The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-09 00:00:00

THE UNITED STATES.

PHILADELPHIA, July 25.
On the 22d of June the largest ironclad in the
American navy was launched at New York. She is
called the Dunderberg (thunder mountain), and
was built at the yard of W. H. Webb, the builder
of several celebrated vessels, among them the Rus-
sian ship General Admiral, the Re Luigi di Portu-
gallo, and the Re d'ltalia. She was launched
without the slightest accident in the presence of an
immense concourse of spectators, and will at once
be fitted up for sea. Her draught when ready for
sea will be about 21ft., and her displacement of
water about 7,000 tons. Her tonnage measurement
as registered is 5,090 tons, and her iron armour will
weigh about 1,000 tons. She has six main and two
donkey boilers, each main boiler being 13ft. deep,
17ft. 6in. high, and 2l ft. front ; together they will
weigh about 450 tons. The boiler surface is 30,000 ft.,
the grate surface 1,200 ft., and the condensing sur-
face 12,000 ft. The engines are horizontal back-
action condensing with two 100-inch cylinders, and
45in. stroke of piston. The propeller is 21ft. in dia-
meter, and has a varying pitch of from 27ft. to 30ft.,
and weighs 34,5801 b. The coal bunkers will contain

1,000 tons of coal, sufficient for about 12 days'
steaming. The plan of the Dunderberg is novel, and
the results promised by her constructor will make
her one of the greatest sea-going ironclad rams
afloat. Her floor is flat, her sides angular, and her
lines such that she must be very easy in a seaway,
so that in all probability she will be able to use her
guns when other vessels are rocking fearfully. The
casemate surmounting the hull is pierced for 21
guns, and its sides slope inward at an angle of 35
degrees, sufficient, it is believed, to shed shot with
ease and certainty. The sides of the casemate are
over 3ft. thick, covered with plates of hammered

iron 91t. long, 28in. wide, and 51in. thick, and fas-
tened on with heavy screw bolts. The peculiar con-
struction of the Dmiderberg makes her, as it were,
two vessels, the space beeween the inner and the
outer ship being used as coal bunkers, thus serving
as an additional protection to the engines and boilers.
Her dimensions are—length, 380 ft. 4in. ; beam, 72ft
10in. ; depth of hold, 22ft. 7in., height of casemate
inside, 7ft. gin. ; length of ram bow, 50ft.

One enormous keel and six keelsons strengthen
the ship fore and aft, and aid in sustaining the great
weight of the armoured casemate and battery.
Bulkheads, dividing her into sections, give addi-
tional strength and guarantee safety in the event of
stranding in collision. The rain is part of the ship,
and is not bolted or fastened on as is usually the
case, but is an extension of the bow, which for
50ft. is a firm and solid mass of timber. This is
covered over with heavy wrought-iron armour, and
forms a terrible beak, which, driven at a high rate
of speed, would pierce through the strongest ships.
On the side of the vessel below the casemate the
armour is 31in. thick, and placed on vertically
in screw bolted slabs, from 12ft. to 15ft. long and
3ft. wide. The propeller and two rudders are
protected by a shelf, which runs out- aft and
is braced to the stern and sides. One of
her rudders is common to all ships, the other is
placed above and forward of the huge propeller, so
that if the main one is damaged it can be at once
replaced. The Dunderberg is brig-rigged, and has
been for nearly three years building, and her arma-
ment will consist of four 15-inch Rodman guns and
12 or 14 11-inch Dahlgren guns--a battery of im-
mense power. The most important part of the
vessel, however, is her speed, and this cannot be
tested u.ntil she is ready for sea. Immediately after
the launch she drew 15ft. aft, 13ft. amidships, and
Oft. 6in. forward. Her draught when ready for sea
is not to exceed 21ft., and her engines are 5,000 ac-
tual horse power. The contract on which she was
built calls for a speed of 15 knota an hour, and if
this speed is got out of her she will be a formidable
vessel for service. Much time will be required to
prepare her for sea, and then she will take her place
at the head of the American navy.
There is much murmuring throughout the coun-
try at the construction of this costly vessel at a time
when the Government finances are in so bad a way
that retrenchment is necessary on all sides. The
navy is being rapidly depleted, and every squadron
will be reduced to the smallest number of vessels
possible to keep up appearances and enable it to
properly perform its duties. In many parts of the
country vessels are being sold at auction, and all
the navy yards are busily employed dismantling the
larger ships, preparatory to laying them up in ordi-
nary. The expenses of the Government will be
made as small as possible, both for the navy and
army, and were it not for the fear of a brush in
Mexico, both branches of service would quickly
b e placed on a peace footing. As this retrenchment
is going on frugal people cannot see the use of fit-
ting up this enormous ship and sending her to sea,
abroad
but the great desire for show that
America has so
swilltro nggoly
noEduoruobpot.
°prevail, and she
There is a note of preparation all over the country
developedto astonish
for the reception of the Atlantic'l
1 cable, and ageneral
grumble at the very high tariff of charges the mana-
gers propose to adopt for messages. Itia considered
that, if the cable is successful, such newspapers as
wish to procure European news will have to in-
crease their prices in order to pay the enormous ex-
pense. There is a great doubt, however, of the suc-
cess of the undertaking, and though every one will
heartily welcome the arrival of the Great Eastern
with her precious freight, there are fears that the
second cable will meet the misfortunes of the first
one. Heart's Content, the point selected for land-
ing the cable, is situated in Trinity Bay, Newfound-
land, about 30 miles from the Bay of Bull's Arm,
where the first cable was landed. Heart's Content
is a small village of 900 inhabitants, mostly fisher-
men, and posseses a beautiful harbour surrounded by
high hills. The water is deep enough to permit the

'Great Eastern to approach near the shore with per-
' feet safety. A small two-story house in the centre
of the village has been purchased for the office of
the Telegraph Company, and an operating room is
being carefully fitted up on the first floor. Theroom
will be made perfectly air and water-tight to prevent
th'a slightest external influence from affecting the ex-
vaedingly delicate instruments that are to be used.
Two stone columns, built from the solid rock, rise
up in the centre of the room, and on these will rest
the galvanometers by which the messages will be
receivedfrom Valentia, and sent to the United States.
At present there is a break in the connexion between
the United States and Newfoundland. By the 27th
of July it is expected that a line will be in order
from Heart's Content to St. John's,Newfoundland,
but at last accounts the cable across the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, which has been out of order since the Ist
of June, had not been repaired. On the 22d of July
a steamer left New York with instruments proper
for under-running the cable and discovering the
break, but the cable cannot be repaired in time to
make it available for transmitting messages by the
Ist of August, when the Great Eastern is expected.
Until the break is mended, the only thing that can
be done is to have a fast steamer in position to carry
messages across from Cape Ray, Newfoundland, to
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This will be a slow
method, but the best possible under the circum-
stances. It is expected the Great Eastern will have
enough cable left to fill up the gap. During the
week intervening until the Ist of August every one
will anxiously anticipate the arrival of the cable and
the solution of the great problem whether the two
continents can be placed in telegraphic communi-
cation.

The finances of the country are still at sea, and no
one seems to know how the Secretary of the Trea-
sury will procure funds to meet the heavy dem ands
upon him. Ordinarily the payments of the Govern-
ment are about four months in arrear of its expendi-
ture, so that for the next two months the payments
will be for the discharge of debts incurred during
April and May. During those two months the ex-
penditure was about $200,000,000. For the three
months succeeding the expenditures are less by one
third, so that in October, November, and December
$200,000,000 more may be expected to fall due.
Within ten weeks about $100,000,000 of certificates
of indebtedness will fall due, so that $500,000,000
must be paid before the end of the year. Towards
this large indebtedness there may be anticipated
from internal revenue $100,000,000 ; from Customs
$40,000,000 ; from the unsold portions of the loan,
$30,000,000 ; and from miscellaneous sources per-
hapEt $30,000,000 more, making an aggregate of
$200,000,000. The Secretary of the Treasury has
a deficiency of $300,000,000 to meet, and no re-
sources, and this is what causes the flutter among
the financiers. It will be some time yet before the
pressure comes, and until then there will be all sorts
of suggestions what to do, all of which will be
found unsound. That the Treasury will_ tide it
over, however, there need be no doubt, for it has
been in worse troubles than this one, and scores of
Treasury printing presses are still at command.
American politics are very quiet, and the politi-
cians have taken a season of rest until the meeting
of Congress. In order to get away from the office-
seekers, President Johnson contemplates a private
visit to a friend who has a mansion on the Hudson
River, and he will be the guest of the owner as long
as official duties will permit. The President has
lately exhibited remarkable clemency in releasing
every Confederate military or naval officer of

every grade confined in the North. The prisons
are nearly emptied, and the Confederate civil offi-
cers of high rank are now the only prisoners. In
Richmond he has somewhat mitigated the rigors
of the Confiscation Act, by ordering the restoration
of the property of all Confederates who have
been pardoned, but in other cases the confiscation
continues, and it is now extended into many other
parts of Virginia. Every case, however, is stayed
until the United States' Supreme Court can decide
upon its merits. The editor of the Richmond Whig
has been allowed to print his paper, but is restricted
in regard to free discussion in political matters. He
has resumed publication, and says he will do the best
he can under the circumstances, and still vigorously
opposes the Government as far as the restrictions

will permit. The elections throughout Virginia last
week were universally in favour of the Southern
rights candidates, and have so invigorated the
Southern leaders that Colonel Moseby, of guerilla
fame, announces himself a candidate for Congress.
The opposition to Governor Perry, of South Caro-
lina, has been entirely broken, and the President has
finally decided to support the Governor, come what
may. This is a severe blow at the Radicals, who
wished to oust him and have some fanatic like But-
ler appointed in his place. South Carolina is again
quiet, and the last phase of the negro riots has
passed away in the capture of an entire regiment of
white troops known as Duryea's Zouaves (who per-
sisted in attacking the negroes), and shutting them
up prisoners in Fort Sumter. The negro war, how-
ever, continues elsewhere. It is stated that for 400
miles the Alabama river is lined with the finest
plantations, the owners of which, disgusted at the
idea of free negro labour, wish to go abroad, and
are willing to sell out at $4 or $5 an acre. The
Georgia newspapers publish articles on probable
scenes of bloodshed in that State if the Government
does not at once assume control of the negroes.
It is announced that the President has approved
the arbitrary course pursued by Governor Brown-
low, of Tennessee, in excluding every man from
voting at the coming election who has had any con-
nexion with the ConfederaCy. The people thus
disfranchised are ninety-nine hundredths of the
voters, but when election day comes it will be found
that they will all vote, in spite of Brownlow and his
orders, and that the candidates opposed to him are
elected. Pronunciamientos cannot keep people from
voting where all think alike, and at the head of
the Congressional ticket chosen will no doubt stand
Emerson Etheridge, now in a military prison for
opposing Brownlow.

Although a majority of the people, headed by the
President, have declared against negro suffrage, the
Radicals are not satisfied, but still agitate the ques-
tion. They are gathering their forces for a strenuous
movement when Congress meets. The Republican
State Committee of Massachusetts has just issued
an address, indicating that a movement for uni-
versal negro suffrage in the South will undoubtedly
be made, and if successful at least three of the
Southern States will be placed under the control of
the blacks. The Radicals say that although Presi-
dent Johnson has declared against negro suffrage
he is at heart in favour of it, and he has several
times told leading Republicans that his policy with
regard to it was not yet settled. They confidently
anticipate being able to force him into it by means
of the strong majority they will have in the coming
Session of Congress. It is reported that Dawes, of
Massachusetts, stands alone among the New Eng-
land members in opposing negro suffrage, and the
only Western member of any prominence who is
opposed to it is Masson, of lowa. Those who know
the feeling of the members of the next House of
Representatives, say it will be largely in favour of
negro suffrage, and the Senate will have nearly, if
not quite, a majority on the same side. The Radi-
cals count strongly on this and the result of their
labours in bringing in new Radical members be-
tween now and December. The Conservatives,
on the other hand, hope to have enough Southern
members in Congress to control matters. The
Radicals, it seems, contemplate the extension of the
elective franchise even more universally than to the
negroes, for more than one newspaper in New
England has recently published articles pointing to
the great advantages to result from allowing the
women to vote, especially in States that have demo-
cratic tendencies.

There have recently been important decisions with
regard to Confederate property which interest
foreign claimants. When the property of John
Slidell was confiscated in New Orleans a claim was
made for 290,000 f. by Macuard and Co., of Paris,
and another claim for 100,000 f. by the Citizens'
Bank of New Orleans for money advanced on mort-
gages but it was decided that, Slidell being an
enemy of the United States, his property belonged,
under the provisions of the Confiscation Act, to the
Government, and these claims could not be enter-
tained, The Attorney-General has decided that
foreign claimants of captured cotton stand on the.