The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-08 00:00:00

PLUMPER.

In drawing. As built.
It. In. Ft. In.
Length between perpendiculars 140 0 140 0
Length of keel for tonnage ... 124 101 124 10
Breadth to outside of wale

Breadth for tonnage 27 0 27 0
Breadth moulded

Depth in hold l5 9 15 9
Burthen in tons 484 30.94 489 75.94
By the new admeasurement 4Ol

Deduct for engine-room

Leaving for actual tonnage 252
Armament—Ten 32-pounders, 25 ewt. and 6 feet long
each; and two 58-pounders, 60 cwt., and 8 feet 10 inches
long each.
Power, 60-horse engines, upon the oscillating prin-
ciple, manufactured by the firm of Miller, Ravensworth,
and Co., Blackwell.
The time fixed for launching the Plumper was 11.45
A.M., and shortly before that hour the Gallant Admiral,
Sir Charles Ogle, arrived, accompanied by Captain
Milne, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, Mr. Ward,
M.P.:Secretary to the Admiralty, the Commander-in-
Chief of the Garrison, Lord Frederick Fitaclarence, the
Marquis of Winchester, and several other gentlemen.
Everything being in readiness the word was given, and
Miss Charlotte Prescott Laughton, daughter of the
Admiral Superintendent, having dashed a bottle of
champagne against the vessel's bows, at a few minutes
before twelve the ship glided majestically into her native
element, the bands playing appropriate airs, and the
spectators greeting her desceat with loud and prolonged
cheering..
Some little time elapsed before the larger vessel was
got off, but the fineness of the day and the interesting
character of the scene effectually dispelled every feeling
of impatience among the crowd. Miss Ward, daughter
of the Secretary to the Admiralty, had the honour of
christening the Arrogant, an operation she performed,
by the way, very cleverly. The " dog-shores" having
at length been knocked away, the noble vessel left the
stocks and entered the water in magnificent style.
Not the slightest accident occurred, and the whole
affair passed off most satisfactorily.
The Arrogant was begun in the month of September,
1845 ; the keel of the Plumper was laid in October last.
The employes in the dockyard had a half-holiday
granted them in celebration of the launch.

The ships will be taken into dock to-day, and cop-
pered, after which they will be jury-rigged, and navi-
gated to the Thames, to be fitted with their engines.
The draught of each vessel, with the bilgsways at-
tached, was as follows :—Arrogant, forwaad, 10 feet 6
inches; aft, 14 feet. Plumper, forward, 7 feet ; aft, 9
feet. Their symmetrical appearance on the water was
the subject of universal remark.

PRESERVATION OF LIFE IN
CASES OF SHIPWRECK.
Some experiments were made ea Thursday in the pre-
sence of Sir Gordon Bremer, and the principal autho-
rities of Woolwich Dockyard, to test the merits of
an invention which has for its object the saving of
human life in cases of shipwreck. A great
number of inventions, similar in principle, have put
forward their claims to attention, but hitherto, how-
ever laudable the purpose and ingenious the mode by
which that purpose was to be accomplished, there have
been found insuperable objections to general adoption—
the principal of which may be stated to be, the
complexity of the machinery, and the impossibility
of instantaneous application in cases of sudden emer-
gency. Cork has always been favourably regarded on
account of its permanent buoyancy ; but the great
objection to this substance, as an aid in case of
shipwreck, has always been the room it would occupy in
the vessel, if a sufficient quantity were stored on board
for the assistance of the crew and passengers. A
method, however, has been discovered which does
away effectually with this obstacle, and enables the
material to be adapted to the purpose of saving life
ilt cases where human aid and skill appear to
be most needed, and yet hitherto most unavailing.
The invention consists of shredding the cork and packing
it into mattresses, and pillows to be substituted for those
in common use aboard ship. This process while
it preserves the buoyant qualities of the cork, creates
other advantages which need not be here specified.
These cork mattresses and pillows are so constructed
that they may be used either separately or lashed
together as a raft. The object of the experiments
was to test their efficacy as a support to an individual
when immersed in the water, and their power of sus-
taining numbers when formed into a raft. At two o'clock
Sir Gordon Bremer and several officers connected with
the dockyard assembled at the steam-basin, where the
materials for making the proposed experiment had
been conveyed. The first experiment was by lashing
six of the mattresses together with boat oars, a process
which did not occupy a minute. The raft was then
thrown into the water, and Captain Stevens, the swim-
ming master of the Royal Humane Society,djur jumped
on it from the pier, and floated about the eOF.
,nto
some time. His son, a lad about seventeen,
the water as if accidentally. Car
on
ltehde h raft,
nwtehnet r the
icahssissut
p enabledo
to land him
r
ut d
tmost ease, and by this means wasl3,uh atnhde
peo ha. sn Stevens,
on the pier in safety. The nextielbxsp.eriniintoentthceownsaitseter,doinn
throwing a bolster weighinglf
and demonstrated its
3
which the lad placed himself,
cushion of the same weight was tried next, and was found
supported
power to support him whileacitnly-theAssviantgelre.
mattress,
weight to answer the same object ex
wststheny thrown into the water, and on
twheiisgchtsplt2aila Stevensbs.,
on it quite out of the lay at
andfull length—was
in
of this way he paddled,
without any difficulty, to any part the dock he wished.
Sir Gordon Bremer, who witnessed the whole of the ex-
periments, expressed his entire satisfaction at the result,
and, indeed, all present were loud in their praise of the
vast improvement which had been made on all other in-
ventions devoted to the same object. The next experi-
ment with these mattresses is to ascertain their capa-
bility of resisting musket balls shot, &c. Mr. C. Taylor
of the firm of R. Taylor and Sons, of Great Dover-road,
the patentees, was present throughout the proceedings.

The celebrated contralto, Mdlle. Schwartz, reached
London at three o'clock yesterday. She will appear
with Lablache in an opera on Tuesday. Madame Tado-
lini left Milan on the 29th ; and a letter was received
this morning, announcing -that Mdlle. Jenny Lind had
left Stockholm for London.