The Sun.
London, England, 1870-09-30 00:00:00

THE HISTORY OF THE CAPTAIN.

From the history of the Captain, given in a contempo-
rary, we extract the following :—" Before the accession
of the Gladstone Ministry, the Admiralty granted Cap-
tain Coles carte blanche to design, with Messrs. Laird, of
Birkenhead, a ship that should fully realise the Captain's
idea of a sea-going cruising turret ship. Before the
design was prepared a change of Ministry had taken
place, and those who in opposition had advocated
Captain Cole's views against those of the Con-
structor's Department found themselves in power. They
at once accepted the design of the Captain ; and, so far
from there being any truth in the assertion, which, since
the loss of the ship, has been made, that the Admiralty
compelled Captain Coles to depart from his own design,
they did not even require that the design should be
examined and approved by the Constructor's Depart-
ment ; but, specially relieving that department by a
minute from all responsibility as to the design, they
limited its duty to watching the construction
so far as to see that it corresponded with the
builders' specification, that the materials were of proper
quality, and that the workmanship was up to the required
standard. A cursory examination of the design had in-
deed induced the Chief Constructor to point out —and
Messrs. Laird were informed of his opinion—that the
Captain would not float at her calculated draught. His
warning was disregarded • 'and, as we all know
the ship when launched did draw two feet
more than her builders intended and expected.
Notwithstanding all that has been asserted to the con-
trary it has long been the opinion of the Controller, and
the Constructor and his department, that the turret
system of arming ironclad ships would produce the most
powerful ship of war conceivable, provided she could be
built to keep the sea in all weathers ; but they have also
maintained that for seagoing purposes such a ship must
have a greater height of side than the Captain had.
Captain Coles and his friends held a different view, and
they prevailed. Terribly has he expiated his error, and
vindicated Mr. Reed's exposure of that error and his
prediction of its consequences. Parliament and the
publid will probably draw the conclusion that official
opposition to plausible schemes may sometimes be at-
tributable to scientinc knowledge, and not to mere ob-
structiveness ; and that it is the function of a wise
Minister rightly to distinguish between the two, and to
judge when to accept and when to put aside the
recommendations of his permanent staff. In the
history of the Captain we see what calami-
ties may happen where such discernment and dis-
cretion are wanting ; and how imminent the danger has
been may be understood from the facts, that just before
the loss of the Captain it had been decided to build
another ship, if not more than one, on her model without
waiting for any further experience of her qualities; and
that the post of Chief Constructor, recently vacated by
Mr. Reed, was offered (informally, it is true) to one of the
firm who designed and built the Captain.

Mr. E. J. Reed, the late Chief Constructor to the
Navy, has written another long letter to the Times re-
specting the Captain. He denies being an antagonist to
the turret system, or to rigged turret ships ; on the con-
trary, he deprecates any improper reaction from the
Captain's loss driving the Government either to the aban-
donment of rigged seagoing turret ships, or to the building
of such ships with unnecessarilylofty sides. His conviction
is that the Captain herself has shei.vn that we need not
necessarily make another rigged turret ship so high-sided
as the Monarch. His position is this : The Captain has
been lost in consequence of her side being much too low
(only WA. at low draught) for a 4,000-ton rigged ship of
the ordinary form, carrying a large spread of canvas, and
with her weights disposed in the usual way. He alleges that
the Captain never encountered that extreme weather which
naval architects are bound to provide against in her Ma-
jesty's ships. "I believe," he adds, "that if poor Captain
Coles were still among us, he would fully assent to the
above propositions, and thus the old feud would be
brought to an end. We erred, perhaps, on the right side
in the Monarch ; he erred on the wrong side in the Cap-
tain ; with our present experience there need be no further
error on either side."

THE PURCHASERS OF ENGLISH RIFLES.
The Birmingham Gazette says :—ln our own town we
hear of several extensive orders for arms for Russia ; and
on Wednesday, at the police-office, two workmen in the
bolt trade were charged with violating their contract with
their present employers by binding themselves to go to St.
Petersburg to work for a certain term under the superin-
tendence of Russian agents.
At a meeting of the Council of the Birmingham Cham-
ber of Commerce, held on Wednesday, to consider what
action sheuld be taken in reference to the exportation of
arms and ammunition from this country to France,a reso-
lution was adopted declaring it to be inexpedient to con-
tinue the discussion at present, inasmuch as any altera-
tion of the law during the continuance of the war would
be in itself a breach. of neutrality, as it would operate
mainly in the interests of one or other of the bellie-
rents. ,

THE SUFFERERS FROM TIIE WAR.—The nobility
are exerting themselves in a Christian manner ou behalf
of the sick and wounded and the refugees of the war.
Lord Shaftesbury writes, advocating the institution of a'
penny subscription list. He says, To shew the power
of the pence, I may mention that on Tuesday I had the
honour to name a lifeboat, called the British Workman,
at Palling, in Norfolk,' the cost of which—more than six
hundred pounds—was defrayed by the small contributions
of the readers of the periodical, mostly members of the
labouring classes." The Marchioness of Lothian, more-
over, appeals in the papers for the loans of empty houses
in which at the present time distressed French refugees
might find a shelter. Her ladyship writes, "We have t
already obtained the generous use of a house which will
accommodate twenty-five persons. At least two more
houses in London are needed." The Countess of Berns-
torff sends a gratifying account to.the pagers of the.coni=
fort which: English friends have, by
,their aid,-affprded to:
.sick Germans who were found hors de combat *after the'
battle of Sedan,

We learn from Le Fond something of /a mode for
autumn. Costumes are more draped than ever, and this
style appears likely to continue through the winter ; but
plaited flounces are much less worn than formerly.
They are replaced by one wide flounce cut on thy, bias,
gathered so as to form a fan-shaped heading, and put
on with a bias fold, single, double, or triple. A plaid
or checked material will be much in vogue as underskirts
for tunics of various neutral shades, such as grey, brown,
or above all, black. These tunics, draped in different
styles, will be trimmed with a narrow gathered flounce or
with a fringe to match; but for very young ladies
and children a trimming formed of one or More bias
folds, made of the same matesis,i as the petticoat,
may be substituted. Costumes • are also made of two
shades—grey over blue, drab or buff over brown, violet over
black, &c. Black tunics are the most useful. These
costumes of two colours are generally trimmed thus :—A
grey tunic over violet has grey bias folds, piped with
violet, the underskirt having one or more flounces, all
violet. As the colder weather sets in, a small paletot,
cut up at the back and sides, may be worn With these
tunics out of doors. For more elegant costumes,
lighter colours and richer trimmings are worn
taffetas, foulard, and poplin with velvet.. Black
velvet is not worn as trimming on coloured material.
The trimming matches the dress. White dresses, how-
ever, may have any colour upon them. Lace will be
worn snore than ever as a trimming for dresses and
jackets or mantles—white upon light dresses, black
upon dark. Waists are made rather longer, and basques
are still much in favour.. Nearly -all the bodies are open
in front ; some square, but more frequently open in- a
point, and finished off at the waist by bows or straps.
The very graceful long casaques are elegant when worn
over a low-bodied dress. They can be made of any thin
material--white gauze, grenadin, or muslin, trimmed with
flounces and Valenciennes. For bonnets, straw, plain
and fancy, ismore fashionable this autumn than it has
been for several years past. Those with small crowns
and very raised fronts are the most novel. Those
of white straw may be trimmed with velvet of any
colour, or black ribbon mixed with bright-coloured
flowers.