The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-03 00:00:00

4LIEIITti~.

A return has been issued of the number of certificates of
naturalisation issued to aliens by the Secretary of State for
the Home Department, under the provisions of the 7th and
Bth Victoria, c. 66, in each year, from 1854, stating the
countries to Which the aliens belonged. Another return
gives the names and description of aliens, who from
1857 have obtained from tho Legislature Acts of natu-
ralization, including the right of sitting in Parliament, and
being of her Majesty's Privy Council. They aro as follows :
—1849, Richard Tufton, Esq. (place of birth Verdun), and
Henry Tufton (an infant), son of the above ; 1858, Sir John
Emerick Edward Dalberg Acton, Bart. (of Naples); 1866,
Lieutenant Francis Willilrm Lowther, R.N., (of Genoa):
1867, Charles Conrad Adolphus Du Bois, commonly known
as Baron do Ferrieres (of Holland); Henry Louis Bischoff
shell]; banker, City of London, (of Holland); Panic)
Adolphus Lange, East India merchant, City of
London (of Holland); 1868, Hoary William Ferdinand
Bolckow, ironmaster, Middlesborough (of Sulten); and
Christian !Allhusen, merchant, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (o'
Kiel), whose bill will receive the Royal Assent next Com-
mission.

Tol

TIER MAJESTY.

PENSION WALLIS, LUCERNE, Aug. 31.
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Louise,
Princess Beatrice, and Prince Leopold, and attended
by the Marchioness of Ely, Colonel Ponsonl y,
drove out in the neighbourhood.

4 TIE,

'JIM' TO LAUNCH 711 E BERMLID;[
FLOATIAG DOCK.

Ycsterslay an abortive attempt was made to
launch this gigantic erection, the largest structure
intended to float that has ever been built since the
lays of the Great Eastern. It gave another illus-
E,ration of the difficulty of broadside launches, or, if
'lot this, it, beyond a doubt, gave indications that
the engineering was in fault somewhere. No effort
was sufficient to move the enormous mass. All
sorts of temporary devices were adopted, but ill
vain. Fresh efforts are intended to be made to-
day. Of these, however, there is little hope of
success, and it is much more probable that the
engineering and mechanical world will be at once
delighted and improved by such a process of shov-
ing the great hull into the water as that which the
Great Eastern underwent for near three months be-
fore she floated.
It is almost paradoxical to speak of the launch of
a dry dock. That, however, was the attempt made
yesterday. Our ironclad fleet require almost con-
stant docking, more especially when in warm
latitudes, where the sea grass grows unon their sides
and bottoms to a length of six or eight feet, and of
course tells fatally upon their speed when under
way. None of our colonial docks will take in great
ironclads like the Warrior or Minotaur, and, in-
deed, we have few docks at home which will suffice
for their extensive requirements. Floating docks
have therefore been constructed for their especial
accommodation, and the first of these, which is
called the Bermuda, and is meant for the Bermudas,
was attempted to be launched yesterday. There
are some vague ideas as to what floating dry, docks
are. A few words will suffice to explain their use
and structure. They are simply iron floats, made
in a horseshoe, or rather U, form. They are built
of iron, the inner and outer sides being at great dis-
tances apart, and the space between them being di-
vided into cellular compartments. These compart-
ments, when filled with water, allow the dock to
sink so low that any vessel, whether an ironclad
or a line-of-battle ship, can be placed upon it, and
then as the water is pumped out and air let in
both dock and vessel rise above the level of the
ocean—the former supporting the latter high and
dry, and ready for any repairs, even to her
keel. The dock attempted to be floated, or rather
launched, yesterday was of its kiwi peculiar.
was built on Mr. Campbell's patent, and at its
works near Silvertown, under the inspection of
Colonel Clarke, R.E. The size of it seems even
greater than the bulk of the Great Eastern, so vast
are its height and width. It is like a gigantic
vessel with its bows and stern cut off. Its length
is 381 feet, its breadth 124 feet, its heightb
75 feet. A thousand men have been at work 00
it for two years, and more than thres million
rivets have been driven. The whole weight of the
mass, with its ballast and water in it, is nearly 9,000
tons, and it is equal to floating nearly 12,000 tons.
Every vessel that floats, except the Great Eastern,
could be taken into this dock easily. The sides of
this great mass are built exactly parallel, except at
the extreme ends, where they taper a little to 0544
the whole structure being easily towed. The whole
hull is formed of two complete wrought-iron skins/
each 20 feet apart. The space between these bye
shells of iron is divided by a water-tight bulkhead,
and this again is sub-divided into three chambers
running fore and aft. The uppermost of these
subdivisions is called the " load " chamber, the
second the " balance" chamber, and the third the
"air" chamber. -When it is required to dock a shit),
the first operation is to pump the load chambers full.
For this purpose the dock is fitted with eight 10-
horse power engines, which can easily in the aggro'
gate be worked up to more than 200-horse power.
It takes eight hours, however, to till the load chain-
bus, and this is enough to sink the mass below the
level of the balance and the air chambers. Valves
in the outer skin can then be opened and enough
water admitted into the balance chambers to sinl‘
the dock low enough to let a vessel over it. r-rhe
ends are then closed with the usual caissons, and the
water pumped out of the great shell, and, of course'
as this is done it rises with the vessel, and sluice
doors in the caisson at the ends let the water ru°
out of the dock itself till the vessel in it is high and
dry. In short, it is in plain terms merely like letting
water into a double box till it almost sinks, awl
then pumping it out till it floats again. By filling
be
the chambers on either side the whole dock can
heeled over so as to bring every part of its boat/
in reach of easy and speedy repair. It was 108
stoutly maintained by those connected with the
works works thit had the dock once moved yesterday 1:
would have slid without check into the Thames'
This, however, was not the opinion of some of the
most experienced shipbuilders on the river, who 101 l
before the attempted launch began maintained 07.
the launching ways were laid at too slight au incliui
that there was too much pressure on them, and
~,
if the great hull did move at all it would probac
stop halfway. The opinion of most, however, seerae'Jct
to be that the dock would not move at all. The eve e
confirmed these conjectures. At the appointed lipid
half-past 1 o'clock, Mrs. Colonel Clarke came so'
named the dock ; the dogshores were knocked avilW
and the hydraulic presses set in action, but the huge
mass gave no sign of moving. At first the difficulty
was asserted to be only temporary, but mina
rolled on as the tide rolled out. The crew on beTbe
the dock were set to dance and stamp, while 0
t i
shipwrights below wedged and hammered, but
to
w
vain. The hydraulic rams were totally tusecluvi'„d,
their work. Improvised battering-rams were tlo;he
and almost every device resorted to to shake the
monstrous fabric on the launching ways, but beo
structure gave no sign of yielding. At last, 0
the tide had fallen too low, the attempts were gloatab
up till this day, when they will be resumed at
et
2 o'clock, though there is not the slightest pr°sPeor
of their being successful till a greater motive Pe_4o
is obtained than that of the two hydraulic Pl7ao
which have to start the cradle. The attempts. w_iiao
this day will show what is really in faalt—thell!ci to
of the launching ways or the power emplorortb
force the vessel down them. It is curious and sc der
laid
the that some of the launching ways used 11
at
this " dock" are stated to be the same, and lad est
the same incline as those over which it was attellitfltog
to launch the Northumberland, when she,
in a position of no little peril for some
i for
this case, however, the Bermuda Dock s better,
safe,
it has not moved at all, and, so far, it is quitevroeh
and safe it is certain to remain, unless, used
greater power than has yet been employed
to start it. too, 10
dais*

ik fait

lIORRINGE
mighteep hwaayse lbaergene,
R FAlR.—This important Suffor.
of
eaxnpaee ttehde,
sheep
sheep and lambs was held on Tuesday. The sll°lll u
tate,irt.
irtakquinaglitywa
which thedrogo
~
pastures wore reduced by the prolonged
The M • arquts of Bristol showed a good lot of SouthcloW'
Owes. A lot of 30 long-woolled shoarling rams Wier;
showntil by Mr. Hugh Aylmer, of West Derehatn, N,f')...-t- '
xtelse were sold by auction, and realised from .X. 5 lus. (1..
lib each. Some fine black-faced Suffolk ram lambs rag
used £2 10s. to £5 I Os. each. The show of neat stock ,t 1
about an average, but business was in a somewhat sla.r
account alsoof tbfieettr tha
gish state, the prospects of feed being still far from Pt's'
factory. The same remark applies to the general 000
trade. s.,inciai
SUN • T,
SUNDAY IN LEEDS.—On a recent Assize .-- „ad
in Leeds Mr. Baron Bramwell and Mr. Justice Lash vis",e,
the Exhibition, and for several hours enjoyed an iOrtbo
lion of the splendid art works their collected. 0❑
01...
slum Sunday Mr. Councillor Clapham gave a b'illd li3iell
formance of sacred hundreds theeeds Royal Park, sv,s si
clatelio
was attended by many or the NV Jrlcing
for which " offence" he was fined £5 and costs bY ,cii.
local magistrates. Mr. Clapham has issued a b:11 in
whi
beau
ho says that he has, during the present summer,ts for
compelled to pay £9l in fines (exclusive of 005l'eas
giving performances of sacred music ou Sundays'
Daily Exprtss.