The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-29 00:00:00

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THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING. JAN VARY 29, 1863.

that it appears probable enough it will be made.
The war may, instead of retarding, hasten this re-
sult, for the road will give work to the disbanded
army after hostilities cease ; and, as for the steam
line, it will be taken up as soon as the promised
Government subsidy shall have been passed. And
its prospects are not at all fanciful. The intercourse
with China is so great that the best informed men
expect the line will pay.

and no argument could weaken its resolve. And
I confess that, in my opinion, the deternainati %n is
just and reasonable. This matter of " interference"
has long been the nightmare of the people, which it
is to be hoped the late news will remove. For myself
I never believed that England wished or intended
to interfere, and having a firm conviction that her
interference, even to the smallest extent, would do
hsrself much injury and the Americans no good, I
feel confident she will not interfere. As interference
could not end the war, but would perhaps cause a
coalition of South and North against her, if we be-
lieve late expressions of opinion on this theme by a
Southern General (Pemberton) ; as interference
would not bring us cotton, while it would damage
our trade with the North, it is difficult to see what
good effect could be produced or what benefit ob•
tained by this interference. I have dwelt so much upon
this subject on account of the great amount of feeling
which it has hitherto evoked on this coast ever since
the war began.
Much ill feeling is caused against us here on ac-
count of "the sympathy and encouragement" given
to " the enemy" in England. The greatest griev-
ance is the building and fitting out of the Alabama,
the " British pirate" as she is called in the news-
papers, aggravated by the alleged fact that her
crew is English—a circumstance much to be re-
gretted, if the fact be so, but a matter not easily
prevented, if the reports of some of the captains of
vessels captured by the Alabama be true, that most
of the men were engaged under false representations
of their destination, and eheerest taken on board in
a state of unconscious drunkenness. All sorts of
absurd stories are put in circulation respecting the
origin of this vessel, such as that 290 Englishmen
subscribed the money to pay for her, and made " a
present" of her to the South ; that she is owned by
Englishmen, who are to share in the proceeds of
her captures; that the English Government paid
for building her out of the " Secret Service Money ;"
and other equally absurd, wild, and ridiculous as-
sertions, all which go to intensify the vulgar hatred
to the English.
Now this case of the Alabama illustrates the say-
ing that acertain class should have a good memory.
During the Crimean war a man-of-war (called the
w
America, if I remember), was built in America for
the Russian Government, and brought out to the
Pacific,filled with arms and munitions, by an officer in
the United States' navy. This gentleman took her
to Petropaulovski, where she did service against
the allied squadron ; and she is still in the Russian.
navy. We made no such childish fuss about this
act of " hostility" by a friendly Power, which we
could not prevent, as our friends are now making*
about the Alabama, whose departure from England
our Government could not stop.
A subject of much interest to England is the tele-
graph line now being constructed by the Russians
from Moscow to the Pacific. The line runs through.
Siberia and comes down the Atnoor river to its
mouth. From the mouth of the Amoor, I was in-
formed by a gentleman who saw the direction of the
line marked upon a map, that advantage would be
taken of the archipelago of the Aleutian Islands,
some 40 in number, ail belonging to Russia; and
which would form a convenient series of stations
for telegraph poles; while their proximity to one
another, and the length of the group, would obviate
the necessity of long submerged cables. By means
of these islands the long marine portion of the line,
by any other route, would be avoided; and from
them the telegraph could be made to strike the
coast, follow it through the Russian and English
possessions into those of America, and either under
or along the shores of Puget Sound to Portland in
Oregon, to which place a telegraph from San Fran-
cisco is now in course of construction. This would
complete the telegraphic communication between—
say, St. Petersburg and San Francisco, and from
the latter city to New York by the overland tele-
graph across the Rocky Mountain*, or in other
words, between St. Petersburg and New York.
Another route spoken of is to carry the wires
from one of the Aleutians to Cape Alaska and thence
by submarine cable to the mouth of the Columbia
river, so that, as many of our kind neighbours
would much like, " thus, by avoiding the coast of
British Columbia, telegraphic e3mmunication with
Europe, Asia, and America could be kept distinct
from and outside of British interference if deemed
necessary."
However this may be determined, the telegraph
is being laid along the Amoor; stations and other
erections are being built as far down as close to the
mouth of the river; and the wires will most pro-
bably reach Nicolaievski (or Nicolaski, as the
town is commonly called) on the Amoor this
year. So I was informed by a gentleman lately
from the Amoor, whose opinion it is, however,
that the Russians will for the present rest satis-
fied with opening telegraphic communication be-
tween St. Petersburg and their great garrison at
the town last mentioned. If this be so, it indicates
a change of purpose, for the intention certainly
was to extend the line to Oregon, so as to com-
municate with San Francisco ; and the American
Government very naturally took a warm interest in
the project, offered every assistance towards its com-
pletion, and in the last session procured an appro-
priation" of money to defray the expense of making
a survey of the marine portion of the line, and of-
fered to the Russian Government the use of one or
more men-of-war for the purpose of such survey.
The completion of this line would, it is supposed,
obviate the necessity of the "Atlantic lice," so long
attempted, or at any rate discourage or prevent its
completion. It would certainly appear as if it would
take the wind out of the sails of the Atlantic Com-
pany and mar their project. The Russian line would
work thus :—A message from London for New York
or for San Francisco would be sent to St. Peters-
burg by the present telegraph, and from the latter
would be forwarded via San Francisco, if for New
York. Its other operations any one can work out.
I see it stated that communication by electric tele-
graph has already been established between London
and Turnen, in Siberia, a distance of 4,000 and odd
miles ; and the promoters of the Russian line pro-
fess their belief in the completion of the great line
I have described by the end of next year.
What effect the scheme by itself would have on
England, socially, politically, or commercially, I
will not wait to discuss; but taken in connexion
with two other projects on the tapis,—the Pacific
railway and steam communication between Califor-
nia and China—both encouraged by the American
Government, and both, in my opionion, likely to be
realised, the telegraph forms a link in the chain of
measures by which England is to be seriously
damaged in her Eastern commerce.
It is announced by the promoters that one great
object of the railroad and of the steamboat line is
to change the traffic of Europe, Asia, and America,
by diverting the trade of the East through America
—to change the present road from England to India,
to China, to Japan, so that it will pass through
America. "We have had to pay toll," said a pro-
moter: of the railroad at a convention of its corpo
raters held lately, "to the turnpike-keepers, the
bankers of Liverpool and London, in passing to the
East for our teas, our silks, and our drugs. Freights,
insurances, commissions, and premiums on bills of
exchange" are among the exactions which the pre-
sent course of trade enables the English merchant to
subject his American correspondent to, which will
all be saved, while a great many new advantages
will be gained by the completion of the two vast
projects contemplated.
I cannot pursue the subject further at present
than to remark that I can see no serious obstacle to
the completion of these three undertakings. They
all involve vast sums of money certainly; but ex-
cept the telegraph, which, if made at all, must be
made by the Russian Government, the difficulty is
not so insurmountable as at first sight appears.
The terms granted to the railway promoters are so
liberal, there are so many States to divide the ex-
pense, and there is so earnest a desire for the road,

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY,

The appointment of Mr. E. J. Reed to the chief
constructorship of the Royal Navy, announced in
The Sun of Monday, has special significance at a

time when the eyes of the whole nation are directed

with peculiar anxiety to Admiralty proceedings.

It has been very well understood for a long time
past that an infusion of " young blood" into the
Construction-office was in the highest degree desir-

able, and that without it neither Boards of Admi-

ralty nor Controllers of the Navy—no matter how
well-intentioned and energetic—could possibly suc-
ceed in maintaining our pre-eminence in face of the
activity and skill of our Imperial rival. Mr. Reed
possesses many unusual qualifications for the post.
He was trained originally as a shipbuilder in her

Majesty's dockyard at Sheerness, where he was for
four years employed on the actual building of war
ships. In 1849 he was specially selected by the Rev.
Canon Moseley for removal to the School of Mathe-
matics and Naval Construction at Portsmouth.
There he enjoyed the advantage of studying the
highest branches of the theory of naval architec-
ture under the Rev. Joseph Woolley, LL.D., a
distinguished mathematician. While at Portsmouth
Mr. Reed also studied the practice of shipbuilding
under the teaching of the late Mr. John Fincham'
the most distinguished shipbuilder of the last gene-
ration. After leaving the School of Naval Con-
struction he returned to Sheerness Dockyard as a
supernumerary, and, before receiving a permanent
appointment, applied for permission to leave the
service, owing, we believe, to causes connected with
the military service imposed in that day upon offi-
cers in the dockyard battalions. In 1853, on leav-
ing Sheerness, Mr. Reed accepted the editorship of
a scientific periodical, closely connected at that
time with shipbuilding affairs, and in the execution
of his duties he was, of course, thrown into inti-
mate acquaintance with the system of shipbuilding
pursued in the private as well as the public dock-.
yards of the country, and especially with the prac-
tice of iron shipbuilding. In December, 1858, he
read a paper" On the modifications which the ships
of the Royal Navy have undergone during the pre-
sent century in respect of dimensions, form, means
of propulsion, and powers of attack and defence," at
the Society of Arts, for which he received the
Prince Consort's silver medal. This paper at once
established the author's reputation as a high autho-
rity on naval architecture. It is worthy of remark
that in this paper, written more than four years
ago, the author anticipated many of the devices
which have since been adopted in iron-cased ships,
and especially the method of employing armour of
increased thickness in the region of the water-line,
which has been so largely employed in the French
navy, and to which so many persons now lay claim,
from time to time, as a new suggestion. In 1859
the shipbuilders, marine engineers, and naval offi-
cers combined to establish a professional institution
for the purpose of fostering their science, and they
not only fixed upon Mr. Reed as the most desir-
able person to act as their organizing secretary,
but made the whole project -hang upon his co-
operation in that capacity. Under this pres-
sure Mr. Reed agreed to act, and the
success of the institution of Naval Archi-
tects has been signal and complete. Since that
time, as the public already know, Mr. Reed has
applied himself more particularly to the iron-cased
ship iroVem, n'ot so much as an iilveittO as a naval
architect; and the result has been that'whereas in
the early part of the year we had no prospect be-

fore us of applying armour to any other than
monster war-ships, we have now in progress iron-
cased vessels of 1,000 and 2,000 tons completely
armour-cased. It cannot be doubted that, by means
similar to those by which this result has been ob-
tained, the principle of armour plating may be

greatly improved in vessels of all sizes and classes.
I,Ve have no doubt that the appointment of Mr.

Reed, who has had the ability and energy to win
the office for himself solely by his own exertions,
will be succeeded by a more vigorous administration
of our Royal dockyards than has hitherto been
possible.
The steam storeship Justitia, laden with returned

ammunition, shot, shell, gun carriages, &e., arrived
at Woolwich on Monday from Bermuda, and com-
menced discharging yesterday at the Arsenal-pier.
Yesterday a numerous body of shipwrights were
placed on board the sailing frigate Active, 40,
moored off Chatham dockyard in order to convert
that vessel into a training ship for the men of the
Naval Reserve. Beyond, however, the removal of
the cabins, bulkheads, and other fittings, there will
be few alterations required, as the Active, which
was launched at Chatham dockyards about 18 years
ago, and was then considered to be one of the
" smartest" of the sailing frigates of her class, has
never yet been to sea, and, in fact, has not been re-
moved from Chatham harbour, where she has been
lying ever since her launch.

In accordance with directions received from the
Admiralty, the dimensions of No. 3 dock at Chat-
ham, in which the Royal Oak, iron-plated steam
frigate, is being completed for sea, have been taken,
in order to ascertain whether sufficient accommoda-
tion can be provided for docking the iron frigate
Tamar, 2,812 tons, 500-horse power, which has been
constructed for the Admiralty at one of the private
ship- building yards in the Thames. The completion
of the Royal Oak will not be prolonged beyond the
middle of the ensuing month, by which time she
will be ready to be floated out of dock, when the
remainder of her fittings can be completed while she
is lying in the harbour. The Tamar will then be
placed in the same dock, where she will undergo a
thorough survey at the hands of the dockyard offi-
cials, after which it is intended she shall be des-
patched to Sheerness dockyard to be masted and
rigged.
The Tyrian, screw gunvessel, commenced her offi-
cial trials of speed at the measured miles in Stokes
Bay, on Tuesday, and completed them yesterday.
I The trials were carried out under the supervision of
Capt. H. Broadhead, commanding her Majesty's
ship Asia and the steam reserve at the port; Mr.
Ward, assistant engineer of the dockyard, and Mr.
Murdoch, inspector of machinery afloat, noting the
working of the engines and boilers. The Tyrian is
one of the new description of gunvessels, of an in-
termediate size between the sm all Haslar class and
the despatch boat. She is fitted with engines of 60
horse power, nominal, by Messrs. Maudslay, Sons,
and Field, oil the high-pressure principle ; but
since her completion, by Messrs. Maudslay and
Field, a condenser has been added by the Admiralty
Department. She has a Griffiths screw of Sft pitch,
and Bft diameter, working with a draught of water
of the ship's hull of Bft aft and ift 6in forward. On
TueL;day the trials were at high pressure. The wind
was at a force of about 4, and in a WNW direction.
Six runs were made with the following resilt—.
Ist, 6371 knots ; 2d, 10 055 knots; 3d, 6._509 1'1)8°ts'
4th, 10.198 knots; sth, 6.070 knots; 6th
knots. The mean speed of the ship of the si 963
x runs
pressure of steam
in knots was 8.214 ; the average
is 601 b. ; and the average numberofrevolutions of
engines, 165. Yesterday the low pressure trials were
made at the measured mile. The weather was un-
usually favourable for the season of the
year, a dead
cam
prevailing at the commencement, and a light
breeze springing up
to less than 2 by the time the
series were completed. The first trials were made
with six runs at full power, as follows-Ist, 7.438
* knots ; 2d, 8'695 knots; 3d, 7.531 knots ; 4th, B'7Bo

PRICE..... -..4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

knots; sth, 7438; 6th, 8 845 knots. The mean
speed of the ship in knots was 8.120 knots, the
average pressure of steam 381 b., and the average
number of revolutions of the engines 152. Ono
boiler out of the two with which the ship is fitted
was next cut off, and six runs made with the one
boiler, yielding results as follows :—The first 5.825
knots, the second 7.114, the third 5.598, the fourth
6 593, the fifth 5 891, and the sixth 5.479. The
mean speed of the ship in knots was 6.192 ; the
average pressure of steam, 371 b. ; and the average
number of revolutions of engines 121. I n testing the
mechanical working of the engines they were stopped
dead from the time of giving the signal in 9 seconds;
they were started ahead in 8 seconds, and turned
astern in 3 seconds. Machinery, toilers, and con-
denser worked admirably, in spite of the most ad-
verse tests, and the decided success gained is a credit
due alike to the Admiralty and to Messrs. Maudslay,
Sons, and Field. The chief ndvelty connected with
the engines of the Tyrian consists in her beingfitted
with two short boilers, with return tubes, taking up
less space than the ordinary mode of gunvessel fit-
ting, steam being got up in less time, and also kept
up with greater ease to the maximum point. The
machinery and boilers were fitted expressly for
working on the high pressure principle, but, as we
have already stated, since completion by the con-
tractors the Admiralty have added a condensor.
Mr. Warrener represented Messrs. Mandalay and
Field, and had control of the engines on both days'
trials. The vessel is rigged as a three-masted
schooner, and presents a smart appearance on the
water, although somewhat low in outline. She
carries as armament one 110-pounder and one 40-
pounder Armstrongs.
The Duke of Somerset has conferred upon Capt.
H. Broadhead, commanding her Majesty's ship Asia
and the steam reserve at Portsmouth, the good ser-
vice pension which has lapsed to the Board in con-
sequence of the appointment of Capt. Aldham, C. 8,,
to Greenwich Hospital. In addition to his sea
service, Capt. Broadhead has rendered very im-
portant services as captain of the steam reserve
at Portsmouth, among which may be noticed the
trials of the iron fleet—the Warrior, Black Prince,
Defence, and Resistance—at the measured mile—
the trials of the Warrior and Black Prince " off
the Wight," and the elaborate series of screw
experimental trials made in the Shannon and
ordered to be repeated in the Emerald.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. E. J. Jermain, to the
Alecto; N. H. Ward, midshipman, to the Buzzard;
H. W. Eiger, chief engineer, to the Buzzard; J.
Niel, chief engineer, to the Cumberland, for the
Mars, when the latter is paid off; J. Walsh, engi-
neer, to the Buzzard; T. S. Gissing, first class
assist. engineer, to the Asia, for the Foam; D.
Langlands, first class assist. engineer, to the Cara-
doe ; W. Nicholson, first class assist. engineer, to
the Buzzard ; T. Barker, in the Foxhound, promoted
to acting first class assist. engineer ; W. Tempest,
second class assist. engineer, to the Fisgard, for the
Bann; J. G. Sampson, acting second class assist.
engineer, to the Buzzard ; C. F. Roberts, T. Grey,
W. J. Brown, and H. W. Hunt, assist. clerks, ad-
ditional, to the Fisgard.