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

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,,--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 sm all 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,

JA M ES JO
Larclibill, Moffat, 30th Oct., 1854. H NSTONE

•
(Copy.)
TO THE EDITOR OP TILE TIMES.
Larchhill, Moffat, 25th Oct., 1854.
Sir,—The serious loss of life that has recent!y oo
curred to passengers by ocean steamers is a sufficient
excuse for my troubliogymu 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 having 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 must have found a watery grave.
The question naturally arises, How are we to make
sure that the iron bulk-heads of ship are properly con-
structed ?

The answer is very simple : Proie 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 ships
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 so severe a
test of their work ; but the truth is, that ne iron ship is
worthy of being trusted across the ocean with passen-
gers unless she will stand the above test.---I am, Sir,
your obedient servant,
(Signed) JAMES JOHNSTONE.
THE LONG RANGE PROBLEM.