The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1851-09-30 00:00:00

THE NEW CLIPPER SHIP RACER.

To those who casually visit our docks, or to those who
are interested in our commerce. it must be apparent that
Brother Jonathan, whether from the encouragement
given by our government or from his own natural " go-a-
head" principles, is daily progressing in the science of
nautical architecture. The various sea-board ports of the
United States, while vieing with each other, seem to have
enlisted some extraordinary inventive genius, and taxed
the abilities of their most skilful artizans to produce ships
which, though entirely new in form, possess all the cha-
racteristics required in rapid sailing, good carrying, and
comfortable craft. In ships, as in yachts, the American
builders seem determined to excel ; and, however reluc-
tantly, we must admit in the present depressed state of
our shipping interests, and the flourishing condition of
the mercantile marine of the United States, that it will
need a desperate effort for the builders of England to hold
their position. We may say with Cowper—

"Art thrives most,
When commerce has enriched the busy coast,
He catches all improvements in his flight
Spends foreign wonders in his country's sight,
Imports what others have invented well,
And stirs his own to match them or excel."
Our neighbours over the water seem to have abandoned
all old fashioned notions, and clipper ships are now all
the fashion. Indeed vessels that a year or less ago were
thought " crack craft" are sinking into insignificance
before rising fleets. This is fully instanced in the clipper
ship Racer, which arrived here on her first passage last
week, and as some little interest has been excited by her
appearance we will briefly describe her peculiar properties.
The Racer is about 1650 tons register ; her keel is 200
feet long, and over all, having little or no fore rake, she
is about 207 feet. Her extreme beam is 42 feet 6 inches.
Her depth of hold 28 feet. With these dimensions the
climax of sharpness is_ fully attained,—for in fact she is

" all head and tail." Her bow, with a stem " bolt up-
right," is after the steam-boat fashion, and is carried in
beautiful round lines to nearly "amidships," when, with-
out an inch of straight or hollow planking, her run,
" clean as the tail of a dolphin," is so fashioned that she
cannot fail to " hold on." Her general appearance having
a round "counter," is extremely similar to that of the
yacht America, and it is clear that the principle on which
the Racer is built is not far different. " Shooting to
windward" has been made one point of construction—

'out it has happily been combined with great carrying
capacity, as she can stow the enormous quantity or
20,000 barrels of flour. Above the draught line (20 feet)her
midship beam is carried well " fore and aft," which gives
her an extraordinary deck : being flush and uninterrupted,
it is sufficiently capacious for the exercise of a regiment
of infantry. The stem is ornamented with a carved
reFresentation of the head of a "racer at full speed," and
the stern is bedecked with an eagle, richly carved and
gilded. Her hull is entirely black, and were these not
days of peace, she might be considered " rather suspici.
ous." as her dimensions and timbering will exhibit. The
keel is of white oak and rock maple, 22 inches deep, and
the shoe is 5 inches thick. The frame is of the same
materials, and she has three tiers of kelsons, 16 inches
square, thus forming an almost solid " back bone," 3 feet
wide and 9 feet 1 inch through to the bottom of the keel.
All the knees of the lower deck are of white oak, well
formed. The lodging knees side 7* and mould 15 inches,
and are bolted with 1* inch bolts to each timber;
the hanging knees side 10 and 12, and mould 22
inches, and are bolted with 20 one inch bolts in
each knee. The stanchions are all of white oak,
and strongly secured, above and below, by four knees,
well bolted. The lower deck plank and frames are
of yellow pine. The beams side 17, and mould
15 inches; the water-ways on the lower deck-beams are
16 by 16 inches; the thick streak by the side of the water-
ways 11 by 13 inches, dovetailed into the beam, and bolted
through beam, water-ways, and timber ; and the water.
ways are bolted through each timber with 1/ inch bolt on
the upper edge. which gives three bolts to the frame
through the water-ways. _ _ _

The knees of the middle deck are of hackmatack and
white oak ; the lodging knees side 7 inches, and the
hanging knees 10 and 12, and are bolted down with 20
one-inch bolts to each knee. The deck plank and frame
are of yellow pine; the plank 31 inches thick, and the
beams 12 by 16 ; the water-ways 14 by 14 ; thick streak
above that, 9 by 14, square bolted; five streaks above
that, to the upper deck, 41 inches thick.
The knees of the upper deck are hackmatack ; the
lodging-knees siding 61 inches, and the hanging knees
from 9to 11. The knees of each section of beams have
120 one•inch bolts and 24 spikes. The frame of the upper
deck is of yellow pine; the beams side 16 inches, and
mould 9. The planks are white pine 41 inches thick.
The plank-sheers are 6 inches thick and 15 wide ; the rail
6 inches thick and 12 wide ; rack rail 9 inches under the
main rail, 5 by 91 inches, extending from poop to forecastle
deck ; between the rack and main rail she is planked with
2-inch plank, 3 inches wide, and bolted vertically through
both rails and plank, between the stanchions.
In workmanship the Racer is a specimen of American
ability that cannot well be surpassed. She presents no
open joints or gaping seams ; and though her timbering is
generally naturally formed, and not unnecessarily cut
away, every particle is fitted to the greatest nicety. It
will, perhaps, give some idea of the strength of this craft
when we state that through her side she is 26 inches thick,
and that, in every seven feet throughout, there are eleven
hundred ircn and copper bolts. The cabin of the Racer,
though small, is not less beautiful than those for
which shifts in the American trade are generally so
justly reputed. It is entered through an elegant
portico and vestibule, the latter formed beneath the
counter-poop. The must beautifully veined woods
are used in decoration. The state-rooms are formed
of Gothic panellings, divided by pillasters of rose-
wood, with richly relieved paper mach caps, pricked
out and relieved with burnished gold. An architrave of
uncommonly rich design surmounts the columns. It is
commenced by a bead of rosewood, over which is a splen-
didly embossed cornice of compo in white and gold, and
again next the deck beams is another reveal of deep-toned
timber. The contrast between the white and gold and the
highly polished:rosewood is great, but harmony is not de-
stroyed. The ove►head is painted a zincwhite, divided into
panels by mouldings of burnished gold imitating richly
carved work. The upholstery is in green plush of an em-
bossed floral pattern. This cabin (as are the others)is light-
ed by a cupola of plate glass and is thoroughly ventilated.
The second cabin, which will accommodate about 80 persons,
is fitted with permanent state rooms, which from the
immense beam of the ship are very spacious. The cabin,
which is separated from the main saloon by the officers'
mess-room, is beautifully grained, and indeed surpasses in
comfort the best accommodation of ordinary vessels.
Forward from this to the quarters of the crew, who are
singly berthed below, is appropriated for steerage passen-
gers; and here and on the lower deck she will accommodate
something over 700 passengers. The lower deck is one
sweep, fore and aft. The Racer, from her beam, will
carry a large amount of canvass. Her spars are immense
trees, her yards terrific baulks ; but an estimation of their
size may be formed from the fact, that she spreads in all
8,151 yards of " cloth," each inch of which is calculated
to bear a pressure of 501 b.
The Racer was built by Messrs. Currier and Townsend,
for Mr. David Ogden and others, of New York, expressly
for the Liverpool trade. She takes her place as one of the
" St. George line," and is consigned to Messrs. A. Taylor
and Co. The Racer is commanded by Mr. H. W. Steele,
late of the Andrew Foster, who may be justly proud of
his charge.
In conclusion, we may unhesitatingly say that the
Racer, though not the largest, is certainly one of the
finest American ships that ever visited our port. She is a
truly magnificent craft—substantial in build, fine in her
proportions, noble in appearance, and is really an honour
to all concerned in her construction. She will be placed
in the graving dock to-morrow Wednesday, where con-
noisseurs will have an opportunity of inspecting her.

FRIGHTFUL COLLISION ON THE SOUTH-

WESTERN RAILWAY

At a late hour on Saturday night an accident, which
might have been attended with consequences equally as
disastrous as that which happened at Bicester a week or
two since, occurred on the London and South-Western
Railway. From careful inquiries it was ascertained that
a train of Twickenham passenger carriages left the station
at the time intimated in the bill, and proceeded onwards
without meeting with the least obstruction until it had
neared the Nine Elms goods depot. At this part of the
line a man named Sykes, who acted as pointsman, was
stationed, whose duty it seems was to turn the points
so that the carriages or trucks could be shifted from the
main line on to the siding, or sent on to the metals lead-
ing to the goods depot. By some means, however, not
clearly understood, the man, instead of keeping the points
taut, so that the passenger train could pass over the main
line, so shifted the metals that the train was turned to-
wards Nine Elms. Unfortunately at that moment a
number of men were employed, together with two horses,
in making up the goods train—the latter being engaged
in drawing the trucks over the line—when the first-named
train, as might naturally be expected, was shunted off the
permanent way, and it then rattled down the goods line.
In so doing the pointsman's lodge was knocked down,
two or three of the porters and guards who were at the
spot were more or less injured, two horses were killed,
the men in charge of them being seriously injured; and
several of the carriages were much shattered by their sides
coming into collision with the goods' trucks. None of
the passengers received any personal injury, although the
whole of them were terribly alarmed.
At eleven o'clock it was learned that Mr. Bent, the
police-constable specially employed by the company, had
brought the pointsman who had occasioned the accident
into custody to the Waterloo•road terminus, and it was
then expected that he would be sent to the police-station,
on a charge of neglect and endangering the lives of the
passengers.

MURDEROUS MILLINERY.—Mrs. Swisshelm, in " a
savage article" (as a fashionable journal of New York
calls it) against the magazine fashion plates, says :—" We
know women who are dying by their own hands, and
piously saying their prayers every day, and for their death
the magazine publishers are accountable at the bar of the
Eternal. They are murdering them as truly as ever David
slew Uriah by the Amalekites. No human agency can
teach those victims of fashion plate mongers that the long
whalebone sticking down in their sides, the tight strings
tied around the small of the back, and weight of skirts,
are dragging them to their graves. Many of them know
it, and, with all their vaunted love for their offspring,
would rather see their little ones suffer ten thousand
deaths than they themselves should fail to look ' like
Prometheus in my picture here—a long-sided runnel set
ou a jug."

GALES IN THE CHANNEL.-GREAT LOSS

OF LIFE.

In the channel, we regret to say, during the gales of
Thursday and Friday last, some serious disasters have
occurred. On Thursday afternoon a fishing smack called
the Dolphin, was making for Liverpool through the Vic-
toria Channel, when she perceived the flat. America,
bound from Rhyl to PI eston, with bark, in great distress,
and labouring very much. The smack had her in tow
for about two hours, but, the rope having snapped several
times, the crew were compelled at last to give up the
attempt to bring the flat into port, and, taking the men
off, they left her to her fate. Not long afterwards, the
men on board the Dolphin observed a schooner go down
suddenly near the Bell Buoy. They had no time to at-
tempt a rescue, and all hands sunk with the unfortunate
vessel. The name of the schooner is not known, but a
fisherman states that, as far as he could make out, the
three first letters of the name painted on the stern were
"G 0 Y." Jones is the master of the Dolphin.
SINKING OF ANOTHER SCHOONER AND LOSS OF LIFE.

We have to record another fearful catastrophe,resiit-
ing from the gales, namely, the total loss of the schooner
Eliza, a vessel of ninety tons, belonging to Mr. William
Threlfall, iron merchant and shipowner, of Preston. The
following particulars of the sad affair have been obtained
from the captain of the schooner, who alone was saved,
(his crew, consisting of three men, having perished), and
from Captain Christie, of the Iron Duke, the Dublin mail
steamer, which was instrumental in rescuing the captain.
About seven o'clock a.m., on Friday, when the Iron
Duke was coming through the Victoria Channel, the cap-
tain observed the two masts of a schooner above water,
and two men in the rigging, one of whom was making
signals of distress, though evidently almost exhausted.
The tide had just begun to rise, and, as far as could be
judged, was ten feet over the vessel, which had struck on
the Burbo Bank. A tremendous sea was running, and a
fierce gale blowing from the N.N.W., but, notwithstand-
ing Captain Christie having brought the Iron Duke as
near as could be done with safety to the sunken craft,
ordered out a boat to the rescue. The chief-mate, Ed-
mondson, and four men, sprang into it, and after two
hours' hard work they succeeded in picking the captain,
John Brocklebank, off the shrouds. The other man,
though alive, when the Iron Duke first saw the schooner,
died before they could come near enough with the boats
to take him off. He was lashed to the crosstrees by the
middle, and when he died he fell back, his body swaying
about with the wind. His name was Michael Brannan,
a single man, and it would appear that before ho died be
raved fearfully. Leaving Brannan in the shrouds, for it
was impossible to cut him away, the boat with the rescued
captain on board made for the steamer, and fortunately
reaching her with safety, Brocklebank was put immedi-
ately to bed, and wrapped in hot blankets. Other resto-
ratives were applied, and he speedily came round, the
steamer, of course, making for Liverpool. Scarcely ten
minutes had elapsed from the taking of the captain from
the crosstrees when a tremendous sea broke over the
schooner, and every trace of her disappeared. Brockle-
bank had been upwards of seventeen hours on the mast
exposed to the fury of the wind and sea ; for, according
to the statement which was received from his own
lips, the schooner struck on the Burbo Bank about
half-past three o'clock on the Thursday afternoon. She
was bound from Troon to Preston with pig iron, and was
running for shelter into this port, when the jibsheet surged
round the pin, which compelled her to haul the sheet
down. The vessel then became unmanageable, and
striking with her sternboard on the bank, broke her rud-
der, and went down in ten minutes afterwards. Two men
were washed overboard when the vessel struck ; their
names were Matthew Brady and William M'Grath, both
unmarried. Captain Christie deserves every commenda-
tion for his promptness and decision, and for his kind
treatment of the master of the schooner.

The smaller landing-stage has been broken and dis-
abled by the violence of the waves.

FURTHER PARTICULARS OF THE GALE.
Redcar, Yorkshire, 27th September, 1851
_ (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

The equinoctial gales have this year set in with more
than their usual vengeance, and on Wednesday and
Thursday last this neighbourhood was visited with a fearful
hurricane, which has dono irreparable mischief both on
the coast and in the interior. In sight of my own door,
within range of seven or eight miles right and left, now
lie no less than upwards of a dozen vessels, large and
small, driven on shore, all more or less seriously injured,
if not entirely wrecked ; among the latter a small steamer
gone to pieces. Happily, few lives have been lost ; but
one large ship is supposed to have struck the rocky head-
land close to us, and disappeared, with all hands. Most
of the houses in our little town have suffered severely from
the effects of the storm ; and what were a few days ago
high sand• hills, far beyond high water mark, are new, to
the depth of, in some places, several hundred yards, level.
Beach covered with debris of every description of wreck.
The drum was beating all day and all night for volunteers
to man the life-boat ; but such was the violence of both
wind and surf, that to get a sufficient offing to reach the
wrecks proved impossible. One vessel's crew were saved
(with the exception of one hand, drowned in endeavouring
to reach the shore) by Captain Manby's invaluable appa-
ratus. An unfinished house, immediately opposite to my
own, was partially destroyed, and our railway torn up in
one or two places by the violence of the sea, though ordina-
rily at some distance from it, cutting us off for a while from
all communication with the interior of the country; which
in many places is, I hear, completely under water from the
deluge of rain that accompanied the gale, and which must
have done serious injury to the grain crops, a larger pro-
portion of which than I think the public generally are
aware of being still in the field, at least in the north.
Such an awful north-wester has, I fancy, not been known
in this part of the country in the memory of that remarkable
personage, " the oldest inhabitant."

Sunday, Noon.
The weather is now beautifully fine, with a gentle
breeze at W.S.W.

KAUFMANN'S MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

On Thursday, and again on Saturday evening, we had
the pleasure of hearing these instruments at the Assem-
bly-rooms, Great George-street. There are in all five.
The HARMONICHORD is like a very tall upright piano,
having a set of keys and strings, and played upon in the
same way, but with this difference,—that instead of the
sound being produced by the action of hammers on the
strings, the act of pressing the keys brings the strings in
contact with a revolving wooden barrel, covered with doe-
skin, and worked by one or two pedals. The communica-
tion between the keys and strings is such, that the quan-
tity and description of tone produced are regulated by the
degree of pressure on the keys, the result being a degree
of expression which it would be impossible to produce on
any piano, or similar instrument. The tone is exquisite,
resembling the teolian harp more than any other instru.
ment we have hitherto met with. The music for the per-
formance of which it appears best calculated, is that of a
delicate, plaintive character, though we must not omit to
say that it is susceptible of a degeee of execution which
we were not prepared to expect. The Harmonichord is
played upon with great taste by Herr Kaufmann, seu.,
the inventor, and Madlle. Kaufmann.
The CHORDAULODION is an instrument worked by me-
chanism, and combining in itself the tones of the flute
and the piano. The SYMPHONION is similar, but larger,
and combines piano, flute, clarionette, piccolo, cymbals,
and tambourine. The action of these two instruments is
perfectly extraordinary. They play, singly or in concert,
pieces of the most difficult character, and with a precision
and taste which can certainly not be excelled, even if
equalled. by human performers. The symphonion, for
instance, played Furstenau's variations on a theme from
Mozart's " it Flauto Magico" (better known among us as
" Away with Melancholy"), the flute playing the air and
variations, while the remaining portion of the instrument
accompanied it. We have heard this piece played by
celebrated flute players ; but even their execution cannot
for a moment be compared with the magic flute in this
instrument. The rapidity, certainty, and purity of tone,
and the wonderfully beautiful execution, were actually
astounding to musical ears ; and we observed on Saturday
evening several members of the Philharmonic Society,
who, accustomed as they are to beauty and rapidity of
execution, were evidently bewildered by what they heard.
The TRUMPET AUTOMATON is, in its way too, an ex-
traordinary instrument. It is a figure dressed somewhat
like Mario in the Puritani, holding a trumpet. On this
being applied to his mouth, the figure produces, with the
greatest rapidity of execution, not merely single but double
notes. This is a feat the accomplishment of which has
been supposed to belong solely to Vivier. We have always
had a suspicion, however, that the double tone produced
by Vivier was not within the body of his horn, but on the
rim of his mouthpiece. and that it was in fact a piece of
claptrap. Be this as it may, however, there can be no
deception here, the two tones are equally strong, and of
equal quality. We at first thought, as well as others, that
the sounds came from some other part of the platform,
until Herr Kaufmann, jun., to solve all doubts, partially
closed up the bell of the trumpet with his hand, the sound
being thus deadened. On his removing his hand, the tones
became as clear and as beautifully articulated as before.
And now we come to the ORCHESTRION, the largest
and most beautiful instrument of the five. This is in
itself, literally, a complete brass band. It contains (and
all are real) drum, kettle-drums, piccolos, flutes, cla-
rionettes, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, French horns, trom-
bones, cymbals, &c. It is, like all he other instruments
except the harmonichord, worked by mechanism by means
of barrels, and is the invention of the younger Kaufmann,
who has spent five years in making and perfecting it. If
we have been compelled to praise so highly the other in-
struments, what must we say of this one. the masterpiece?
Is is, in fact, quite beyond description. The precision,
taste, and tone with which it was made to perform the
most difficult orchestral pieces, certainly took all the
audience by surprise. This will be believed when we state
that among other pieces it performed was that beautiful
and difficult composition, Mendelssohn's " Wedding
March," from the Midsummer Night's Dream, in a style
which left nothing to be desired. It also performed the
chorus from Judas Maccabeus, " See the conquering Hero
comes," with all the admirable light and shade which it
requires for effective performance; and we could not help
fancying at the moment how astonished Handel would be,
could he for a few minutes rise from his grave and hear
his compositions performed with such fidelity by a piece
of mechanism.
.On each evening the concert concluded with a fantasia
on English national melodies, by the whole of the in-
struments. This certainly was the most surprising of all
the surprising things which we witnessed ; for the various
instruments took their alloted parts without the least
failure, one taking a solo, and, on its conclusion, giving
place to another which comenced just in the nick of time.
Then the two would have a duet, and a third would shortly

join them, and then the whole would combine 112. gaff
beaua-
grand effort. Nothing could exceed the
effect of these changes, more especially in the concludall
part, which embraced " Rule Britannia," and "
meTnhtse
before
eutrhseiwr haricrhivahlanderreehaschdelded
Save the Queen."
thug uncommon, more especially as it appeared that2r;
Queen bad ordered two performances before her. ..4
were, however, under the impression that their Pran
were exaggerated. This, on a hearing, has been convertivii
into the most decided admiration of the mechanical &
and perseverance which have achieved so much; 0.'44
second visit has very much deepened this feeling. " t
ourselves have been so much surprised and delighted that
ourselves have been so much surprised and delighte
hould
we should be sorry if any of our musical friends 911°601
allow these extraordinary instruments to leave Liverpo
without having seized the opportunity of hearing therc•to
The vocal department of the concert was entrusted
Miss Rebecca Isaacs. We were charmed with her perier•
mances, and she was frequently encored.
us
ss
toot' etxhpeesectinsostrun:

LIVERPOOL ACADEMY-EXHIBITION OF

PAINTINGS

SECOND NOTICE. • e of
In accordance with our promise in the general notice
this exhibition which appeared in this paper last week,
proceed to give a detailed account of the various plc,"
exhibited. tad
No. I.—Mr. Salter's " Marriage festival of Bacchus
Ariadne," placed over the door of the first room, is ve ho
e
meritorious production. In the style and colouring *is
artist has taken Titian for his model. The drawing
good, and united with the rich, warm tone of colouringi;
and admirable grouping of the festal figures, reflect
credit upon the artist.
This is
No. 2.—" Haymaking," by E. Williams, sen. .0
a cleverly painted picture, representing the busy rustl
iast
awcoorlkd ,n securingess
o of
cotil
jectionable. The artist has chosen a dull cloudy daY,-"rite
quent enough during the hay harvest, it is true--nYor
oeupr
irno
gd
whichc e oft the meadowsthink de
c;
db
eudt tyhgoebtee:
bright sunshine is necessary to the success of the haVie,tt
and should not be wanting in the picture; in other resPe'
this painting is of a very superior class. ,1 bl
No. 3.—" A Scene on the Skeene, near Darlington, s
Mr. John Dobbin, and No, 4, " A Stream, from Brothers
Water," by Mr. Lindsay Aspland, are two pretty Piece
of landscape, especially the former.
No. 5.—" The Portrait of a Lady," by Mr. Wro•iiung.
gins. We heard this portrait much condemned, ands „i;
parently, with great justice; we are, however, aware ofto
circumstances under which it was painted, and are able.n.
say that the supposed faults are strong proofs of the lit!'01
ter's excellence. The lady, whose portrait is exbitptbs
by Mr. Huggins, was at the time seriously ill, and LO
hard and painful expression complained of was only .-4
natural. Mr. Huggins is very true in his likenesses, an
when he has attained a more softened tone of colouring'
need not fear any competition. ging
No. 6.—" The Scribes Reading the Chronicles to A-Aio
Ahasuerus," by Mr. H. O'Neill, is a picture of Pee"; 10
character ; notwithstanding some unfavourable critic'-,s
which has been passed upon it, we think the work bespea,
the artist—both painter and poet ; the warm quiet "sten%
character is excellent, and the peculiar style of colontint
adopted by the artist seems admirably adapted to rePrese
a night scene.

" In that delightful province of the Sun,
The first of Persian lands he shines upon," , the
The interior of the palace artificially illuminated, and
drowsy attendants only compulsorily partaking in tej,
wakefulness of their imperial lord, are powerfully depict j.
No. 7.—" Windermere, from near Lowood," by 11,1 r• 0,
P. Pettitt, is too positive in its colouring; and N° et
" Scene at Dalehotr e, by Mr. James Peel, is rab".‘
chalky ; both, however, show some good taste and 123""
terly drawing. '
No. 9.—" Staithes, Evening on the Coast," by 3.r"
ee
P. George, is a beautiful little piece, rather Turneresclo,
in character ; so also is the " View of Naples," 1`'0•
by Mr. W. R. Earl, but the boats on the beach are to
prominent, and detract rather from, which would otliff;
wise be a nicely managed picture, by entirely destrolinb
its breadth. 0,
No. 11 and 12.—Two small pictures by M J
r. • ing
Naish, one allegorical, representing " Peace 9119 Y-to
Strife," the other, " Puck returning with the Choral
Oberon ;" are clever and well designed.