The Sun.
London, England, 1842-08-08 00:00:00

SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE.

We had pleasure, at the Whitsun holidays, in referring
to the performances at this theatre, which we think we
then stated, having secured the servics of the late Mr. li
Ducrow's stud and company, had in addition to the above
title, taken unto itself the new and more high-sounding
appellation of New Royal A mphitheatre of Arts." At
the time to which we refer, Mr. R. Ilonner was the lessee
and manager of the.house. On the lamented death of
Mr. Davidge, however, Mr. Honner became acting-
manager of the Surrey, and having despatched his
talented little wife to Liverpool, Mr. T. Greenwood has,
as we understand, become sole lessee and manager of the
Wells. The performances during the last week have
commenced with an historical, equestrian, romance,
founded on the Crimean war of independence, entitled
The Conqueror's Steed Karabagh, or the Prophet of the
Caucasus. This piece is little more than one of those
gorgeous spectacles which we have been accustomed so
often to witness at Astley's in its palmiest days. There is
scarcely any plot in the piece, nor should we deem it neces
sary to describe it if there were, as we learn that it is to be
withdrawn to-day to make roam for Lalta Rookh. Thew hole
of the new scenery in the piece is exceedingly good, the
properties and decorations are superb, the costumes are
in good taste, and the- situations are effective. Several
dances and gymnastic feats are introduced which gave
considerable satisfaction, and a Russian ballet was very
nicely gone through by Master Maskell, Miss Parting-
ton, Miss Smythies, and Mademoiselle Susanne. A pretty
little song, entitled " The nice little man," was very
pleasingly sung by Mrs. R. Barnett. The spectacle was
succeeded by " A grand selection from Ducrow's popu-
lar scenes of the circle." These were of the usual cha
meter, and gave the greatest satisfaction to a crowded
and respectable audience. Master Andrew Ducrow, is
certes, a most astonishing youth. His feats on the horse,
in our opinion, equalled, if not excelled, those of any of
his compeers, not even excepting Signor Hillier himself.
The Flemish youth, surnamed " the Sprite of Ants‘ erp,"
performed some most fearful and astonishing feats on the
corde volante. The performances concluded with the drama
of The Rock of Arpennaz, in which Messrs. Lyon, C. J.
Smith, Dry, J. Herbert, Richardson, Miss Richardson,
and Mrs. R. Barnett were remarkably good in their re-
respective roles. We are glad to observe that Mrs. R.
Barnett has much better parts assigned to her now than
when Mrs. Honner was at the theatre. Mrs. Barnett is
a lady of a pleasing manner and considerable talent.
In conclusion, we must observe that we could not but
miss with regret the absence of Mr. Henry Marston, and
Mr. and Mrs. Honner.

Mr. Lyon, who, we suppose, is meant to supply the
place of Henry Marston, though a fine dashing man, by
no means possesses the sterling qualities for an actor
which rendered Mr.-Marston so great a favourite with
the frequenters of this house; neither do we observe any
one to supply the place of Mr. and Mrs. Honner. The
whole female strength consists, indeed, of Miss Richard-
son and Mrs. Barnett. On the whole, we may safely
say, notwithstanding, that this theatre continues to main-
tain the prominent position which it has long held
amongst the minor theatres of the metropolis.

EXPERIMENTS WITH PERCUS-
SION AND CONCUSSION SHELLS IN THE
MARSHES AT WOOLWICH.

Woonwlcx, Auc. s.—At half-past one o'clock, P.M.,
Major-General Drummond, Director-General of Royal
Artillery ; Major-General Sir Hew D. Ross, Deputy-
Adjutant-General to the Royal Artillery ; Colonels Pa-
terson, Lacy, Dansey, Dundas, Chalmer, Belson ; Majors
Vaughan and Hope ; Captains Pallier, Robe, and
Grant, of the Royal Artillery, attended at the marshes
to witness experiments with percussion shells, the inven-
tion of Mr. Tuck and Serjeant Freeburn ; and concus •
sion shells, the invention of Serjeant-Major Moore, of
the Royal Artillery.
Mr. Tuck had eight 32-pounder and eleven 6-pounder
shells ; Serjeant Freeburn, two 56 -pounder, and Ser-
jeant-Major Moore, four 56-pounder, or 8-inch shells.
The first shell fired was one of the 6-pounders (Mr.
Tuck's), from an iron gun, and it burst at the mouth of
the gun. The second, 32-pounder (Mr. Tuck's) burst at
the mouth of the gun. The third, 56-pounder (Serjeant
Freeburn's), entered the bulwark, or representation of
a ship's side, but did not burst. The fourth, 32-pounder
(Mr. Tuck's) struck the bulwark, and burst in-
side. The fifth, 6-pounder (Mr. Tuck's), burst on
striking the bulwark. The sixth, 32-pounder (Mr.
Tuck's), entered the bulwark, but did not burst. The
seventh, 56-pounder (Serjeant Freeburn's) entered the
bulwark, but did not burst. The eighth 32-pounder
(Mr. Tuck's), struck the bulwark, but did not burst.
The ninth, 6-pounder (Mr. Tuck's), did not burst.
The tenth, 32-pounder (Mr. Tuck's) burst at the mouth
of the gun. The eleventh, 56-pounder (Serjeant-Major
Moore's) burst at the mouth of the gun. The twelfth,
32-pounder (Mr. Tuck's), did not burst. The thirteenth,
6-pounder (Mr. Tuck's), struck the top of the mound
and burst. The fourteenth, 32-pounder (Mr. Tuck's),
did not burst. The fifteenth, 56-pounder (Serjeant-
Major Moore's), entered the bulwark and burst betwixt
the sides with good effect. The sixteenth, 32-pounder
(Mr. Tuck's), did not burst. The seventeenth, 6-pounder
(Mr. Tuck's), burst on entering the bulwark. The
eighteenth, 56-pounder (Serjeant-Major Moore's) en-
tered the bulwark and burst with excellent effect. The
nineteenth, 6-pounder (Mr. Tuck's) entered the bulwark
and burst. The twentieth, 56-pounder (Serjeant-Major
Moore's), entered the bulwarks and simultaneously burst
passing through one side, with tremendous effect, be-
twixt the bulwarks.

The result of the experiments to-day show that the
two 56-pounders fired on Serjeant Freeburn's principle
did not burst. Two only of Mr. Tuck's 32-pounders
were good, the fourth and eighth; and three of the 6-
pounders, the sixth, seventeenth, and nineteenth, the
thirteenth bursting on the top of the mound ; the con •
struction and singular shape of the shells being liable to
cause them to deviate from a direct line. Had the prac-
tice been at a greater distance than four hundred, the
range to-day, there could have been no calculation of
the course Mr. Tuck's shells would have taken. Under
these disadvantages the firing to-day was of, a very
superior description, and the aim excellently taken. Two
of the guns, the 56-pounder and a 32-pounder, were fired
with Lieut.-Colonel I)ansey's improved friction tubes,
and went off in every instance admirably, although en-
trusted to gunners and drivers who have never witnessed
their action before, the firing of a blank one by Lieut.-
Colonel Dansey, before the experiments commenced,
being sufficient to instruct the men to discharge this most
simple, yet important discovery.
The bursting of three of Serjeant-Major Moore's
shells out of four appeared to give great satisfaction to
the officers present, who complimented Serjeant-Major
Moore on his success, and expressed their opinion that
they were decidedly the best yet submitted for trial. It
is also satisfactory to know that no danger is to be ap-
prehended to those employed in firing, by the introduc-
tion of this shell, in the event of its principle being
adopted after future experiments, as it is equally safe to
work as the snells at present in use. Percussion shells,
on the contrary, are equally dangerous to those who
work them as to those against whom they might be di-
rected, in the event of the least want of care in moving
them about, and daring engagements this could not be
obviated, and they could only have been made avail-
able in defending fortifications. Serjeant-Major Moore's
invention,retaining the present port-fire, and adding aeon-
, cussion principle to cause the shell to explode the moment
, it strikes an object, seems most likely to be successful.