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

WS PAPE ',l
~---1
;
_,...-- 7-1 _
-1 , / -..'''.0^1("1:414 ' ' 'I • - 1:1'..*)
` -
4:5...:..
the end of the day scarcely a rivet wag staate -if'c'el4i ,:::.fr;-: -; i-2.129.,
g.L.)
cylindrical, round headed 661 b. shot was ne]:txtlit 'cr'-'..„' _,T/taa'- Ail:ao
hut effected nothing, and then the Whitwof thViL-12 459:4Z1;
*a..--- ' ', 's
pounder muzzle-loading gun was loaded a 7ith ax A s
steel shell, charged with 2L-lb. of powder, and fired
with a 121 b. charge. As regarded the target, this'
effected nothing, though its indent at once showedb
by its severity the immense superiority of steel pro-
jectiles against armour plates over the old gray cast
ironl
shlbot.. The indent mad© by this shell though
40on only . heavier than the 68-pounders, was at least
massp erfcent. deeper,
steel projectiles and its fragments cut into the
and with the same
iron as if it had been so much wood. When
were first used from the same guns
as a role, gave an i ncehr ea
to 35 per cent. over tanded
charges
penetrationes com m on shot,of fr 0 they,
e3yo,
3:l'n I:fila dc
te
c
edast iron. Later experi-
ments, however, have
icoienptraogyeemoefnstur
the
erimt
ulvereenk:tfo
tht he i sm la:agthu
spee:
ing at the rapid
till higher results.
for these ',projectiles, there b,eert
w'n3' we should not look for 8 )8 to be no reeSea
of such perfect metal thatshotl eveno 811117 -
Sir William Armstrong has sent steel
so
a 6-inch plate they have beet
hgat they could with safety have
bpi
nueinruyertnereitsi
penetrating
beets
used again- One thing is absolutely certain, that'a
. cur present cast iron shot will never be able to elf;ct
much agaiest armour ships.
Mr, Whitw'orth's 150-pounder was next tried. ha
consequence of tprice, Mr. WhitwoCth reduced its firing charge froth
being a slight flaw in this fine
shell, of homogeneous metal
271 b. to 231 b., the
(which is only a hard na.me for soft steel), weighing
wrmidable shot, but,
1511 b., with 51b. of powdeir ." a bursting charge.
Much was expected from this
unfortunately, it failed—the she! .from some myste-
.from the muzzle
rions cause bursting about 20 yarda
of the gun, and sending its fragmeln's in all direc-
tions screaming hoarsely through the Cr'
:ied with
The Armstrong rifled gun was then t
a spherical cast shot of 1511 b., fired with 35113. of
powder. This stuck with the rather high velocity
of 1,570 ft. per second, on the edge of the "111)1'er
plate, making an indent of 34in., breaking one bolt,
slightly bulging the inner skin of the target, and
therefore starting the ribs of the ship
enough to be perceptible. Beyond this, however, ,it
spherical shotwiotfb
effectednothing of .
importance. The plates still re..
mained as tough end unbending as ever, there Villfs
no sign of cracking in them,
astonishment of all on the ground, stood fast. A steel
the same gun the same charge, and this, rather
unfairly for the target,
the entire plate, but strnadnfilleeludtaot
struck between the slightly
parted edges of the upper
pletely buried itself, a and lower plates. It com-
the
same
weight and
was
rivet,ifitsr.eeldf t elf
rutohsmet.
passed through
gave way, all the rivets
immense mass was bedded shaayvtethough two bolts
in otnb; and, although the
target, it produced scarcely an
ins of on the inner skin, which, ew;
at s substance
fireda i
nwogifTtghh thetliri,n
worth speak.'
fighting
purposes are concerned, remained as gaorodas
dbefor'e it
was fired at. A shot from a 7in. muzzle-loading
of the Ordnance Select Committeeaeeffs
1201 b. steel shell loaded with 21b. of powder.
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, e:ose
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 burled against the fariaet.
It made an irregular dent of 31in, deep, and la nt
back the upper plate a little more than 2in., makittg
the first real crack in the plate at the point we have
mentioned as being where the two shots struck oat
the bolt-head. From this spot there was now, for
the first time, seen a perfect crack, nearly a foot long,
and extending quite through the plate, apparently ;
but this was all. The last shot fired was from Mr.
Whitworth's 150-pounder, loaded with a steel shell
and 51b. of powder. Tale struck the lower plate,
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 fur a minute inspection,
however, was impossible, for almost on the inst ant
it was seen that the last and most formidable miss ilo
had failed to injure the backing there was a geneval
trba
es h
lastfrom t
it
ahien fied t o
frleei s
hcoaet
bc hh u
rtyne train
ss
would
; f
0u
ido r
bt
eo m i
likese
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 achieved by the target of
Mr. Chalmers. In estimating the relative merits
of the two targets—beyond all doubt the strongest
and best conducted in principle ever experi-
mented on—it must not be forgotten that Mr..
Reed'. 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 yesterday,
15 rounds of which were fired with 1301 b. of powder
and threw no less than 1,5001 b. weight of metal.
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 h, of
powder—a test which was never effered to be applied
yesterday. We do not for a moment say that Mr.
pur:oow
m e
in s
Reed's target would not have stood this, but at least
it was not tried. In general it may be said, as far
s'
judgedstood
dfrao
almost
est yesterday'segually
w experiments,ell.\Vhat that
the
bothcra remains
caaapnitargets bt, e
and, above all, best adapted to to be proved is which is lightest and
of iron frigate building.

j

HEALTH OP THE METROPOLIS.

-- ~-

etN(Vhldetleretaok:esihlnSoldflietneNd - BL°
lVelgliesn aid:
Registrar
London
;11- eGrtrdiele:lealyyeb):°6l- :di
Thefee'
atcotll Wabinle
(taking
r°eee ,e°clas in
averageletYthooeofal4c:
this t39h:tn our6ulf I weekarn.t )ii
hbis
in
arti ,
,I;l3l3ioci:ft
s in ten corresponding weeks hheoopful theati
uyn7 7,416805.3 - 6T2h)
oed t three
week
each
epht
than that obtained by calculation.
eis,awctiutahl a
'number correction
is
deaths by 419,
The births in the week were more numerous than the
curred to persons who were 15 Years old an pa
long
Smallpox was returned in 26 cases, seven of
dwuhiwchardocs:
Scarlatina was less fatal than it had beenThisduringcompiaint
fleerssinbcyrez
period, the number recorded being 88.
an
averaged 129 deaths weekly in
November, and it appears to have recently
de-
clined.
Five deaths from scarlatina wereohouse,
5 in Bow, 4 in town, 10 in Islington, 4 in Livrath,
and 4in Plumstead. A
Pop-
lar, 5 in St. Peter's,
Wa1251-0° Margaret.street, Limehouse,
child died of scarlatina registered
and
1 ilfn9u. weeklyrl
it heenrt is hi a-
h u s '"
in the same house withine
referred to the head of " typ .
Sixty-four deaths ar
corrected average for 10 corresponding
and this is stated to
in the tables.
The
64 there were 34 returned as typhus,
weeks is 50.
S aslss deaths—it exhibits no increase on
Bronchitis caused
Last week a greater number of
three previous weeks.
hthisis or any other disc
the
• ed to it than to p
deaths was assign
the list.
foOvefrt,he fever, 8 bilious, gastric fever, &c.
births of 941 boys and 354 gills, in all
ela4sase
in the
Last week the .
d ie London. In the 10 cor-
ers 1853-62 the average number
weeks of the ye
respondingwas 1 867.
(corrected) ,
Greenwich, the mean height
At the Royal Observatory,
he
week was 29.710 in. The mean daily
of the barometer in the
on
1,795 children, were registered
Sunday and Friday, and below
.The reading fell to 28.80 in on Thurs
reading was above
2m onFriday. The mean temperature
b e
rhoa t 23 fourthd
ays
-
of the same week in 43 years (us determined
of the air in the week was 42.1 deg, which is o's deg above
the average
Glaisher). On three days the Ilium temperature
id2)wasypa3in: I baornidolwlrroesdtehne:osad3vail2r.age ; on Saturday it was in excess by
8 dog. On the first three days the temperature fell
below the freezing point of water. The lowest was 29.8
deg on Monday. The highest was 54'2 deg on Thursday.
The range of temperature in the week was, therefore,
24'4 dog. The mean daily run f i'' ( was 14.3 deg. TllO mean
of the highest temperatures of the water of the Thames was
47.4 deg; that of the lowest was 45.2 deg. The difference
between the mean dew point temperature and air tempera-
ture
was
c 04.m4pdleStge.
south-east in the beginning of tbor
air was moist on the first four days. The wind witif;rlwards
represented by a 10:::nsTa:,
s altulniettniZiliedinegg,ree of humidity of the ahier
chiefly in the south-west. At 3 o'clock p.m. °loll!, to the
the pressure of the wind from N.W. rosettohe
square foot ; and next morning at 8 o
it was
211 b, and from that time to 6 o'clock in h
Wednesday and
almost constantly between 6 and 121
was o'7Bin, nearly all of which
Thursday. fellb oTtiabe amount of rain
o'clock the
Queuing
gsure was