The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-10-09 00:00:00

IRELAND AND HER "HOMES."

The Earl of Bessborough, in presiding the other day
at the annual dinner of a farming society, in the south
of Ireland, took the opportunity to give the Irish small
farmers some useful advice. He said :—" I was travel-
ling by the read a short time since from Waterford—a
rare thing now-a-days--and I never was so horrified as
I was at seeing the immense amount of weeds in some
land near Aglish and Monntcoin—in some of them you
really could not put your hand between the thistles, so
thick were they. I don't know if the occupiers of those
lands are now present, but I trust that, for the credit of
Iverk, they will make a general clearance of the weeds.
I would also urge you to consider your own comforts
and improve your homes. It has been always the sub-
ject of remark by parties visiting this country, that the
animals in the field are well tended and cared for while
the bipeds at the house are neglected. For this there
can be no excuse now: the times are good, and the
farmers should cease to live with such a quantity of dirt
about their places as is invariably the case. It would
considerably add to the moral culture of the Irish farmers
if they had more of comfort and cleanliness about their
homes. I trust you will well consider this subject, the
good results of the trial are in many instances apparent,
and there is now no reason why they should be other-
. _.

VEXATIOUS AurroNs.—Sir Eardley Wilmot, Judge of
the Bristol County Court, with a view to discourage
frivolous and vexatious defences to actions, has laid down

a rule, that whenever the defence set up shall appear to
the court to be of that character, the plaintiff's expenses
for loss of time, mileage, &c., will be allowed ; and to
encourage debtors to settle with their creditors where
the amount claimed is not disputed, and the only ques-
tion raised is as to the mode of payment, the fees for
hearing will, for the future, be reduced one-half.
IRON 15 HIPBUILDINg.-Nir. John Clare, jun., whose
name has been so long and prominently before the public
on this most interesting subject, has called our attention to
the models and drawl igr of his mode of iron shipbuilding,
in which we find that he has availed himself of every angle
which combines the maximum of strength, an 4 the mini-
mum of weight. Mr. Clare states, in fact, with the axiom,

that the climax of mechanical strength can he obtained in iron
ships with the least weieht, and he works out his ideas in a
novel, and what we believe will prove an efficient manner.
In the diagrams before us, we see a combination of strength
which is not attained under the present system of construc-
tion. The franiewoit consists of T and H iron, which is
used vertically, longitudinally, and diagonially, so as to give
a perfectly watertight frame, whic-4 would float itself, if the
water was kept out with any description of cowering. This
buoyancy, of what is now so much dead weight, must add
vastly to the lightness and floating qualities of iron vessels.
The advantage of this we and clearly illustrated in the
Great Eastern, in which a space of two feet nine
inches has been allowed between the inner and
outer skins. This is done to gain floatage, but by it the
burden carrying capacity of the vessel is reducrd from
22,500 to 10,000 tons. Here we have a positive loss,
between her internal and external capacity, of 12,500 tons,
whereas the space req sired on Mr. Clare's plan, being only
nine inches between the inner and outer skins, the saving
would be two feet on her external capacity, or
upwards of 9,000 tons. The strength Mr. Clare
obtains longitudinally throughout his ships, appears
to be another very strong recommendation. In
this portion of his models he employs H iron, which
seems the whole way from stem to stern without a joint.
This arrangement will be duly appreciated by practical
i men, as t will give greatly increased strength in a heavy
searway, where the whole storm falls, namely, on the top
of the plates. Nr. Clare's keels will,. to all appearance, be
much stronger Olin those now
.in use. His system of
flooring, also, secures three d;slanct water-tight compart-
ments, without taking up more room than is at present
lost between the keel and the floor ; and the same
desideratum is obtained all along the sides of the ship by
the fore and aft water-tight bulkhead; with this addition,
that the space between the bulkheads and aides of the
vessel are made available for coals or cargo. This
space is lost in the Great Eastern, which is the first
shi in which an attempt has been made to obtain
artificial
4uoyancy at the cost of capacity. Finally, the
greatest advantage which Mr. Clare offers to the maritime
world is, that every foot of iron be employs in the con-
struetion of his frame work for ships will, if covered,
float itself, thus giving
11 h `boyancy
the superior stren
gtht
itothireot
etr the` Of woodAwith
the'latter: