The Sun.
London, England, 1858-12-28 00:00:00

THE . SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 28, 1858.

.ANK" OF. DEPOSIT,
Established A.D. 1844. - - •
3, PALL MALL EAST, LONDON.
Parties desirous of Investing Money- are requested to exa-
mine the Plan'of The Bank of Deposit, by which a high rate
ofinterest may be obtained with-ample- security. :
'Deposits made by Special Agreement may be withdrawn
without notice
• The Interest is payable in January andguly.
PETER MORRISON, Managing Director.
—Forms for Opening Accounfs sent free on applie,at4on.

?VIE BRITISH" NAV.I.7.

The following remark's upon the British Navy,
and upon the proposals which haVe recently been
made respecting the introdUction of iron plated
ships, war and steam rams, are extracted from the
paper read at the last meeting of stkZ Society of
Arts, by. Mr. -E. J. Reed, Admiral Sir Charles
Napier presUing on the occasion, -
Our navy is now composed of the following
fighting vessels :—Fiest, 201 sailing vessels of all
classes----but. few of which, probably; will ever-
again beeonimissioned. (Might not some of these
be sold with advantage ? Scores 'of them which
will. not; be used again as ships of war, would- be
valuable for many mercantile purposes, and should
not, therefore, be permitted to rot in our harbours.)
Next' we have '75 paddlewheel steamers; most of
which, though not very effective for fighting Snip:.
poses, will, while they last, be of considerable value
in times of peace, and of some service even in war.
Finally, we have a fleet of sere* steam-ships' and
vessels, -to the constitution -of -which I desire to
draw particular *attention; • • It eOnsistsof 51 line-of-
battle ships, each armed with 8-inch shell guns
and 32-pounder_ solid :shot guns, in variouspropor:.
tions,
.together with one, and in some cases twoi.
pivot 68-pounders; 9- block-ships also-armed. with..
8-inch shell guns, and 32 pounders in various pro-
portions, together with two 68-pounders and four
10-inch shell guns to each ship ; 28 frigates most of
them powerfully and some of them very, formidably
armed—the engines of 16 of the 28 being at least
of 600 nominal horse-power;. 13 corvettes, each
carrying 20 8-inch shell guns, and at least one
68-pounders or one 10-inch 81141 gun ;- eight
other'corvettes, armed with 32-pounders, and
at - least . one - pivot gun , each ; four mortar
frigates, with 13-inch mortars, Q8-pounders, and
32-founders ; 8 floating batteries, -entirely with
pounders ; 27 sloops, mainly with 32-pounders ; 26
gun-veisels, with 68-pounders and 32-pounders ;
and 163 gun-boats, each with one 68-pounder and
one 32-pOunderin all 331, inclusive of a few now
building and undergoing alterations. It is impos-
sible to examine these figures without observing
that the number of our frigates, corvettes, sloops;
and still smaller vessels, is very large as compared
with our ships. of- the line ; and it-is, in my judgs
ment, equally impossible to point out :any very
glaring . defects in the principle upon which they
are armed. This latter :statement cannot Well be
tested otherwise than by a comparative reference
to fareign navies. The only two of these to Which_
I- need refer are...those of .France and America. As
.to the former, I have carefully examined.the official,
records • (Which . are published'. by Sir Howard-
Douglas in his- "Naval Gunnery"), and- I find no
ground svhatever for considering that the arma-
ments of French ships
_of, war are in
,any way
s-uperior to our own.- With regard to -the A-merican
navy, we have, indeed,-heard-much that sounds for-
midable,: recently, especially Of. the _Niagara and the
Merrimac. .Of the- former of those vessels I need
say but little, as the Amerieaii Government itself_
places small confidence in her. She is, it is true, a
gigantic vessel, but she carries only a dozen shell,
guns ;- and our own frigate Diadem, of about two-
thirds her size, would, as. I have elsetvhefe shown,
speedily overpower her; either at short or at long
range. The Merrimac , is certainly a very formid-
able vessel. Captain Dahlgren, in a recently pub-
lished work on " Shell§ and Shell Guns;'"_ draws a
careful comparison - -between, her and our own
Shannon, the name - of which will be fresh
in 'every .mind, as the last `command* of the
chivalrous and mueh-lamented Sir _William
Peel. Captain Dahlgren - very fairly decides
that the Merrimac
-is the more powerful ship of the
two; but seeing that, as he admits, her tonnage is
one-fifth greater than the ,Shannon's, we might
well be astonished if she were not of superior power.
We have, however, other vessels similar in size to
the Merrimac, one class of which is armed :entirely
. with heavy 68-pounders, from which, of course,
8-inch shells • can be most. effectively. fired ; and',
another-class armed with a combination of .10-inch
shell-guns and 68-pounders of 95 cwt: The vessels
of both these:Classes are :fitted with engines of no
less than 1,000 horse-power, by virtue of which
they will probably attain a speed of twelve or four-
teen knots per hour, while the Merrimac makes
eight only. The advantages of this superiority of
speed I need slot dwell upon. Captain Dahlgren
has himself since said, in reference to these-vessels,
" There.can be little doubt that with any reason-
able success. 'in applying their capabilities, they
must become the most formidable of ships of war."
Although I have thus pointed out the efficiency of
our ships as compared with those of France and
America, I by no means wish to imply that the
armaments of our steam fleets are not susceptible of
improvement with the moans already. at our dis-
posal. The very variety observable in the arma-
ments of ships of similar dimensions indicates
imperfection, and even evinces a sense of imperfec-
tion in the minds of the authorities who arrange
them. Moreover, Sir Howard Douglas and Capt.
Dahlgren have particularised. one class of gun
which is much- used by us, but which is too light
for its duty, namely, the 10-inch shell-gun of 86 cwt.
This gun has been superseded in the American navy
by one of 107 cwt., and should certainly oecupy a
less prominent position in ours. Other desirable modi-
fications might be made, and the whole subject re-
quires still deeper study than appears to have been
bestowed upon it. . . . The floating batteries
built by the Admiralty are undeserving of that
utter condemnation which some have pronounced
against them. Sir Charles Napier, for instance,
committed a great error when, in a letter• to the
Times, he mentioned " iron floating batteries which
could hardly swim, and if they. could would have
been useless, for had they been placed within 400
yards of Sveaborg they would have been annihi-
lated, and at 800 yards they would have done no
harm." Those batteries are armed, as before stated,
with 63-pounders, and Sir • Thomas Hasting's ex-
periments on-the Prince George hulk twenty years
ago proved that at 1,200 yards 68-pounders are
highly destructive, and we all know that they are
so at even much greater ranges. The true defects
of the batteries lie, not in any weakness of arma-
ment, but in their - slowness of speed, their un-
manageablenessat sea, and, as the late
appear to show, the weaknes experiments
s of their frames. But
scant justice would be done to the designers of H.
M. ships if I 'were to omit to state that the diffi-
culty which besets this
-plated war question of the construction
of iron
ships_of
which we have lately
heard so mucks—is far greater than amateur de-
signers appear to understand. Of the many. scores
of propositions' which have been made of late years
but extremely few will bear the test of a practical
embodiment. The first, and, indeed, the only very
serious difficulty experienced in designing ships to
be plated with iron four inches thick aneupwards,
is that of supplying sufficient displacement to sustain
the imposed weight without resorting to great
draught of water or immoderate dimensions. Various
devices have been proposed for evading this diffi-
culty, the most notable of which is that of covering
a portion only of the vessel with armour plates—
the bow, according to others. These plans are for
.the most part attended by too many and too great
disadvantages for them to be adopted. Proposi-
tions have likewise been made for covering ships
with strips of iron, filled in between with hard
wood ; for reducing the thickness of the iron plates
and backing them with india rubber ; and for many
other modified arrangements. But hitherto expe-
riments have proved adverse to these plans. It has
been further suggested that the submerged portion
of the ship might be made much longer than the
portion above water. This plan has been adopted
to a limited extent (for a different purpose) in the
French gunboats ; and, although experienced naval
architects will discern several objections to this
mode of construction, it appears to me likely that
the displacement might in this way be increased
without the entailment of great drawbacks.
Another proposal which I have met with in several
quarters is that of reducing the, thickness of the
iron armour and placing it at an inclination, in
order to reduce the effect of shot, which are sup-
posed to strike horizontally. The name of Mr.
George Rennie is most prominently associated with
this proposal, in consequence of his having read a
paper in advocacy of it at the British Association
in September last. Mr. Rennie prefers the use of
curved plates, but as a curved surface is but a sur-
face of varying inclination, the principle involved
is of course the same in both cases. It needs, I find
no appeal to experiment to show that the proposed
arrangement would not be attended by any advan-
tage. The simplest theoretical consideration shows
that, for a given height of bu lwark, the same quantity
of. metal will be required. to resist a given blow,
whatever the inclination may be. If a shot moving
horizontally strikes an inclined plate, the crushing
force exerted upon the plate is equal to the crush-
ing
.force which would have been exerted upon it if
upright., multiplied by the sine of the aligle between
the inclined plate and the horizontal. To keep the
crushing, effect constant, therefore, the thickness of
the metal must also vary as the sine of that angle;
and since the length of the inclined section varies
inversely as that sine, the sectional area of the

• -
-VAST and WEST INDIA DOCK COMEA.N-Y.
ALIA ---The Court of Directors of the EAST and WEST
INDIA DOCK COMPANY 'Hereby Give 'Notice, That a
HALF-YEARLY COURT, pr General Meeting of the said
Company will be,held;pitrsuant to the, Directions of the Act
Ist and 2d William 4th, cap; 52,_ at the. Dock liopse, No. 8,
Billiter•-square, on FRIDAY, the. 7th day of January, 1859; at
which Meeting a Dividend will be declared on the Cttpital
Stock of the Company far the Half-year ending the 31st
instant. By Order of the Court,
GEORGE COLLIN, Secretary.
- East and West India Dock House, 8, Banter-
square, 17th December, 1858.
" N.B.—The Chair will be taken at Two o'clock. precisely.

THE OPERA COLONNADE HOTEL
COMPANY (Limited).
Charles-street, Haymarket (late Feuillade's),-London, S.W.
Capital, £25,000, in 5,000 shares of .£5 each. Deposit 10s. per
Share on application) tmd;A2 per Share. on allotment..
The alterations ana furnishing"..iKe being- proceeded with,
and the HOTEfi:wili be OPENED iti.VEBRUARY. •
Applicationsfor the REMAINING SHARES; Prospectuses,
&c., may be to4dv, for a LIMITED PERIOD; to the secretary,
at the Hotel ; the solicitors, Messrs. Prichard and Collette, .57,
Lintiokn7S-linurtields, W.C.; to thebrokers, Messrs. Samuel Hill
-Sak,-34 copthall-buildings, Bank, E.C. ; or at the tofu-
pofary. ollienVol' the Company, 192, Gresham-house, Old
Broad7street,Ar.., T. R. COMYN; Secretary.
-

CONTRACT ITOH 13RITISH OAK, TIMBER; THICK:
STUFF, PLANK, AND TREENAILS.
Department of thejStorekeeper-General of the Navy,
Somerset-place, 2,lth_Dec., 1858. _
riIITE .COMMISSIONEIIS for EXECUTING the
-I- OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of the UNITED
KINGDOM of GREAT -BRITAIN and IRELAND, DO
HETWBY GIVE NOTICE, That on TUESDAY, the 25th
January next, at Two o'Clock, they will bev-ready' to treat
with such Persons as may be willing to CONTRACT for sup-
plying •
26,000 Loads of BRITISH OAK BIDER (rough contents,.
but to be.delivered in a• rough or sided state as, the
' said Commissioners shall direct),
9,500 Loads of BRITISH OAK, THICKSTUFF, and
PLANK, and .
1,800,000 BRITISH OAK TREENAILS,
to be delivered at her Majesty's several Dockyards by the 31st
December, 1861, at prices including all carriage and other
expenses. • • •
A. tender may be made for the whole contract, or for the
quantities required at any one or more of the yards, but not
for less than the full quantities of .Timber, Thickstuff, Plank,
and Treenails required for any one yard.
A form of the tender;showing, the distribution sidings and
dimensions of the Timber, Thickstuff, Plank, and Treenails,
and all other necesSary, particulars; may be had-on application
to this office, by letter er otherwise.
NO tender will be received after Two o'clock on the day of
treaty, nor will any be noticed unless the party attends, or an
agent for him duly authorised in writing.
Every tender must be addressed- to the- Secretary of the
Admiralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words " Ten-
der for British Oak," and must be delivered at Somerset--
place, accompanied by a letter signed by two responsible per-
sons, engaging to become bound with the person tendering, in
the sum of £20,000, for the due performance of the whole con-
tract, or in a due proportion for a part only. . ,

DINING- TABLES, CHAIRS, and SIDE-
BOARDS of fine Spanish -Mahogany, Walnut Tree,
and Oak, in the greatest variety, are now on view at Messrs.
DRUCE and Co.'s • Extensive SHOW ROOMS, 68, 69, and
58, BAKER-STREET. N.B.—Very superior .Dining-room
Chairs, in Leather, 19s. 6d. each. 500 Easy Chairs to select
from. Down Quilts, from ss. 6d. each. •

- -
-WHO WILL PAY THE CHINESE
INDEMNITY.? Why, the English themselves. An
export duty is to be levied, and then not even the East India
Tea Company will be able, as they now are,- to tell 61b. of
Black, Green, or Mixed Tea, at ls. 10d. per lb., and Coffee, in
the Berry, at 10d,—Warehouse, 9, Great St. Helen's-church-
yard, City. . •

GLENFIELD PATENT- STARCH,
USED IN THE ROYAL LAUNDRIi",
AND PRONOUNCED BY ITER MAJESTY'S LAUNDRESS to be
THE FINEST STARCH SHE EVER USED.
Sold by all Chandlers, Grocers &c., &c.

BOARD • AND RESIDENCE.'— A Superior
Home is offered to a Gentleman• of steady habits, en-
gaged during .the day, by a family residing near Regent's-
Park. yor a young man coming to London for the first time
tkis would be found a desirable residence. Terms moderate.
References to be exchanged. Address, J. P., Wright's
Dairy, Granby-street, 'Hampstead-road: 11. W.

DECAYED TEETH and TOOTHACHE.--
1101VAIM'S ENAMEL for stopping Decayed Teeth,
howeverlarge the cavity. • It is placed in the tooth in a soft
state, without any- pressure• •or pain,• and immediately
HARDENS -INTO ENAMEL ; It will remain in the tooth
many years, rendering extraction unnecessary, and arresting
the further progress of decay. Sold by all medicine vendors,
Price Otic. Shilling. .....

. .
I-lOUSE FURNISHING.DRUCE and CO.'S
stiOvr ROONES and GALLEBIES'are the largest.in
London.. • The varied stock to select 'froth is immense ; the
prices are marked in plain figure+, amt. •a '%vit.ratity is' givon.
Purchasers, before deciding, should. visit . this establishment,
and effect a saving of one-third on the best description of
Cabinet and Upholstery Goods.' N.B.—Unequalled Dining-
room Chairs, 19s. each ; Iron. Bedsteads, Bs. 6d. each ; Car-
pets, is per yard under the usual charge. 500 Easy Chairs and
Settees, also 100 Wardrobes to select from. Luxuriant
Down Quilts, from 58.6 d. each. 7-
.68, 69, and 58, Baker-street.

ORNAMENTS for the Drawing-room, Library.
and Dining-room, consisting of a new and elegant
assortment of VASES, Figures, Groups, Candlesticks, Obe-
lisks, Inkstands, beautiful inlaid Tables, Paperweights, &c.,
in Italian Alabaster, Marble, Bronze, Derbyshire Spar, Sco.
Imported and manufactured by JAMES TENNANT, Mine-
ralogist to her Majesty, 149, Strand, London.
Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of SHELLS,
MINERALS, and FOSSILS, which will greatly facilitate the
interesting study of MINERALOGY, CONCItOLOGY, and
GEOLOGY, at 2,5, 10, 20, 50, to 100 guineas each.
PRACTICAL-INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE-
RALOGY is given by Mr. TENNANT, at 149, Strand.

PURSUANT to a Decree of the High Court of
Chancery, made in a cause " STAPLETON against
STAPLETON," the creditors of IV ILLIAM STAPLETON,
late of Sunbury, in the county of Middlesex, fishmonger, who
died in or about the month of June, 1842, are, by their
solicitors, on or before the 20th day of January, 1859, to
come in and prbve their debts at the chambers of the Vice-
Chancellor kindersley, at No. 3, Stone-buildings, Lin-
coln's-inn, Middlesex, or, in default thereof; they will be
peremptorily excluded from the benefit of the said Decree.
Monday, the 24th day of January, 1859, at one o'clock in the
afternoon, at the said chambers, is appointed for hearing and
adjudicating upon the claims..
Dated this 14th day of December, 1858.
KEIGIILEY and GET H ENG, 7, Ironmonger-lane,
City, Plaintiff's Solicitors.

THE MADRAS IRRIGATIONPANY and CANAL
COM.
(Incorporated by Special Act of Parliament.)
For Constructing, Maintaining, and Working (under the
sanction and with the support of the Government of India)
a comprehensive system of Irrigation Works and Navi-
gable Canals throughout the Presidency of Madras and
the neighbouring Territories of Borer, Cochin, Hyderabad,
Mysore, Nagpoor, Orissa, the South Mahratta Country,
and Travancore ' • and also throughout the Lower Pro-
vinces of Bengal, when the necessary powers shall have
been obtained.
First Oipital, £2,000,000 (with power to increase). First
Issue thereof, '£1,000,000, in 50,000 Shares of £2O each,
upon which a perpetual Minimum Interest of £5 per
cent. has been guaranteed by the Secretary of State for
India in Council, all surplus profits being divisible equally
between the Government and tho Company : which
arrangement is subject to be determined only by the Go-
vernment purchasing the Works constructed within six
months after the etpiration of each period of 25 years, at
a sum equal to the market value of the shares of the
company on an average of the three preceding years.
Deposit, £1 per Share, to bear Interest at the guaranteed
rate from the day on which the same shall be paid into
the Indian Treasury.

DIRECTORS.
CrtAiiniA:4-2-JAMES THOMSON, Esq. (Messrs. Line
and Co., Madras), Deputy Governor of the Agra Bank,
and late Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Madras,
and President of the Madras Bank.
Colonel Philip Anstruther, C. 8., Madras Artillery.
The Hon. Philip Pleydell Bouverie, M:P. (Messrs. Ran-
som, Bouverie, and Co.)
Lieutenant-Colonel arimes, Madras Army, Chairman of the
Oriental Inland Steam Company.
Colonel Atwell Lake, C. 8., late. Superintending Engineer
of the Kistriah Irrigation Works.
Lieutenant-Colonel Onslow, late of the Commission for
governing Mysore.
Lieutenant-General Sir George Pollock, F.R.G.S.,
&c.
Major-General Westxow Watkins, Madras Army.

CONSULTING ENGINEER.
Col, J. T. Smith, Madras• Engineers, F.R.S., &e.
AUDITORS.—James Bonar, Esq. (Mews. Sma,ll and Co.,
Old Jewry).
BANKERS.—Messrs. Ransom, Bouveile, and Co.,
1, •Pall-Mall East.

SOLICITOR.—John Mackrell, Esq., 34, Cannon -street West.
SECRETARY.—John. Westwood, Esq.
Offices-27, Cannon-street, London, E.C.

Full Prospectuses and Forms of applications for shares
may now be had on application at the Company's Offices,
27, Cannon-street, London, E.C. ; of the bankers, Messrs.
Ransom, Bouverie, and Co., 1, Pall-Mall Mast; and of the
solicitor, John Mackrell, Esq., 34, Cannon-street West,
E.C., London ; but no application will be considered unless
a deposit of £1 on each share applied for is previously
made to Messrs. Ransom, Bouverie, and Co., bankers of
the company. The deposit will be returned if the applica•
tion is not acceded to.

Extract from Minutes of Consultation transmitted by the
Government of Madras, on the 15th May, 1858, to the
late. Court of Directors of the East India Company :
The Government express their unanimous, strong, and
earnest advocacy that all irrigation works which, on a com-
prehensive view of the wants of the country, may be deemed
necessary to develop its undoubtedly great resources, be
commenced at once boldly and on a large-scale, be pressed
forward throughout all times and under all circumstances,
and be looked on, and be practically treated, as in fact they
really are, as the most economical, because the most pro-
fitable, undertakinFs in which the Government .could pos-
sibly engage. It is needless now again to bring forward
the innumerable instances in which- Money has in the Pre-
sidency been most advantageously invested in irrigation
works; The proceedings ot Government have, in this re-
spect, been only too desultory and vacillating, and it is
confidently asserted that India could be placed in a
position to pay all her own expenses, and gradually dis-
charge her debt far more readily and speedily by a judicious
expenditure than by any scheme of retrenchment or reduc-
tion. •,

plate, and consequently its weight, remain un-
changed. Hence, the side_of a ship will require the
same weight of metal upon it-in order to resist hori-
zontal shot, whether it be upright or inclined. The
curving of the plates would render it necessary to
make them of a ygriablc thickness throughout, if
the-minimum amount of metal is .to be used, and I

need hardly say that plates could not practically be
used in this manner. Another important objection
to Mr. Rennie's system is, that an inclined side
would be .niuch more "injuriouslY exposed than a
vertical side.to the action- of shot and shell fired
from long ranges, and of a. plunging fire like that
of the Wasp battery, from which several ships
suffered so severely in the 'attack On the sea faces of
the fortresses of Sebastopol. Sir. Charles Napier's
plan of cutting a three-decked . ship down to a
frigate, covering her with thick armour plates,
fitting her with a -screw, and arming her with 10-
inch .guns,. as proposed by him in the House •of
Commons in April last, superficially appears a very
reasonable one. _ At the same time it is one that
Sir Charles himself would probably, on mature
reflection, consider it not prudent to adopt.
It would cost from " £BO,OOO to £lOO,OOO to
,alter a single; ship in this way, and when
altered- she would be deficient of some of those
'excellent qualities which he has for many years,,
justly extolled; It is time that all those who con-
cern themselves with the great question of how
iron may be best rendered -available for the defence
of ships' sides, should • recur to the circumstance
:whiCh gave rise to it, and to the true end to be it-
present attained. That circumstance; undoubtedly,
was the.introdnetion of Paixhams shells into naval
warfare-; Mid the end desired is the- application of
means- by which the entrance of those terrible.,
missiles through the side of a-ship may be avoided..-i
The attainment of this end would leave us subject
only to the entrance, of solid shOt, to which all our
ships were exposed during the wars in which we
won our supremacy, and from which no. practicable
system of iron plating can at present be expected
to save us. The attempt to build.ships which shall
be proof to solid shot—at least, to wrought-iron
solid shot=is an altogether illusory one ; and such
ships are not urgently reqUired. It is as a defence,
against shells, and hollow charged projectiles gene-.
rally, and against these only, that iron plating can
yet be made available. • By applying
.iron of very
great thickness between wind and water we may
reduce the liability to injury by shot at that im-
portant part, and it may he well.to do. this; but if
the upper works are made shell proof we can expect
no more.'• These considerations reduce the question
to a form, in which •it may -he practically dealt,
with, and I doubt'not• the solution of it is not very
.distant. The only suggestion I have personally to
offer upon the point is one in which I :find I have,
like many others, -been altogether anticipated by
the gentlemen at Whitehall, but which I may
nevertheless mention; It will be evident that fifty
feet in length of iron plating *on the bow or
Stern of a vessel, while they would weigh the-
same as-fifty feet of similar -plating near midships,
would .cover .and protect a much smaller volume of
the ship... I. would propose,-therefore, that the mid-
ship
portion of the ship only be protected, and that
it be separated 'from the fOrWard and aft portions
by strong iron
.watertight compartments, so that,
however much the extremities might suffer, the
ship would still be safe, and the men protected.
Means would,- or course, have to -be provided for
extinguishing any fires which might-be occasioned
by shells in the undefended portions.of the ship.
ThiS plan •has- been considered; I believe, but whe-
ther it is judged favourably .or not.l am unable _to
say—probably not, as it does not appear to afford
any -defence against raking shot. I have yet to
notice a correspondence which has lately appeared
on the . construction of what are called
," steam
rams," in mentioning which reference need only be
made to the designs of Mr. J. Nasmyth and Vice-
Admiral Sartorius. I have. not taken the trouble
to inquire who first invented them, because I con-
sider` little invention was necessary in the matter,
when the mind was once permitted to contemplate
the use of such agents of destruction. Any merit
that may. exist in relation to them' must arise either
from the development of special adaptations, con-
trived so as to render the embodiment ofthe general
principle • practicable, or from the -setting forth of
arguments tending .to show the possibility of em-
Tidying such agents with undoubted advantage.
Neither Mr: Nitsmyth nor Admiral Sartorius has
hitherto done either of these things publely. Mr.
Nasmyth. informed us, in the Times, that he sent
detailed plans of his proposed vessels 6 the—Al=
miralty:, several years since ; and, were his time
less occupied than it is just now by those scientific
studies and labours fox which he is so justly and
eminently distinguished, we should have had
the satisfaction of examining similar plans
here this evening. In the absence of these, however,
it is impossible to say whether he h2.s fully grappled
with the practical difficulties which have to be
overcome, and fully arranged those details in which
the whole question of practicability or impractica-
bility is really, in such cases, involved. I have
some reason, however, for thinking that Mr. Na-
smyth has done much in this respect ; for, on re-
questing him to inform me if he had Made provi-
sion for enabling the engines of the ram to sustain
the shock of a collision, I found that, although he
did not apprehend derangement front this cause,
yet he had anticipated it in his plans, and pro-
vided for it. This he did by placing the engine and
boiler on a slide bed, and furnishing it with suitable
elastic buffing material to admit of the slight run
forward, which might tend to take place at the
moment of collision. The screw propeller shaft
would, in like manner, have a suitable tube-socket
connection, which would allow the engine to slide
forward, and yet keep up the integrity of the con-
nection between itself and the screw shaft. Mr.
Nasmyth proposes to use no guns, but to content
himself with the effects of the collision, which he Yesterday afternoon a most distressing event, the
enhances by the use of a powerful submerged per- intelligence of which will deeply wound the public
cussion shell, which should strike the enemy several feeling throughout the whole country, occurred in
feet below water, and thus effect a ruinous breach,
the metropolis in connection with one of its great
leaving her no chance of escape. He asks the
laces of popular recreation, resulting in the
Government to make experiments with such a p
vessel, and believes that a "covey of such chicks" violent death of 15 human beings, and injuries
would effectually preserve our coast from attack. more or less serious to many more. Ten of the dead
The scheme of Admiral Sartorius differs from that lie at the Lambeth Workhouse, one at Christchurch
of Mr. Nasmyth only in the addition of an arma- Workhouse, in the vicinity of the accident, two
ment of heavy guns to his vessel, and in the sup-
others at St. Thomas's Hospital, and two at the
pression of the percussion shell. He would
of necessity -require a large vessel ; indeed, deadhouse in Lambeth. Of the wounded eight
he himself proposes to cut down the Great were taken to St. Thomas's Hospital, while
Eastern, cover her with shot-proof iron plates, fit many others who sustained injuries less grave, and
her with a screw at each end, arm her with heavy the number of whom may never be known, were in
guns, and make a ram of her. I should add that
a state which admitted of their being conveyed to
he would build upon her towers, from which scald-
ing" water might be pumped upon boarders. My their own homes.
opinion is that there is not a steamship in our navy, The accident of which these are the deplorable
nor even a sailing ship, which, except in a dead results happened at the Victoria Theatre, situated,
calm, would not evade the blow of such a vessel. as most of metropolitan readers know, at the point
If a ship would lie at rest and wait for her, the of •
intersection of the Waterloo-road and the New-
gallant admiral's scheme would answer perfectly,
cut,formingdensely - populated and
but no long ship—which must necessarily occupy
considerable time and, space in turning—could be generally poor district of Lambeth. There a
expected to answer the end which he assigns to Christmas pantomime, as at all the rest of the
her. Of the two schemes, Mr. Nasmyth's is by theatres, is invariably produced, and on Boxing-day
far the most promising ; since, by excluding the crowds of the humbler classes, and especially of the
armament, he could keep his vessel comparatively young of either sex, rush from the whole surround-
light and short, so as to be • easily steered; but .
hbour hoo d to witness the performance. So
whether his percussion shell
.would be effective g
against the iron plates which would, of course, be high, indeed, does the popular curiosity run in that
carried down to resist it, 'and at the same time leave direction in those parts that the managers of the
his own craft unscathed, is a very doubtful matter. theatre find it necessary, not to say lucrative, to ,
Before quitting this branch of my subject, I ought repeat the pantomime on the same day ; and the
to add a word on Mr. Macintosh's system of war-
fare, which Lord Panmure for a time forcibly sup- ,
entertainment yesterday was announced. to take
pressed. It consists in surroundingptace first at half-past one in the day, and again in
fleets or for-tresses by floating naphtha, firing the same with the evening at half-past six. During the perform-
potassium or otherwise, and thus enveloping the ante in the afternoon the theatre was well filled,
though not so densely as •it ordinarily is at the
enemy.in a Cloud of vapour which either destroys
him or drives him
.from his guns. This is not a evening entertainment on the great Christmas
mere theoretical proposition, made without con-
holing y. g
The allery, however, was the part of
sidcration, the inventor having chartered a vessel
during the war, the house most crowded, and, as usual, chiefly by
with a cargo of and proceeded to the Black Sea
naphtha for the purpose of attack- boys and young men, many of them of the very
in.. Sebastopol. His amiable intentions were Eros-
lowest class. The pantomime, of which a notice is
trated by the indisposition of our admirals to adopt given in another column, had proceeded well nigh
so fast an improvement ! Having now hurriedly
to its conclusion at the afternoon performance. The
reviewed the modern changes which our ships of
time was about half-past four or five, and, although
war having undergone, and glanced at those
floating suggestions which some are so eager to the audience had not left the theatre, an immense
urge upon the Government, it will be well to con- crowd. thronged the stairs leading to the gallery,
sider for a moment a few facts bearing upon the waiting for the evening performance, and to take
immediate' future of our navy. And, first, there the places of those by wham that part of the building
was already occupied. On this flight of stairswhich
cannot be a doubt that the Government can, if they
are of wood and of great width, protected
please, hasten the introduction of great andradical
changes. It is perfectly within their power to buildby a secure
ships of wariof a far more destructive character than balustrade, there are several landing places, and
those which this or any other nation now. possesses. two barriers were thrown across, one at the money
But would it be politic for us to take the lead in and the other at the check taker's box,
to the gallery being opened to lessen the pressure
such innovations? A navy like that which we previous
of the crowd at those points. The staircase runs
possess involves, it should, be remembered, the in- ,
vestment of an immense amount of capital. The
cost of a ship of war when rigged and equipped may up the' sides of a large square shaft in easy flights
be estimated at £35 per ton, exclusive of the cost from the different landings. This, then, was the
of her armament, and the engines involve a further state of • things immediate) preceding the calamity
i
expense of, say
.£6O per nominal horse power. We
—an unruly rabble was packed nearly to suffoca-
have in our navy at. the present Moment, 607 fight-
ships, of an aggregate burden of 665;220 tong, tion on the stairs as _ fir as the more --taker's box,
and carrying engines of scarcely less than 100,000 the
where a barrier impeded its furtherascent, and a '
horse power. Therefore our ships alone have cost kindred rabble within the building was on
us nearly £22,000,000; and upon their engines we ►At that un-
point of making its exit into the air.

APPALLING ACCIDENT AT THE
VICTORIA THEATRE.