The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-08-25 00:00:00

ACCIDENT TO M. BLONDIN.

WHAT IS DOING AT CHERBOLP:G..,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMLS.
Sirs,-1 see by the debates in Parliament, reports of
which reach me daily through the medium of the Times,
that England is talking and thinking of little else than
fortification and volunteering. Anything pertaining to
these topics, or to French mutters of that ilk, appears to
excite very general and not unnatural interest. It is,
however, not with the motive of interesting, but with a
desire simply to inform, that I write these few lines.
For two weeks past I have resided behind those stupen-
dous fortifications which make Cherbourg alike the
marvel of the empire and a wonder of the world. Daily
perambulation over forts, piers, docks, and breakwater
have familiarised me with the doings—military and
otherwise—of this great naval station ; and some of
your readers may, perhaps, like to know the position in
which things stand. To' use the words of a Marine
officer, with whom I spoke the other day, "we are
surprisingly quiet in Cherbourg, sir; but that doesn't
show our weakness." I have counted all the war-
ships that are in the docks. Of these, numbering in
7,5, only one, the Arcole, is, equipped and ready for
active services and while I write, this vessel is cruising
in the Rade, expeaimentiug with some newly-invented
machinery, preparatory W leaving the port. They say
she is "Partant pour la Syrie," hut my information on
this point is not authentic. The Arcole, as you may be
aware, is of second rank only, and carries 700 guns. The
remaining naval force here consists solely of second or
lower rate vessels, and not one of these is armed, though
it is said that two days' notice would suffice to place
them all upon a war footing. We have in the arsenal
atreas and ammunition, rifled guns and conical ball
included, snfficient to supply the entire navy of the em-
pire. The artnouty alone contains 30,000 stand of arms.
At present We have few troops in Cherbourg. The
infantry of the line numbers about 1,600, and the
marines upwards of 3,000', but I need not say that, if
oacasion required, 50,000 men from the stations of the
interior tould with facility be collected in the town before
to-morrow's sthiset, The marines, from what I have
seen of them, are an interiot mat of man, badly selected,
and lacking both that activity and eolidity which
characterise our British tars. Even the inhabitants of
the town are apt to indulge in contrasts unfavourable to
the marines, when they see half a dozen English mer-
chant sailors pass by. That great marine terror (as
foreigners imagine), La Normandie, is, speaking tempo-
rarily, a good year from completion. She has not only
to' be coated with iron plates, but between her decks
there is an immense amount of carpentering yet to do,
and not one of het masts is fixed, or ready for fixing. I
cannot give an opinion as to her bearing in a heavy sea.
This, of course, will depend rayon the thickness of her
plates, and the amount of irorevrin'k in her interior ;
but I am assured by naval men here, who have given
some attention to the capabilities of La Normandie,
that she will be perfectly manageable in rough
weather. They eire'sa doubts, too, as to the
vessel ever being able to do much damage in batter-
ing, and some officers of the marine have informed
me that there is no intention of fixing any sleal blade or
pointed horn to her prow. She will be armed asy-ifh the
new rifled cannon, and this circumstance, added to the
fact ilia Pat Oates are to render her ball-proof, will be
quite sufficient td Make her an ugly opponent. The
Normandie exceeds only tj, ► fear yards the length of
the Arcole, and her lines are e.xtrerne/y tharp and sym-
metrical. Altogether she appears at the first giants; not
adaptable to rough service, but on close inspection the
stranger cannot fail to be much impressed with the great
strength and ease with which every inch of her planks
is knitted together. la- the dockyards, access to which
is only to be obtained by a written pass from the office
of the Port Admiral, at personal introduction by an
officer of the Marine, these is to perceptible activity.
The great steam hammers, rivalling in - power those
in the foundries of South Staffordshire, are mostly
silent, and when I last, visited the extensive work-
shops only one was in operation. The only departme'n't
where you find an appearance of pressing business is
the plank-cutting hall, which, like all the port establish-
ments, is constructed on a vast scale. But one vessel is
on the slips, and the three other sheds, whose gigantic
proportions and massive masonry strike the visitor with
wonder, are totally deserted. There appeared to he
somewhere about 1,000 men working in the dockyard in
the various departments, and, in passing, it may interest
your readers to learn that upwards of 9,500 men are
receiving daily or monthly pay from the Government in.
the dockyards, forts, and offices ref Cherbourg. The
oarriers in the dockyard and arsenal commence work at
half-past 7 a.m., dine on the spot at half-past /2, and
leave in the evening shortly before 7. The Digue, or
breakwater, that magnificent and marvellous con-
struction, reposes in silent majesty nearly two miles
away from the shore. I visited it, yesterday. Aa you
approach the long white line of granite, which at
intervals is relieved by towering forts bristling with
guns, its dimensions become most imposing, and
while walking through the vaulted corridors of the
largest fort, it is with difficulty that you can imagine
you are on a breakwater situated in an angry sea, full
65 feet deep at low water. There were only about 20
men, including several officers, on guard, but there are
spacious barracks within each of the four great forts,
possessing accommodation for several hundreds of men.
The walls of the Digue forts are of inconceivable thick-
ness, and, indeed, it is said by some old " Cher-
bourgeois " who know the history of this work from
the beginning, that it would have been well to have
spent more time and care upon an artificial foundation
upon which so stupendous a weight of stone was placed.
I met an old Marine pensioner on the Digue, who
showed me through the barracks ; a veritable " Pick-
wickian" in face and form. He showed me, with
pride, the Napoleon Helene medal, with the great
Emperor's " last thoughts?' written thereon, and
said he had been kept prisoner at Plymouth in the
last war. I remarked that English prison fare had
not severely injured his health, and the sturdy old
veteran replied that he had had good fare, and been
better treated than he could have expected, but that
the English gave him only rations " for an ordinary
man," and it was of this that he complained. "You
will not make me prisoner again, Monsieur," he jocosely
added, pointing to the fort in whose Herculean protec-
tion he stood. I may mention that there are very
nearly 100 guns in positien on the Digue ; but, count-
ing the cannon of the forts, there are altogether more
than 300 pieces. Of this number not one is rifled. The
lengthening of the breakwater at the east end is in rapid
progress, and also some extensive additions are being
made to one of the forts on the west. Apropos of
new undertakings at Cherbourg, another huge bat-
tery is being constructed on the west, midway between
the Digue and Fort Querqueville; bust the founda-
tion, or artificial isle, is far from completion. I
cannot say whether this will add to the impregnability
of the station. My opinion is that Cherbourg, as a
defensive port, is compact and formidable enough, and
needs no further increase of strength. The Armstrong
and Whitworth guns, whatever damage their long-
ranging shot might do to the shipping in the docks and
the material in the arsenal, would assuredly he harmless
against those Titanic works the granite brows of which
frown defiance from every point.
This morning, in presence of the Port Admiral and
several military and naval officers, some experiments
took place with the cannon on the breakwater, to test
the accuracy and length of range, but I have not had
an opportunity of ascertaining the results or the precise
nature of the experiments. The thunder of the repeated
discharges has perfectly "astonished the natives," who,
though accustomed daily to hear salutes from the mili-
tary ports, are at a loss to account for the " noises loud
and ruinous" which have boomed over Cherbourg all
the morning from the seaward.
In conclusion I may state that there is positively
nothing, or next to nothing, doing in this great strong-
hold. There are no war preparations ; nothing but
daily reviews of the troops in the redoubts, or reviews of
the Marines in the grounds of the long naval caserne,
which lies " many a rood extending " behind the huge
Napoleon dock. Neither is the talk here of war. Every
evening I dine with a dozen jovial, good-humoured offi-
cers, who are all ready to say a word in favour of Eng-
land, French soldiers though they be, and the general
theme of table conversation over their Bordeaux'and nuts
is net as to when the fleet will receive orders to assemble
in the Manche for a French campaign in Albion, but as
to the excellency of the music played the yesternight in
the Place d'Armes, in view of the forts and the great
sea, for the amusement of the good citizens and their
English or German guests.
Cherbourg, Aug. 20.

P. M. F.

ANOTHER DIFFICULTY FOR THE "GREAT EASTERN."
—The trials of the great ship seem as if they would
never end. A suit- has, actually--been entered in the
United States Circuit Court against the Great Eastern
Directors, in which the damages are laid at 550,000,
for an infringement of on American patent-right, in,
the combination
.of screw and paddle wheels as her
propelling power. Messrs. Abbett and Fuller, solici-
tors, New Yofic, the attorneys in the case, in their
letter to Captain Hall, and their declaration filed
in court, say, that, the patent wail got in 1848, by
James Elnathan Smith, of Greenport, New York,
and was by him assigned over to Messrs. Gilbert and
Armstrong, who are the plaintiffs. • The solici-
tors further explain that the 'holders of the patent
allow all foreign vessels to use it; but that they cannot
perniit it to be used in American waters. They hold
the excursions Co Cape stay' Baltimore, kc., to be -a
clear infringement of their patent. Clearly, says the
ic York /Pried, the
the Great Eastern is an American
idea. " What the builders of the Great Eastern call
the wave line, and about which their countrymen boast
so much in her model, is nothing but the curve line first
used by George Steers,
in a New York pilot boat, alter-
wards in the yacht America,. and is now to be found in
several New York - ships, and in • the steamer Queen
City, on the western lakes; and it Would seem that the
motive power is also purely an American idea,—so that
the monster steamship, in her constinetion; machinery;
and equipment, is altogether ts cis-Atlantic plagiarism"

itriu
the performances of M. Blondin. on a tight
rope, at the Portobello Gardens, Dublin, on Thursdhr
Right, ihr- rope broke, and two poles at one end, sup•
porting a all platform fifty feet from the ground, or
which two men *ere stationed for the purpose of hold—
ing lights, gave way, precipitging the men to the
ground, who, on being brought to the hospital, were
found to be dead. M. BlenNlirr, who: also fell to the
round, was uninjured. At the irurest, yesterday, the
jury, in their verdict, expressed their opinion that suffi-
tient diligence had not been need by M. Blondin and his
agent, M. Morel, in t-sting the rope before the perform-
ance. The Coroner said he would remand M. Blondin
and M. Morel, and they were accordingly rernoTed in
custody.