The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-07-27 00:00:00

THE BL UE COAT HOSPITAL BOYS AT
SOUTHPORT.

The treat whiCh has been looked forward to with
such joyous expectation by the boys belonging to this
excellent charity, came off yesterday at Southport, and
.was so highly satisfactory that we are sure it will be a
"red letter day" in the experience of the juveniles.
The railway company made most efficient arrange-
ments, which sectired the personal conifort of all, both
in going and-returning.
They departed from Tithebarn-street station by tb.
11.35 train, and left Southport it 8 p.m. The
progratifine,-- which was carefully prepared by • the
committee of management, was rigidly adhered to, -
and -.ensured a complete afternoon's enjoyment, as
nothing - occurred to mar it in any - way ;
and not the least important element, the weather,
was favourable. . The refreshments were served at two
different periods.-=-2 o'clock p.m., and 6.30 p.m.—and
consisted of veal pies, buns, milk, and fruit. The
pistil:nes, Were donkey faces, foot races, rounders, foot
ball, and most eagerly Were they indulged hi.. Nothing,
however, was more relished than a salt water tati The.
Procession through the principal streets, on arrival, was.
headed by several of the trustees. and other warm friends
of the school. A selection of music was played before
the town'-hall, on the new pier (te which the children.
.were admitted through the kindness of Mr. Harrison);
andin front of the public baths: On two occasions the
"National Anthem " was given, which was followed by
vociferous ifieering. The names of the gentlemen
Who Oig,anised the treat Were well received by the lads,
and, on the call of Mr. Wood (the worthy fliaster), they
gairillieriiihiee lusty cheers.

Thedtilroccupied three quarters of an hour on the
shOre";and most efficient in every respect the boys were
in the various manoeuvres:

Too great credit cannot be given to Mr. Wood for
having—initiated this systein, Which he did so early in
the history of the national volunteer movement, nor to
Mr. liaVres, the senior .assistant-master, for the, zeal and
untiring energy with which he has carried out so sue-
cessfally.the various unitary evolutions, which. the boys-
perform- in -a manner to Oaf the- warmest
encomiums of volunteer officers, who have at different
-times been present during their drill.

A very old -subscriber to the school most kindly gave
to Mr. Wood personally a sum of ten • pounds, as a
specialdonation, and to recognise his high appreciation
of tbc iiic:llfiet in which the boys conducted •themselves
during the day, under the vaned circumstances; and
,we are sure-that -all- who were present mist have
admired their exemplary conduct, and secretly wished
that future excursions might terminate. as favourably as
the first visit to Southport has done. P,

THE WHITWORTH CANNON.

THE OFFiCiAL 'ttLiLis YESTERDAY, AT

SOUTHPORT.

The official trial •of Mr. Whitworth's guns Ni as
resumed yesterday, on the sea shore, near Southport.
The officials appointed to witness the trial were on the
spot during the day, but the assemblage of spectators
waS not nearly so large as on the Wednesday;
the good • folks of Southport appeared to think little,
and care less, of the rumbling thunder which a
favourable breeze carried to their secluded little town.
At no hour of the day were there 150 persons on the
sbetieof operations ; but those who did honour: the guns
with their presence paid them great attention, keeping,
nevertheless, at a respectful distance. Les'inferest was
shown also by the engineering world than on the day
befOre.

As has been 'stated already, the number of guns
on the-. shore was 'four---In eighty-pOtinder, a twelve-
pounder, a three-pounder, and a one-pounder. The
latter _ was never previously publicly exhibited, nor
had its, propelling powers been tried at all. A walking-
stick-like instrument, it attracted the attention .of all
the f,peetators, who on both days seemed anxious to- see
'it tested. f t was Motinted on
.a field carriage of rather
clumsy dimensions. The workniatiship, to say nothing
of the beauty and the probable, nay its already-tested
utility, was beautiful, without approaching, at least
intentionally, the Ornamental: 'lt is a novelty in the
eye of the professional world, inasmuch as it is, we
believe, the first field piece of its size ever manufactured.
The three-pounder is something, but not much, larger,
although the carriage, as in the former case, is much
heavier than that to which' marching armies have
hitherto been accustomed. Both ate riot probably such as
the umnilitary reader might suppose, for instead of
- being short and thick, they arc long, and—if armanients
can- be—elegant. The twelve-pounder is a much more
formidable looking instrument, combining apparent
great strength "with beatty of manufacture in a still
greater,degree than its two compfitilans i whilst the
eighty-pounder excels.the whole in every respect, and is..
such an arm as even those who have smelt powder
more than once or twice on the battle-field might well
.shudder at. Formed on- the same principle, and in the
Game manner as the other three pieces, it is, of course,
much larger in size, enormously snore formidable in
appearance, very difficult to Manage, and? as a matter
of course, will be tremendously more destittetive to
batteries, ships, and to human life, when political neces-
sity calls-its awe-inspiring powers into practice. The
Work, on the whole, has been artistically accomplished, and
forms another-triumph in science and in art of the sister
titY—Manehester. To the casual observer, however, its
size, though gredi, would not portray its actual strength
and its power of destruction for the reason that the can-
non used at. present in land and naval warfare; although
their powers are much smallar, are huge in comparison
with it, and as a natural consequence not so easily
moved from place to place by the artillerymen. It is
62 cwt. ; the eighty-pounders used by the Government
are 64 cwt. It.is temporarily mounted on an old car-
riage which formerly belonged to a ship of war. The
twelve-pounder weighs 12 cwt. The difference
between it and the cammon cannon, and the Arm-
strong giM, is hist this : The common cannon has
a smooth bore, and is leaded at the mtnizle ; the Arm-
strong is grooved to a certain point iii thtt gun, and is
loaded at the breech, which screws off at pleasure. 'the
Whitworth is grooved throughout, but in a dissimilar
manner, and the breech and chamber hang on hinges.
Further, the Whitworth-will tarry any of shot
or shell, whilst the Armstrong will- carry only a parti-
culai-quifititY. Then; again, they are not loaded in the
same way ; and the made in 3/hicirtheY ian'be rendered
useless in case of necessity differs, and is in the Whitworth
extremely easy, simple; and sure. Still, frcirif What we
heard and saw yesterday, there are many minor faults
attached to the Whitworth. In the first place; the car-
riages are too heavy and unmanageable, and must, it is
said, be replaced by lighter and more servieeable Ones. The
amliplaiiits on this sem made by.men in charge of the
guns were nunierthia,- and their reasoning in many
instances rational. The soresis ti. Ithicli the desired
elevation is obtained are too low down ; in reach-
ing them the gunner has to bend inconveniently;
and perhaps to this cause may, be due the occasionally
great • deviation of the shot from the line ,of
fire. Some scientific gentlemen directed attention to a
quantity of oily matter which, after n shot had' Wu
fired, appeared 6 issue from between the plates at
the muzzle of the eighty-pounder. TWO cause is not
known.. Some remarked that such matter- oozed from-
, all newly-constructed cannon; others suggested that
it wits- a' gaseous vapour which, by the force of the
powder had been driven through the iron into the
.position in which it Wag discovered ; a third observed
that it might hive been caused by the powder from
withont, as it passed into thank_ with endrnioditelocity.
But the Most rational view of the case seems to be that
a small quantity of oil had somehow or other been
secreted between the layers of plates, forming the gun, at
the muzile, and that it was driven out by the expansion
of the iron, caused by the heat generated in firing.
Whatever it is, or wherever it comes from, there is no
importance attaChed to its presence by those who knOw
most about such matters.

The experiments conducted yesterday were shinier to
those which were made on Wednesday. Fifteen shots
were fired from the big gun in the morning. The piece
was loaded; the gunner pulled a string, a loud report
and a Cloud of strioke ensued, and the shot whizzed
away at a tremendous tate through the air. In a second
or two a cloud of sand arose in the distance; then a
second, then a third, then a fourth, and now and again
it grazed the waters of the channel, rose and dipped
age* then skipped along the deep like a small flat
stone thrown by a boy from the shore. AU this rico-
chetting was beautiful and terrible. One of
these huge bolt-like projectiles would have pierced
the side of the proudest vessel, or have
tumbled a ton or two of the masonry of the strongest
citadel in Europe, had it been directed against it. For
the first time the one-pounder was tested, and it
creditably sustained its inventor's fame. The results
attained were like those of the day before ; but a table
of the ranges cannot be published as yet, lest errors
should creep into them. We believe that the party
who copied the list on 'Wednesday last did it incorrectly.
Immediately they have been arranged they will be
made public.

At a late hour last night the officials had not finally
made up their minds as to whether or not it was desira-
ble to continue the experiments any further. At all
events, only a shot or two from the eighty-pounder, at an
elevation of ten degrees, and a few from the twelve-pounder,
at an elevation of thirty-five degrees, will be fired. Mr.
Whitworth, hoWever, will make further experiments
with an entirely new kind of shot.
We may' add that enconiums: were showered on Mr.
Whitworth and his gun by the scientific gentlemen pre-
sent, and the general public. The ultimate result of the
experiments will doubtless be made known officially in a
short tine.

The Dundee Advertiser says there is a rumour that
£15,000 has been put down by one of oar merchant
princes for the purchase of a people's park in Dundee.
The Drury Lane performance on Wednesday •in aid
of the fund for the family of the late Mr. Robert
Brough, appears to have been, as we rejoice to observe,
successful in every respect.