The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-22 00:00:00

THE NA VI.


Or, Tuesday last the Board of Admiralty and the
Ironplate Committee attended at Shoeburyness to
witness experiments against an iron target proposed
by Messrs. Samuda as a model for the construction
of armour-plated ships. The peculiarities of this
target are,—first, that the wooden lining, which in
the Warrior is interposed between the armour and
tha iron skin and framework of the ship, is dis-
pansed with; and, secondly, that the armour-plates
v.re so attached to the body of the ship as to contri-
bute to its strength instead of merely hanging upon
it. The armour plates in this case are five inches
thick, and they are incorporated with an iron back-
ing of plates and ribs which are equivalent to an
additional layer of two inches thick, making alto.
gether seven inches of iron. The target was sub-
jected to the usual number of rounds of shot and
shell from 100-pounder and 68-pounder guns, and
the effects were much the same as were produced on
similar targets proposed by Mr. Fairbairn, and
lately tried at Shoeburyness. One round was then
fired at it from the 300-pounder Armstrong gun,
501 b. of powder. The shot struck an uninjured part
of the target, and passed completely through, carry-
ing with it large pieces of the iron, which were
driven deep into the bank behind the target. The
same gun was then fired once more against the old
Warrior target, which in this instance in some de-
gree reasserted its former supremacy. The shot
passed through the armour, but only bulged and
cracked the inner skin gnd framework. No frag-
ment of the shot got through the entire target. The
extraordinary efficacy of wood thus applied as a
stratum between the armour and the body of the
ship is now rendered more apparent than ever.
The armour plate breaks the shot as it passes
through, and the wood arrests the fragments. It
remains to be ascertained what will be the effect
when a wrought iron shot, which will not break in
striking, is substituted for the present cast-iron
shot.

A letter from Malta, dated Valetta May 16,
says :—" Mr. Gibson, Government inspector of
telegraphs, and Mr. Preece, engineer of Messrs.
Glass, Elliot, and Co., took their departure yester-
day from this island for Tripoli and Bengazi, in
Tier Majesty's gunboat Growler (3), Lieutenant J.
D. Curtis. The object of these gentlemen is to in-
pect the telegraph stations at those places. They
were to have proceeded in the Procris, but it was
afterwards found that the repairs needed by this
vessel would cause considerable delay if they waited
until she was ready, and Admiral Codrington placed
the Growler at their disposal instead. They are
expected back in a few weeks, when Mr. Gibson
will proceed to Alexandria, Corfu, and Otranto, to
inspect the stations there. The electric communi-
cation between Alexandria and England, via Malta,
Italy, and France, continues to be very satisfactory,
and messages are sent to and from Jubal in a few
hours.

1, Her Majesty's gunboat Surprise, 4, Commander
W. H. Whyte, which arrived from Corfu on Wed.
nesday, bringing as passengers Lieut.-Col. Bell,
23d Royal Fusiliers, and Major Middleton, A.D.C.,
left on return the following day with a mail for
Vice-Admiral Sir W. F. Martin, K.C.B. Her Ma-
jesty's screw steam sloop Malacca, 17, Capt. G. J.
Napier, came in early yesterday morning from
Beyrout, which place she left on the 27th ult. Her
Majesty's screw line of-battle-ship London, 86,
Capt. H. Chads, arrived the same day from Gibral-
tar, where she had been stationed for some time.
On entering port she saluted Rear-Admiral Cod-
rington's new flag. Her Majesty's screw frigate
Amphion (36), Capt. Gordon, is in the Dockyard-
creek, having a new mainmast fitted, the old one
having been found to be rotten.
" Mr. George H. Mowbray, R.N., recently
appointed Agent Victualler in Malta, arrived here
last week, and assumed the duties of his office.
"Her Majesty's ships now in port are—the
Hibernia, receiving ship, bearing the flag (red) of
Rear-Admiral H. J. Codrington, C. 8.; London, 86;
Amphion, 36 ; Malacca, 17 ; Gannet, 11; Medina,
4 ; Procris, 2 ; Boxer, 2 ; and Hearty, tug."
Yesterday the first of the iron armour-plates with
which the iron-plated frigate Royal Oak, 50,
building at Chatham, is to be encased was sue-
cesfully fixed in its place. The plate forms the first
of the lower tier, which will be carried five feet
below the water line, so as to 'prevent any shot
touching the vulnerable parts below the water. Pre-
viously to the plates being fixed yesterday they
underwent the process of annealing in the factory,
as they are all of hammered iron, being too hard and
tough to allow of their being worked in their origi.
nal state. They were then submitted to the hydrau-
lic plate-bending machine which has been erected
at the dockyard by Messrs. Westwood, Baillie,
Campbell, and Co., and, while cold, bent to the exact
shape of the portion of the ship's side they were de-
stined to cover. As this is the first machine of the
kind erected for the Admiralty, considerable interest
was taken in the process of bending the plates, mast
of the leading officials connected with Chatham
dockyard being present on the occasion. Notwith-
standing the massive size of the plates, each of which
is 13ft in length, 4kin in thickness, and weighs up-
wards of 80cwt, the powerful hydraulic engine
twisted and bent them with ease; the slabs operated
upon, all of which are from the Thames Ironworks,
not exhibiting the least flaw, which, had such ex-
isted, would have been instantly detected. The work
of plating the Royal Oak will now be carried on as
rapidly as circumstances will allow, and, in order to
expedite this important portion of the work, an ex-
tensive workship is being erected immediately ad
joining the slip on which the Royal Oak is building
in which another large hydraulic engine is to be
placed, together with various powerful machines
required for plating the frigate. The Lords of the
Admiralty have applied to the dockyard officials to
ascertain the earliest time by which the Royal Oak
can be launched, and an answer has been returned
that everything may be completed by the end of
lulY, but no further directions have been received
from the Admiralty on the subject. It is probable
the vessel will be partially covered with her armo ar-
plates before leaving the stocks, in which case she
will not be afloat until the end of August or begin-
ning of Septmember. In anticipation of the Lords of
the Admiralty deciding on having her launched by an
earlier date, workmen are now busily employed in
laying deem her launching- wars, so that no unne-
cessary delay may take place. Yesterday afternoon
her large rudder, weighing between 7 and 8 tons,
was fixed in its place. With the exception of being
covered with her armour-plates, the frigate may be
said to be nearly completed. Most of her internal
fittings have been finished, and her main and lower
decks completed. Workmen are now engaged in
fixing her upper deck, which will be rendered shot
and shell proof by being covered with sheet-iron,
the beams on which the planking is placed being
also of iron. As soon as the hands now employed
on the Royal Oak can be released from that vessel
they will be transferred to the Bulwark, 91, the
next vessel at Chatham Dockyard which is to un-
dergo the process a alteration to an iron-cased
steam frigate.
Her Majesty's paddlewheel despatch vessel Ban-
shee, Commc oder Madden, from the Mediterranean,
arrived at Woolwich yesterday morning, and com-
menced preparations for paying off.
Rear-Admiral Austin, Col. St. George, Royal
Artillery, President of the Select Committee of
Woolwich Arsenal ; Cept. Sir Wm. Wiseman, Royal
Navy, Vice-President, and other members of the
committee, accompanied by Commodore Sir Fred.
Nicolson, and Mr. Turner, master shipwright of
Woolwich Dockyard, yesterday inspected the steam
floating battery Trusty, in basin at Woolwich, fitted
with Capt. Coles' experimental cupola, and waiting
orders to proceed to Shoeburyness to test the effect
of the 1501 b. shot. They afterwards visited the 90
gun ship Caledonia, under construction as an ar-
mour-clad ship, and rapidly progressing towards
completion. The first allotment of plates from the
Lancefield works will be forwarded in a few days.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty e--7 Lieut. Walter A. B. Craven,
additional, to the Marlborough ; J. E. Fawcett,
surge, to the Racehorse ; E. H. Evans, surge W.
Bumble, inspector of machinery, to the Cumber-
land
Hugh R. Gair, engineer, to the Cormo-
rant ; ;
W. Hardie, engineer, to the Racehorse;
W. Skeen, acting engineer, to the
.A4itt ter the

Earnest; W. G. Hughes, Ist class assist.-engineer,
to the Fisgard; George F. Williams, Ist class
assist. :engineer, to the Cormorant; Wm. Birks, Ist
class assist.-engineer, to the Racehorse ; J. Baptist,
Ist class assist.-engineer, to the Asia, for the
Cracker; A. Martell, Ist class assist -engineer, to
Asia, as supernumerary ; W. Crow, acting Ist class
assist.-engineer, to the Fisgard, as supernumerary ;
James Templeton, 2d class assist.-engineer, to the
Racehorse; Robert Findlay and T. W. Bearden, 2d
class assist.-engineers, to the Cormorant; and J. S.
Pidgeon, acting 2d class assist.-engineer, to the
Racehorse.

Mr. Edward Hight has received the appointment
of honorary lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve.

2HE ARMY.

The headquarters and service companies of the
83d (County of Dublin) Regiment arrived at Chat-
ham yesterday from India, having disembarked ht
Gravesend from the transport King Lear, 1,970
tons, Capt. W. S. Crondance, belonging to Messrs.
Somes Brothers, Blackwall. The strength of the
service companies is rather less than 400 non.com-
missioned officers and men. The following officers
arrived at Chatham yesterday with the regiment—
viz., Lient.-Col. E. Steele, C. 8., Capts. E. Meurant,
J. Wakefield, and C. C. Gore, Lients, T. G. Coote,
P. C. Browne, W. H. Ivimy, N. Pennefather, and
H. C. Whitlock, Major S. D. Swinburne (paymas-
ter), Quartermaster P. Hayes, and Surgeon R.
Browne. The 83d Regiment arrived at Chatham
by special train on the South Eastern Railway,
and in the afternoon proceeded to Dover, where
the regiment will be stationed for a short time,
after which it will be removed to Dublin. The
invalids of the regiment are daily expected to
arrive at Gravesend in the Cospatrick, which
sailed from Bombay on the 24th of January
last. The depot companie; of the 83d, at Chat-
ham garrison number nearly 400 men of all ranks
volunteering for the depot having been opened from
the other regiments. About 250 men, together with a
proportionate number of officers, will leave Chatham
in a few days for Dover, to join headquarters, but
the depot will continue at Chatham for the present.
Only a small proportion of the officers and men who
embarked for India with the 83d return with that
regiment.

The detachments of Royal Marines and Royal
Marine Artillery for the Cormorant, 4, and Race-
horse, 4, screw steamers, fitting for service in China,
left headquarters, Catham, yesterday afternoon,
and embarked on board those vessels. A party of
lads from the training ship Wellesley, 72, at Chat-
ham, also embarked on board the same steamers.
Yesterday a portion of the 2d battalion of the 25th
King's Own Borderers, numbering 214 non-com-
missioned officers and men, with eight officers,
passed through Chatham, en route from Shorncliffe
to Gravesend, where they embarked in the after-
noon on board a steamer for Edinburgh.

TBE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.

Nothwithstanding the damp, cold weather of
yesterday, the returns from the turnstiles showed a
considerable advance on the admissions of the day
before. The Horticultural fete would no doubt draw
a large number of season ticket-holders, but the
numbers paying at the doors increased in an equal
ration ; and, considering the very uninviting aspect
of the day, there can be no more satisfactory proof
that the attractions of the Exhibition are at last
beginning to receive that attention from the public
which they deserve. The total number of visitors
yesterday up to six o'clock was 23,345,:0f whom
12,378 paid at the doors, and 10,967 were admitted
by tickets. Though there were heavy showers at
intervals during the day, the leakage was very
trifling ; and we may take it for granted, therefore,
that the chief defects in the roof have been traced
out, and to a great extent made good. The chief
novelty of the day was the preliminary trial of the
pipes of the majolica fountain, which were found to
act perfectly, and when the cement has all tho-
roughly hardened, and one or two little omissions
disclosed by the trial are made good, it will be set
to work permanently, and no doubt will form one
of the most attractive objects in the building. Im-
mediately in the rear of it preparations are now
being made to raise the Australian gold trophy,
which is to represent the accumulated mass of
nuggets and gold washings collected from the
Australian diggings during the last 11 years.
In our brief summary yesterday of the chief ob-
jects in the colonial collection, we omitted to men-
tion the display from the colony of Queensland,
which is very complete, particularly in specimens of
raw produce. The samples of Sea Island cotton
grown here will no doubt be very carefully exa-
mined, as well as the wool and silk, samples of
which are also exhibited. Of woods from this colony
there is an immense variety, many of them of great
beauty, and to show how well they work up Mr.
Justice Lutwyche sends a very elegant set of chess-
men and a table of myall and cypress wood mixed.
One of the handsomest pieces of colonial furniture
is a table inlaid with various woods at the entrance
to the New Zealand Court. Lady Cooper contri-
butes a case of Queensland jewellery, the chief ob-
jects in which are a pearl of great size, mounted
in gold, and a brooch of white topazes. There are
several cases of Queensland birds in the court,
among which the varied and brilliant plumage of
the parrots and parroquets will probably attract
most admiration. .The half dozen photographs of
the aborigines, male and female, which hang by
the door, do not invite a second look—except indeed
it be to decide to which sex the palm of supreme
hideousness ought to be given.
The sale of the chief objects of art manufactures
still continues very considerable in almost every
court. For instance, almost every article exhibited
by the Omyx Marble Company in the French Court
Ihas already been disposed of, and some of the larger
pieces have fetched very good prices. This beauti-
ful material is quite a novelty in this country—in-
deed, its discovery in Algeria scarcely dates back
more than six years, and its first introduction here
at the Exhibition has been a very profitable venture
for the exhibitors. The ease with which it yields
to the fancy of the artist is shown by the great
variety of articles into which it has been worked
up, from the magnificent chimneypiece, with its
concave shafts and bevilled mirror, to the smallest
tazza medallion or even inkstand. One of irs
greatest beauties is the highly transparent polish
which it will take in all its varied gradations
of colour and shade, and it blends most harmoni-
ously with bronze or enamel. If the supply is of
sufficient extent to keep down the cost, there is no
doubt that the marble will hereafter be largely
used in decorative arts. The jewelry, we hear, in
this court, does not find so quick a sale as other
objets d'art—probably the high prices asked may
have something to do with it.
There is no country represented at the Exhibi-
tion which, all things considered, makes a more
creditable figure in art manufactures than Denmark.
Copenhagen
is the Paris of the North, and some of
the articles exhibited in this department are
scarcely inferior, either in design or workmanship,
to the productions of the most famous makers of
Paris or London. It
s
the Danish artists, insteadi
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French models—which we find too often the case in
the best productions of other countries—preserve a
speciality of their own which is much more effective
than the finest copies. Almost all the copies noticed
here are from classical models. The two stands of
porcelain exhibited in the nave have already at-
tracted much attention, and the works are certainly
of a high order. Nothing can be more beautiful
than the paintings on the vases and cups exhibited
by Messrs. Bing and Grindhallse, and the combi-
nations of biscuit and porcelain are executed with
great skill ; one in the style of Christian IX., and
another lent by the present King, challenge admi-
ration by the quaintness of their forms and the
richness of their decoration ; but perhaps the gem
of the collection is a breakfast service, ornamented
with copies of Thorwaldscn's bas-reliefs. Another
service of a similar kind illustrates the heraldic de-
vices of the Danish monarchs. The works of the
Royal Factory at Copenhagen excel also in exqui-
site ornamentation, and the services in the old
Danish style are very interesting. One in particu-
ilar, with flowers on a white ground, is particularly