The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-28 00:00:00

IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP-BUILDING.

Nautical persons having the leisure will be much
gratified and interested by a visit at the present time
to the Canada Works, at Birkenhead, where two beau-
tiful yachts are in course of construction under Mr.
Jordan's patent. This patent in its details involves a
totally new principle in ship-building, and which, with
slight variance, is as applicable to wooden as to iron
vessels.

It would be difficult to convey to the non-professional
reader a familiar idea of the improvement sought to be
effected ; but, to the practical man, Mr. Jordan's new
mode of constructing wooden ships may be briefly
stated as follows :

• The whole of the frame consists of square straight
grown timber of 12 inches square for a ship of 2,000
tons, the outside planking being slightly thicker than in
the old system of building. The timbers run longitu-
dinally, that is 'from stern to stern,:let into a rabbet at
each end, scarped together the same as an ordinary
keel, and securely bolted through the midship feather.
The planking runs underneath the vessel's bottom from
gunwale to gunwale, that is transversely, at least for
one-half the length of the ship, the ends of the planking
being let into a rabbit at the mid feather and bolted
through each other, the keel, after the principle of a
false keel, being put on last. The midship feather runs
fore and aft, and not only adds to the strength of the
ship, but divides her actually into water-tight compart-
ments, the hatches being made large enough to allow
cargo being taken into the different compartments, so
that on a lee shore the saving at least of a portion of
her cargo in sound condition is certain—a fact of incal-
culable importance to underwriters. Mr. Jordan esti-
mates that a vessel so built is equally strong in every
part, occupying less time in construction, is considerably
cheaper (when we take into account the dispensing with
clamps, stringers, bilge logs, hooks and pointers, and
the rest of the frame) ; and that a ship so built, having
fewer joints, cannot by any possibility strain; that it is
calculated to last much longer than vessels as at present
constructed, and is about twice as strong. Mr. Jordan's
new plan of building iron ships differs little from
the above description, possessing all its advantages, only,
as contrasted with other vessels built of iron, it is said
to have two superior features, viz., increased strength,
and 25 per cent. saved in material and work. Besides,
as the framing is ;,,01-..A of var“,al,
number of rivets required to be driven will be only about
one-half the number usually employed under the present
mode of construction ; and we need no science to lead
us to the inference that a perforated plate is necessarily
much weaker than one in which such perforations are
absent.

*The yachts to which we have referred are building
under the superintendence of Mr. Harrison, and their
lines have been moulded by Mr. Gemmell, the foreman
of the works. The first, which is nearly finished, is to
be schooner-rigged; she is to be named the Rosette,
and her dimensions are as follow :—Length over all,
69 feet; length, Royal Mersey Yacht Club measure-
ment, 62 feet; breadth, 12 feet 8 inches; depth, 8 feet
10 inches ; length on load water line, 60 feet 6 inches;
height in cabins, 6 feet; tonnage, 43 tons, Royal Mersey
Yacht Club measurement. The cabins, &c., are most
conveniently arranged, and they will be fitted up with
French-polished pitch pine, a sample of which was
exhibited to us. The second vessel is a yawl to be '
named the Cecilia. Iler tonnage is 30 tons, and her
dinienSiOns are as follow :—Length over all, 69 feet ;
length, R.M.Y.C. measurement, 53 feet; breadth, 11
feet 6 inches ; depth in cabin, 6 feet. The Cecilia will
be fitted in a similar manner to the Rosette, and both
vessels will probably be launched early in June.

ALLEGED CRUELTY ON BOARD AN
AMERICAN SKIP.

CORONER' -(NQUEST.

On Saturday afternoon Mr. J. Wybergh, the deputy-
coroner, held an inquest on the body of Martin Moss, a
sailor (a native of Holland), who came here on board
the American ship Ocean Monarch, which arrived on
Tuesday last. The deceased died in the Northern Hos-
pital on Friday morning, and it was alleged that his
death was the result of ill-treatment by the second and
third mats of the ship. The case caused much atten-
tion ; and Mr. Wilding, the secretary of the American
consul, was present. Mr. Marshall, attorney, appeared
for the master of the vessel (Captain Page) ; detective-
officer .Tohn Scott was present to watch the case on the
part of the police. There were many rumours about
the affair, but we can only report what has been given
in evideng

Charles Stole was examined, and said he was "crimped"
on board along with the [deceased, and because the
deceased refused to work he was knocked down with a
belaying-pin ; and as the ship lay on the bar for fifteen
days at New Orleans, the deceased was beaten by the
second and third mates until no one could tell whethel
he was a black or a white man.

Surgeon Wrigglesworeu, ot the Northern Hospital,
stated that deceased was brought there with disease of
the lungs, and he was treated accordingly; bat he got
worse, and died of disease of the lungs. If he were
struck with a pin, as described, there would be malts on
the body; but there 'ere r,one,
Francis McGregor, steward, on board the Ocean
Monarch, said, I knew deceased, and saw him knocking
about. The ship arrived on Tuesday. Moss was always
complaining, and I saw him knocked down twice on
Tuesday morning, after the ship was docked. Daren-
port, the third mate, knocked him down with a belaying
pin, by a blow on the back of the shoulders ; I was at
the cabin. door, and he was at the capstan ; I saw him
knocked down. I did not sea other violence offered to
him since arrival in port, but I saw Davenport knock
him down with his hand before that.

To Mr. Marshall : The blow was not heavy, but it
knocked him down. I don't know how he felt, and I
don't suppose the blow would have knocked me down.
He had no jacket, but a couple of flannel shirts en.

To the Coroner : Re get u.,p on both occasions, and
began to cough then.
The Coroner then addressed Mr. Marshall, and said
if the parties wished an adjournment, to rebut the evidence
given against the men, he would do so.
Captain Page, the master of the Qcean Monarch,
was then eprnined, and in reply to Mr. Marshall, be
stated that he gave positive orders to the mate and
second mate that none of the crew were to be struck
under any circumstances, and he did not know of any
ill-treatment, nor was there any complaint made to
him of ill-treatment, nor did he hear of any ill-
treatment to deceased. He heard that deceased was
" Shang-hied," that is entrapped on board, but he had
nothing to do with that. The agents do su with men
for the run.

Who does so ?—The agents.
Clarke Sharman, mate of the Ocean Monarch, said :
knew' the deceased; he was on board when I joined ;

I saw him get a kick, or a rope's end, but no-other bad
treatment. I don't remember having seen him struck
with a pin. I did not see him knocked down on
Tuesday last, although I was on the forecastle all day.
George Shand, the carpenter of the ship, said ; I
knew the deceased, who said he v(e..s a carpenter, and
worked with me; I was much in his company, but
never saw him badly' used by any of the officers. I did
not see him struck on Tuesday last, but he might with-
out me seeing him. Never heard him complain of
being struck ; but he complained to me at New Orleans
that his health was bad, and his constitution gone from
drinking.
The Coroner then said, as there were some points
relative to international lsiw, and also as to medical
evidence, that presented some difficulties, he would
adjourn the further inquiry to one o'clock this day, and
the case stands over accordingly.