The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-20 00:00:00

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in ships and forts. The former must be laden as
little as possible, and for them the need must always
be " the greatest strength obtainable from the least
weight." The latter demand rather " the greatest
strength at the least cost."
The Russian defences of Cronstadt are just at pre-
sent held up for our imitation, and an idea seems
to prevail that whole forts are faced with 15-inch
armour plates, backed by a further layer of 6-inc
or 7-inch armour plates. It is not so. The batteries
arc constructed in several different ways, which
have been varied from to time as the work pro-
ceeded. The 23-gun battery at Fort Constantine,
for instance, illustrates no less than three different
methods of construction. One of them shows in
succes,ion from the front first a 61-incli plate, then
a 6-inch teak let into an angular frame of 1 inch
thickness, backed by a plate of 1 inch in rear of all.
The face has a slope of 22 degrees. Another hits a
7i-in. plate in front, and also slopes back at an angle
of 22 degrees. The third is perpendicular, and
built up of Thornyeroft's bars, which were rolled
at Millwall. The plates on the first-named battery
certainly and some of the others were made by
Petin and Gaudet. The battery which is most fre-
quently quoted as an example to Englishmen, or
rather the three shields for three guns each, may,
perhaps, be understood by the following rough de-
scription number of bars 13ft. 4in. long, by
12in. thick, and 12in. high, are laid horizontally one
upon another, fitting together along their lengths
by grooves and projections. At the back of each bar
is another projection three inches in length, in the
form of the frustrum of a cone. This dovetails into
perpendicular supports of considerable thickness
placed behind it. And because the Russians found
that this mass of metal had little structural cohe-
sion, two Winch plates have been placed in front
of the bars and bent over the top. The great advan-
tage claimed for Thornycroft's bars was their cheap-
ness compared with other forms of plating, and this
is true enough, as far as they are concerned. But
when it was found necessary to back them so
strongly and to wrap other plates round them the
aspect of the case was considerably changed. Such
erections as these cost over £3,000 per gun for the
shield alone, the dimensions being 14ift. long by
Bft. high. Our English shields cost less than £l,OOO
per gun, their dimensions being 12ft. by Bft. The
English casemate costs for its iron work a total of
under £3,000 per gun. If built on the Russian
model, its cost would be £6,800 per gun nearly.
Now, calculations based on the above experiment
at ShoeburYness would seem to declare that such
an iron wall as is proposed to be built at Plymouth
will resist a 600-pounder gun fired close to it, and
a 20-inch American gun under the same conditions.
If, however, it should be found not to have the full
strength claimed for it, and if we insist on meeting
5-inch plates—a
scuhcehapeiurqw-Robaadbdleancoitrhcuertusltaaynecreosi 1
't would be far
task that could be executed without the slightest
affibclue,l ty.e know
dstigc otnhset rhuecatvi
ens.tisg
uexceedingly
of at present, and further additions of armour can
capable Theo
present
e et in
be made without deranging the structure, and at a
very moderate cost. It will be an interesting but
a costly experiment to fire at such a target and try
exactly what it will stand ; but to keep out every
projectile for ever is a task unworthy of considera-
tion. When the circulars were sent out inviting
tenders for the iron defences of Portsmouth and
Hs
Plymouth, ironmasters were asked whether they
could suggest anything better at the price.
in the infallibility of Government offices ; but, if
anything better been found ? We are no believers
a substitute
let us at least know what is proposed as
delay and changes are to be urged upon the country,
xperime have declared
factory, and which r
ecent e
nts
for plans which have hitherto been considered satis-
to have even greater strength than has been gene-
rally supposed.—Times.

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PRICE.... 4d.
STAMPED sd.

and an additional coil was superadded along the
entire length of the chase extending from the trun-
nions to the muzzle. The gun, which until then had
a 91-inch bore and weighed 164 tons, was thus in-
creased to 181 tons. Notwithstanding the heavy
expenditure from time to time in rendering it a
model, and the desire of the authorities to bring it
out as an experimental gun on the system on which
the 101 inch guns of the service were then intended
to be manufactured, the general opinion was favour-
able. The experiments were made from time to time
in the pre,sence of the Ordnance Select Committee
and others, under favourable circumstances, with
charges of powder increased to 601 b., when at the
193 d round the breech was blown out. On exami-
nation it was found that the coils of the tube had
yielded from the repeated hammering and concus-
sion, and the gas having found its way into the
crevices the head of the tube was blown off, carry-
ing with it the cascablo and the entire breech of the
gun. It was landed yesterday on the gun-wharf at
Woolwich from the Arsenal transport lighter Baltic,
to be placed in position on the ground facing the
royal gun factories, known as the Cemetery, amid
a large number of guns which have similarly failed
to sustain the required test.
In our notice of paying off the Princess Royal,
Capt. Seccombe was stated to be the commander,
instead of Capt. W. G. Jones.

SHIPS AN]) FORTS.

The late experiments at Shoeburyness have been
fertile in interest. We have seen the 15-inch
American gun with American powder and American
shot defeated by a target which has been repeatedly
pierced by an English gun of less than two-thirds
its weight, firing shells with a smaller charge of
powder. We have also seen one of these same
English 9-inch guns endure more than 1,000 rounds
with battering charges, and remain perfectly sound
only requiring to be revented once. Our artillerists
have found a remedy for the one great danger to
rifled guns—the danger of destroying the grooves by
high charges; for by placing a thin papier machd
wad between powder and projectile the windage is
closed and the gas, with its burden of solid particles,
can no longer dash itself against the edges of the
grooves, so that the life of a rifled gun will for the
future be prolonged to a considerable extent. We
know that the spherical shells, which can alone be
fired from smooth bore guns, have no power what-
ever against iron plated targets of very moderate
thickness, and as for putting in higher charges and
risking the awful effects of a burst gun in a turret,
no officer would be mad enough to affront so ter-
rible a ruin with its attendant demoralisation to the
crew for the sake of one penetration. Grant that
the shot perforates the opposing vessel, how many
chances are there to one that it does so at a spot that
will cause a leak? And if it did cause a leak, are
there no such things asplugs to close it? People
frequently talk nowadays as if sips ust be abso-
lutely invulnerable, and sailors are form the future to
lead charmed lives. 'We seem to forget the host of
resources which seamen have for keeping water out
of a wounded ship. A square hit from a ram must
be destruction, but a warship may float and fight
effectively with a good many holes in her sides.
Demoralise her crew if you can by a stream of pro-
jectiles, especially shells poured constantly into her,
and they must haul down their flag or be driven
from their guns ; but even were she lying like a log
on the water it would take many rounds of artillery
fire to sink her.
A great deal has been said about "racking," but
whatever may be the action of a shot, it cannot be
considered as effective if, like the American gun
the other day, it leaves the inner skin without a
single hole of any sort.
'There is another argument in favour of the Eng-
lish system which has been strangely neglected.
Suppose that the big smooth bore fires its big shot
and makes its big hole between wind and water.
Suppose that the crew neglect to plug this big hole
and that the ship sinks. An enemy's vessel has gone
down and is of no further use to anybody. But if
the rifled guns succeed in turning the batteries op-
posed to them into a slaughterhouse no longer ten-
able the enemy surrenders and one more man of
war is added to the victorious navy.
Another experiment was made lately at Shoe-
bnryness which is more interesting in its deductions
than in its details. It has long ago been proved that
different plates of equal excellence will, if unbacked,
oppose a resistance to shot nearly proportional to
the squares of their respective thicknesses. But, be-
sides the well-known fact that after a certain thick-
ness large plates cannot be worked so evenly
and
as
thinner ones, few people can have supposed,
certainly experiment has never demonstrated, that
the same proportion will bold good if the thin plates
be placed in support of each other, and thoroughly
riveted together. The one solid plate will always
have an advantge if really well made, but not to the
same extent as if the thin ones were attacked sepa-
rately. The trial referred to was as follows :—Three
masses of iron, each 7in. thick, were exposed
Nothing
the
fire of the 7- inch muzzle-loadingrified gun.
was put behind the iron as a backing. The thinner
plates backed each other.
The first target was a sold 7 inch plate, the second
was formed of two 3} inch plates, the third of three
2- inch plates, well bolted together. Had the empi-
rical rule of the squares of the thicknesses been ap-
plicable under the conditions of the case, the ratios
of resistance, taking the inch as a unit, ought to
have been for the solid plate 49, for the two
16. But
31 inch
about 24, for the three 2i inch plates about
what really declared itself as the result of the day's
work may be shown very simply as follows :
h the
To pass an ogival-head Palliser shot throug
solid plate required 151-Ib. of powder in the 7 inch
gun.
To perform the same feat upon the two 3i inch
plates needed 141 b ; upon the three 21 inch plates
131 b.
'The energy of the projectile.was in the first case
61 foot tons per inch of shot's circumference; in the
second 57 ; and in the third 52.
very different from
These ratios are manifestly
that considerable strength may
those deduced on the rule of the sqhueareehsta, ainneddshinowa
' sisting power of a solid plate o t equal built up target, though it will neverf uegalutahlitehkenearea-.
vernment asks Parliatnen
and a caerytishieaklrneesaday
are
eroraed-
The subject is one of great imp feohrtathrye
aGuom-
emd
longof do
re modern
ye rifleds ironf
t.
ttohabtuaieldlidiropinafteoartsefwiatnh,
immense
snipete artillery.t o
Thepkeep oul
at
u the,at projectilesp repaleaette sprf2eripofomts.
them a row of vertical
behind them
and behind them again
laid
dts
ni iht tyt frontlslyi .
similar plates 16in. by Sin. laid horizontally. 'To
platashi9l°
support this structure in rear there ate a number of
iron uprights which have a section of 12in. by sin.
They are placed two and two, with an interval of
2ft. 3in. between each pair and next. Strong bolts
Pass from the front through all the plates, aud bind
every pair of uprights tightly to the armour by
clamps and nuts. There can be no question that
the compound structure is fax cheaper than the solid
iron plate. The only doubt is whether sufficient
strength can be obtained. So far experiments tend
to show that it can, and before criticising too sharply
the War-office designs it would be well to know what
is proposed in exchange for them. There is a general
tendency to insist on invulnerability for forts and
ships, and men argue as if an enemy could lay his
ships close alongside a sea fort and bombard it at
leisure. IVar is a very different affair from that,
and it is time some understanding should be come
to on such subjects. Fortifications are not intended
to act as impregnable caves into which soldiers may
creep and cower for safety nay, such
would surely induce demoralisation, but rather as
obstacles to arrest or delay the advance of au enemy
who has a specific object in view.
The eloleuts of the case are uot quite the same

-__7----
THE HUDSON BAY COMPANY.

The Hudson Bay Territory having ceased to beas
he
a source
of profit to the company may now be regarded int
market for sale to the highest bidder. At the last meet-
ing of the company in London the dividends for the year
were merely nominal, amounting to only £1 sterlion ng per
er
sharp. This slender margin was apologised for
grounds of dulness of trade in British Columbia and Van-
couver's Island. It also transpirod that
the acquitisio
the
n of
Russian America was a souree of loss, by depriving
country of the right, formerly enjoy od by it, of hunting
on a portion of the mainland on the payment of a nominal
rent. A more ominous cause of loss arose from aer fiodicalalling
off in the supply of fur, owing to a supposed p
diminution in the number of animals. This last fact must
bo taken into account by Mr. Seward when driving a bar-
gain for territory.
The conclusion of the whole matter is that the Hudson
Bay Company has ceased to bo a paying institution, and
the managers would like to sell out. It is not quite clear
what the company has got to soli. They may be only
able to dispose of their interest in the fur business without
being in a position to give a title to the country.
Probably
the English authorities may claim the sovereignty, and
interpose to prevent any sale that may not be in accord-
ance with the interests of the Imperial Government.
Waiving this point, we find that the country may be di
s a
-
posed of in ono of three ways. It may
be d into
crown colony, annexed to the new Dominion of Canada,
or sold to the United States.
Failing the purchase of the country by our Government
its eroction into a Crown colony ould be tho more ob-
vious mode of dealing with it. The now Canadian Go-
vernment woold Government course, as it would thus throw
upon the Home the heavy initial to
of
governing and taking care of a wild anad vast regong time
ion, that
cannot bo rendered pecuniarily profitble for a l
to come, if ever. But this is just what the English Go-
vernment wishes to avoid. There is a growing conviction
in;England ever since the times of Goorgo Washington,
the
that
colonies are not worth the expenses of keeping them, andevent
feeling would probably be that if Canada wishes to pr
the country from falling under the control of the United
States it must at once assume the duties and responsibili
ties of ownership and pay its own bills.
While this bickering is going on between the Now Do-
minion and the English Government, it appears that the
negotiations with Mr. Seward for the sale of the territory
have gone further than is generally supposed. Sir
Francis Head, Mr. Watkins, and other managers of the
company, growing tired of the shabby course of the Cana-
dian authorities as manifested by their evident dis
strposi-
tion to undervalue the purchase, as well as thestrong
probability that Canada could not pay cash for it,
entered
into negotiations with the United States Government. It
was this fact occasioned the recent rumours that Mr. Se-
ward had effected a treaty with the British Government
for the purchase. It was not with tho English GOVOTIIMOII4
however, that our Secretary of Staten
was in treaty, but
with the Hudson Bay Company, and we understand that
the whole matter will be shortly presented to Congress for
action.
The acquisition of this territory by our Government
would be more important in a political than in a commer-
cial point of view. But it would dworld by rentally benounding
efit our
commercial interest in that part of the
off and consolidating our new possessions.—Neto York
Bulletin.

A Royal decree was promulgated at Lisbon last
Sunday, opening all the ports for the admission of cereals
at greatly reduced duties. The decree will continue in
force until the 31st December next.
A CRABBED YOUNG PAT.—"Bay Bulwer's last
work, sir ? only two shillings," said an Irish newsboy to a
passenger on a ferry boat in America. The gentleman
jokingly said, "Why lam Bulwer myself !" Off wont the
lad, and whispering to another Irish lad at a distance, ex-
cited his wonderment at the information he had to impart.
Eyeing the pretended author of " Pelham" with a kind of
awe, he approached him timidly, and holding out a pamph-
let, said, modestly, "Buy the 'Women of England,' sir?
You're not Mrs. Ellis, are you ?" Of course the proposed
sale we s effected. •
•
[AnvgailsEMENT.]—Conaumption, and all nervous, bilious,
stcmach and liver complaints in every stage are only aggravated
and accelerated' by drugs of every description, but perfectly
oau ble by Du Barry's health-restoring B°
asthma,
Arabica Food,
as proved by thousands of cases which had been considered
hopeless; such as indigestion (dyspepsia), cough, asthma, con-
sumption, habitual constipation, din,rrhostt, all gastric derange-
ments, hemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervousness,
biliousness, fevers, sore throats, diphtheria, catarrhs, colds, in-
fluenza, noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gou_t, impu-
irritability, flieePleSrsoness,
rities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgiac,
acidity, palpitation, heartburn, h ft(elaveehne,n debility,
i pregnancy sal•)"1,i
cramps, spasms, nausea and sickness,
sea, sink-mg flts, bronchitis, scrofula, tightness of the chest,
pain
at the pit of the stomach, and between theshoDuldeitars, &c:.
We quote a few.—The Pope's health restored by u rry s
Food. Cure No. 68,413.—" 'tome, July 21, 1866.—The health of
the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all
other 'medics, he has confined himself entirely to D Barry's
Revalenta Arabica Food, of which he consumes a plateful
at every meal. It has pro laced a *surprisingly beneficial
effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this
July food too highly." From the " Gazette du Midi:.
July 25. Cure No. Surrey, of
James Roberts, timber mer-
chant, of Fernley, Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs,
spitting a blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness.—
Cure No. 1,771. Lord Stuart de Docies, Lord Lieutenant of
Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia.—No. 49,832.
sickness and
years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, 3—, nervousness
—l3 e Ns,
which,a re o f t liwe
IT
haonuyt
asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency,
vomiting-31arie.Joly." Important Caution.
unsavoury and more than:sloppy imitations to
I authority, Baron Liebies name is most audaciously attached.
ehed.
In tins at ls. lid.; 1 1.1L.,82A5u1t9,y1.
D2ulbilsx.,R4itsy.
an.d; ficolbs., .1,401.175 i;,
12 lbs., 225.; 24 lbs., 40s
itegont-street, London; also Fortm:incitior Ills. ason, 182, Piccadilly ;
and at 61, Gracechurch-street; 4
) 0,1914-strocl i3N Otrand• and ail p ule; 63, 150, and 289
1 groo9Tfifind chealitits,

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