowage space would
amount to GO per cent. of the space required for
coal. Now that something like a specific estimate
of the value of liquid fuel has been ascertained in
a considerable number of industrial projects, there
is little doubt that its use for other mannfacturing
purposes will be gradually developed. For marine
purposes, however, there are many obvious diffi-
culties in the way of its adoption.-7 ones.

Her Majesty held two Privy Councils this day
at Windsor, at the first of which the late Ministers were
present, and delivered up their seals of office. Subse-
quently the honour of knighthood was conferred upon
the late Solicitor-General, B. Baggallay, Esq., Mr. Baron
Cleasby, and Mr. Justice Hayes. Previous to the second
council Mr. Childers and Mr. Bright were sworn in as
Privy Councillors, and took their seats at the board ac-
cordingly. The seals of office were then handed over to
the now ministers.

THE OUT-GOING AND IN-COMING MINISTERS.-
The members of the late Ministry arrived at Windsor
at 12.50 this day, and had au audience with the
Queeu, when they resigned their seals of office. The new
Ministers arrived shortly after, and had an audience with
the Queen.

THE WESTERN FISHERIES.—Some large catches
of fish were taken on the Devon and Cornish coasts
during the past week. Herrin in greater abundance
than for some years past, and disposod of at from 2s. to
2s. 6d. per 120. Upwards of 130 tons of sprats wore sent
to the London markets. Good catches of fine whiting,
and a largo supply forwarded to London, 5,.11 in aivou
and Cornwall at the rate of 8, 10, and 12 fora shilling.
About 150 hogsheads of pilchards have been taken on the
Cornish coast. .

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