The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-16

be more properly designated, and exhausted abou,
one-hsf their power thus showing that il required
AT least 300 tons Of their pretended power 10 hft
100 tons" ...
Faisehood OF the above statement proved.
Now, we will inform the accurate members Of
the Balance Dock Company that, instead of 6vs
there were SIX sections actually used in raising the
Henry CAy,-an additional section having boen
added on account, not Of tho loeish but the great
length Of that ship. The mistake Of the Balance
Dock Company PROBABLY arose from the fact that
the dock Is usually worked, for convenience in two
docks, one Of ive and the other Of three sections;
and they inferred that on this occasion the larger
dock was used IN It's usual condition. This is i'm
portan showing the degree Of accuracy and close
observation which governs the calculations Of the
Balance Dock Company. We now come to an
analysis Of those calculations.
According TO their own statement they give TO the
i've sections lifting power Of $50 tons, TO which
they add one. half Of the lifting power of the end
floats estimated by them, viz: 200 tons, making
In all $50 tons, or, as they say, at
From this deduct 49, per cent 633 f"
1867
Deduc, weight Of ship according to their
leaving according to their own showing a surplus
Of l67 tons over and above what was necessary to
raise the ship
But they assert Immediately before making this
calculation that 52i per cent, instead Of 49, should
be deducted for actual loss Of power In that event.
deduct from |, 800 tons So per cent, or s6S tons
the remainder is 9l2 tons actual power--less by
100 tons than 100 tons, which they assume 10 Ie
the weight Of tho ship. Therefore, by their own
argument and estimate, the ship could have been
raised at all But they admit that il was raised
so we have clear redlctio adj absiirdun, and their
whole proposition falls TO the ground.
As regards the statement that the power Of | $50
tons exerted without being able to bring the
dock to the surface, It Is unqusl6edy false,
indeed appear from what we have already shown,
and from what will Immediately follow.
Let US now come 10 true statement Of the facts
Of this case.
In raising the Henry Clay sir instead of five sec
ton. were employed-hve OF 300 tons each, and one
Of $50 tons 1850 tons
Weight Of ship, say LOO
Leaving surplus of power equivalent to -.
Five Of the 3Oo.ton sections would have been
amply sufficient TO raise the ship, with large sur
plus, so far as power is concerned. But before
remarked, the additional section was added on ae-
count Of the great length Of the ship.
IL is proper here to remark that the estimate made
by the Balance Dock Company Of the measurement
and weight Of the Henry Clay is incorrect. We
have chosen, however, TO give them the benefit Of
their own estimate.
We must not omit TO call the attention Of the
public TO the.lnfamous esPersions cast upon Captain
| Hosken and Mr. Richard Irwin, by the publication
of the Balance Dock Co. In part OF that publ
cation the certificate Of Captain Hosken is ascribed
| by them to "the exuberance Of his gratitude for
not exposing the whole Of the bottom Of this beau
fu ship, (the Great Brtan,) after her social visit
| among the rocks and shoals of Nantucket" He is
-. 10, he ,.,hl 81
knowingly stating falsehood. To the thousands
to whom Captain Hosken is favorably known, any
vindicatfon Of his character is superfluous. IL Is
also well known that he is in the possession Of a
vast amount Of scientific and practical knowledge,
which entities his opinions all subjects Of this
nature 10 the highest consideration. IL is only pro-
per to call the attention Of the public to the malg-
nifty and unscrupuous character of the publication
| Of the Balance Dock Company.
| There are many more msstatements and false in
ferences contained in the publication which we have
now answered, all of which susceptible of refu-
| tation equally convincing with those which we have
already exposed. Time and space, and due re-
gard 20 the patience Of our readers, however, warn
US to forbear We will simply remark, in copclu-
| sion, that the sectional dry-dock has now been in
4 actual operation in New York for more than five
years, during which time upwards Of 900 vessels
many Of them large ships and steamboats,, have
been raised upon il, including, among others, the
mammoth steamship Great Britain, the Mexican
war steamers Montezuma and Guadalupe. the
merchant ships Henry Clay, Queen Of the West
| John r. Skiddy, Iowa, and many others, the
United States soops-ofwar Vincennes and John
Adams, and other government vessels, without the
slightest accident to the vessel the dock. That il
has always given Satisfaction TO OF ships and
shipwrghts whenever IT has been used; and that i
| lie recommended in the highest terms by all the
principal ship-builders, ship.wrights, and ship
owners in the city of New York; Its owners court
the closest examination into its capabilities and its
performances, secure that such scrutiny must es
tabsh its superiority over every other floating dock
| in existence, whether in this country or in the
Netherlands, where it is understood the Balance.
| dock Company went to look for model, I'll.
| We have now exposed the principal faIsehoods
| contained in the article Of the Baance-dock Com
pany and we appeal to candid public to Judge
how much confidence they can repose in the state
| ments of men who have put forth to the world SO
bold and unbushing tissue Of falsehood as thai
to which we have now replied. . .
In behalf of the New York Sectional Floating
Dry-dock Company, Fl.
sOn the 9th of February last nearly all the prin-
i cipa ship builders and large portion of the ship
wrights of New York, signed certificate, in which
they expressly declare their preference of the sec.
tional floating dry-dock over the balance-dock for
the United States navy and other purposes.
| March 16--lt
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