CLIPPINGS FROM THE HOME PAPERS.

West Coast Times, Issue 912, 25 August 1868, Page 4

CLIPPINGS FROM THE HOME PAPERS.

The following accounts are given of the performances of the breech-loading Snider rifle with the present ammunition, in charge of the Royal Marine Light Infantry of the "Woolwich division. As an example, a party of ninety men obtained an average during their first .period of practice of 44.06 points with the muzzleloading Enfield ; an average of forty was considered to indicate "very good shooting ;" tbe volley firing of the same party averaged 19.4*2, twenty points being considered "very good" with tho Enfield. The figure of merit amounted to 135.70, or thirty-five per cent, superior to that which qualified as " very good" with the old arm. Forty-three meu fired in the first class, and tweuty-three men became marksmen. Out of a total of 8000 rounds fired by the party, there were only five misfires, and no other casualties of any description. This satisfactory result has been obtained with a pattern of ammunition (V.) on which some doubts have recently been. thrown at Aldershott, and about which a question was asked in Parliament. It is said to have been ascertained that the few casualties which occurred at Aldershott were due to one or two cartridges not complete in all their parts, and that the result of an inquiry has been to remove the restriction on the use of this pattern of ammunition which had been temporarily imposed.

It is stated that arrangements arc in progress between Mv James M'Henry, the contractor for the Atlantic and Great Western Railway Company, and his creditors, to the effect that tliey will accept 20s in the pound by instalments, of which 6s 8d is to be paid within, two years, and that creditors to the extent of £2,400,000 out of the aggregate of £3,600.000, have already agreed to the offer. One of the creditors for about £5000, who objects to the deed, has taken out a summons in bankruptcy, but there is said to be no doubt that the deed will be legally completed by the assent of nearly all the large creditors, so as to prevent any proceedings in bankruptcy taking effect. A singular accident has occurred at the Midland Railway Station, Masbro. Several of the officials were engaged shunting trucks, when one of the waggons got off the metals, ran into a dwelling-house, and destroyed the building and its contents. The house was occupied by a puddler, named Timothy S.raw, and he happened just then to be having his tea alone in the lower room, from the window of which he could sic the approaching waggons ; and as egress hy the door was cut off he ran upstairs, ana awaited the result in great fear. The coal waggon was forced with great, violence against a poplar tree immediately in front of the building, and rebounding caught the end of the house, shattering the walls to pieces. Fortunately the man had entered the bedroom farthest away, and to this circumstance he is in all probability indebted, for the preservation of his life, as the other chamber was completely destroyed. The waggon was forced into the lower room and smashed into matchwood, the axle and wheels alone retaining their original shape. An important addition has been made to our iron-clad fleet by the floating on May 25 of the Monarch, turret- ship, 5100 tons, 1100 horse-power. This was the first turret-ship built at Chatham. The Monarch will be a formidable vessel, and, it is expected, of high speed. This ship, built from the designs of Mr E. J. Reed, chief constructor of the navy, was commenced on October 22, 18i 6, so that; she has been about one year and seven months in being brought forward sufficiently to allow of her side will be upwards of 1100 tons ; the two turrets will have plates weighing in all 177 tons, iv ten-inch and eight-inch plates, the thicker plates being placed round the ports of the guns. The teu-iuch plates will be laid on a backing of teak of 10 inches ; behind this will be an iron plating o f | of an inch in thickness, fastened to seveninch girders, with an inner plating of f of an inch in thickness ; the total thickness of iron and wood in the turrets will be 2 feet 2f inches. The plates on the broadside of the vessel are five tiers 7 inches thick. The following are the principal dimensions of the ship :— Length over all, 338 feet; length between the perpendiculars, 330 feet; extreme breadth, 57 feet 6 inches ; depth in hold, 18 feet 9 inches; burden in tons, 5098 70-94 The guns, few in number, will be of heavy calibre. There will be two guns of 25 tons in each turret, and throe of 6| tons, two at the bow, and one at the stern. The task of floating out was most successfully performed, without a mishap. The christening of the vessel was performed by Lady Cecilia Bingham. We have to announce the death of Sir J. Brooke, X.C.8., Rajah of Sarawak, which took place on June 11, at Burrator, Devon, after a long illness. Sir James was the only surviving sou of the late Mr Thomas Brooke, of "Widcombe, an old civil service employe of the Hon. East India Company in Bengal. He was born in 1803, and was formerly in the military service of the Company on the Bengal establishment, and wa.s severely wounded at Rungpoor in the Burmese war, after which he returned to England for the benefit of his health. The late Sir James subsequently visited China, and on his return from that country undertook an expedition at his own cost to Borneo, •where he assisted the Malay Jiajah, Muda Hassam, in suppressing the insurrection. He shortly afterwards became Rajah of Sarawak, and exerted himself in arresting piracy, facilitating European commerce, and introducing some degree of j civilisation among the Dyak tribes, as well as Christianity among that barbarian community. He was appointed hy her Majesry's Government Governor and Com-mander-in Chief of Labuan, when that island Mas taken possession of by the British Government in December, 1847, and held that office till February, 1856 ; and was also Commissioner and ConsulGeneral to the Sultan and independent chiefs of Borneo. In recognition of his J dis'inguished services he was created in 1848 a Knight Commander of the Civil Division of the Order of the Bath, and in the previous year received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the University of | Oxford. For the last few years he had been resident in England, and for many months past has suffered from indifferent health. His death will be lamented by a very large circle of friends. The steamer Ocean Bell was going down the Hull river, with a deck load of piglead. As she was steaming near a shallow place, the pilot gave the signal for the man forward to throw the lead. It happened that the only man forward was a green Irishman. " Why don't you throw the lead ?" — "Is it the lead you want to throw, yer honor ?" — Patrick accordingly took up a pig of lead, and threw it overboard, and the mate, in endeavoring to prevent him, lost his balance, and fell into the river. The captain ran forward on the hurricane deck, and asked Pat why he did not " throw the lead and sing out how much water there was ?" — '• Oeh, 'pon my sow!, captain, I throw'd the lead, and the mate has gone down to see how much water there is !" A Roman Catholic priest in a parish near Tralee has denounced with "bell, book, and candle," a man named Langlcj r and his wife, whose offence was that they got married in a registrar's office instead of in a chapel, and the result is that their neighbors, who before were amicable, will now hold no communication with them. A representation of the case has been forwarded to the Right Rev. Dr. Moriarty, Roman Catholic Bishop of Kerry. On June 5 was issued a statement of receipts and payments to the slh May, 1868, and the estimated cost and balance required for the completion of the works of the Thames embankment (north and south), Mansion House-street, and Thames Empankment approaches. There has b. en a total expenditure of £3,572,013, leaving a balance in hand of £"157,339. The balance estimated as required is £1,839,000. A boy from the country was recently taken as a page into a gentleman's family, and one afternoon, just before dark, having been called up to the drawing-room, he came down into the kitchen, laughing immoderately. " "What is the matter P ' cried the cook. " Why dang it !" said he, '* there are twelve on 'em up there ! who couldn't l'ght the gas, and they had to ring for mo to do it !"