The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-12 00:00:00

STEAM GUN-BOATS FOR THE BALTIC.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Ste,--From the tenour of your articles on the fore.
`4ll'g subject, I assume that you feel its importance as
strongly as I do, in common with many of my brother
0
colleen' who have the honour of the service at heart. In
sebeepience of my name having been mentioned in Mr.
°tt Russell's letter to the Times, to which you also
save. a place in your edition last evening, I feel it due
° lion that I should lose no time in corroborating that
P:11 of his statements which referred to myself, and this I
td ill a letter to the Times, which circumstance led me
o
hope would have appeared in this day's edition of
that Pape; which Itake in. Ido not find it.
Zossibly it arrived too late, and may yet appear. Be
th,t, a: it may, it is due to Mr. Russell and the occasion
to"' I should explain, without losing time. I regret
lean generally
kept no copy. Time did not permit. But I believe
Cn generally state its contents. It showed hew upon
firing that contracts had been taken by some of our
rBt-rate ship-builders, for what I have no doubt would
11.°7e a very excellent class of gun vessels, if approved
by eminent surveyor of the navy, but fearing their
being made of wood, and having deep keels, would
mouse them to draw more water than the class of
,e
88918 I knew to be in possession of foreign powers
"'Lich were built in England, I interested myself pri-
vately with parties in power, with whom I had reason
!.0 think I had some degree of influence. I showed how,
In anticipation of being called upon for further information,
I requested Mr. Russell to let me know whether, if re-
quired to do so, he could take in hand and quickly get
°ut any number of vessels similar to the Nix and Sala-
mander, both of which vessels had been examined by
myself. His answer I sent to tlee proper authorities.
It described the power of these vessels, and compared
them with our line-of-battle ship launches—the only
gun-boats the admirals at present have for shoal water
operations. I spoke from experience on the Tagus,
where I had the honour to command the flag-ship's
launch, one of a flotilla, gallantly a nd ably commanded
by the present Admiral Berkeley—then a lieutenant of
the flag-ship.
It compared the speed of them) launches with the
'Peed of the steamers five miles on a spirt, when nerves
Were unshaken by the whizzing and splashing of the
enemy's shot, and crabs not being caught, and that spirt
always depending on wind and muscle as to its duration,
4014 11 miles the average to 15 miles an hour of the
steamer, without nerves to shake, and never wanting
,7111.• It compared armaments, a.nd showed how the
uroadsides of the Nix or Salamander were more than
equal to the one gun from all the launches of twenty
r.,11 of the line. It showed how any wooden
"'mg of the scantling of a row gun-boat would be
°tit In. two if overtaken, or getting athwart hawser
of the steamer ; how, if they ventured to hook on at full
4Peed, if they were not towed under or smashed by the
rapidly-revolving wheels, their guns would be useless
and their crews exposed to all sorts of missiles ; and it
Ihe'ved how, the draught of water being nearly the same,
the row-boats with heavy guns at any rate could be fol-
wed wherever they went. It then drew a comparison
between the Tagus and the Danube, and asked how, if
our
- army got possession of one bank, they wou feel
lernselves situated with the enemy in possession of a
large flotilla, and among them the steam-vessel Pruth,
'ollt by Laird of Birkenhead, while we had no gun-vessel
of draught enough to enter the river except the boats
°f the fleet.—l have the honour to remain your obedient
servant, C. CLAXTON.
Battersea, May 12.

ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA.

•writing of Mozart, Don
GI. he master-piece in operatic
V--"citsai met last night with a worthy representation.
ith such a cast it could not be otherwise—with Mdlle.
;',/fuvelli for the Donna Anna, Mdlle. Mend for Elvira, and
Leporello
Bosio for Zerlina ; ior Don Giovanni, Ronconi ;
tePorello, Lablache; the Commendatore, Tagliafico ; and
itasetto, Signor Polonini. Mdlle. Cruvelli, throughout
Whole opera, testified the powers of her voice and the
panty of her intonation. In every scene in which she ap-
Ped she made a decided impression. Her bursts of
siull
and passages of lofty indignation were equally ap-
seiated by the audience, while in the concerted music
toe surpassed herself. Of Mdlle. Marai we have but little
t 11,1,4 Y, save that the small part allotted to her was credi-
tably filled. Mdlle. Bosio was piquant and coaxing in
pleading with her husband for pardon for her little esca-
Pades, and sang the music with all her delicacy of execu-
tion, Tamberlik was in splendid voice - and throughout
all his part, in concerted pieces, trio, and aria, up to the
concluding note which terminates "Id mio tesoro "—a
tote to which no artist, even Dupres, attained—was always
admirable. Ronconi made a lively and vivacious Don
Giovanni. He sung the part admirably, as is his wont.
Leporello really affords little material for humour, but
Lablache made the best of it. Polonini acted Masetto
satisfactorily, and altogether the opera went off most suc-
cessfully. The encores were numerous, and Signor Tam-
berlik sung the bright air of "Il mio tesoro " twice. The
hen* was crowded to excess.

CRIMINAL COURT. __(THIS DAY,