The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-10-02 00:00:00

128 MALLEABLE IRON ORDNANCE.—We made mention some weeks ago of a wrought-iron gun, manufactured by Mr. Dunda s , a t P aragon W or ks, North Britain, on a principle maintained by him to be the only practi cable method by which guns and mortars of that ma terial, and of large calibre, could be made sound and trustworthy ; the difficulty of procuring dense and solid forgings of great bulk being well known to every practical engineer. This gun, a 9-pounder, after being taken to the War Department, Whitehall, for Lord Panmure's inspection, was sent down to Woolwich to be proved. Two heavy charges of 91b. of powder and a ball, the usual proof charge of a cannon of this size, were first fired from it. These produced no change in the gun, nor displacement of its parts. Fifty rounds of ordinary service ammunition were then rapidly fired from the cannon, causing no change whatever. The gun was then sent down to Shoeburyness for a further and more severe ordeal. This it underwent some days ago, and as thirty-six ordinary rounds more were fired from it without any remarkable result, the charge was gradually increased to four, five, and lastly, to six pounds of powder, and two balls. Under this power ful application the gun at length began to yield, and it finally became unserviceable at the third round of the last series—six pounds of powder, two balls, and a wad. In all one hundred and fifty-two rounds were fired from it. It may not be uninteresting to give a brief description of the method of the construction of this gun. Four bars of iron, about an inch thick, five inches broad, and the proper length of the gun, are put up longitudinally into segments of a circle, which, if placed edge to edge, form the rough outline of the bore. The edges of these bars are then accu rately planed. The bars or staves are now hooped temporarily as a cylinder by means of two rings at the extremities, and turned in a lathe to a surface perfectly true and cylindrical. A series of iron rings, three inches broad, and three-quarters of an inch thick, carefully welded, are bored to a size slightly smaller than the barrel or cylinder ; these, being after wards expanded by heat, are one by one placed on the cylinder, and plunged into cold water ; instant con traction ensuing, the staves are compressed more powerfully than could be done by any artificial means, and no appearance of a joint in the staves is percep tible. The exterior surface of the mass is. again turned perfectly cylindrical, and a second series of rings placed in like manner over the first " breaking band." This time in the lathe the iron assumes the exterior of a cannon, the trunnions having been previously placed on, forged on a centre ring. .To bore the gun with great perfection is very simple, as the boring bar can be supported at both ends, and the breech end of the gun being, for a few inches, bored slightly conically with a shoulder, into which fits a solid plug intro duced from the muzzle ; the cannon is now complete. Of course the best workmanship and fittings in the manufacture of such a gun are indispensable, and without the large planing machines, lathes, and other powerful tools now in use, which, while they save manual labour, do their work with unerring accuracy, such a piece of ordnance on a large scale could not be constructed. Since this gun was made, many improve ments have suggested themselves to the inventor, who was much in doubt as to the proper proportions required by the separate parts of the cannon, and who, perhaps too confidently, made his gun much slighter than ser vice ordnance of the same calibre, this being one-third lighter than a cast-iron nine-pounder gun. By the substitution, also, of tilted cast steel for iron staves a double strength will be secured, while, by corrugating the cylinder to the extent of from one-eighth to one sixteenth of an inch, and turning the rings to fit these corrugations when shrunk on, grea t aditional te nacity will be gained. Adopting these alterations, Mr. Dundas is now engaged in the manufacture of another • gun, which he is confident will resist every fair means that may be used with the view of destroy ing it. By thus making cannon in pieces compara tively small, no difficulty exists in obtaining perfect soundness and solidity in each separate part, and in suring equal trustworthiness in the whole. This cannot be secured in large masses of iron, from the constant heat - ings rendering the interior raw and crude—an evil aggra vated each time the mass is put into the furnace and withdrawn, when the sUila - ce_ only is exposed to the action of the hammer, which, even though that in strument be a ponderous engine, weighing six tons, fails to compress the vast incandescent bulk on which it descends.—Times. SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD HOUSEHOLD ECONOMY. BROTH ImPRomPTu.--Should you have occasion for a basin of broth in a hurry, it can be prepared. in a few minutes by boiling a table-spoonful of grits in a pint of water, addinc , four or five sprigs of pa rs l e y, two drops of eschala vinegar (vide Epicure's Al manac, 1841), a teaspoonful of mixed sweet herb's ; when all has boiled up twice, strain through a fine sieve, and serve with toasted bread. GINGERBREAD.-Put on a slab or table a pound of flour, make a ring of it ; put half a pint of treacle in, mix well together till forming a stiff paste, working it well. Put some flour in a basin, to which add your dough ; it will keep thus for seven or eight weeks. When you want to use it, put in any quantity of ground ginger you require, according to taste ; mix well, roll thin ; cut any size you like ; pieces about the size of a crown are the best ; then put them on a baking sheet, bake for a few minutes, till crisp. These cakes will keep a long while if put in air-tight cases. An ounce of butter may be used to every pound of paste. _ _ - GROUND RICE CAKE.—Break five eggs into a stewpan, which place in another containing hot water ; whip the eggs for ten minutes till very light, then mix in by degrees half a pound of ground rice, six ounces of powdered sugar ; beat it well ; any flavour may be introduced : pour into buttered pan, and bake half an hour. LITTLE MILK CAKE FOR BREAKFAST.—PIace on a table or slab one pound of flour, half a teaspoonful of salt, two of sugar, three of fresh yeast,- or a very small piece of German, two ounces of butter and one egg ; have some new milk, pour in a gill, mix all together, adding more milk to form a nice dough, then put some flour in a cloth, put' the dough in and lay it in a warm place ; let it rise for about two hours, cut it in pieces about the size of eggs, roll them even, and mark the top with a sharp knife ; egg over and bake quick : serve hot or cold. A COMMON SoRT.---Only yeast, salt, milk, and butter, and proceed as before. LEMON PUDDING.---Put in a basin a quarter of a pound of flour, same of sugar, same of bread crumbs and chopped suet, the juice of one good-sized lemon, and the peel grated, two eggs, and enough to make it the consistency of porridge ; boil in a basin for one hour ; serve with or without sauce. THE FASHIONS. NOVELTIES in fashion, adapted to the change of season, are now beginning to appear. The newest bonnets are of a less gay and light description than those which were worn in the height of summer. Some, composed of light straw, are trimmed with black velvet ribbon, two or three inches wide, crossed over the bonnet twice or thrice. The strings are also formed of black velvet ribbon ; and the under-trimming con sists of tulle and small white and coloured flowers intermingled. A bonnet of fancy straw, ornamented with a pattern in black velvet and chenille, has been trimmed with bows of sarsenet ribbon, of a rich royal blue tiny; and the edges of this ribbon are bordered by a very narrow row of black velvet. Small dahlias, formed of red velvet and blonde, compose the under trimming. Bonnets of grey straw, and of straw of different colours intermingled, are in great favour, especially for the country. Several very pretty dresses of white worked muslin have just been completed. They are intended for young ladies' ball costume, and are to be worn in the country. Some of these dresses are very elegantly trimmed with wreaths of flowers mounted in the chatelaine style, and descend from one side of the waist over the skirt of the dress. Almost all flowers have a pretty effect on a dress of white muslin ; but of wreaths prepared for dresses of the kind above mentioned, those composed of datura, with its purple flowers and leaves of different tones of green, are most admired. Wreaths of magnolia and of honeysuckle are also among the favourites ; and one, very effective, consists of long green leaves intermingled with sprays of coral. Many dresses of worked muslin and organdy consist of a skirt made in the peignoir form and a jacket corsage. These dresses, some of which have been prepared for ladies of high fashion, are intended for morning costume. _ The various kinds of silk, as well as other materials, recently produeed for promedade dresses, are of the [OCTOBER 2, 185 5 . _.......... ter rich and deep hues suitable for the autumn and win e _ seasons. In mantles, no novelty of any imp ortan has appeared, beyond what has been already noti ce in recent numbers of the Lady's Newspaper. AGRICULTURE. THIN SEEDING.—I. H. W., writing to the j,,, tural Gazette, says :---The very intelli gent ma ster y . the Newmarket Union showed on Bth Sept. grain of wheat of the crop 1852. It threw up se 0o spires, which were transplanted about 14th Nov; pa, about the 20th Aug., when the crop was gathered' there were 131 heads ; these contained 5,700 g 1.3 11; and a few over. The yield more than filled a tumble and the weight of it was 91 oz. The master 0 1111 . 05 and weighed the grains himself. I enclose a few gr, 31 0, as a sample. Contrast this with the ordinary P e w , Two bushels per acre would be considered a thin 1 0 ing, and 40 bushels per acre a good yield---in 01 e r words, 20 fold ; here we have 5,700 fold. On a f° llll te d last 000 occasion he sowed one grain in Sept., and transP l3ll 4 the spires in Nov.;and again in Feb.; and the P, e then was above 6,5'00 ; but he has not the evet P a. 4 titulars. Again, in order to see whether old or be wheat threw up the strongest spires, he sowed 0,; 25th Aug., one grain of the crop 1851; o n e do. IS a t c e one do. 1853 ; one do. 1854; one do. 1855. And,e relative heights of the species on the 7th Sept. 1851, 51- inches ; 1852, 4-1.; 1853, 5 ; 1854, 41; 1 ' 1 ; 3-1---the spires from the old seed taller and strong'. HORTICULTURE. • FLOWER GARDEN.—If previous directions been attended to, the propagation of next sol, "bedding stock" will by this time be well 7 la and where, from the pressure of other work or 00 1 causes, this is not the case, every possible disP a d ji must be used while the weather is favourable for s he work. Where cuttings of verbenas and suchOrcl te things have yet to be put in, they should be rather thinly in deep pans or shallow pots, ifi o ,' s hed they can be wintered, a s th e y w ill b e go t eat s " - , v ere sooner in this way than would be the case if they to be potted off before winter, and we have fre4 ll % - ter found late cuttings managed in this way to fully as well as stronger plants ; and, except P ini o• intended to furnish cuttings in spring, it is very ter/ terial how small beddin plants are before 1. %' - d provided they are well rooted without having bee ll ;y up in a close warm atmosphere to render thew 6 ' g re and tender. Many parties, through anxiety to se c ,, is t large plants, keep bedding-out stock close and Ito. until late in autumn, and frequently in frames on °Teti beds, where size is soon obtained ; but plants tr e a t in this way are necessarily so soft and tender tha t . t i r almost impossible to carry them over the winter tis out serious loss. Therefore avoid keeping such tip too warm after this season, and if they are plae e , r it bottom heat, give air freely at night, and whole', to can be done without the cuttings flagging, s° ° ' prevent weakly growth. FRUIT. Where wasps are troublesome P l rei; must be taken to preserve ripe fruit from ue tte depredations, and plums and apricots had 'oil be netted-up, as wasps, if at all numerous , ti tlY do serious damage to these. Also look frecill e t i i er over any varieties of pears ripening, and g i ' a fter those that are fit, for if allowed to hog + ob they are ripe the wasps are sure to find and will attack the fruit before it is fit for gatlL7t so that the crop will probably be spoiled unles s be netted up. Where currants are covered witbrs for which, by the bye, are very inferior to close nettrees this purpose, and much more expensive, ti rc ,, so should be uncovered occasionally on fine drY ;',, a "order as to expose the fruits thoroughly to the air,vl to prevent their being injured by clamp, a" re fill t° ,l and dress strawberry plantations, and str i a b w l d e be , ne a i r l er : sy, injure . the leaves of the plants as little as p° i s of no avoid deep digging between the rows, farther use than to injure the roots, as the rather prefers a somewhat firm soil.- - G ar Chronicle. L : Printed and Published every T LIVERP usdOOay,gorning, by the Propri .s e t t ge ' ROBERT PEARSON THACKER, of No. 7 ; Percy-street, " , 1 ., STANDARD GENERAL PRINTING OFFICE, No. 42 GEORGE'S CRESCENT, Liverpool —Tuesday,October 2,195 g.