The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-11 00:00:00

work shol
the Vanguard:l-
-' pro-

_ . .
i rve-seel into a place of safety, where the ultimate
t kl
e'dons4 fr . i 44 -, . b
- otiksjojitatt he that the rising of
1 sto he vffected by.simple_zigans_ a action, a,
, -pole, anil which-it would be too long to detail in a letter. I
feel confident that, if the details were known, the tact and
skill of the Government's engineers would conduct the work
to a favourable issue. There is no doubt at all as to the
feasibility of rescuing the Vanguard. and I should be very
happy indeed if my suggestions could be of some utility to
the country which has given so much aid to my several in-
ventions for balloo_ning, especially with hot air.—With that
hope, I remain, Sir, yours very obediently, A. S. IdrNIER.
25, Old Jewry, London, KO, Sept. 4."

'13016;

"The contemplated attempt to raise the Vanguard, as
she now lies on the Irish.coast, at a depth 0000 feet, has in-
duced me to submit the following, which, I venture to say, if
not in itself sufficient to raise her great bulk and dead weight,
would, I pm convinced, so materially aid further efforts that:
I am almost assurhd bf its sticcessiul result. "IfYsuggestion is
simply this: After having passed mooring chains under her
keel, or in other way secured them to the hull, provide a num-
ber of boilers of oblong shape, bound with chains ready for
securing, when submerged to the mooring chains, and after
having connected with each boiler from the side two lengths
of piping of moderate_ diameter but of -sullicient4ength te-
reaph from the,bottomi a"iereon the vessel lies to-the
_gut:.
face of the Wager, then €ll each bolinqust sulficiently full
of water to sink them. They should then be guided from a
vessel on the surface in accordance with instructions of
the diver and placed On the bottom alongside the
sunken vessel. At one and the same time pump, by means
of one of the pipings, the water out of each boiler, the
other pipe being, of course, to admit air. I am of
opinion that the ordinary strong india-rubber steam
piping would be found agequate to exhaust the boilers, in
spite of the water-pressure theory, and would at the same
time admit of thegnotion which would mecessarily be caused
during the operations. The lifting capacity required to raise
to the surface the dead weight • 4 the Vanguard can be ap-
proximately calculated, and the cubical boiler contents also
to counterbalance this. The tidal lifting contemplated with
the frigates would be so slight and uncertain in its result as
practically, I think, to be hopeless. However, I submit the
foregoing for the favour of your insertion, and Would cer-
tainly say that to be of service any course of action should be
taken at once:—Yours, ctc., T. W. W.—Sunderland, Sept. 4."

"I have read with interest your article upon the loss of
the Vanouard, and you "invite the capacity of the ablest
men and the energy of the best naval officers to the under-
taking," Unfortunately, in neither capacity can I respond to
your invitation, but .I can at a humble distance express the
same national gOodwill ail /ourself. To the point, and briefly,
I have, as an unpaid amateur engineer, been the inventor of
several useful and of one truly important mechanical appli•
an ce of known forces, so that in the case of the Vanguard I do
not think I am stating too much when I assert that the use of
dockyard lighters, hulks, casks, or such pontoone as tould be
procured on the scratch, Would be useless for the purpose,
and only a waste of money and of infinitely more valuable
time. I have no doubt that the Vanguard can be lifted from
the bed of the sea, and towed into shallow waters by the fol-
lowingmeans— via, e m ploy th e Government yards and private'-
firms during the next fotshight in constructing hollow iron
cases, each of one thousanlionadisplacement, the cases tobe-
in therferm of a common sugar-loaf, and-each to be provided
with chain cables adequate to that lilting-power. Then let the
chain cables be all adjusted to the same length with means
of simultaneous attachictent to the wreck. Then cnarge
hach of these sugar loanswith common-coal gas under high'
ressure, for tfie twofold purpose of preventing' the collapse
of the sugar-loaveS Under the water pressure, and of adding
to their buoyancy. The next process would be to,float these
sugar-loaves round the wreck of the Vanguard, and then to
load each of these 1,1-00 (one thousand) tons sugar-loaves to
such an extra amount as would sink each below the water
level. In our docltyards we have tens of thousands of useless
shot which could be applied to such a purpose, and then
recovered, merely at the expense of use and removal.—l
enclose you my name, references, and address, and am yours,
&T., A. D. P.—Ashbourne-in-the-Yeak, Sept. 6."
But the following letter' which The Times published
on Wednesday, dispels all hope of raising the vessel
"There is not the slightest doubt that you will be inun-
dated with correspondence from various wild schemers offer-
ingplans for the recovery of the Vanguard. Will you allow
us, as practical men, to say that her recovery is hopeless ;
there is not the least chance of bringing a body with sufficient
power in position to obtain a lift. If man could command
the element, "yes." There is not the least difficulty abort,
the divers working in 21 fatjecims ; our divers are constantly'
working at that depth. Tin naval divers can do so; they
raised the Mistletoe, and are constantly doing good and useful
work—for instance, repairing the Valorous so that she was
able to return home in safety and complete the service ,
allotted to her. We contend that diving is not the difficulty,
but the being able to keep sufficient power over the wreck—
a matter at this season impossible.—Your obedient servants,
SIEBII and GORMAN, Submarine Engineers to the Admiralty,„
5, Denmark-street, Soho, London, Sept. 7."

The Times (in a leader, On Monday,) says that the loss of
the Vanguaird may be Attended by more important conse-
quences in the-bandling 'And development of the navy than
the sinking ot one tf our 8(w/4nd-class irgnciads might fairly
be supposed to justify. The Vanguard and the iron Duke
were two of a class of broadside ironclads which at their
origin and ever since have been the subject of not a little
controveriy. They have been greatly vaunted and much de-
cried ; but, considering that the gun is only one of the
weapons of naval warfare, and that the ram and the torpedo,
if they strike at all, will strike several feet below the water-
line, one may fairly view with suspicion a type of naval
architecture which abandons every other element of
defensive preparation in order to exclude the pro-
jectile of the gun, which fails to do this, and which
against the ram and the torpedo is as defenceless as a river
steamer. The growth of naval artillery, the development of
the torpedo, the fatal powerof the'ram, all forbid the con-
tinued direction of naval shipbuilding to meet one, and one
only, of the dangers of naval attack. The sinking of the
Vanguard may convey a lesson to the mind of the Ad-
miralty, which the teachings of Lissa and the American
war were unable to reach. It is time that the subject
of "ramming" was brought prominently forward as
offering the most important question of naval tactics for
oonsideration. There is probably not or,e of our present
iromclads which would not have sunk as the Vanguard sank
from the effects of a similar blow. If this be so, the nation
should seriously consider what is the true value of this iron-
clad fleet on which we have lavished so many millions and
built so many hopes. One powerful and handy ram, with
officers and crew trained in her management, might
deal blow after blow to every ship in a squadron with-
out being rammed herself; and there can be little doubt
that any ship constructold on the model of our present -iron-
clads which happened to receive the blow would sink with
the same rapidity as was exhibited the other day by her
Majesty's ship Vanguard. • -
4,k

The process of clearing away the rigging of the
Vanguard was proceeded with on Tuesday, but the
divers were able to make very little progress. The
work is expected to occupy a considerable time, and
when completed, the raising
,of the masts, and after-
wards of the guns, will be proceeded with, but no
attempt will be made to raise the hull of the vessel
until April, if then:

THE BEGINNING OF RAILWAYS.
Congresses, jubilees, and centenaries have become so
much the fashion of late, that it is a wonder no step
has been taken to celebrate nationally, and not merely
locally, the jubilee of railways, which oecnrs on the
27th of this month. To our iron roads, more than
anything else, perhaps, is owing the wonderful progress
this country has made during the past fifty years; and
it is meet that something should be done to recall
vividly to mind the opening of the first line of railway
which was devoted alike'to'passenger and goods traffic.
The most far-seeing men of the day when the Stockton
and Darlington line was inaugurated, or the greatest
visionaries, could not have harboured a thought of the
strides which railways would make in the course of
half -a-century. Instead, of the few iimiles of railway
connecting the two towns above-named, there are now
in the United Kingdom alone nearly 15,000 miles, the
receipts from which, last week, according to the pub-
lished returns, amounted to more than a million and a
quarter sterling; whilst the highest speed attained by
• George Stephenson's engine has been increased five-
fold. How curious, in the light of the present day,
reads the record of the opening of tho Stockton and
Darlington Railway, as given by a local newspaper
"The signal being given, the enginer.started oft ivith. 41.14
immense train of carriages; and viol siva)i-its velbeity that
in some parts the speed was nearly twelve miles an hour;
and at that time the number of passengers was counted to be
450, which, together with the coals, merchandise, and car-
riages, would amount to near 90 tons. The engine, with its
load, arrived at Darlington, a distance of 81 miles, in 65
minutes. The six wagons, loaded with coals intended for
Darlington, were then left behind ; and obtaining a frebh
supply of water, and arranging the prpctersign to accommo-,
date a band of music nod ntungienuipassengerstrom Darling:
ton, the engine setoff again, and arrived at Stockton in three
hours and seven minutes, including stoppages, the distance
being nearly twelve miles."
Four years later another of Stephenson's engines, OA
Rocket, attained a speed of twenty-nine miles an hour,
drawing some twenty' lons, ' Such a reSult was cons
sidered to .be prodigious, and a prize of £5OO was
awarded to the makers of the engine. Now we can be
whisked along, if we please, at a rate of even fifty or
sixty miles an hour—certainly at greater risk of life
and limb--:-but, then, we live fast, and must travel fast,
and take our chance; and woe be to the "coo" that
now gets in the way--woe, also, most likely, in such a
case, to the passengers and their friendo !—City Press.
-
• •
"FOON•AND-MOUTH, DISEASE?'
. • •

The Times has published ;the, following etter
. ,
. I have received 'many letters on thp .subject of
stamping outi the loot. find-Month •disease the' isOla-
tion and disinfection of the animals affected, with•it.
Unfortunately, all my correspondents complain of the
difficulty they experience in getting the owners of
farms near/them 'to assist iti Checking the spread of the
disease. Cattle in an advanced stage of the disease are
allowed to infect the pastures around them • men,
dogs, rabbits, hares, and birds convey the infection to'
their fields. Though by tile isolation and 'disinfectant
r,treatmerkt, my correspondebts state, ^ they have the
satisfaction of knowing that their cattle "cannot'?
spread the disease, yet, by this neglect"ofTileii tide
' pours, fresh cases of the disease so oftext-oehnr—as
render all hope of *eking the disease viain,unlesill
Government will.compel all fartners "to cure' their
'eased animals in place of making them a source of
contagion to their unfortunate neighbours. . '
rti
,1„ The noblemen, magistrates, and the intelligent land.
pwners of the affected counties must fee), thalstiffwientr
time has now been allowed to tti afisft al eupoinible
persons of the complete failure- of the c frenunent
M i Measures to meet n. the alieteet degree the !Tread
,
oi 41, ,• I

I 1.3;