The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-12 00:00:00

them at Portsmouth may be turned to vole lii'f
in another way. Defective as these guns tild
measured by the standard of modern vi'sto:d
serve to show some weak points in the ellr'iicii
tern of defenoe. Horizontal shell firing at,5,,, pe
vessel may be considered a mode of acartir 0
cularly favourable to the guns and espee'e!p,
gerous to the ship. But on this ocess.lropi
ship seems to have been practically The p."
where she was literally the weakest. ~.` 00
competitive guns had for their mark tue rg'
hull of the Alfred, target ship. Where there..
nothing but wood in the way the shell %leo(
through, and although bursting with 06;eir
l
of splinters inside, yet the missile inw,, 0
more damage on the frame of the ship th,s,Tle 0
have been ocaasioned by a solid ball of iiip
calibre. Of course, the explosion Wi'met
ship would have been terribly fatal to a "jail.
board; but this is a danger by no rtiesn,s,cer
to wooden vessels. There was, 11(37,1;
notable exception to the clean passage o'lli
shell. The Alfred was girded with tuh'aft 1
cables slung vertically, and one of these:P;t'io:,
to be struck by a hollow shot. The Prei„eifa?
the cable in two, but the resistance thus vit ii,
its course proved fatal to the ship, for '-g Or
that this one shell inflicted more clanLieg d
-:
wooden bulwarks than all the other shelnir
gether. Being checked by the cable the 8":44
j
and shattered the timbers, of course dr,:o,
wards a shower of the most dangerous sPr is
all probability much more perilous 10 a C; e
those which would be occasioned by a Inerh-ir?
sion between decks. The principle with tOO,
dental circumstance serves to illustrate We Co(
to be simply this—that ineffective arniellr ois#
than none at all. This assertion is bortiel
the great gun and iron plate experitnenterileiri!
buryness. It was there shown that a the'f'
steel bolt, striking against an aro:we'd
shivered the timber backing into a shovi.iel
most deadly splinters, equal in effect to.„: 00,
ments scattered by an exploding shell. ~$
shown that when the sides of La 010it'ilo'
Flandrea had thus been dashed in by foli3O
was only needful to send in a shell or tvii) i'
to kindle combustion of a most formidable the'
tion. It is a singular circumstance tbat,ilicto.
of these facts, the Admiralty are having :V
fitted to one or more of our wooden war:, ,1`
order that chains may be hung over ti",iit'
" protect" the engines and the more vitephi;ort,
the vessel. Thus we are taught by Sheltri/,
that 70 pounder guns are useless against -oeip
ships ; that six inches of armour can be Pe,oo'
by a 150 pounder rifled gun, firing steel 5".0r
that if an 'ron plate faila to keep out ehu,t„ict;
tile shot as bad as shell, and helps l'ir,':
splinters for irewocd. At Portsmouth 110
that a shell is never so mischievous as sc„t aIP,
checked in the vessel's side so as to hilL4o:,
the main timbers. Sboeburyness s""trob'
the best of sea-going armour is Peue-01/,,
guns which other nations—if not our OS,'
soon have afloat. Portsmouth demonstratebe,°'
enough that, bad as a wooden vessel Easi.,flP;
better than a wooden vessel cased with /,-bec
plates. Unless shot or shell can be altoge"o,
out it would appear better to let it " waltditli,
Alfred was not set on fire, notwitlista:oo",
mauling she received; but at Shoeburyhe,e7re 'PI,
roue were the splinters behind the Giioi'
after the use of solid shot that it svuenct°oo,l`
prudent to send a number of artillerytne'd,lll',
the debris before commencing to fire iflecli;
Either, therefore, our armour must be e i tiv
we must not dare to hang it on a frathe°ooo
As we have intimated on several previtv.loo:'
we fear that both in the question of tt,l33a.- fe.
guns the British Government is gc"l3°o°,
wrong, and that we are incurring 011,01$;',
expenditure which will prove to have be et'
ably misapplied. Awkward as our e:o'orii,
may be, they would teach us, in spite o', 01'
were we only more willing to learn; 1?0,,:014
nately, the War Office and the Adnatraillno9ls
possess a most singular aptitude for de1330'04
one thing and doing another. Thus, it; fir,"
pens, we fear, that the foreigner learuii fro'
experiments what he ought to do, a°
performances what he may better avow

COUNTRY hi®.REETO'

LIVERPOOL—Duras'. s tll
We have had rather a small attendance °lea
our corn exchange this morning, with a liall rli
prices of all articles, however, were welllo
Tuesday's rates.

LINCOLN—FRIDAY. jc.et toll
There was a good attendance at our Waaid., w 3
a tolerable show of wheat. Sales were >v was: was: allti:!
recent currencies may be written. .130,1,,erduier (11-1°,.i.,'
show, and best sorts fully maintained ;'",,t full 1),";
seconds rather lower in price. Oats breug" at '''
the demand ruled healthy. Beans seareof
af,i
In peas no change.
din
s''l'
White wheat new, 40s to 44s Barley? grin ...',IV
Red do. 3Bs to 40s Oats,,old, .• • ' ~,
Old white 42s to 478 New do ....... ....:e.
Red do. 39s to 43s i Beans.. ....... ' '' .7'
Barley, malting 33s to 31s 1 Beans, new.. ''

STAMFORD—FRIDAY. Wit
1/'
A fair quantity of wheat on offer, which met di,
derate demand at is to 2s less money. In °tile.?
grain the transactions have been at fully presli
—White wheat, 41s to 435; red, 38s to 41s per„,g
Barley, malting, 31s to 35s ; grinding, 275" to 0104
Oats, 18s to 23s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 3611,
qr. ; new, 3Gs to 3bs.

BURTON, ON-TR E NT—THuns
Old white wheat.. 46. to 50s I Old red
o.
wheat, ".e
I
New do. .. 44s to 47s New d:1
Malting barley....32s to 36s Oats .........2,/,
Grinding d0.....27s to 29s I Beans ...... .11

WAKEFIELD—FRID go"
The wheat trade is quiet, and there is no,
vious values ; millers buy sparingly. nar'e;
sale—secondary sorts are almost unsaleable.
Averages for the wee 40%
Wheat l7 32 qrs., at ........ 203
Oats
Barley 1115 ........ii
Peas -• . ........
Beans