The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-09 00:00:00

cylindrical, round headed 6t s '.is neeite,
-. _
but effected nothing, and then the Whit, wore'. 70e'4'"?-14-'47:x
.V 71--r_ eeea /
1
pounder muzzle-loading gun was loade d wtth
tad fired,Q
steel shell, charged with 211 b. of powder, t
•
with a 121 b. charge. As regarded the tars 'et, this
effected nothing, though its indent at once s. 'mwed
by its severity the immense superiority of steel Pro.
jectiles against armour plates over the old gray celst
sron shot. The indent made by this shell though
on y 21b. heavier than the 63-pounders, was at least
40 F`er cent. deeper, and its fragments cut into the
mass o f iron as if it had been so much wend. When
steel
withrle,
gave
same
n charges
prop ceeiles
i eed
penetration
,twere first used from the same guns
asc on m o
n offrom 3
shot,ro they,
0
andas a
to 35 per cent. over the cast iron. Later experi-
ments, however, have added cvt, n to this high per
centege of superiority, end
look,ng at the rapid
improvement in the uro of the rt, -tal used
manufacture
for these projectiles,
there
seems
why we should not look for still to be in reason
whyhigher re suits.on
Sir William Armstrong has sent steel
buryness of such perfect metaltn'ashot. to
B'"°-
penetrating a 6-inch plate they have been
even att er
~
een so littia
injured that they could with safety have
used again. Ono thing is absolutely certain,
been
used that
our present cast iron shot will never be able to effect
much against armour ships.
Mr. Whitworth's 150-pounder was next tried. In
consequence of there being a slight flaw in this fine
price, Mr. Whitworth reduced its firing charge from
271 b. to 23111, the shell, of homogeneous metal
(which is only a hard name for soft steel), weighing
1541 b., with 51b. of powder as a bursting charge.
Much was expected from this formidable shot, but,
unfortunately, it failed—the shell from some my sto-
rious cause bursting about 20 yards from the muzzle
of the gun, and sending its fragments in all direc-
tions screaming hoarsely through the air.
The Armstrong rifled gun was then tried with
a spherical case shot of 1511 b., fired with 351 b. of
powder. This stock with the rather high velocity
of 1,570 ft. per second, on the edge of the upper
plate, making an indent of 33in., breaking one belt,
slightly bulging the inner akin of the target, and.
therefore starting the ribs of the ship itself just
enough to be perceptible. Beyond this, however,it
effected nothing of importance. The plates still re-.
tn a.ed as tough end unbending as ever, there was
no sign of cracking is them, and every rivet, to the
astonishment of all
on the ground, stoc,d fast. A steel
the
spherical shot of same weight wies fired from
with
the same gun the same charge, and this, rather
unfairly for the
the substance of th e
target, struck between the slightly
parted edges of thel upper and lower plates. It com-
pletely buried itself,
entire plate, but strange
aed
must have passed through
to say, though two bolts
gave way, all the rivets held' on ; and, although ti, e 3
immense mass was bedded
target, it produced scarcely
are
effect worth speak,
ing of on the inner skin, Wei:lj
as
purposes are concerned, remained as good faras fighting
was fired at. A shot from a Tin. muzzle loading
as before it,
loading gun
of the Ordnance Select Committee was firedwith
1201 b. steel shell loaded with 21b. of
powder.T a
This
accomplished absolutely nothing, though it might
have done a good deal more than it was intended,
inasmuch as one of its fragments flew back to the
guns and buried itself 21 feet in the ground, clone
to where some of the visitors were standing. A shot
from the rifled 300-pounder (a cast iron projectile),
fired with 351 b. of powder, did very little, in spite
of the weight of the mass hurled against the target.
It made an irregular dent of 31in, deep, and bent.
back the upper plate a little more than 2in., making
the first real crack in the plate at the point we have
mentioned as being where the two shots struck on.
the bolt-head. From this spot there was tong,fo
the first time, seen a perfect crack, nearly a foo
late, apparently ;
and extending quite through the p
but this was all. The last shot fired was fro,''a Mr.
Whitworth's 150-pounder, loaded with a steel shell
and 51b. of powder. 'This struck the lower paste,
and, exploding, buried itself deeply ; but though it
had evidently penetrated the plates, it had failed to.
make any perceptible impression on the inside of
the target itself. Time for a minute inspection,
however, was impossible, for almost on the instant
it was seen that the last and most formidable missile
had failed to injure the backing there was it general
rush from the field to catch fiat) train ; for to mien
the last train from Shoeburyness would be like
being left behind on a desolate island.
The result of the whole day's experiments gave to
the target the most complete victory—a victory
almost as great as that actieved by the target of
Mr. Chalmers. In estimating the relative merits
of the two targets—beyond ell doubt the strongest
and best conducted in principle ever experi-
mented on—it must nut be forgotten that Mr.
lteed'e target is larger by some 40 superficial feet
than Mr. Chalmers's. In thickness of metal
it is 201 b. per square foot heavier, and its cost of
construction £4OO more. To these facts we may add
that Mr. Chalmers's target was assailed with 15
more rounds than were fired at Mr Reed's yes terday,
15 rounds of which were fired with 1301 b. of powder
and threw no less than 1,5001 b. weight of :netal
against the target of Mr. Chalmers more than were
fired against that of Mr. Reed. One among the
many shots discharged against Mr. Chalmers's in.
vention was a steel 300. pounder, fired with 451 b. of
powder—a test which was never offered to be applied
yesterday. We do not for a moment say that I\l.-.
Reed's target would not have stood this, but at least
it was not tried. In general it may be said, as far
as can be judged from yesterday's experiments, that
both targets stood almost equally well. What now
an
d
cheapest, to be proved is which is lightest
cheapest, and, above all, best adapted to the purposea
of iron frigate building.

HEALTH OF THE METROPOLIS.

-___+--

(From the Registrar-General's Weekly Return.)
The deaths in London were above 1,400 in each of the last
throe weeks of November; they declined to 1,376 in the
week that ended last Saturday. The average number of
deaths in ten corresponding weeks (taking the 49th week in
each of the years 1853-62)
is, with a correction for increaof population, 1,460. The actual number is less by $
than that obtained by calculation.
e;
The births in the week were more numerous
than the
deaths by 419,

Smallpox
- .
t was returned in 26 cases, seven of which oc-
curred ° Persons who were 15 years old and upwards.
Scarlatina
Was less fatal than it had been during a long
period, the number recorded being SB. This complaint
averaged 129 deaths weekly in October, and 119 weekly in
November, and it appears to have recently still further de-
clined.
Five deaths from scarlatina were registered in Kentish-
town, 10 in Islington, 4 in Limehouse, 5 in Bow, 4in Pop-
lar, sin St. Peter's, Walworth, and 4in Plumstead. A
child died of scarlatina at 20, Margaret-street, Linaehouse,
and this is stated to be the fourth fatal case of this disease
in the same house within 23 days.
Sixty-four deaths are referred to the head of
" typhus"
in the tables. The corrected average for 10 corres
asponding
weeks is 50. Of the 64 there were 34 returned typhus,
14 as typhoid fever, 8 as fever, 8 bilious, gastric fever, &c.
Bronchitis caused 155 deaths—it exhibits no increase on
the three previous weeks. Last week a greater number of
deaths was assigned to it than to phthisis or any other dis.
ease in the list.
Last week the births of 941 boys and 554 girls, in all
Tht-or:
1,795 children, wore registered in London. In the 10 cor-
responding weeks of the years 1853-62 the average number
(corrected) was 1,867.
The mean
At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height
mean temperature
of the barometer in the week was 29.710 in. The height
of mean daily
reading was above 301 n on Sunday and Friday, and below
three;
otl Saturday
a tahve
it m
29in on Wednesday. The reading fell to 28.80 in on
was in excess by
, temperature fell
hiG:lfoarienstehhzeetirhn)4og. v e
firstraOgne
point three
of
water.d ays the
todhfaeyt
h, and: vaverage
:rgiones etchft
the week
tw3hOee.e2ska2l
same
eaos‘nv4e2e.weekFriday. in
ilieng 4,3 w
years
ca
hr s
is
(s:
5d
d e temperatureetegtbinove determined
deg on Monday. The highest The lowest was 29.8
was 51.9
The range of temperature in - deg on Thursday.
B‘liv)a
8 belowti‘lle gbr
t.e.
21.4 deg. Tho mean daily re the week was, therefore,
of the highest temperatures ( fhga was 14.3 deg. The mean
47.4 deg ; that of the lowest) the
water
of
the
Thanes
was
between the mean dew point was 45.2 deg, The difference
ture was 4.4 deg. The u, temperature and air tempera-
ture
85, complete saturliht:an degree of humidity of the air
air was moist on the ' n being represented by 100. The
south-east in the be... first four days. The wind was in the
chiefly in the south:viennting of the week, and
Wednesday
the pressure of the winds At 3 o'clock p.m. on22t.tt
the
square foot ; and from N,W. rose to lio
211 b, and f text morning at 3 o'clock the pressure was
from that time to 6 o'clock in the evening it was
almosto.constantly between 6 and 121 b. The amount of rain
was
Min) nearly all of which fell on Wednesday and
Thursday.