The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-03 00:00:00

LA GLOI.RE.

Mr. Scott Russell, in a letter to the Times, says:—
The letter of Mr. Hussey Vivian contains so much
accurate information and so much sound opinion on
the subject of the iron-coated ships that it is quite
necessary that some errors, both in fact and opinion,
should be at once set right before the authority of
his name shall give them currency or practical
effect. I have, therefore, felt it to be my duty to
ask space for a second short letter upon the subject.
On some points Mr. Hussey Vivian's personal
observation corroborates the information I gave you
in my former letter. The Gloire is "built of
wood," is in external appearance a large frigate, or
rather an exaggerated corvette, carrying her arma-
ment on a single covered deck ; and she is of
" stronger scantling than usual ;" because, as I
informed you, she is built on the type of the French
90 gun ships Napoleon and Algesiras, only with this
change, that the weight of the iron plates is substi-
tutedfor the upper decks, armament, heavy masts,
and rigging, all of which have been removed. For
practical purposes, we may consider her as a huge
covered corvette, of 30 to 40 guns, with a nominal
tonnage of 3,000, and an actual di.,placement of
between 5,000 and 6,000 tons. I need not add that
this tonnage and displacement are greater than
many of our ships of the line.
Her dimensions—which Mr. Vivian could not
learn—are about 250 feet long and 55 feet beam.
I am glad to find that the information which he has
collected regarding the actual performance of the
ship corroborates that which I communicated to
you in regard to her speed and performance at sea
—" She behaves well, and her speed all agree in
stating at 13 knots."
The remark that she " laboured somewhat in
very heavy weather" will, I am sure, be considered
a high compliment to the builder and the ship by
all who have read the excellent account of your
correspondent of the performance of the Hero under
similar circumstances.
In the following points I beg to correct Mr.
Hussey Vivian's statement :—Her breadth of beam
is not "carried very far forward." Her bow is very
fine, especially under water, where, of course, he
had no means of observation. Her stern is not
" sharper than her bow," but the overhanging part
of the stern above water is carried out to an angle
instead of ending in an elliptical line as usual, so
that it is more like a clipper " bow than a stern,"
and I entirely agree with him in one advantage
rfidweer
inert idhvfeertr
the
t neft rhhoneemfetfil
rt
ehmbi
ouspftos
ths
hhsaieepb el
usual
s.
has
ut ha
Hlant
oesrtt it
stern
mrrnoenn preventsgtpiuloanntsee
mentioned
araking
naraethatlit
notine
" 6 in.," but exactly 41 English in. thick, like ours ;
and the iron is of no " peculiar quality" except that
it is excellent forged iron. When Mr. Hussey
Vivian saw her, her ports were " 8 feat out of the
water," and her plates " extend to 8 feet below."
This would give a breadth of plating under the
ports larger than the fact.
The speed of the ship is, I agree with Mr. Vivian,
partly owing to the very judicious and moderate
rig which • has been given to her, and of which he
so well states the advantages ; but the speed is also
owing to a very judicious form of fine lines at the
bow and stern, and to an arrangement of the screw
very different from that which is adopted in our
ships, and much better suited to this special purpose.
In the manly and fearless statement which Mr.
Hussey Vivian has given of his opinion, that the
" fine ships around her were as useless in her pre-
sence as old flint muskets in presence of the arms of
the present day," he has done the public an im-
portant service. A large number of persons, whose
position gives weight to their opinion, are assidu-
ously trying to make believe very much that the
old ships are, after all, not so bad. as they are called,
and that in the hands of British sailors they will
do wonders.
I believe with them that British sailors will not
only, as heretofore, do wonders, but will achieve
t
" impossibilities." But surely it would be as unjust
in the British public to ask Jack to fight
a.
lwwoould
ship of the line against an iron battery
mus-
kets. An iron ship of superior speed heavyose
her own
and fair sea-going qualities can
.h
:an overmatch
time and place of engagement, and
be to send our army into the field aibnat
1 l rank.
for half a dozen wooden ships of equal
But there is another important
I hope the public will not adopt. That the Ad-
miralty should " cease to build ships of the old
sense ;but
class" would be undoubtedly common
by the recommendations of the last paragraph, we
not t are proceed as
portant conclusion which
are to understand that theyttery,
rapidly as
ships of " unheard-of
take to making imitations of the Gloire in wood,
then his advice is the most dangerous that could be
possible with itirhon thes scantling," but
f are iron
to

given.
Ours is a country of iron—France is not ; and
yet the French Admiralty are wise enough to em-
ploy themselves with all their energy in preparing
to build iron ships with those very unheard-of
iron scantlings. If we followed this advice we
should be making a poor imitation of a temporary
expedient which the French Admiralty resolved on
two or three years, when they bed no alternative.
There is nothing more certain than that a wooden
snip of great length, of fine form for speed, coated
with heavy plates of iron and propelled by engines
of enormous power, could not possess either the
requisite strength nor durability. These qualities
we know that iron alone can give, and it is re-
markable that in the whole mercantile fleet of
Britain there does not exist a single ship of_oiardt ,o
size and high speed that is built of wood; T
therefore, what Mr. Vivian recommends
to go backwards, at the moment the French are
pushing rapidly forwards.

N On Friday a report;was printed which has
,just 11
been addressed by Dr. Letheby to the Commirtee
on General Purposes of the City Commissioners of
Sewers, on a subject of considerable interest and
importance—namely, the practical means of apply-
ing within the city of London the Act passed last
session for preventing the adulteration of articles
of food or drink. On the Commissioners of Sewers,
by the statute in question, the duty developed of
dp
r.o
sot: efitrohrrsotms e classes.eaoccasioned
class,
scr
sr
appointing a public analyist of food, within their
extensive jurisdiction, which embraces the Nit hole of
ficiowt
eatingl hases hse cityeehsd
orw ofe
drinkingg Livoen dtohne ,
it;amnaadnt
material
aee
lye
portions,
ode
rcl
te
inottnlhys
:conferred
that appointment upon Dr. Letheby, who is busily
engaged in making all the necessary arrangements
for carrying out the intentions of the Legislature
ni t they
at interest
ya rtgh large,
adulteration
buten
if et
mere
more
the
oardhealtheamrespecially
admixture
pt
aimed
ue ife
a lot hfy
aeyat civic ivtihcatcoomfmthue-
-1
e
injurious to
fuesrtsartod health,tph powders
wu but
additionei
rn s f;r aaunoddf,
ionfAfesrsbtuihyeobexrst
hoHi
enneje
mentions
rebistatesnoytuitsohnti
enos
mixture
et
huuereel
ot hfofficial report, of
of thataospethnfemaoeypni
aspecAieol
rnecencs
gots
noort:n
sue:eofts:
pigments forp
pickles
loeusr colouring
p confectionery;reser v es .
o Of the
e redse
cloena
dd
thee nt
in Cayenne pepper and curry powder ; of chromate
bread, as potatoes and rice • the mixing
farinas, as potato starch, the starch of
oecino
copper
fapal
class,
iedvrhe
saieinptoroec
nutritive
sitivoef
curcuma, wheat, rice, bread-fruit, —c X, ~ 4. wo arrow-
root ; chicory and roasted corn to coffee ; inferior
roots, &c., to chicory ; mustard husk and farina to
pepper ; flour to mustard ; water to milk ; oxide of
iron to cocoa and chocolate, and the various facing
or glazings of inferior tea. A third class of adul-
tere4-;ps, hp cevq occupy an intermediate place ;
undoubtedly frauds, they are,
pe! x ,iLious to health—as the addition
of alum of-s dphate of copper to bread; sulphuric
acid to vinegar ; plaster of Paris and chalk to con-
fectionery and mustard; the various sophistications
of ale and porter; and the still more 9bjectiothese nable
adulterations of wines and spirits. All mat
be properly made the subject of analytical inquirn
for they clearly come within the compass of the
Act. It is necessary, he says, that according to its
dasipnhder oaaursreshpri
meoea
respect
tesoydont
fhhds
shall,
differenthveatele el
dtphui nerdirectlycoah stagessystematic
oinrhtgeunhoioa
sft of the ttpohhninfee
purchased
article,nci
hnnove smeres.
dpt
accompanying
intan,yt First,ai
allounn
casesh
imbefore t
othe e
the purchaseranalyst
a removeslyst or
rt oof
from
os
meacnut
rhaieretgischl
theeo
shop,
articleugspi veectnie
nod
notice
such
hbt be
mtehnaeanlny
.sedealer,is
r ss a
to
orp
pot
rihneevt personappointed
tanyitf
from
irry
3hneagi
purchaser
ehgri
tampered
n,f that
neart
ec he
articlewe in-
tendshof.
feefood
e Secondly,
o d have anavkse s
regardsthehshall
l be
entitled, articleth e
analysis,o analyzed,n
paymentw wherever
r e vthatteer the
tash e
t
than analystio ofs. o
da sum not
anvoet t
hl ees sa
vtthi
nalne 2asn.
al6ydsedn,oranmdotroe
receive from him a certificate of tfie result. Con-
sidering, however, that it is not easy or practicable
to draw up a scale of charges for the various kinds
of investigations contemplated by the act, and that
the fee named will rarely cover the expenses of the
, analysis, it will, Dr. Letheby thinks, be expedient
to fix an uniform charge intermediate in the scale,
safss—for each analysis. This will prevent a great
deal of complexity, and will at the same time show
that the object of the charge is not to cover the ex-
penses of the inquiry, but rather to guard the
dealer against unnecessary annoyance and ground-
less complaint. The poor, hewever, who are the
chief sufferers from adulteration, will, he fears, be
unable to pay the fee named; and, unless some-
thing be done to assist them in the matter, they
will be shut out most completely from the benefits
of the Act. He suggests, therefore, that the Com-
missioners of Sewers give to the analyst a discre-
tionary power to conduct such inquiries for the
poor without fee. It is necessary, however, that
a complaint should come to him from apoor person,
and the complainant should be entitled to leave
with the analyst a sample of the suspected article,
together with the name and address of the dealer ;
and if in the judgment of the analyst the matter is
sufficiently serious to demand inquiry, he shall be
at liberty to instruct the inspector to purchase a
sample of the suspected article at the place named,
and then to submit it to analysis free of charge.
It is also a question for consideration whether they
may not with great public advantage authorise
their inspector of meat and of markets to pur-
chase samples of food or drink which he sees
exposed for sale in the city, and which he suspects
are adulterated. This duty comes very properly
within the functions of his office ; for in the 52d
clause of their Act of 1851, it is provided that the
inspector of meat and of markets shall have power
to seize and dispose of any " unsound or unwhole-
some meat, fish, poultry, fruit, vegetables, or other
provisions unfit for the food of man," provided he
sees such articles exposed or offered for sale within
the city. He may, therefore, exercise this duty in
the proper functions of his office, and with great
benefit to the public. Lastly, in respect of the
certificate, it is constructed so as to indicate the
object of the inquiry, and to express the result of
the analysis. It also expresses the opinion of the
analyst—whether the article is adulterated or not,
and whether the article is so adulterated as to
be injurious to health. These, indeed, are the
several points to which the Act has directed atten-
tion; and in giving expression to them it is neces-•
sary, , on the one hand, to be very explicit, so• as
to expose fraud, and on the other, not so em-
phatic as to furnish a puff for the rivalries of trade.
At the end of every quarter it will be his duty to
submit to the Commissioners a tabular statement
of the analytical work done, specifying the articles
examined and the names and addresses of the per-
sons from whom they were purchased. The pub-
lication of that table in his quarterly report will
doubtless have a beneficial tendency: If it be
necessary to go further with the inquiry, it must
be prosecuted by the purchasers of the adulterated
articles, who will have to take the matter before
the justices, where the certificate of the analyst
will be received as evidence.