The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-09-10 00:00:00

SELECTIONS.

g I
INDIAN RUBBER LIFE-BOAT.—a. life-boat S now
being constructed on the company's premises (thirty-four
feet length of keel, and twelve breadth of beam), which,
with the exception of the keel and some iron braces, will
be entirely formed of India-rubber and cork planking.
She will weigh but one ton and a half, an ordinary life-
boat weighing three tons ; and it is the opinion of all naval
men and engineers who have seen her, that it will be al-
most impossible to sink her under ordinary circumstances,
and that, when driven on a rock by the action of the
waves, she will rebound like a ball, without fractUre. It
is alio proposed to use the caoutchottc preparation for an
inner lining between the guns in war vessels, to prevent
the effects of splinters ; for hammock nettings and bul-
warks, to save the crew from canister, grape, &c. ;.and for
other useful thoug4 leas obvious purposes.—=ltailwayGaz.
GAS STOVES.—The application of a method of burning
carburetted, hydrogen or coal gas, for the production of
artificial heat for warming buildings, is an invention of
rather recent date. The apparatus in which this is ef-
fected is very simple. A metallic ring, pierced on its up-
per side with a great number of holes of very small size,
is connected with a pipe communicating with the gas main,
and is placed within a double drum or cylinder of iron,
raised an inch or two from the floor on small legs : this
double drum is so made, that there is a space between the
inner and outer cylinder of about two inches—and in this
space, near to the bottom, the ring pierced with holes is
fixed. A stop-cock in the pipe connecting the pierced
ring with the gas main shuts off the supply of gas when
the stove is not in use; on opening this cocknond apply-
ing a light to the pierced ring, a brilliant ring of flame is
immediately produced, which soon warms both the inner
and the outer case of the stove by the heat generated dur-
ing the combustion of the carburetted hydrogen gas. The
top of the drum is covered with a large open ventilator, by
which the heated air that passes through the inner cylin-
der is allowed to escape into the room ; but the products
of the combustion, having no means of escape, pass down-
wards from the bottom of the stove into the room. This
having been found exceedingly unwholesome, a plan has
been contrived by which a considerable portion of the pro-
ducts of the combustion are carried off by a pipe inserted
between the two cylinders, which conveys away the gase-
ous products into the open air. A moderate-sized stove
of this description burns from twelve to fifteen cubic feet
of carburetted hydrogen gas per hour ; and this is con-
verted into two new compounds—water and carbonic acid
gas. The quantity of water formed will be 2 6 cubic
inches for each cubic foot of carburetted hydrogen, or
about a pint to a pint and a-quarter of water per hour;
and from twelve to fifteen cubic feet of carbonic acid gas,
and eight times that quantity of nitrogen, will be the con-
stant products of the combustion. and produce the most
serious deterioration in the quality of the air ; but when
these gaseous products are carried off by a chimney, the
loss sustained will be very nearly one-half the total heat
which is produced by the burning of the gas.—Mining
Journal.

NELSON'S MEMORABLE SIGNAL, AND HIS LIEU-
TENANTS.—It may not be generally known to the younger
branches of the naval service, that the responsible and
arduous duties of first lieutenants of our ships, which at
present are invariably performed by the seniors, were,
during the last war, confided to any of these officers at
the discretion of the captains of their respective ships;
and the immortal Nelson himself, on the morning of the
21st of October, 1805, presented a striking instance of
this discretion The Victory, within a very short time
previously, had two first lieutenants, who were actually
the respective seniors at the time, promoted to the rank
of captain; and the repeated changes in the person of
the executive officer proving somewhat injurious to that
state of discipline in which the admiral was pleased to
have his ship, his lordship was determined that this duty
should devolve on the junior lieutenant, because his turn
for promotion would be more remote, as his lordship still
intended, after his usual practice, to bestow promotion
according to seniority. On the morning of the 21st,
previous to leading into action, Sir Thomas Hardy re-
quested Lord Nelson to appoint his two senior lieutenants
as captains of the line-of-battle ships, the commands of
which were vacated by the departure of captains who
held them to attend as witnesses at Sir Robert Calder's
court martial; but the reply of the hero was worthy of
his hopes—that he considered the officers of those ships
were fully adequate to fight them, and he would not imply
such a want of confidence in them at such a moment;
and, as to any disappointment of his own lieutenants, he
trusted their anxiety would be allayed when he assured
"them it was his intention to make them all post-captains
when the day was done. Shortly after he commanded
his Memorable signal to be made to the fleet, which, we
are assured by the narrator of the above, was in these
words :—",England confides that every man this day Wlll,
do his duty." This, howrver, offering some difficulty to
communicating, from having to spell separately the word
" confides," his lordship's flag lieutenant, then the senior
of the Victory, suggested that the word "expects" should
be substituted, when it was acceded to, and the signal was
promptly executed. It is needless to remark, that the
termination of the day prevented the illustrious hero from
performing his promise with respect to his lieutenants ;
and the prediction was only fulfilled to the junior, who
was doing the duty of first under the above circum-
cumstances, by the admiralty making him a post-cap-
tain. The three seniors were only made lieutenant-
captains
(or masters and commanders), according to the
rank of that day. The officer, who was the senior and
flag lieutenant of this immortal chief, was made, some
six years subsequent, and, though fearfully wounded in
the action by a grape-shot, is now on the navy list, and
was, we believe, the recipient of one of the first good-
service pensions the present admiralty had the opportunity
to bestow. Had Nels at survived, Captain John Pasco
would now have been a flag officer.—Standard.

THE PROCESSION AT THE BURNS' FESTIVAL.—The
effect of the procession as seen from the pl,ttform almost
baffles the power of description. The wailing of the bee-
pipes and the crash of the bands were heard from the bo-
om of the deep wood-thicket behind, long before the
ranks became visible. At length, among the trees that
skirted the opposite banks, there was a glittering of
lances, and a lifting of banners, and a dark-growing line
of men, in closest order, marching as if to battle. Gra-
dually it flowed on, in continuous stream, file succeeding
to file without gap or intermission, until the head of the
column appeared recrossing by the Old Bridge, and wind-
ing up the road towards the platform; and still new ban-
ners rose up behind, and fresh strains of music burst
forth amidst, the leafy screen. And now they reached the
platform: lance and flag were lowered in honour of those
who stood bareheaded above, and deafening were the
cheers that ushered in the arrival of the national pageant.
The spectacle was most imposing, and must have con-
veyed to the;minds of the strangers present a vivid im-
pression of the energy and enthusiasm so deeply implanted
in the Scottish character, and always so irresistibly mani-
fested at 114 e: touching of a national chord. The most in-
teresting part of the procession by far was the array of
farmers and shepherds, the flower of the west-country
yeomanry, attired in the graceful plaid. Of that same
breed of meo, of tall and compact mould and hardy sinew,
was Robert Burps; nor is it possible to imagine anything
more animated than the appearance of those stalwart sons
of the soil, as they lingered for a moment before the plat-
form, and looked with wistful eyes at the sons of the Poet,
if haply they might trace in their lineaments some resem-
blance to the features of him whom, from their infancy,
atlniedvichiandi:ltearrinspedinit.
to love. Then
cameand
theth the
Archers,Freemasons,
and
his
train,much more of old Scottish device, uetil there seemed no
a
end to the flowing tide of population, all keen, and joyful,
and exult tnt. But the full burst of enthusiasm was re=
served for the close. In the rear of all appeared an enor-
mous thistle borne shoulder high ; arid no sooner was the
national emblem in sight, than a universal and long con-
tinued cheer burst forth from the many thousands ,Who
were now congregated in the plain beyond. Alas, fur that
thistle! Though Burns, as the inscription bore,

" Had turn'd his weeder-elips aside,
And spared the symbol dear,"
such was not the fate of the offspring plant. Scarcely had
it reached the platform, when Christopher North vio-
lently possessed himself of one branch, the Lord Jus-
tice-General seized upon another, and in the twinkling of
an eye it was torn into fragments, and its rough leaves
and rougher flowers displayed upon manly bosoms, from
which it would have been difficult to wrest them again.
So closed the procession—but not the gatherinz. Deafen-
ing were the cheers that followed for Burns—for his Sons
—for :Professor Wilson—for Lord Eglinton ; until the
last remnant of reserve gave way, and a torrent of people
swept forward to obtain, if possible, a pressure of their
hands that were gladly and gra•efully held forth. De-
scending from the platform, we entered the meadow-
ground beyond, where the multitude were now assem-
bled. One of the bands struck up the beautiful air—
" Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon ;" and immediately
the people, as if actuated by one common impulse, took
up the strain, and a loftier swell of music never rose be-
neath the cope of heaven. We thought of the fine lines of
Elliott—

" To other words, while forest echoes ring,
' Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon,' they sing;
And far below, the drover, with a start
Awaking, listens to the well known strain,
Which brings Schehallion's shadow to his heart,
And Scotia's loveliest vales : then sleeps again.
And dreams on Loxley's banks 01 Dunsinane."
Few could abstain from tears as the last glorious note
died solemnly away into the skies. We looked down from
the top of the pavilion-stairs upon the vast multitude be-
neath. There could not have been less than 80,000 souls
collected on the ground. Of all that mighty
mass, not
one man had thrown discredit upon the harmony and or-
der of the day. Every face glowed with happiness and
congratulation, as if conscious that a good work had been
done, and that the nation had at length discharged the
duty which she owed to one of her most gifted sons.—
Blackwood's Magazine.