The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 31, 1854.

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Banbury
c by Chanticleer

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—In The Sun, of the 28th instant you
published a letter from Mr. C. R. Weld about the
boats of the America steamer. I have crossed the
Atlantic in that and other vessels, and can testify
to the accuracy of Mr. Weld's statements, about
the small amount of boat accommodation in pro-
portion to the number of passengers carried by
ocean steamers.

I shall be obliged by your inserting in The Sun
the enclosed letter which I sent to the editor of
the Times, but the autocrat of that journal, with
his usual partiality, has not published it.
I would only further remark, that iron steamers
would be almost independent of boats, if the iron
bulkheads were constructed with sufficient care
and strength, for when so made, an iron steamer
can float in perfect safety, although her bow or
stern were destroyed. But steam-boat proprietors
and builders will not pay sufficient attention to
this important matter until they are compelled by
act of Parliament.—l am, Sir, your obedient
servant,

JAMES JOHNSTONE.
Larchhill, Moffat, 30th Oct., 1854.

(Copy.)
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Larchhill, Moffat, 25th Oct., 1854.
Sir,—The serious loss of life that has recently oc-
curred to passengers by ocean steamers is a sufficient
excuse fer my troubling you with a practical suggestion,
which, if followed out, would save many lives hereafter.
The iron steamer Vesta, which ran into the Arctic,
was saved, owing to the iron compartments or bulk-
heads baying kept the water from penetrating into the
vessel beyond the bow compartment, which was com-
pletely destroyed ; and thus we have an illustration of
the fact that iron vessels, with properly constructed
compartments, are safer than wooden vessels, for in them
water-tight compartments cannot be permanently ob-
tained.

In the loss of the iron screw steamer City of Phila-
delphia a lesson of a different kind is given, as appears
from the following extract from the Newfoundland Ex-
press :—"The City of Philadelphia was built in com-
partments ; but the concussion when she struck was so
violent that the bulk-heads were started and rendered
useless."

Now, had the Vesta's bulk-heads been built like those
of the City of Philadelphia, all the passengers of the
former oust have found a watery grave.
The question naturally arises, How are we to make
sure that the iroi bulk-heads of a ship are properly con-
structed ?

The answer is very simple : Prove them in the same
way that every iron water-tank and boiler is proven
before it leaves the establishment of the engineer that
makes it—that is, fill them with water. Iron skips
should be proven immediately after they are launched
in the following manner :
Begin at one end of the vessel by filling the first com-
partment with water. If the bulk-head is thus found to
be water-tight, then pump the water out of the first
compartment into the second compartment of the vessel,
and so on from one compartment to another, until all
the compartments have been tested.
Some engineers, I know, will object to se severe a
test of their work ; but the truth is, that no iron ship is
worthy of being trusted across the ocean with passed
gers unless she will stand the above test.—l am, Sir,
your obedient servant,
(Signed) JAMES JOHNSTONE.
THE LONG RANGE PROBLEM.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,---There is evidently some apprehension that in
the attainment of immense ranges, of some six or five
thousand yards, by guns recently experimented, with the
shocks of continued explosions are too great for such
guns to endure ; and that after they may have been dis-
charged, a greater or less number of times, they will
burst—proving, perhaps, more destructive to those who
serve them than to those whom they may be served
against.

In the experimental gun practice en the Sand-hills,
near Deal, in the years 1839 and 40, two guns were
burst—one a thirty-two pounder, the other a fifty-six ;
in each case the gun was much elevated, and had so been
fired many times. It was then thought that the bursting
of the guns was due to the greater resistance offered by
the shot to the propelling explosive force, by reason of
the shot being forced up an inclined plane, as compared
to the' leas resistance offered by the shot when being
driven out of the gun in a horizontal position, or when
the gun is elevated only a few degrees.
Those of your readers who may be curious in this mat-
ter would do well to consult Mr. Wilkinson's book,
" Engines of War." At page 258 they will find the re-
sult of an experiment, which shows how greatly the
explosive force of gunpowder is increased when resist-
ance is offered to it. At page 54 is explained why,
under a condition of great length of gun, an increase of
windage is found advantageous.
It has been suggested to strengthen cast-iron guns
by hooping them with tought wrought-iron, the
hoops to be so close as to form a perfect coat
of wrought-iron. The gun should be cast cylin-
drical from the cascable to about half-way towards
the muzzle ; the exact circumference of the gun being
known, the hoops, of any thickness, may be of such size
as to set as closely as may be desired to the inner gun,
for they can be expanded by beat so as to admit of their
encircling easily the gun, but upon cooling to set firmly
to it. With regard to the trunnions, it is thought there
would be no great difficulty to overcome.
But the "long range" problem will, perhaps, never
be solved while warriors, both young nnd old, are under
the crushing dominion of a single idea—a gun.
October 28th, 1854.