The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-26 00:00:00

TRIAL OF THE _RESISTANCE.

The official trial of speed of this frigate, the fourth of
our iron ships in commission, took place yesterday at the
measured mile in Stokes Bay, near Portsmouth, with both
full and half power, and was attended with the most satis-
factory results. Captain Broadhead, commanding the re-
serve at Portsmouth, who conducted the trials of the War-
rior, Black Prince, and Defence, yesterday also conducted
the trial of the Resistance. The other officials on board
consisted of Mr. G. Murdoch, inspector of machinery
afloat, and Mr. Ward, assistant to Mr. Murray, the chief
engineer of Portsmouth Dockyard and Steam Factory.
Mr. Holiday represented the makers of the engines,
Messrs. Penn and Son. The ship was under weigh by half-
past 10, drawing 23ft. 9in. of water forward and 26f. aft., a
little more by the stern than her sister ship, the Defence,
drew on her trial, her draught of water on that occasion
having been 25ft. Sin. aft and 24ft. 3in, forward. A run out
was first made as far as the Nab light vessel to secure the
anchor and clear the fires, after which she was taken to the
trial-ground to commence her runs at the mile with full
boiler power, The weather promised in the early part of
the day to be of a very unfavourable character, but by the
time the ship had reached the mile the wind had consider-
ably moderated, and the day eventually turned out un-
usually fine for the time of the year, and therefore favour-
able for developing the speed of the ship to its fullest ex-
tent. In making the runs to the westward the wind was
on the ship's port bow, and on the returning run to the east-
ward on her starboard quarter. The six runs with full
power were made with the following results :
Speed in Revolutions
Run Time. Knots. Steam. Vacuum. of Engines.
Min. Sec. Forward Aft.
1 .... 4 5S 12.080 20 24 .. 23} 67
2 5 17 11.356 „ „ • . „ 68t
3 4 43 12121 „ „ „ 68
4 5 39 10619 681
I/ 51 • • It
4 33 13.186 671
1/ 5/ • • 1/
6 5 51 10.256
), ), • • 11 68
Mean speed of the six runs, 11832 knots.

With half-boiler power, two runs were made as follows :
Speed in Revolutions
Run Knots. Steam. Vacuum. of Engines.

At tho doss of the lecture, a vote of thanks to Mr. Clark-
son having been proposed, carried and responded to, an in-
teresting evening terminated with mutual gratification.

WHAT IS A CONTRACT?-NOVEL POINT

At the Secondaries' Court yesterday the case of Keiler
v. Hillier occupied a considerable time, the question for the
jury being "What is a contract ?"

Mr, Shaw, as counsel for the plaintiff, said his client was
a manufacturer of cattle food, of Holloway, and defendant
kept the Market Inn at Gloucester, the action being
brought to recover £9 for 5 cwt. of cattle food sold and
delivered to defendant. In the course of the present year
a traveller in the employ of the plaintiff called upon the
defendant and persuaded him to become agent for the sale
of plaintiff's Cattle food in Gloucester. After some demur
defendant consented, and a contract was given to him.
Now this contract was in the form of a cheque, having a
body and what is termed a counterfoil—the body being re-
tained by the agent and the counterfoil by the principal.
In the present instance defendant having signed the
counterfoil, retained the other portion and then gave an
order for 5 cwt. of the food. That food was sent to him,
but he wished to return it to plaintiff, who considered that
he was not justified in taking goods back. The counterfoil
had been read to defendant, who signed it with his eyes
open, and it was now too late to draw back. Mr. Shaw
called the traveller alluded to, and the plaintiff, who gene-
rally fully bore out the statement of the learned counsel.
Mr. Henry James, for the defendant, said it was very true
that if a man signed a document,having the full knowledge
that its contents tended towards a certain end, thereictostvtlod
be no doubt but that he must be held bound by it, for
b,
a contract. On the other hand, if a man was induced
ofthf,
representations to sign a document, being ignorantri than
they really were, there was no contracia.ta.t
iiii:
contents, and believing them to be to a ditfer,eni,tee
defendant
counsel would be in a position to show
of
the counterfoil,
was entirely ignorant of the contents
be had simply
Which •was not read to him, and he thoughtvcared that he had
it now 6P-
been appointed agent, whereas learned
become an out-and-out buyer.
only questions for the
plaintiff's traveller, the ex-
they directly contradicted
+l,„ teteunterfoil was not very clear.
were called, but though
toa nd
signingtw o witnesses_ __a id th e
The learned Secendariefson
dant signed the counterfoil
plaDneafteinondaasnt
jury were whether thfe
its°contents, contents, and if the defendant
having a knowledge et.
of cattle food,
gave an order for 50010
deliberation, found for the plaintiff
Tht, jury, after s
on both Points'
verdict for Plaintiff

Time. _
Min. Sec.
1 .... 5 6 11.764 201 b. 27
2 6 41 8.977 ~
Mean speed of the two, 10.370 knots.
These results give the Resistance a superiority of speed over
the Defence, both vessels being of precisely the same build
and dimensions, with engines manufactured from the same
patterns—at full power at a quarter of a knot, and at half
power of no less than 1.315 knots, the latter a very impor-
tant gain. At the close of the runs at the measured mile
the ship took several runs through Spithead to get up her
steam again to full power, when she was tested in making
circles to port and starboard, the two experiments having
the following results :—With helm hard a-starboard, the
rudder was hove over to an angle of 241 degrees in 40
seconds, with 34 turns of the wheel ; the half-circle made
in 3 minutes and 11 seconds, and the full circle completed
in 6 minutes and 19 seconds, the revolutions of the engines
being 591. With helm hard a-port the rudder was hove
over to an angle of 24i degrees full in 38 seconds, with 3a
turns of the wheel ; the half-circle made in 3 minutes 17
seconds, and the full circle completed in 6 minutes 35
seconds, the revolutions of the engines being 59. The
angles of the rudder obtained are very remarkable,as show-
ing a greater power of wheel and tiller over the rudder than
has ever yet been experienced in any of our large screw
ships. This increased power is obtained by a simple altera-
tion and addition to the wheel on a plan suggested by Mr.
Robinson, assistant-master shipwright of Sheerness Dock-
yard, by which the spindle of the wheel is sufficiently pro-
longed to receive an additional wheel to the ordinary two,
thus gaining great additional force with the tiller ropes.
The tiller is a long massive piece of forged iron, standing
out from the rudderhead fore and aft the ship, with a curve
from the rudderhead to give it play round the screw well,
and working over a quadrant which gives the angles of the
rudder. So long as rudderheads, gudgeons, and pintles stand
this application of immense power to rudderheads may
answer in getting the rudders of our screw ships hard over
when required, but an application of steam power below
the water line would be far more simple, efficacious, and
free from all danger of accident. In testing the actien of
the machinery, and the control which could be possessed
over its working by the engineer, the engines were stopped
dead from full speed in 19 seconds from the time of moving
the telegraph to give the order, were started again
seconds, and when again at full speed were andsteppes
turned astern in 20 seconds. The indicated horsep°"
r of
nominal
the engines was 2,372, or nearly four times their
power. The propeller, like those of the other iron ships,
is an improved Griffiths, or 18 feet diameter, d
pitch of 21 feet, having an immersion of its upPaeu with a
r edge of
7 feet. The temperatures were :
Aft
Engine- Fore Stokehole.
room. Stokehole.
At 11 o'clock., 91 .. 110 • • 128
138
•
At 11.30 9B . • 131, • • 138
At 12
••
At 12.30
At 1 ..
Under the cowl which admitted theogai.r into the fore stoke-
hole the temperature stood at
()die%
the 11th of April from
The Resistance was launched
yar
d near Millwall. She
Messrs. Westwood and Bail-11°th, has a breadth of 54 feet,
feet, and is of 3,668 tons,
is 292 feet in her extreme
.10073s_i
a depth from her spar deck of rig, like her form of hull, is
builders' measuremesnolt.o
Defence, with the exception that
precisely the same
addition
fore and main topgallant yards on
she carries in ad"'_, which certainly improve her ame
armament she carries on the'u-plaprer-
slidin
ance greatly aleuft;der
g enter pole;
or
pivot Armstrong guns, 5
two 32-pounder smooth twoboresof2 45cwt.,-13nii-
deck two 110-P°
der Armstrong field-piece and smooth-bore
der. A.ersin;a scit2r;oinzgir,l
boat service. On her main deck she carries
hew(
Crass e s, throwing 681 b. shot, and four 110-pounder
Asixrin9Bsterwoc-gs, all on slfidin,,, carriages with directing bars, The
general appearance o her decks and their arrangements are all that the most fastidious in such matters could desire. AMERICAN DISTINCTTONS.—The Yankees are a
With an utter absence of all useless ornamentation, wonderful people. They have the fastest trotting horses
is in splendid order, and h
everything
has mores the appear- and the lightest waggons the largest hotels and the tallest
twee of being the result of continued elxerftiosn during
months.
atthwso drinks, the cheapest and'na ost scurrilous newspapers, the
years' conamisaioh instead of bceairnrigesontywoo
things
ahimngasnyonmoboard
.most disgraceful
all bankruptcies,
the the most,
cc.orrupt political
The ship in her equipraent jobbing, and, to crown
which are seldom found on board ship—the electric tele- world. They go the whole hog inigevgeerst aNnvadrthilltila;
graph and gas. The former has been fitted on a plan that little of spending two millions of dollarsya dayg as they pro-
was worked for many months on board the Wonga steamer, bably would of paying them when they come to be due, re-
r.unning between Sydney and Melbourne, under the super- pudiation being a favourite method of paying old debt
intendence of Mr. Gilmore, formerly commander of the when they are found troublesome and pressing, Even the
Wonga. In the Resistance it forms a communication English language has been remodelled on the other aide of
between the fore and after bridges, and by the officer of the the Atlantic, and the style of Bennet and Barnum is a de-
watch at sea moving a handle on a dial plate a needle in a tided improvement en that of Swift and Addison. We owe
case hanging in front of the quarter-master at the wheel some of our finest words to the taste and ingenuity of our
points to the signal wished to be given, starboard port, or Yankee cousins—such as locomote, location, caucus,t bun-.
steady, as required. The whole arrangement is very kum, stampede, sockdologer, and last, butno least, ske,
have now skedaddled
simple, and cannot well be misunderstood, either by the daddla— a delicious word, 80 fresh, so expressive, so eupho-
officer working the handle on the foreword bridge or the nious, and so admirably Betted to describe the recent strategic
man at the wheel. The gas is manufactured from oil, movements of the Feder army. They advanced from
on Mr. Gurney's Richmond, and they
plan. Th© gasometer is on the upper deck, Washington to .
between the boom boats and before the mail), hatchway, in , from Richmond back to 1Y allUngtone.-Ed
kirg Conran . . . -
, .