The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-07-23 00:00:00

CAPTAIN WARNER'S EXPERIMENT.

The great interest which has been excited, not only
amongst naval men but amongst the public at large, by
the declaration of Capt. Warner that he was prepared to
prove by experiment his discovery of a new power which
would instantaneously destroy the largest vessel afloat,
naturally caused an enormous attendance in Brighton on
Saturday. After several delays it had finally been deter-
mined that the great event should come offthat afternoon.
Mr. Somes, the eminent shipbuilder, having generously
made a present of the barque John o'Gaunt, a vessel of
between 300 and 400 tons, tor the purpose of testing the
new power, the devoted vessel was brought to Shoreham
on Wednesday last, and remained moored off that town,
within sight of the promenaders on the Brighton Chain
Pier.

Between 30,000 and 40,000 persons were pres?nt, in-
chiding a very large number of the nobility, and other
highly respectable and scientific persons.
It had been agreed by Lord Ingestre, other officers, and
Captain Warner that the latter should hoist a Union Jack
at the mast-head of the steamer when he was ready to
operate, and keep that signal flying until those on shore
should hoist a Union Jack from the flagstaff on the bat-
tery, at any time which they chose to select, which would
be replied to by Captain Warner hauling down his signal,
and then immediately the operation would take place.
The Sir William Wallace having let go the tow line, re-
turned-abreast of the John O'Gaunt for a few moments,
but for what, purpose we could not discover ; she then
took up her position about a quarter of a mile ahead of
the ship, while the Tees went rather further astern. Cap-
tain Warner's signal had been flying some time before it
was answered from the battery, and then arose another
delay in consequence of some adventurous persons in a
small cutter, in spite of the presence of the Tees, and of
two armed revenue cutters besides, to keep off intruders,
going close alongside the ship. Captain Warner hauled
the Union Jack half-way down only when the cutter
and its foolhardy occupants were out of danger.
The Union Jack was then hauled down entirely.
Every one now felt that the grand crisis had arrived.
Every eye was directed to the scene of operations, and in
less than five minutes afterwards the explosion took place.
The instrument of destruction, whatever it was, seemed
to strike the vessel amidships; for, from that point a huge
column of water, in which was intermingled some of the
he inndgi
lceulaof which her ballast was composed, shot up per
rly into the air higher than her highest topmast;
shingle
her mizen went by the board, her mainmast, a new one,
was shot clean out of her like a rocket ; she heeled over
to port to an angle of 45 degrees, and her main hatchway
being open, daylight was visible through her bottom tim-
bers on her starboard side, and probably her larboard also,
having been blown away, and she seemed io part asunder
as she went down, leaving nothing perceptible but the top

'of her foremast. The time which passed from her being
struck and her sinking could not h ,re exceeded two mi-
nutes and a half. Some few of the more enthusiastic spec-
tators, chiefly professional men, raised a cheer, but with
the mass all was mute astonishment. The eyes were rivet-
ted on the last observable fragment of the large object that
but the moment before floated gallant on the waters
"like a thing of life." The expression on the counte-
nances of the multitude generally seemed to say—What
was it ? An illusion ? A dream ? A magical trick ? A
work of destruction so sudden, so frightful, so srupendous,
appeared impossible for a moment even to the thousands
and tens of thousands that witnessed it. I', was like an
awful mystery. There were none of the ordinary circum-
stances which accompany similar catastrophes. There
was no smoke, there was no fire, there was no noise, save
the low groan of the rending timbers, and the succeeding
hush of the waters as they rolled over the instantaneous
wreck, and then arose a melancholy freling, for it was
impossible to prevent the imagination depicting the ter-
rible effects of such an explosion upon a peopled ship,
thus silently and suddenly perishing. To convey the
effect in words is difficult—extremely difficult. Language
is inadequate for the description ; it cannot flow last
enough, and a single sentence is too long to tell the
tale. It was like a dissolving view. At one instant you
see the tall ship riding proudly on the waves ; at the next
she is enveloped in the elements of her perdition ; ano-
ther moment only, and her shattered limbs are engulphed
in the deep!
Many a one loitered on the shore pondering over a sight
more wonderful than any they had beheld before, how-
ever strange. It was the only topic of conversation with
high and low, gentle and rude. Several persons went off
in boats to have a closer inspection of the grave of the
luckless vessel. The boatmen picked up fragments of
the debris, which they hawked about the town and sold
as relics to the curious. During the night the greater
portion of the wreck was carried away, and on the follow-
ing morning nothing could be seen but the foremast
standing a little above the water, the only monument of
the lost ship. The depth of the water where she sank was
about 35 feet.

Capt 'in Warner was asked to permit a few gentlemen
to be with him, but they were not permitted ; the answer
was, that if one were permitted ten would desire the same
favour; and if ten, a thousand; that would be most con-
venient. Again, it was said, " Were you to go, you
might come away as wise as you went; for, if any agent
of destruction were hidden in the ship, it might be under
the ballast, or in fifty places, of which you and a hundred
other persons would never dream." But the experiment
itself is esteemed by the captain's friends as the best an-
swer, for say they, the agent of destruction was palpably
applied externally; had there been a magazine on board
or within her, the effects would have been very different,
and her deck would have been blown up, which was not
the case; her deck did not burst until she was sinking,
and then in the usual manner when ships are suddenly
submerged.

Some persons conjectured that the instrument of de-
struction was conveyed from the steamer to the ship by
means of a rope. We used a strong telescope, but saw
no rope but the tow-line, which, when let go, hung loosely
over her larboard bow. Others thought that the agent
being attached to a line was suffered to float with the tide
against the ship, and that then the line being pulled let
off a trigger and produced the explosion. More scientific
individuals imagine an eletrical battery to have been used;
others, an air-gun ; others, that a substance is put to float
without any guide on the water; others, that a subma-
rine shell is sent in the direction of the ship's bottom.
But though every body was watching, and watching nar-
rowly, with all the aid that optical instruments could
afford them, the mode of operation is, we believe, still as
profound a secret to the world as before this public expe-
riment.
It is useless, therefore, to attempt to tell what we do
not know. But one thing is clear,—Captain Warner is
in possession of a marvellous engine of destruction ; and
though it may be regarded by some persons as a horrible
invention, if it become known it may be taken as a har-
binger of universal peace. A war carried on with such
agency would be indeed a war of extermination—a war of
extermination to both parties, and therefore useless. Of
necessity, then, men should appeal to reason and not to
violence.