The Sun.
London, England, 1866-05-03 00:00:00

Armour-Clad Gun Vessels.

Among the many armour-plated vessels of war that have
been recently launched from the batiks of the Thames, the
Clyde, and the Mersey, there is one class that, from its
formidable nature, its possession of great powers of offence
and defence, carried on an exceptionally light draught of
water at a high rate of speed, has attracted a great deal of
attention from naval officers and others interested in per-
fecting the design and construction of ironclad ships of war.
A vessel of this description made her trial trip on the Thames
during the past week, and it was the unanimous opinion of
all on board that not only was the vessel a success in point
of speed, but that also for her tonnage she was unequalled by
any other vessel afloat, turret orbroadside-gun vessel, in her
fighting powers. She seems especially suited for coast or
river service, and pre-eminently so for service on the Cana-
dian lakes, to which her length and beam give her admission
by the Welland Canal ; or as a defence for our Australian
harbours and rivers. The Medusa—so the vessel referred
to is named—is an armour-clad gunboat, 190 ft. in length,
36ft. in breadth, with a builder's tonnage of 1,160. Her
hull is built of iron, with eight water-tight compartments,
and is covered in with a Fin. iron-plated deck, on which
is laid the usual wood planking. Round the water-line
of the hull is fixed a belt of armour-plating, 41--in. thick
and 4ft. wide, going completely round the bows and stern
at the same -thickness as on the sides. The stem of the
ship is fitted on the "ram" principle, as introduced by the
Chief Constructor of the English Navy, and which on
the coasts or rivers of a country must prove a powerful
weapon of offence in attacking an enemy. In a central
position on the hull is built up a square armour-cased battery,
covered with 4i-in. armour-plating, and pierced with eight
gun ports—two on each broadside, and two at each end, the
latter sweeping the fore and after decks, and firing in a
line with the keel, the lower tills of the gunports on the 1
broadsides when the vessel is complete in all respects for
sea, being Gft. from the water-line. This square battery is
54ft. in length by 36ft. in width—somewhat astonishing
dimensions for so small a vessel, and will mount four ten-
ton
rifled Whitworth guns, on improved carriages and
slides. The sides of the battery aro built up of the outer
43-in. armour, backed with nine inches of teak, the latter
carrying an inner skin of 1-in. iron. This iron inner skin
is supported by vertical iron flames Gin. doep and 18in.
apart, secured to the 1-in. plating by Sin. double angle
---
fir: nigh o
gh tho fore Fart of the battery rises M. pilot-
house, covered with 43--in. armour. The engines of the
vessel aro of the ordinary direct acting, horizontal descrip- I
tion, the cylinders having a diameter of 31in., and the
stroke being 21in. They drive a pair of independently
working screws of ift. bin. diameter, and lift. Gin. pitch,
the distance between their centres being 12ft. In the
Medusa, contrary to previous practice with twin screw
engines fitted on the Thames, the engines throw inwards
—i.e., the two screws work towards each other. Revert-
ing, however, for a moment to the hull of the vessel, it is
necessary to remark here that forward and aft of the
central square battery a light iron bulwark, aft. Gin, in
height from the deck, passes round the bow and stern of
the vessel from each side of the battery, and throws down
outwards in action in the same manner as the hinged bul-
works of the Royal Sovereign and our other turret ships.
The draught of water of the Medusa, with all on board
and complete for active service, will be but Mt. forward
and aft ; and this fact, if considered in connexion with the
power of the ship's armament, the size of her battery, and
the extent and completeness of her defensive armour, will
quite sufficiently demonstrate her formidable character.
If we now shortly consider her speed under steam
and her manoeuvring powers, her extraordinary
capabilities of attack and defence will be still
further shown. In putting her over the measured
mile in the Lower Hope, the wind during the first run was
blowing with a force of 7, and the last run was completed
in a violent squall. The vessel was heavily rigged as a brig
—temporarily, to carry her out to her destination—and she
drew 71-in. beyond her load draught of Bft. from being
crammed with coal and extra stores. Under all these un-
favourable conditions, she realized a mean speed of 10.713
knots. The area of her midship section was 300 square feet
and her hull displacement 1,300 tons. The indicated horse-
power of the engines was 947, the mean revolutions 122,
the steam 251 b., and the vacuum 24in. The temperatures
below during the time the ship was running the mile were.
unusually low, the engine-roam thermometer registering
70 and the one in the stokehole 105. In testing the ship's
manoeuvring powers under steam Admiral Sir Edward
Belcher took command of the vessel, and, while the whole
of the experiments were of a highly satisfactory ;nature,
there was one fact rather unexpectedly arrived at which
was of the greatest importance. We have already said that
the engines of the Medusa work inwards, in lieu of out-
wards, the latter course having previously been the rule on
the Thames. In turning the ship, with both engines work-
ing ahead, it was found that the time occupied by the Me-
dusa in completing a circle was in excess of the time that
a single screw vessel would have occupied under similar
conditions of dimensions and power, whereas with both en-
gines reversed and the ship making a circle " stern first"
the time occupied in doing so was materially decreased, and
in fact approximated to that of a vessel with the screws
working outwards. The reason of this appears obvious
enough. With screws working from each other they deliver
their columns of water clear of the ship in two distinct
columns. Working towards each other their water is thrown
together under the vessel's stern, raising a great disturb-
ance of water, which boils up and lashes the ship's stern,
and thus destroys the steering power of the screws.
This view of the subject is, of course open to correction,
but it was the opinion entertained by several on board the
Medusa who have given great attention to every circum-
stance connected with the developement of the twin-screw
principle. Apart from this drawback, the manoeuvres car-
ried out were, as already stated, very satisfactory, inas-
much as it was proved that, with the bulwarks of the
Medusa thrown down as for action and guns pointed
through the four forward or after ports, a more rapid and
heavy fire could be maintained upon an enemy ahead or
astern than could be effected from any turret-ship of similar
tonnage ; the Medusa also possessing the great advantage
of making her hull the training medium for her guns, by
reversing the action of her screws, without having the
weight of the turret to carry, and the risk of damage to its
complicated revolving machinery.

The Medusa was built by Messrs John and W. Dudgeon,
of Cubitt Town Shipbuilding and Engineering-yard, Mill-
wall, and har engines were manufactured by James Watt
and Co. The company on board during the vessel's trial
included the Earl of Caithness, Admiral Sir E. Belcher,
RN., Admiral Ommanney, R.N., Captains Symonds, Wil-
son, and Selwyn, R.N. ; Messrs. John and Wm. Du3geon,
the builders of the ship; Mr. 11. Wollaston Blake and Mr.
Langdon, of the firm of James Watt and Co., the manufac-
turers of her engines, and other gentlemen connected with
iron slapbuilding and marine engineering.,

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE LAWS OF MARRIAGE.
—The commissioners met yesterday at 82, Abingdon-
street. There were present—Lord Chelmsford, Lord
Lyveden, the Right Hon. Spencer Horatio Walpole, M.P.,
Right Hon. the Lord Justice Clerk of Scotland, the Solicitor-
General for Scotland, Travers Twiss, Esq., and John Fraser
3thicqueen, Esq., Q.C., secretary. Professor linirhead and
Professor Norman Macpherson (both of the University of
Edinburgh) gave evidence.

The anniversary festival in aid of the funds of
bolieiresd whoseto provide
ov ide
this institution was celebrated last evening at the
Freemasons"favern, Great Queen-street, Lin-
coln's-inn-fields. Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P., took
the chair, supported by a large number of
gentlemen connected with the railway interest, and
is
namesforatrhe eknneoc:ns
ittoi i
ebseofth e m associatedenmmeirtsh,
objects of benevolence. The institution was esta-
orphans, children, and
widows of the railway offi-
cers and servants of the United Kingdom. The
Chairman, in
proposing the toast of " The Army,
Navy, and Volunteers," said the services were much
indebted for their ffi. • e ciency to the railway system
throughout the country
• lie remembered it having
been stated at a railway• - inquiry that whereas it
once took nine days and many marches to bring a
regiment from Manchester to Lon
don it could now
be accomplished in a few hours. In reference to the
navy railways had proved a most valuable boon, in-
asmuch as through their shipsagency
_, could bemuch
more quickly served with stores and ammunition •
and it might be truly said that the volunteers sere
unteers were
greatly benefited by the facilities they derived from
the operations of the railway system. The toast
,was responded to by Lord Harris. The Chairman,
in proposing the toast of the evening, " Prosperity
to the Railway Benevolent Institution," observed
that 41r. Tigot...
raltin the course of his official
duties told him—amd tlere could be no higher au-
thority—that this railway institution was one of an
excellent character, and although he had not certi-
fied it, as it did not come under the legal definition '
of a friendly society, he was an earnest supporter of
it, and he believed it was calculated to confer great
benefit upon the classes for whom it was estab-
fished. Upwards of 160,000 persons composed the
general body of the working men on the railways
of this country. The public had a deep interest in
the well-being and contentment of those who bad
the practical management of the railway traffic of
the country, and in their being a faithful,
vigilant, and well-conducted class of men,
because upon them depended not only the safety of
the lives of a great portion of the people of this
country, but also the management and regular car-
rying on of the commercial traffic of the kingdom.
Since the year 1834 the railway companies had been
compelled to pay £135,000 in the shape of compen-
sation for injuries done to travellers, and it was
difficult to say who could have a greater interest in
carrying on the passenger traffic than the directors
and managers themselves. He was, therefore, not
prepared to advocate any measure for transferring
the powers of those directors to any other authority.
It was a fact which testified to the zeal and vigi-
lance of the railway servants, that out of 220,000,000
of single passengers in the year 1864 there were only
15 deaths of passengers, while there were 103 rail-
way servants killed while in the performance of their
duties and between 70 and 80 injured. It was
therefore most important that such a class should be
provided for, and the railway companies themselves
ought to take a prominent part in supporting the
Railway Benevolent Institution. The secretary an-
nounced that the subscriptions amounted to up- 1
wards of £B7O.

The International Horticultural Exhibition.

--s-

In three weeks' time a pretty and busy scene will
be again enacting on the ground that in 1862 was
teeming with the life and clatter of the second great
exhibition of industrial products ; a small portion of
that soil which has bine() been so long lying idle and
unfruitful will become, for a little while, green with
verdure and bright with beautiful flowers, brilliant
with a fashionable crowd. In the midst of a barren
desert of building refuse this garden of a few spring
days' duration is
„Inwß;iNFALreEll„tP .9,Asbrird-w=
houses of modern displays, is doonianish mike
a vision and leave not a trace behind.

On a strip of that classic ground where the world's
workers four years since brought their wares will
horticulturists on the 22d of this month bring their
flowers and fruits, their rare trees, plants, and shrubs,
and commoner but more useful vegetables. For four
spring days only this oasis in the desert of South
Kensington will last under its huge canvas tent, or
rather booth, of seven long parallel galleries, orbays,
each from 30 to 45 feet wide and 25 to 30 feet in
height, covering a space of 562 feet in length by 393
feet in breadth, or about 163,000 feet superficial--
an area in English land measure of 31 acres, and re-
quiring 38,000 yards of canvas three-quarters of a
yard wide to roof it. Of this space 65,000 ft. super-
ficial will be appropriated for the general arrange-
ment of plants, and 10,000 for orchids and other
tender plants ; this part will be heated with hot
water by Ormson's multitubular boiler; connected
with 1500 ft. of piping. For single specimens and
specialities, such as tree-ferns, palms, &e., 24,000 ft.
will be set apart ; 14,000 ft. will be devoted to the
refreshment-rooms and offices, leaving 50,000 ft. clear
for promenades, a sufficient amount to accommodate
15,000 persons at a time, a number that is not likely
to be exceeded, as the Horticultural Society's gar-
dens will be opened to the visitors, and into them
there will be a direct communication from the inter-
national show. As three fine bands are engaged to
play there throughout the afternoons the attraction
of their music will naturally tend to keep up a cir-
culation of the visitors through the exhibition. In
the Western Arcade of the Horticultural Gardens,
a display will be made of implements, fencings, mo-
dels of hot-hones, green-houses, and other appara-
tus connected with the practice of the gardening art,
and this will also tend to relieve the great tent of
anything like a stationary crowd, so that altogether
comfort and convenience seem amply provided for.
The framework is constructed of wood entirely, and
the erection will have no pretensions to architec-
tural display. It consists of mere upright pillars
with struts and ties supporting and bracing to-,
gether the rafters of the roofing, and is therefore
of the simplest nature ; but we shall be disap-
pointed if it does not prove very effective for
the protection of the flowers and the convenient
ventilation of the arena. Nor will it be, though
simple, unsightly ; the plan adopted of colouring the
framework of a bluish neutral tint will take away
the rafter-like look of the roof, and as the light
comes subdued through the canvas there will be a
tendency in these long bays to assume a general grey
atmospheric-like background that will permit the
banks and parterres of flowers and trees to show
themselves off to the best advantage. 'The design
was furnished by Mr. Unite, the contractor, and de-
serves credit for its unostentatiousness. The interior
is being laid out in banks and mounds of grass-
Covered earth, variously disposed around a
dcentral
in Regent's-parks and
amphitheatre, like what we are accustoiTeon y
OD
at the Botanic Society
an incomparably larger scale.
banks, and artificial irregularitti
ad-
vantage of shutting off the
particular
isolating each
each other, and localising NV 'These
hilea:r/ 7I
displaysaN have th the
fromkw around a foun-
group of objects,
from a raised platform of roc
while the visitor on entering will,
into a broad pool, be able
awholefiowingfield
to gaze of the exhibition, and
obtainii and e
a splendidaßde
t' n of the tout ensemble of
the display
and its accompanying scenes. This plan
t overeathe
realisation
the emanates from •
Gibson, whose
shlfoMrabours at the Battersea and Victoria-Parks are
familiar to all. During the exhibition special trains
will be provided by the committee to take their dis-
tinguished foreign guests to Ij(neawu,guerlaelve d
banquete n, anisd
other interesting places. The
arranged to take place at the Guildhall but we
cannot help thinking that the great tent itself would
have proved more convenient, profitable, and ap-
propriate. The expenses will be considerable, the
structure will certainly not cost_ less than £3,000,
and the artificial arrangements within it will pro-
bably take at least half as much more, to which

The China left Alexandria on the 19th nit., Malta
on the 23d, and Gibraltar on the 27th. Strong head
winds and high head seas were experienced between
Alexandria and Malta ; thence to Gibraltar mode-
rate and high winds and fine weather ; to Cape
Finisterre light southerly winds and swell ; across
the Bay of Biscay fresh north-easterly winds, with
high head sea, squally weather, and rain ; and in the
Channel line weather with light easterly winds.
On the morning of the 27th a telegram was re-
ceived in Gibraltar of the wreck of the British steamer
Nile on Trafalgar Reef on the night of the 26th.
The China stood in to within two miles of the reef
on the evening of the 27th, and observed the steamer
on shore, lying with her head to the S.E., quite
sws,arnf was
ds
ee
iag
no
up-
right, but apparently settled down on the reef with
mast and funnels standing; no boats visible. A
heavy
er u
breakingperarsoonunodn andbboard
rodv, e
theherr c a.
pS it
agi
n-
nalled and offered
assistance, but receiving no
an
of the China supposed her to be
ceeded on his course.
On the 26th ult. the China spoke the schooner
Lancashire Witch, from the Canaries to
Genoa • off
Gibraltar, the schooner Fruiter, bound to the west-
ward ; and on the 28th the screw steamer Munster,
standing to the southward and eastward.
Her Majesty's ships Victoria, Hibernia, Caledonia,
Royal Oak, Phoebe, Racer, and Psyche were at
Malta ; and the Skylark and R.edpole at Gibraltar.
The Terrible, Capt. Napier, six days from Malta,
arrived at Gibraltar on the 24th lilt., and having
embarked invalids and time-expired men, left for
England at 7.20 a.m. on the 26th. The storeship
Supply, Master Commander Bawden, six days from
Plymouth Sound, arrived at Gibraltar on the 23d,
and left for the eastward on the 25th. The gun-
boat Icarus left for the westward on the morning
of the 21st.

The British steamer Roma, Capt. T. Livingstone,
10 days from Glasgow, for Tunis and Malta, arrived
at Gibraltar on the- 21st; the Limerick, Capt. H.
Spuring, 16 days from London and 1i from Lisbon,
for Toulon, on the 22d ; the lonia, Capt. W. J.
Tutt, 8 days from Liverpool, for Palermo, on the
23d ; and the Sandi, Capt. D. Ross, 11 days from
Glasgow and 11- from Lisbon, for Cagliari, on the
23d. The brigantine Shepherdess, from Middles..
borough ; the brigantine Emily Burnyeat, from
Newport ; and the bark Umgene, from Liverpool,
arrived at Gibraltar on the 24th. '

The brig Amphion, Capt. J. Connell, which ar-
rived at Gibraltar on the 25th ult. from Cardiff;
reported having met with, on the morning of the
4th, off the Bristol Channel, a derelict vessel, sup-
posed to be a ship, with mizenmast gone, being
under a lower fore topsail, foresail flying in ribands,
rudder unshipped, and stripped of all rope and other
material. Donkey engine and galley complete, with
part of name " Tress." The Amphion could not
take her in tow, the weather being squally. She
was laden with teak timber.

The latest quotations of exchange at Gibraltar
were as follows :—London, 90 days' date, 49+;
Paris, ditto, sf. 23c. ; Marseilles, 8 day_sl.sight-__Bf,
t ditto, 4 dis. ; Seville, ditto, to dis.; Malaga,
, ditto, fl dis. ; Barcelona, ditto. 1 dis. Premium on
5f.-pieces, 13- to 14 per cent., in demand.
The Spanish screw frigate Navas de Tolosa, which
has been prepared to convey the newly-appointed
Capt.-General(LdTeridijAtiojetee Htoaveamnnbaahrk, left
Cadiz ou the 22
Excellency.

The Spanish screw sloop Concordia, with the
Chili= bark Alice Ward in tow as a prize, arrived
at Cadiz, after a passage of 18 hours from Algesiras,
on the 22d ult. The crew of the bark were landed
on the 24th, and remained detained. Both vessels
are stated to have subsequently left for Carraca,
where a formal investigation would be entered upon.
In reference to this capture the Gibraltar Chronicle
of the 24th ult. says : •

" The Chilian bark Alice Ward, which on the 20th of
February last sought refuge in, this port from the danger
of capture by Spanish cruisers, and has been lying here
ever since, has fallen into the hands of her enemies in a
singular manner. Between midnight on Saturday and
daylight on Sunday morning she dragged her anchor, and,
the wind being east, drifted out of British waters and
across the Bay till her anchors again brought her up in
Spanish waters between the two rivers, and she was quietly
taken possession of by the boats of the Spanish gunboat
anchored in Orange Grove Bay. There are a variety of
trbuemnoturs
iulafflurmoatarteiesricstitnhgatthuoe
contained
denicen
occurrence, but
tdtehpeosiotniolyns of
au-
the second mate, who was in charge of the vessel at tho
time, the master being on shore, and of a boy on board the
Alice Ward. These two left the vessel in a small boat when
the Alice Ward was in the middle of the bayu,foanrtei(:l,inpbu,tyt._lhliiaetod
sucho over
i.
to this side. It appears from the mate's statement that he
went to his berth at half-past 10, leaving orders that he should
be called if anything particular happened. One look-out
man, relieved at intervals of onewohfaaosutuhydr,afindad2ino mginthuatets,sfhoermweads
the night watch. The Alice Ward was lying in four fathoms
of water, riding at a single anchor with 30 fathoms of chain
veered out. About 3 o'clock the look-out man called R the
mate, saying he thought the ship was adrift. The mate im-
mediately went on deck, and his own observation confirming
the man's report, he turned out all hands, veered out 50
fathoms of chain to the port anchorbywhich the vessel had
been riding, let go the starboard anchor with 60 fathoms of
chain, and tried to find bottom with the lead and 20
fathoms of line, but without success. The extra chain
did not cause the anchors to hold, and the vest:seslela
con-
tinued to drift. As the mate supposed the vessel
and
this time to be about half way between Gibraltaron
this
A lgesiras, she must have drifted far from the bank
I,
her anchors
side, and there was, therefore, no chanbocews
the mate dis-
covering bottom. On looking over the
covering a Spanishguardacosta row-this
boat were (=min-
-18 men and 14 oars. The p
ing the sides of the ship
thewit vessel was in, tho reply from
itbnhyge the:
sp
perhaps,
materm h pa .pl vs , i whathatt
a water
l 1
esrt
cohht
v vessel,piei
ship
.:7how and I a lesa t ihw;leeervnnsme:pr t;yaa
ylo rdOfi
suppose,
esenuwhelpab emgunboatpotwater,Paeirnsegv-
,ialnathswekeaai
aertnnnheddl-
johespanish. The scampavia after this
direction
aid of her lanthorns, had ascer-
tainedcyahh the Spanish Government had or-
deredpthullate the waters were
hastened to give the hohe:reG dhtdthAoi the
jaai
at
iw
aenhanbt ykal her crew,
mieicrtncE°ei
larwwol the
011 which
begitt
lowatched,ck,
intelli-
gence to the gunboat believed to be charged with that ser-
vice.no Spanish boat being alongside
e second
pulled
ovmateover
t ando
Gibraltar. a 5
~
lib.
taoyil is known
got.aznka
.n
variable
),r,i
iwn.
Iv.
htnoel
ntsdhhsei ship'sship
cause or
smallin bosigahtt,anthd
con-
tinued to drift until her anchor brought her up in the shoal
water on the opposite side. At daylight she was seen riding
at anchor between the two rivers ; at about a quarter be-
fore 6 boats from the Spanish gunboat in Orange-grove
Sly boarded her, and shortly afterwards the Spanish flag
was hoisted over the vessel. There is nothing iu all this
to cause any surprise except the circumstance of the ves-
sel's dragging her anchor when it was not blowing bard;
although there were occasionally stiff squalls from theeeuas ,
and when all the other ships in the bay lay securealyueenxuegh
avuesdseelsbbt o o
swing f theep orvn tideoeust
snhedel andand
at their anchorage The cause of the u
the an):
tion in the case of the Alice Ward
is
beeissie; had been thorities of the port to be this rid-
ing:—
some time at a single anchor.
a practice in this mrt is nttcnr!ci w'l c:
bl- .1. y
thecoha iven calms
SI
itheirgohrte s anchors.
puff of
wind The chain
fouls the anchor, and then
chain brings the anchor out of the
drags. Curiously enough, precisely
appened. to the Alice Ward
gritnhgeousnaa
idn,setarnaa dione the
tso an Italian bark, the Colum-
bia,
to the Spanish shore. Such an accident,
and drifted over
importance to any other vessel, has proved
which in a moderate east. wind dragged her anchor
occurred a fewili'dednatytshaatghoa
which has drifted into the hands
of
fatal
t a
io
au gnthoattoihofnesacinhealinlileanyb7k,