The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-29 00:00:00

'lf k 8U N, LuND (MI I' It II) Nv

District Court, Nottingham. Harris, official assignee,
Nottingham ; Clare, Liverpool; Knight, Birmingham.
SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS.
Neil Maccallnrn, drysalter, Glasgow.
Allan Forbes, flesher, Dunfermline.
Witliani Wight, builder, Kilmarnock.John Greig, baker, Tolbooth-wynd, Leith.
John and Samuel Macbeth, furnishing ironmongers,
Aberdeen.
Warren and Company, merchants, Glasgow and London,

BANK OF
A Account pursuant to the Act
the Week ending on Saturda:

ENGLAND.
7th and Bth Victoria, cap 32, fo
r, the 23d day of May, 1887.
ASTILTZT. _

I/803 DEP.

Notes issued ........ 23,533,315

Government debt.... 11,015,100
Other securities...... 3,469,500
Gold coin and bullion 9,058,315
Silver bu11i0n........ -

4,--.
£23,533,315

£23,533,315
E. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier

Died the 28th day of May, 185
BANKING DE'

PAZTMENT.

Proprietors' capital .. 14,553,000
Rest
Public deposit F (in-
cluding Exchequer,
Commissioners of
National Debt, Sav-
ing's Banks, and
Dividend Accounts) 5,555,566
,ther deposits .. 9,084,620
-cyst' Day and other

Governmentsecnrities

(includg•DeadWeitllit
Annuity) .......... 10 326,131
Other securities...—. 17,668,848
Notes • • 4,501,835
Gold and silver coin.. 746,512

111113•• •• •• •• .• •• 4. 694,333

£33,243,326 I X 33,243,326
M. MARSHALL, Chief uaaiatet
Dated the 23th day of May, Isa.

AVERAGE PRICE OF SUGAR.

The Average Price of Brown or Muscovado Sugar, com-
puted from the returns made in the week ending May
26, 1857, exclusive of the Duties of Customs paid or
pvable thereon, on the importation thereof into Great
Britain : s• d•
From the British Possessions in America 44 2.}

'::,a.val, aild .IY.lll)V4i.y Ilitelli4eLki:e.

Yesterday a telegraphic despach was received at
Chatham by Col. E. A. Parker, Commandant of
the Pv)val Marine;' directing a detachment of that
corps to embark at Sheerness, on board the Aga-
memnon, 21, for the purpose f filling up casualties.
On receipt of the order the detachment left Chat-
ham for Sheerness. _ _

The new cement mills which have been con-
structed at Chatham Dockyard having been com-
pleted, are now being fitted with their machinery.
The mills consist of two buildings, each 122 feet in
length and 35 feet wide, and adjoin the convicts'
workshops, which are now completed and occupied
by the convicts who follow various trades. The
workshops are 240 feet in length and 30 feet wide,
and provide accommodation for several hundred
convicts. Among the other buildings which have
been erected at Chatham Dockyard is a large police
station, the old one having been taken down to
give additional space for the alterations and im-
provements which are being carried out at that es-
tablishment.
The Vesuvius, 6, paddle sloop, Captain Charles
Wise, arrived at Spithead from Plymouth yester-
day evening, and remains, with the Exmouth, 91,
screw, Capt. Eyree, C.B. ; the Colossus, 81, Capt.
Thompson ; the Malacca, 17, Capt. Farquhar ; the
Brisk, 14, Commander elutes ; the Devastation,
6, Commander Marshall ; the Rolla, 6, Lieut. Nel-
son ; the Sealark, 6, Lieut. Lowther ; the Snake,
4, Commander Commerell ; snd the Volcano, 2,
Master Commander Hockley.
The Melville, 72, hospital ship, Commander Trol-
lope, was taken into dock again yesterday at Ports-
mouth, being still leaky ; this is the third time of
docking during this outfit. When she will he ready
for the 23d Fusilet.rs, or to go to China, at this rate,
no one can foresee.
The news of the less of her Majesty's fine 50-gun
sailing frigate Raleigh, under the command of Com-
modore the Hon. H. Keppel, was telegraphed to
Portsea yesterday afternoon, and on its dissemina-
tion caused the saddest excitement ; she was a noble
ship, and most admirably officered and manned ;
she was commissioned on the 17th of September last
as the senior officer's ship for the India station.
The freight ship Euphrates has been taken up by
Government to ship 14 tons of ammunition from
the Ordnance stoics at Woolwich for Algoa Bay.
The hired screw steam troopship Mauriiius, at
Deptford, is having her storeroom filled with artil-
lery supplies from Woolwich for Hong Kong ; and
the Runnymede freightship, of heavy tonnage, also
at Deptford, is embarking a similar cargo for the
same destination. The guns, shot, shell, and other
heavy portions of the cargoes are hoisted into a
number of barges alongside the wharves at Wool-
wich Arsenal by the hydraulic cranes, and are con-
veyed up the river for shipment on board at Dept-
ford, where the vessels are taking in victualling
stores for the army and navy in China. The freight
ship Fortitude, in the London Decks, is also em-
barking Ordnance supplies for Ceylon. The Earl
ofMar and Kellie freight-ship, having completed her
cargo of engineering implements, with 310 tons of
Tower and victualling stores, Arc., for Hong Kong
is to sail to-day from Woolwich.
The Ordnance sloop Somerset has arrived at
Woolwich, and commenced discharging her cargo,
which consists of guns and general war stores from
Portsmouth.
The screw steamer Balaklava, Captain William
Peilatt, in the special service of the Military Store
Department of Woolwich, arrived there yesterday
morning laden wit h 50 carronaties from Portsmouth,
and 400 tons of returned war stores, bedding, cloth-
ing, &c., from the East. She made a remarkably
quick passage from Portsmouth to Woolwich—
namely, in 22i hours.

TEE AMERICAN STEAM CORVETTE

" IVIAGARA."

The visit of the American steam corvette Niagara
to this country has excited considerable public at-
tention, which has been increased by the fact of its
occurring almost simultaneously with a spirited de-
bate in the House of Gunmons in which steamships
of war were contrasted with ;hose of sailing ships,
and the uses of large ships with ,hose of small. A
few considerations, suggested by a visit to this le-
viathan ve,sel, will not, therefere, be inappropriate
particularly as non-professional persons are liable to
be misled by indiscriminate statements respecting
the proportions of a new ship, the sizes of her guns
and the weight of the shot or shell which they are
designed to throw. To prevent misapprehension
upon these points, and to aid the public in estimst-
ing the merits of such a ship as theNiag,,ra, we shall
make reference to some of the new class ships of our
own service, and compare her withthem. Thecompa-
rison will, we think, show that our own naval ad-
ministrators have but little to learn from our Ame-
rican brethren, either in foreseeing future require-
ments, or in adapting the structure and armament
of their ships to such requirements.
The Niagara is a vessel 345 feet long over all,
55 feet in extreme breadth, and when equipped for
sea, will draw 26 feet of water. Her burden is
upwards of 5,000 tons. Her armament is to com-
prise 12 11-inch guns on Dahlgren's principle, and
these are to fire shells. She is propelled by engines
having three cylinders (3 feet in diameter and of
3 feet stroke, each engine being complete iu itself,
and capable of working without the others. Her
propeller is 18 feet 3 inches in cliameer, and is
provided with means for varying the pitch, being
at present set to a maximum pitch of 32 feet. She
is said to have attained a speed of 13 knots per
hour under full steam power ; but if we set it down
at 12 knots, we shall probably do her more than
justice ; for when she was tried at New York she
attained no more than 11 knots.
Before proceeding further, we may state that the
Niagara is, without exception, the ugliest ship of
war we have ever seen. On visiting her at Grave-
send we approached her on the bow, and looked in
vain for a single beauty of form about her. Her
bow appeared to be one great plane, and her side
another, the two being very differently inclined, of
course, and breaking into each other with a harsh,
sudden curve, on which the light struck so sharply
that it produced a positively painful impression.
Besides this, the shade lies so deeply along her
long flat side, that she seems actually to narrow
in midships, where she should, of course, be
broadest. Further, she has no knew of the
head whatever, but an almost upright stem,
and consequently lacks altogether that ap-
pearance of haste and eagerness which cha-
racterises a vessel with a long and graceful
knee. Her sheer is enormous and im-
presses one against his will with the feeling
that her constructor expected her to break or " hog"
greatly, and made allowance for the change. Nor
does she convey any sense of excessive magnitude
when viewed externally, although, when you have
bearded her, and look away from ono end of her
spar-deck to the other, it is difficult to realise the
fact that you have but a 12-gun corvette before you.
We do not over rate these defects of form, but
having so often admired, and justly admired, the
real beauty of many of our meta-of-war, we could
not refrain from mentioning them.
We pass on, however, to other considerations ;
for a war ship may be very efficient and very terri-
ble, notwithstanding any extent of ugliness. But
before we discuss her armament, we will quote from
an article on the Niagara,. in the Journal of the
Franklin Institute (America,n), contributed bye very
well informed writer, the following remarks, which,
so far as we observed, appear to be accu-
rate :—" Her coal bunker capacity will," he says,
" only be about sufficient for 12 days' full steaming,
if so much. Her capacity for stores is so much
below what it should be, that her water-tanks are
constructed to fit down to the bilges, filling the
space be, ween the keelsons (which it is essential
should be left open and arranged for easy cleaning
in warm climates.) When the ship was commenced,
100 ft. was given up to the engines, boilers, and
coal-bunks ; but since her internal capacity has
been found so small, 7ft. of this space has been
aken off, which has reduced the coal capacity to a
very low point for her power. On the berth deck
the officers' quarters are very roomy, and occupy a
large portion of it ; while the forward part, devoted
to the crew, will (considering the number that oc-
cupy it) be found very small.
certain that the constructor of the Niagara
finds many things overlooked, and hence
the difficulty of finding room for all she
has to carry." These are important conside-
rations, and will have the greatest weight in
influencing the judgments which intelligent men
will pronounce upon the ship.
We now come to the armament of this unique
engine of war. All the size, all the engine power,
,nfl all the sailing power of this Niagara • will have
but the one object of sustaining, and carrying about
at a high speed twelve great shell guns. This is the
purpose for which she is made of 5,000 tons dis-
placement, and of enormous length, breadth,
depth, and steam power, and has (or is to have) a
crew of 750 men. The question arises—is the end
worthy of the means ?
Now, in our own navy we have two new classes
of steam-ships--frigates, which carry guns on both
the spar and the main decks. The first of these
comprises the Emerald, the Liffey, the Shannon,
kc., each of about 3,700 tons displacement—two-
hirds of that of the Niagara ; and each manned
with 560 men—nearly 200 less than the Niagara
cirries. These vessels have on the main deck 30
8-inch guns ; and on the upper deck 20 32-pound-
ers, and 1 68-pounder. Tne mean sped of the
Shannon, ascertained by trial, in Stokes' Bay, on
the 4th June, 1856, was nearly 12 knots (accurately
11.8 knots) per hour. They draw, when fully