The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-10 00:00:00

amused to find by the following extract, taken from
a respectable American newspaper, that our younger
brother, or Cousin Jonathan, claims to be Ihe origi-
nal inventor of this, ap indeed of almost everything
else of moment in science or invention, Unfortu-
nately, however, for his pretensions, is claim on
that petit is dated, as in 1845, just five years later
tkan my own,
Extract from the World, New York paper,
March 18, 1862 :
" IRON-PLATED VESSELS AN AMERICAN INVENTION.
" Now that it is obvious that iron-plated vessels are de-
stined to effect a complete revolutionin naval and coast war-
fare—the greatest change in the art of war since the inven-
tion of gunpowder—it ought to be a source of national
pride that the idea originated in our own country. The
United States gave the world the steamboat, the cotton gin,
the electric telegraph, the anesthetic chloroform, the reap-
ing machine, the cylinder press, and many other of the
grandest prizes of peace ; it is now to be written that the
same land of the free has ftjrnished war with the most im-
portant appliance of modern time.
"The real inventor in this case is Robert L. Stevens, and
so history will recognise it,
" As long ago as 1815, the late Mr. Stevens, the designer
and builder of some of the best and speediest American
steamers, made a long series of experiments at the expense
of the American Government, to ascertain and measure the
resistance of iron plates to shot and shell. The result then
arrived at was, that plates less than an inch in thickness
would resist the impact of any shell then known, and that
a thickness of six inches of iron was impenetrable to every
projectile that was brought against it, no matter how great
the velocity, or how short the distance at which it was fired.
" The English and French vessels thus far built and
planned, so far at least as we know, have other inferior
features. They lie high in the water, instead of just rising
above the surface like the Monitor, and are more easily hit.
Their plates are laid vertically, or nearly so, and thus will
receive the impact of the shot at right angles, instead of
obliquely, as in the case of the Monitor. Thus they are not
only more easily hit, but, when hit, the shct must tell upon
them with vastly greater effect.
" Americans then, through Stevens, were the first to
conceive and apply the principle of making vessels of war
invulnerable by the use of iron; and, through Ericsson,
they have been foremost in seizing upon all the conditions
of that principle, and, in the quickest time, turning them
to the best account, History will record this to their
honour."
Such are the laudatory remarks with which our
transatlantic brethren herald forth their own
achievements, leading us to the conclusion that, in
arts or arms, unrivalled they must be by the Old
World, or even posterity.
It is very possible that some individual may have,
at a date previous to my communication to the
Admiralty in 1840, suggested the same idea, of
covering ships of war with armour plates; but I
am not aware that such a suggestion was ever made
in a tangible form, and which, like mine, oan be
authenticated by a reference to Admiralty records.
Besides, I had for several years previous to address-
ing the Admiralty made up my mind on the subject.
I am suprised, in reading the report of the de-
bates of the committee appointed to report upon
the best mode of construction of armour-plated
ships, that they should pronounce an opinion that
the angular or sloping form of their broadsides
possesses no advantage over the upright or wall-
sided principle. Let any man who wishes to satisfy
himself on the erroneous nature of that conclusion
place a board or two in an angular position, covered
with a thin sheet of iron—say one-eighth of an inch
thick—and fire a pistol, loaded with ball, in a hori-
zontal position at the object (although I have not
tried the experiment myself), I am pretty sure the
ball will glance off, either upwards or downwards,
as it may strike above or below the angle. Let him
again try the same experiment on an upright board
similarly covered, and it is ten to one the ball will
perforate through.
But the most conclusive evidence of the sound-
ness of the views I have maintained since 1840 is
afforded by the results of the late naval engage-
ment on the American waters, between the Merri-
mac and the wooden frigates, the Cumberland and
Congress, which latter was, in less than half an
hour, sunk and destroyed by the former ; and when
the Monitor—another and differently constructed
iron vessel—was pitted against the Merrimac, they
both pounded into each other for three hours with-
out making any sensible impression, till the latter
withdrew, probably from having injured herself on
the bows by her repeated blows in running into the
Cumberland, and the same attempt on the low-
hulled Monitor.

Had she struck the latter on the circular tower
battery, I think it is probable the Monitor would
have careened over, and gone down.

This fight, I think, fully establishes the supe-
riority of armour-clad vessels over wooden ships,
and solves the problem—iron v. wood—which has
been debated for 20 years, but at the sad sacrifice
of the lives of 250 brave men.

And we may now look upon all the trials made
by our own officials and the Admiralty, at an enor-
mous expense to the nation, as simply mere expe-
riments.

The Merrimac, however, was originally a wooden
ship, and altered as she now is, having her armour-
plates laid over her hull on the sloping or angular
principle, proves how effectually that form is adapted
to throw off projectiles.
This ought to direct the attention of our own
naval authorities to the propriety of altering and
plating many of oar present ships of the line, and
also our heavy frigates, which, in my humble
opinion, could easily be done at far less expense to
the nation than building a new fleet of iron steamers.
The Monitor, from what I can gather from the
accounts of her construction in the newspapers,
seems to be much the same as that projected by
Captain Coles, at present building in some one of
our naval arsenals. It strikes me, however, that
both these vessels Ric only adapted to be service-
able in smooth water. In a sea-way I suspect
neither of them would be of much use.
It further occurs to me, since it is found to be
almost impossible to make any serious impression
by projectiles on iron-plated ships, that other means
might be adopted to disable them. Those means
-would consist in an attempt to entangle or disable
the screw by directing shot with chainwork at-
tached, or logs of wood, from the bow guns of the
attacking vessel when at elose quarters.
Another method which I think could be applied
also when in close proximity would be by a common
fire-engine hose and nozzle, worked by the ship's
engines, to pour a stream of sea water (supplied by
a tank placed below the water-line) down the
smoke funnel of the enemy's vessel, which, if well
directed and in sufficient quantity, would noon ca
tinguish the fires under the boilers, and generate
such an amount of steam and noxious gases as
would soon suffocate the firemen, and perhaps the
crew of the vessel so attacked.

If such a mode of warfare proved successful it
would next become a question how to counteract
this mode of attack. This could only be done by
altering the smoke funnel so as to run along the
upper deck, and terminating near the stern, having
a circular shot-proof shield protecting its ex-
tremity.

The funnel itself might be so constructed with a
joint just above the upper deck, so that when not
in action it may again be placed upright.
In conclusion, I beg to add that I have again ven-
tured to address a letter to the Admiralty, offering
to send diagrams of the alterations which I think
are required on our present line-of-battle ships and
frigates, to render them shot-proof, but whether
these authorities will entertain my proposals made
in 1862 with any better grace than those in 1840
remains to be seen.

JAMES MACNAIR.

STALE OF TRADE.

LEICESTER, April 9.—The hosiery trade remains
quiet, most branches sharing in the almost general
fatness. Both the home and foreign demand are
4411- At Loughborough and the country districts
.;‘):loears.alelz business is extremely flat, and there is a
spinners
are high ;If distress among the operatives. Yarns
_ll yrice, but not much in demand, and
NorriNou"A"
wools ar'e°,ol;ne their productions to what is wanted.
at late•prices but are not in demand.
slightly increasing, but this week as last. thri---There is fully as much doing
he demand for cotton goods is
isut plain nets are still selling at
geed demand for Mechlin
low prices. There
quillings. The dethaa" for
hseveral sorts of silk
lace goods continues...l,h
,There
been a few buyers
in the market for both theehe,a"
lola more healthy.
and the tone of the trade generettilthd foreign trade,
in
~Itu:provement 1
, although 1
In hosiery there is very little, if
noticeable. Yarns remain firm
but little being usol at ►resent,s e