True American. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1835-18??, 1839-01-28
LETTERS FROM THE COAST.


LETTERS FROM THE COAST.
We discover Gen Gaines, has strongly recommended
the erection by Government Of floating hnteries, to 10
placed al the mouths Of rivers and ha,bours, az
means II de in time Of var And for those used
1t the .lizs aswer tho doubt" purpose Of dredging
achnes and mach mes Of defence.
We have II high respect for Gen Gaines. He in
brave military commander and has seen aud done much
service on 'snd bu. with ali due desrence to his uge,
and experience must bo permitted to that wAlet
does not seem to b. his element.
Va consider his project o. floating batteries totally
unfit tor thu "urposes' indicated How large oval
Of mbers obtain quarters for officers and 'roOpa
in sufficient furce defend the entrance against
eneny's feet, and yet be managerial" with steam and
the time answer dredging machine, We con.
fess TO he a mystery 10 US.
|, is said some experiments msdr at Old Point
Comfort Va, sometimes since by soie naval Ulcers
should be made Of soi oak, proven, the passage Of
an eighteen pound cannon hall within point blank ah"
and Il, came to the conclusion, that no practical
thickness OF oakrn wall could he udopsel to prevent
such occurrence. l. is said BY persons familiar
with ordnance. and prjecliles that eighteen pou q,
ball, within poit bi"n. shot, will pass through solid
.'anSs Aoatiny battery. wOuld have to hr OF most
extraordinary thickness prevent demolition, perhaps
much 80, to admit Of tho ready sseerags aud "o'x.
| ing o The battery.
There number Of ether objections to the rdop.
ton Of such pnnderous, unwieldy and pershabe ma.
| chimes, some Of which we will name.
It in well Nlown, that timber cont nually imnr sed
in water partly fresh and parity salt a. 10 tie case al
the mouth Of the le i" sunjec 10 rapid and certain
decay by inner-iun. Not Only So but such mass Of
heavy iimhers would also DO subject |" dry rot, that
would render bait ry Of this kind useless. The
General might consider, that corrosive sut'i nat could
be applied 10 prevent decay Of this description: hut the
expense attending it. application by saturaon would
he great admit Of s use, il would be nearly
chsap, to build another battery
In the place the tom Of snch battery, would
have be PERFECTLY fat. which would u,uke II most
diff ut mass to see,, and give Il snrh cvolu ons as
uncertain. by any means 'ha' c"uld udur,e. a.
sGnY il III ; whossr s Ia. srsten to steer
} Gu. bottomed boat has realised this difficulty.
A common ves""l from possessing a sharp keel en-
raised out Of and ".hrrw's" f'ra,sa
ba coppeTed nor required, when rotten
Again. what would become If such a craft in
Storm such for instance, red the 7h October
1887; Wien 30 many gsd s,cah 10 were lost l. would
either be driven into mn'veahe q-srers II The swamp,
or to he heard Of asan-the n er tho,
ton, would also bs vrrv great We asu beev" tho
h-a h If ofcers and in such c'at, IA, the mouth
OF the lsaze contiguous I" marshes, would suffer more
than il placed in a well mana led vessel Of war.
| We doubt whether any prop ,slIon OF 'ationnl
, defence more un,enahe than this, il we
except the gun b"at system ct Mr. Jeffrrs"n. W.
could state many o,h"r objections; hn, C ns'drr
onnugh has been said 10 show the fatality OF such
project. As to the idea ., making the battery q
dredging nchine, il Is 100 chlms'ical for 'iscus-
sion. Indeed, the General ne lei, us in the dark
tho naod.ls operandi. has how the battery
I" perform this duly IN addition tot other funr'
tions2
We respect and honor Gen G Tor his patriotism
and good intrnt"ns 10 serve his coun'ry. IN every
caunclty he thinks proper 10 act and regret 'hn, w.
| differ from him So widely mn inp"rtnnt sub ert.
II We s,nil conclude this letter by suggesting a
mode of offending our coast. which We deem very
I'M por,an', and 10 mind m're valuahi than all
Others. We know we eAp"se "ursesf to he III ,ught
visionary and such may he the fact, tu, at we
wish is for Il reader 10 Judge US by ''nr mo ives
u md Intentions. as judge o'h"rs. He that ~.
. 'snds good for his country. cannot be far rr'ng
e Our pan '"e" is, tn the Govern nea' t" nn,ld
iron steam trigates tor deent'"g our c"a.' in lime
| ~ war. Or plan would b. 10 have inner and
, wall hu 1t Of rolled wrought or, some hiup
N similar I" boiler lion, "r SUI iron as 81. am aud
" canal hna,s nre nov built with. The int rveninu
spmcs could be from two ana a halt "thres ie't
and led with some elastic and RESTING suhs nce.
/. II bnlss Of cottnn sufficiently Durable,
!, could he readily replaced after they have DE-.
csved, winch would hardly ever happen it pre-.
served perfectly Cry, we should think them The
=, hes. substitute for filling the spncs Lewse" 'h
70 Two walls # ,r,n. bales Of cotton which hnv,
Il been rscomprssted ino the c"mpass Of lw lee,
squnrs and tour feet long, would probably b.
=, found best adapted /" q purp"se Of this kind, As
they would afford tho ureat+st resistance to can.
!" mn ball; and II they were well c"vered with pitch
" before filing the space with them, the COTTON
,r might, by being preserved dry, last for H long
time. Ia inierp"si ION would only be necessary
nbuve the water line, level, tina. par, Of h.
y vssse unde, waie' would not be- eEn"a d 4" =" n
il nm shot. II Dies seem I" US that vsssci thu,
e,ns,ructed, with two walls 1t iron, with inter
venng substance like cote on, or something stint
IN r'oi, would he '"taIly impenslrabls to common
n balls. Ii cotton was used, 1t would make III
TO 1'wnoie mass more bouyant.
in b. building the hull such farm as Englis
he marne s'eaners, and propclli"g ny strong s'e"m
y; power, i. would have great ce-ri'y m"''oh AM
could BIZ maze peE."' IN quick ev"lu''"ns. Suci
vessels stationed at the mouths OF our MYERS an,
in our harnurs. IN tine Of war, would be m'"st de-
M sruct,ve engines ut defence. Seeking tsvorabl
momcn,. they could sally out into the ve,y rank
Of clock aiding feet, and make sad havoc am"mI
the enemy's vessels, without tear of material III
H. jntyi .,, known ,,, .m,,,,, .,.,. ,
al fully built n iron, ouch steam boats,
ng boals; and if iron could DO import duy res, the
d" can bs made. They durable Than any mhe
scGptIon, and draw less water TOR their tonnage.-
Thsy are no, az abla to ere, and il burn, OUT b.
rebuilt, by using the second time, the same h II.
The Steam boats oil this iption, havc fur som
nh time. bren in successful use, the savannah river
IN Georgia. And io Philndeh'a, they build non caua
bou,s Of 81 10 tons, which const' ucisd, tia
they placed on rail rnd ~hers in Philadelphia 10
- Ptsburg; and are drawn by loco motive en- ines,
from the wheels in lie canal; the" dawn y horse
to the loo, OF tina Inclined plane. where they
placed rail road wheels. and arc drawn over III
n. mountains by stationary engines rising about w ae
ri above the levs Of The canal. Al the tout Of We.
IN side Of the nounain the. again take water,a kse
till thay get to pntshug aud afer exchanging load
= they return I" Philadelphia tho same way. Does nc
the idea iron canal boat Of ~ tons, crossing til
IN Arghany mountains 1000 feet high on dry land, loo
almost chiuercal nOtiun U iron steam
~ Of ~ or so guusi Which would have been though
m visionary 20 81 yrars sgo1 The tine may com,
~ when vesses largo gun Ships ,nay Luit wit
iron and propelled BY stean II snail vessels can
o., so usrfuy huiIt Of iron, why not large onesi Ito
~ bais duly attracting more notice, and viii in fe,
years c"ne int" extensive Use. They are aim'rati
I'D ,toA AnHAH 1.
bIe he sunk with snags. The insurance the,
nd would be ess-They will be found we'll suited to III
navigation Of all small rivers at the Sonh such w. he
d. River, Yazon Quachita, Sabine, arkansas d.. The
would able ascend these rivers when they wouI