The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 23, 1850.

IRON VESSELS FOR WAR
• PURPOSES.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Six,—ln the recent exprirr.ents at Portsmouth, to
ascertain whether iron vessels are suited to the pur-
poses of war, it has bean shown that vessels con-
structed of iron are not, at any rate, adapted to an
armament of cannon. But the experimental results
afford no proof of iron vessels being unfit to carry
out a mode of destruction that eventually will come
into operation, in which cannon and projectiles must,
to a great extent, be superseded by the employment
of vastly more effective engines—submarine explo-
sive shells.

Steam-vessels will, in the general application of
these destructive engines, be required. Vessels for
such service should possess the greatest attainable
speed ; and though they would by choice attack under
the cover of the darkness of the night, they should,
nevertheless, be so constructed as to be rendered suf-
ficiently shot-proof to insure protection to their
crews and machinery, in the event of being com-
pelled to attack, at close quarters, a heavily-armed
ship of the line in the light of day; they should for
a bke reason be upon the screw-propelling principle.
These requisites can, perhaps, be better attained in
vessels constructed of iron than those built of wood ;
for iron vessels are well adapted to the screw, and
they can be easily fitted with water-tight bulkheads,
extending from stern to stern and from deck to bot-
tom, making the vessels, as it were, double-sided;
the breadth between the sides and bulkheads should
be such as, when the enclosed space is stuffed com-
pactly with cotton or wool, to offer so much resist-
ance to projectiles as to prevent them from reaching
the machinery and men snugly ensconced below deck.
The space between the bulkheads and sides should
be divided into a convenient number of compart-
ments, also water-tight; in the deck, over each com-
partment, should be a scuttle, down which to pass
empty water-tight wooden cases, as a ground tier,
and over these to be stowed compactly and close up
to the deck the resisting material; the stowage so
completed, the scuttles should be secured and bat-
tened down. In the event of a shot entering so as to
rip open the vessel below the water-line, no great
quantity of water could flow into the vessel, by reason
of the compartments being < already occupied ; the
buoyancy of the vessel would not, therefore, be sen-
sibly diminished nor her trim affected.
Such an arrangement, it may be observed, would
much interfere with the stowage of equipments ; but
it must be borne in mind that speed is desirable, and
as the steamer would require but very few hands,
just sufficient only to navigate her, they would Deed
no great space for accommodation and provisions ;
the available stowage would, therefore, be mostly for
fuel and magazine room to store about a hundred
shells, sufficient to destroy as many vessels. So
loaded, the steamer would not be brought down in the
water to a depth detrimental to her speed.
Though the unfitness of iron vessels for the pur-
pose for which they were intended has been deter-
mined, it would nevertheless be well to ascertain by
experiment the capabilities of iron vessels to a change
in maritime warfare that will inevitably come into
operation upon the first rupture between mari-
time states ; a change in which, after all, the " iron
pots, with submarine infernals towing astern," may
prove very much more than a match for the wooden
walls bristling with cannon.
I am, Sir, &c.,
NA UTICUS.

Sept. 19.

CHRIsT'S HOSPITAL.

Saturday being St. Matthew's-day, the Great Hall
of Christ's Hospital, better known, perhaps, as the
Bluecoat School, was thrown open to the parents and
friends of the pupils, as well as to those, comprising
a large proportion of the citizens, who take a deep in-
terest in this munificent charity, the noble monument
of the piety of Edward VI. The doors were opened
at half-past twelve ; and from that hour the visitors
continued to assemble till past two, when upwards of
2,000 persons, chiefly ladies, were present, completely
tilling every vacant place in the superb old hall.
Soon after two o'clock the Lord Mayor, accompanied
by Mr. Alderman and Sheriff Lawrence and Mr.
Sheriff Nicoll, in their robes, and preceded by the
civic officers, entered the hall from the chapel, where
a sermon had been preached to the boys by the ltev.
Ur. Harris, one of the teachers of the City of Lon-
don School. They took their seats at the upper end
of the hall, immediately fronting the pupil:, who, in
their time-honoured costume, were assembled to the
number of about 700 in the organ-gallery. The
business of the day then commenced, which was
simply, in accordance with ancient custom, to hear
the recitations of some of the senior boys who were
about to leave school. The following was the order
of the orations :

Latin oration, on the benefits of the Royal Hos-
pitah—Alfred Sweeting, second Grecian, Mathe-
matical Medallist, 1850, and Pitt Club scholar, who
is proceeding to Pembroke College, Cambridge.
English oration, on the same subject—Charles
Spread Townsend, first Grecian, and Classical Me-
dallist, 1850, who is proceeding to Jesus College,
Cambridge.
Greek oration on the same subject—henry Charles
Pryce Jones, fourth Grecian, and Thompson Scholar,
who is proceeding to Worcester College, Oxford.
French oration on the same subject—Gilbert Wil-
son Brown, fifth Grecian.

Latin Alcaics on " Westminster Abbey"—Henry
Bawden Parkin, eleventh Grecian.
Greek lambics, translation of Prince Henry's
Apology, and the King's Reply—James Gill, third
Grecian, who is proceeding to Pembroke College,
Cambridge.

Latin S'apphics, on Boadicea—John George Gaunt-
lett, twelfth Grecian. _

Latin Elegiacs, on tho Death cf 11. R. 11. the
Duke of Cambridge—Richard Alfred Lloyd, tenth
Grecian.

Gre€k Sappbics, on Hannibal at the Altar—lienry
Dove Sweeting, eighth Grecian.
batin Hexameters, translation of Thomson's Apos-
trophe to Philosophy—George Charles Bell, seventh
Grecian.

The address-s were, upon the whole, well delivered
--several of them with much animation and grace.
In the four first, on the benefits of the Royal Hos-.
pitals, it was wonderful to observe the variety of
manner with which the youthful orators managed to
treat this necessarily lituitcd topic ; from the eulogy
on King Edward, in Mr. S weeting's Latin oration, to
the graceful tribute paid to the memory of the Duke
of Cambridge, in the English oration of Mr. Towns-
end. In the Latin verses on Westminster Abbey Mr.
Parkin happily introduced a touching allusion to the
memory of the late Sir Robert Peel, as taking. no
rattan place amidst the great and good whose ashes re-
pcse beneath that sacred pile.
At the conclusion of the recitations the boys sang,
with great precision and excellent effect, the National
Anthem ; after which the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs
left the Hall, on which the little fellows set up a shout
that made the roof of the building ring again, and
continued their cheering till the last of the visitors
had taken their departure.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
LATEST BETTING AT THE WEST END.

CEBAREWITCII STAKES.
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CANBRIDGESIIIRE STAKES.

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DERP.Y.
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