The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-02 00:00:00

EXPERIMENTS AT THE TEES.

(From the Durham Chronicle.)
Tuesday last was the day appointed for making
a fair trial of the respective merits of Capt. Manby's
apparatus, and Mr. Carte's and Mr. Dennet's
rockets. Seaton Carew was the place selected for
the experiments. The first series of experiments
was made upon the moor, on which three masts
were set up in line, fifty feet apart, and at the dis-
tance of three hundred yards from the spot where
Captain Manby's mortar and the rocket-apparatus
were placed—each hundred yards being marked by
a flag placed in a line with the centre mast of the
three above named. The object sought to be at-
tained was, to throw a slender rope the whole dis-
tance of 3,000 yards,:and within the masts. The
first attempt was made with the mortar, which is
of S 4- inches bore, and capable of throwing a 24-
pound ball. A ring projecting from the ball re-
ceives a sort of short rope made of twisted thongs of
buffalo-hide, to which an inch-and-half line was
attached. The ball fell 61 yards short of the dis-
tance, and 16 yards to the right line of the flags.
Mr. Carte next tried a congreve rocket weighing
twelve pounds, to the stick of which a line con-
siderably more slender than Captain Manby's was
attached. It was discharged at an angle of 30
degrees, from a spout fixed by a swivel on a sort
of telescope-stand, and flew twenty-four yards
beyond the masts, and thirty-five yards to the right
of the line of flags. Mr. Dennett then discharged
one of his rockets, vveighing;nine pounds, and
carrying a line somewhat stouter than that used by
Mr. Carte. It fell 17 yards beyond the masts, and
57 on the right of the centre line. Captain Manby's
second ball was 43 yards short of the distance, and
nearly 4 yards to the right of the centre line. The
line of Mr. Carte's second rocket broke, and away
flew the ambitious projectile to the distance of about
1,200 yards. Mr. Dennett's •second attempt was
rather more successful than his first, the rocket
alighting 25 yards beyond the distance, and 41
yards to the right of the centre line. A third ball
from the mortar fell 36 yards short of the distance,
and 10 yards to the right of the centre line. This
finished the experiments on the moor, and the
party returned to the village.
Opposite the hotel, and at about 200 yards from
the above, the Sunbeam steamer lay moored, as the
object to be communicated with. On this occasion
the mortar was not brought into play. Mr. Carte's
first rocket broke the line, which had accidentally
got entangled with something on the beach ; his
second line fell right amid-ships of the Sunbeam ;
and his third over the bowsprit. Mr. Dennett's
first line fell about a boat's-length astern of the
steamer, his second over her awsprit, and his
third against her funnel. A fourth was dis-
charged without a line, and excited much astonish-
ment by the extent of its range. Mr. Carte then
took his apparatus into a boat, and threw a
line within a yard of a coble placed at a con-
siderable distance. The same gentleman also exhi-
bited his " Life-preserver,"—a ring of cork of con-
enclosed in a waterproof cover-
siderable thickness,
ing, and of sufficient diameter to allow a person to
put his head and shoulders through ; which was
actually done in deep water by
,a man who leapt
from a coble, and was towed ashore by a rocket-line.
The life-boats—stoutly manned with hardy seamen,
who would as willingly peril life in a storm to save
their fellow-creatures, as exhibit on a gala-day—
manoeuvred in beautiful style, the swiftness with
which they ran over rather than through the water,
being much admired.
At the close of the exhibition, a party of gentle-
men, to the number of more than a hundred, sat
down to a sumptuous dinner at the Seaton Hotel.
Mr. Pease, M.P.; G. H. Wilkinson, Esq. ; E.
Backhouse, Esq. ; the Mayor of Stockton ; L.
Itaisbeck, Esq. ; and most of the leading men con-
nected with the trade of the Tees, were
present at
the experiments.

-------
FORESTALLING IN THE 31ARKET.—On Fri.
day last some of the regraters who attend the Pannier
Market at Exeter made extensive purchases of potatoes
from farmers and others before they reached the mar-
ket, by which means they were enabled to tix their
apsupciiici
own price. The consequence was that potatoes were
sold here for Is. and Is. 2d. a sure, when the
price in the potatoe-growing districts was but from
4d. to tid. This most nefarious conEttlitlicatholemxi:iati3eiae,
application was made
einnevoemr al': l persons,acomplaints
wreanmdadheis
telsireielciiigailleysbt
yindthigenpaotioorn;
uapnodngrbweyahAtso
extortionPit,avith the greatest promptitude s •
Mayor
rls 0
nm
theost seriously.
subject,
tlolothrseh i
that the subject has been taken u
who have directed the town-clerk up by
p r e
te
ra
ar ebill
l glad
itnod
iscet:
waid that the matter
should have his utmost attention.
went against any one so acting by the Town Council,
for the fature.-IVestertt
L Times.