The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 20, 1864.

the last mentioned ; and there is nothing else to
which the poor negro can turn his hand, or at which,
if he could, he would be allowed to work in the
same room, workshop, or factory as the white.
What is he to do under such circumstances ? Mr.
Frederick Douglass, the orator, and foremost man
of the race, stated in an eloquent lecture on Tues-
day evening last at the Cooper Institute, that, so far
from immigrating from the South to compete with
white men in the labour market, the Southern
negroes would remain where they were, and that
the great bulk of the Northern negroes would join
them as soon as emancipation was complete, by the
crushing out of the " rebellion," and the parcelling
out of the plantations of the " rebels" among new
owners. This may or may not prove to be a true
prediction, but it will be a long time before it can
be realised, if ever; and it may happen that the
Southern people, forbidden to:use the labour of the
negroes in the way to which they have been accus-
tomed; may visit upon the unhappy black race the
penalty which both North and South, East and
West, have inflicted upon that red race whioh they
could not enslave, and with which they would not
amalgamate.

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL,

Yesterday a special meeting of the Common Council was
convened at Guildhall, the Lord Mayor in the chair, to con-
sider a motion of which Mr, Medwin had given notice, and
the object of which was to alter the whole constitution of
the Commission of Sewers of the City of London. The
Court of Sewers is an offshoot of the corporation, and a very
ancient body. It has existed in its present form from the
reign of Charles 11. downwards, a period of more than 180
years, and its mode of procedure is governed and its powers
defined by special Acts of Parliament. It consists of 85
members, including the Aldermen, the Deputy, and one
Common Councilman of each ward, the Recorder and Com-
mon-Sergeant for the time being, and having the Lord
Mayor at its head. The name of the Commission scarcely
defines its functions. It is practically a local Board of Works,
with extensive powers of rating the citizens, of making and
enforcing sanitary laws, of dealing with large sums of
money, of regulating street architecture and carrying out
of public improvements, all which it exercises under condi-
tions prescribed by the Legislature. To it is confided the
whole and sole management of the sewers, which, indeed, is
its primary function. Parliament has also from time to time
devolved upon the Commissioners the duty of carrying out
within the city General Acts passed to promote the public
health, and which duty is entrusted to municipal bodies
and boards of health in other parts of the country. The
Commissioners have the reputation of being a very useful
body of public men, doing a great deal of good in the in-
terest of the citizens at large, especially in promoting the
public health. This being the relation in which they
stand to the corporation and to the citizens, Mr. Medwin
moved a resolution yesterday, the object of which was in
effect to give every member of the Common Council, about
232 in number, a right to act on the Commission of
Sewers, instead of the 80 and odd members of the corpora-
tion of whom it is at present composed. He grounded this
motion chiefly on the inconvenience, of which he gave in-
stances, of there being two bodies in the corporation acting
independently of each other and often at variance. He cited
in particular the case of the proposed new street from Black-
friars-bridge to the Mansion-house, the construction of
which he said had been entrusted to the Metropolitan
Board of Works over the heads of the corporation, to whom
the making of it belonged of right. Had the two bodies
been coincident in numbers and in interest, the Corporation
of London, he submitted, would have been spared the in-
dignity implied in entrusting the construction of the new
street to a foreign body. He also mentioned the case of the
railway viaduct proposed to be constructed across Ludgate-
hill as another unfortunate result of divided authority. The
Court of Sewers, he said, even went so far at last as to give
their sanction to a design for that monstrous thing, thus
taking the matter wholly out of the hands of the Common
Council. He also referred to an occasion when, on a com-
mittee of the Common Council going before the Commission
as a deputation, they were told that it was an impertinence
for them to do so and not within the scope of their reference
—besides, that the Commission was a body independent of
the corporation. The Commission, it was true, published
their accounts from time to time, but they never reported
to the Common Council. Whether the question was one of
imposing a shilling or an eighteenpenny consolidated rate
upon the citizens, or of expending £lO,OOO or £20,000, it
was all the same ; the Common Council had nothing to do
with the matter. They had delegated their authority to others
and had shirked the responsibility which properly belonged
to them. No Parliamentary committee stood in so enema-

lous a position as did the Commission of Sewers in relation
to the corporation, of which it was the offshoot, The Com-
mission had the control of large funds, which were con-
stantly increasing, but its numbers remained stationary.
The total sum administered by them last year was £152,000,
as compared with £27,000 in 1813, and £116,000 of which
was raisei by the consolidated rate, which they had the
power of imposing on the citizens, and which had been
doubled in ten years. Mr. Webster seconded the motion,
Mr. Norris, M.P., moved an amendment to the effect that it
was inexpedient to alter the constitution of the Commission
in the manner proposed, because it had existed in its present
form from the reign of Charles 11., when the power to ap-
point the Commission was first given to the Common Coun-
cil down to the present day, a period of more than 180 years,
and because, during that long interval, great additional
powers had been from time to time given to the Commis-
sioners by Parliament, and very extensive works had, espe-
cially of late years, been intrusted to and executed by them,
while no complaint had ever been made of them either by the
Legislature, Government, or Common COltheil ; on the con-
trary, the value of their works had been repeatedly acknow-
ledged and approved. This amendment was proposed by Mr
Norris in a very able speech, and seconded by Mr. Chaplin.
A long debate followed, in which Deputy de Jersey took a
conspicuous part in vindicating the Commission of Sewers,
of which he is chairman, but it had no interest to the gene-
ral public, in comparison to the parties immediately con-
cerned, to justify a detailed report, At length, on a division,
the amendment of Mr. Norris was affirmed by a majority of
three, in a court of 141 members. It then became the origi-
nal motion, and was put in that shape by the Recorder to

the meeting, when, on a division, 63 members voted for and
63 against it, the result being received with laughter. The
Lord Mayor declined to exercise his right of giving a cast-
ing vote, and the Court broke up with great merriment, the
belligerents, after five weary hours of talk, being exactly in
the position in which they began.

concluded by announcing five donations to the amount of
£92, and four annual subscriptions amounting to £2O.
Messrs. GIFFORD, senior and jutior, expressed the thanks
of the parishioners for the valuable address of her ladyship,
and the farmers present willingly consented to aid the cause
by free carriage of materials.
Three hearty cheers were given for her ladyship before
the meeting broke up.—Bury and IVorwich Pose,

SUBMARINE ORDNANCE.

(From the Mechanics' Magazine.)

On the 20th day of June, 1862, the 110-pounder Arm-
strong gun, belonging to the Stork gunboat, was placed on
a platform, made up of a gun slide with a few sleepers un-
derneath, erected on the beach near the Excellent gunnery
ship. The gun was loaded from time to time, during many
weeks, with service charges and service shot. This was
effected when the tide was out. The powder was enclosed
in a pig's bladder, in ord©r to preclude the action of the sea
water on it. As the tide rose, the gun became submerged ;
finally, when the depth of water equalled some 6ft, the
powder was ignited by means of a Bickford fuse, and the
gun discharged at a butt, also submerged, distant 25ft
from the muzzle. It has been generally supposed that a
gun filed under such exceptional conditions would burst
without further ceremony. No such event took place.
The explosion is described as baying been very mode-
rate. The same term cannot be applied to the effect
produced on the butt by the projectile. Once more we re-
peat the words of the official report, promising that during
the first few rounds—only one could be fired each tide—the
projectile consisted of the ordinary Armstrong segment
shell, charged sometimes with sand, sometimes with 12Ibs.
of powder. These missiles proved at first to be very ineffi-
cacious, the resistance of the water apparently breaking
them up shortly after quitting the gun. On July 11, care
was taken to exclude the water from the bore of the gun, by
covering the muzzle with an old drum head and canvas well
luted with white lead. The result obtained was decisive.
The shell was empty. It "struck the butt 2ft. below the
point aimed at, cutting through a pile 13Ain, thick, and was
picked up 3ft. from the opposite side." So much for the
shell practice for the present. The next round but one con-
sisted of a" solid shot, 171bs. charge. Shot struck Gin. to
the left of the point aimed at 4ft Gin, below the surface of
the water, and passed through a butt consisting of 13in.
piles, with sin. oak plank bolted on in front. Shot could
not he found, having probably sunk to a considerable depth
in the soft mud."

Once it was fairly demonstrated that a gun could be fired
under water, and yet retain its integrity of parts undisturbed,
the experiments were continued with a vigour very credit-
able to all engaged in their prosecution. In order to form
a strictly correct estimate of the effects which might be
produced in actual wafare, the hulk Griper was placed in a
convenient position on the mud, and a 110 pounder was, as
before, laid on a suitable platform, 20ft from the ship's side,
measuring from the muzzle. The gun was laid horizontally,
and trained on a spot under the hulk's quarter " where the
side fell in rapidly, making an angle from the vertical of
42 deg." In this way every opportunity was afforded
for glancing, to the shot. It would be a mere waste
of time to recapitulate all the results obtained ; let it
suffice to give one or two extracts from the report. At
the first round, the gun was loaded with a fiat •fronted
110-lb projectile and a 14-lb charge, fired when the water
had attained a height of Oft above the axis—" Shot struck
the ship's side about the spot on which the aim was directed,
penetrated the outer planking of Gin sound oak, cut through
an Sin timber (sound), penetrated the inner lining of 4in
fir (not sound), and struck a large oak rider 18in square,
into which it penetrated 2in ; total penetration, through
sound wood, 21in. Ship's side shaken to a considerable
extend round fracture, into which the water poured with
great violence, filling the ship immediately.
The third round demonstrated a singular fact. Above
water, the flat-fronted projectile has always proved most
efficient in punching armour plates. In submarine opera-
tions, however, the conical projectile di plays a consider-
able superiority. The third chargo consisted of a solid
projectile, with a conoidal-shared head. This shot pene-
trated both sides of the hulk, cutting through two oak

timbers, 12in of oak planking, and the upper part of a
knee bin thick, waking a total penetration through sound
wood of 33in. ' We must add that the hull, being full of
water, there were about 4.5 ft of water betwe n the sides
penetrated, adding materially to the resistance overcome by
the shot.

We have seen that the first attempts at the use of shell
under water were scarcely successful. The lessons so
learned seem to have served a very good purpose; for we
find that on the 16th Sept. the first live shell fired at the
Griper penetrated the side and burst in passing through,
entirely destroying the side for the space of oft by Sin,
making an open fracture 2ft by 2ft din. A large beam of
11-in oak in the wake of the shot was penetrated and broken
in half, the portion struck being blown to the opposite side
of the ship. The result obtained from the next round was
even more conclusive—a large portion of the ship's side be-
ing totally destroyed, the deck above the fracture blown up,
and tb.e beam broken.

So far, the submarine gun had only wood to deal
with. With a view to making the whole series of ex-
periments complete, a target, Sit by 4ft, composed of six
1-in thickness of boiler plate bolted together, making a total
thickness of Sin, was secured to the side of the Griper. In
the two first rounds, flat-headed 1101 b shot were employed.
The great resistance offered by the water to these projectiles
so far reduced their velocity, that they were unable to
penetrate the armour, although they shattered it consider-
ably. in the third round the conoidal missile waa used.
The official report states that " this shot broke in all the
plates, driving the fragments through the side into the
ship, making an irregular fracture in the target 12in by 9in,
shelf-piece broken, and ship's side destroyed to a consider-
able extent."

Even six thicknesses of 1-in boiler plate, feeble as they
are in resisting shot, far exceed in invulnerability any
plates or backing ever met with in the bottoms of
our frigates. We are therefore led inevitably to
the conclusion, that a single shot fired under water
from a heavy rifled gun, is capable of making such a
fracture far below the water line, that no earthly means
could keep one of our iron plated ships an hour above water.
A couple of patents have, we believe, been already taken
out for the arrangement of certain air tight chambers on
the level of the lower deck, within which guns may be
loaded, and subsequently discharged through submerged
ports. We are by no means certain that any very compli-
cated expedients of the kind are necessary. Four or five
broadside guns might be placed within small submarine
chambers cut off by water tight bulkheads from the rest of
the ship. On going into action these guns might be loaded,
suitable ports opened from above, and the cells, so to speak,
in the ship, filled with water. On running alongside an
enemy, the guns might be discharged with fatal effect by
means of electricity, the ports closed subsequently, and the
cells pumped dry ready for the next action. Even without
any such expedients, may it not be found that power-
ful guns fired from the main deck can take such
effect below water, as to render it advisable to leave the
armour above water unassailA ? The question is of the
last importance, when we couple it with the facts which we
have just detailed. It has, unfortunately, scarcely been
dwelt on as yet, although we have reason to believe that it
will ultimately become one of the points on which our naval
success or failure will principally depend. Our ships are
already overloaded with mail above water ; it remains to be
seen how they will carry an additional burden below.

MY LOST DoG.—I saw him last, three mornings
ago, leisurely straying round the garden with the
strap of the baby's shoe hanging out of his mouth, and with
a knowing wag of his tail, as much as to show me how he
was enjoying himself. I remonstrated with him on the shoo
question, and he seemed somewhat touched for a moment ' •
but suddenly catching sight of a predatory cat on the wall,
he galloped off without further parley. I watched the cat
scuttle up a tree; I heard Pincher growling angrily at its
base ; the noise of the milkman's boots scrunching the gravel
attracted his attention. He darted off and was lost to me
for ever. There was a fiendish grin on the housemaid's face
when she announced to me that Pincher wasn't nowhere to
be found. Visions of henceforth unworried stocking heels,
unsnapped-at ancles, rose before that damsel's mind as she
broke the news; and she smiled as she said they'd looked
everywhere they had, and nothin' wasn't to be seen. I was
not crushed by the intelligence. I knew my dog's exten-
sive visiting list, and thought that finding he had over-
stayed his time, he had probably accepted the friendly hos-
pitality of half a kennel, and was then engaged in baying
the moon, and conducing to the sleeplessness of a neighbour-
hood unaccustomed to his vocal powers. But, as I lay in
bed in the morning, I missed the various little dramas—
the principal characters played by Pincher and the trades-
people—of which I bad long been the silent audience.
Tho butcher's boy—a fierce and beefy youth, who openly
defied the dog, and waved him off with hurlings of his
basket and threatenings of his feet, accompanied by growls
of " Git out, yer beast l"—now entered silently ; the baker's
apprentice. a mild and farinaceous lad—who proferred to
Pincher the raspings of black loaves, and usually en-
deavoured to propitiate his enemy by addressing him as
" Poor fellow I"—now entered silently ; the fishmorger—
who generally made one wild scuttle from the garden-gate
to the kitchen-eatrance, and upon whose track Pincher
usually hung as the wolves hung upon Mazeppa's—now
walked slowly up the path, and whistled. Then I knew
that Pincher was gone indeed I—Dickens's "411 the Year
Round."

A NARROW ESCAPE FOR SHEFFIELD.—This was
not the first time the Sheffielders endeavoured to undermine
the crowning greatness of their own speciality; for when,
in 1750, a bill was introduced into Parliament with the
object of encouraging the importation of American iron, the
tanners of that city petitioned against it, alleging that Eng-
lish iron would be undersold, forges would be discontinued,
and consequently timber for fuel would remain uncut, and
thus the tanners would be in want of bark for the purposes
of their trade, Had the prayer of those short-sighted
townsmen been listened to, Sheffield would have lost her
lead in the manufacture of tools; and she would not have
been able to boast, as she may do now, that instead of de-
pending for her supply of steel upon the Styrian forges, she
now largely exports her cast-steel for the use of Austria
smiths,—Once a lirce7c.