The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-19

W.,nnerOs, March Is, 1876.

- advertisement, over the signature Of John s.
Gilbert protesting to reply 10 my communication
OF the 18th, in ference TO the Great Britain steam
ship, and the sectional floating dry-dock. do not
propose to take up much space in your valuable
columns on the presen TO ecaslon, but deem pro-
per 10 reply with great breVity TO few new false
hoods contained in Mr.. Gbert's publication, and
which, If unanswered, would be claimed by the
Balanee-doek Company as admitted and substantia-
ted facts.
In my statement of the l7h, there is not line
or word that is false incorrect, or assaable; and il
will be seen by all who take the trouble TO read that
statement and Mr. Glberts reply TO IT, that the lat
ter confines itself almost exclusively 70 evasion,
unsupported assertion and the raising OF new issues
The first falsehood contained in Mr.. Gilbert's ar
ele which seems at all worthy OF notice, occurs in
a letter from Col Samuel Stsrkweather-a source
from which truth could hardly be expected. In this
letter, the colonel states that after the pumps had
been operated an hour and five minutes by his
watch the sections under the stern OF the ship were
exhausted, and that he was then, and sul Is, con-
WINGED that all the sections were exhausted. That
the elevation Of the ship, at the bows, was
then measured with his t0aiking slick, and
that he believes il was less than four feet
four inches. This is simply reteration Of
the charge whose fasehood we have sho6n in
our article of the 10th In both cases it emanatee
from the same source-Col. starkweather, being in
terested in the Balance-doek Company, and having
been party to their former publication. The fact
Of the measurement having been made by the
eoonel's uaiking. stick, may in part explain his
statement, for has doubtless long been his con-
slant companion, and has probably learned from him
some OF his habits.
The colonel takes occasion to express in his letter
his "high confidence in, and respect for the char
acter of CAPTAIN Hosken.n We are gratifed 10
perceive that he has at last arrived due estimate
Of that gentleman, and presume he will retraet the
charge of wilful falsehood and unworthy motives
which he made against Captain III. in his former
article.
We next come to the certificate Of Mr.. J. L. OSul-
Ivan, another party interested in the balance-dock
This consists Of repetition of the stale falsehood
that all the power Of the sections exhausted in
raising the Great Britain. He says, safer a con-
siderable time, when pressed with ntenogations he
(Dodge) admitted that the pump Of the aft-secton
might have sucked, and probably did, though still
denying it in regard to any other secton!" The
explanation really given by the undersigned, and
referred to by Mr.. O'Sullivan, was, that on first
raising the Great Britain, Of the pumps sucked
at all. Afterwards the ship settled somewhat owing
to the running of waer into the pumps, the latter
being beneath the surface which made il necessary
to raise the stern occasionally to keep the SHAH OF
her propeller above water This was done by err
hausting the water now and then, sometimes from
the too after sections but oener from the one fur
theSi aft. This explanation was made by the un.
dersigned to Mr.. OSulyan, but seemed very I'M
palatsble to him, as 1t made nugatory his charge
that the power OF the sectional-dock was exhausted
and that all the pumps sucked from stem to stern.
The explanation was, however, far Satisfactory 10
Mr.. o'SuIlivan and his colleagues, as to induce
them 10 abandon the charge, and refrain from
bringing il before the committee.
Mr.. 0'Sulvan concludes with a very low and
abusive attack on the undersigned which is scarcely
worthy Of notice. We trust we may be pardoned
when we quote from Sir Walter Scott, and stigma
tie il a" lie, toiih circumstance" He says ~
consider that violate no obligation Of confidence
when add that his associate referred to- freely ad-
mitted that he Dodge was very reckless in his
lying though palliatng 1t on the ground that he
was Innocent in il, and not malignant" Now
will retort Mr.. o'Sullivan's courtesy by hurting
the lie in his teeth. No such remark was made by
any associate of mine to Mr.. O'Sulivan. This
statement, indeed, carries conviction Of its flsity on
its face because styling" implies Intentional false
hood; and no one meaning to charge another with
lying would add, as o'Sullivan admits was done in
this case, that he was innocent" in il. ..s ..
Mr.. 0'Sullivan concludes with the remark, al
such be his (Dodge's) character the less excusabe
is it on the part Of whoever may employ him in
such service" To this IL is enough to add, that
am not employed by others on any service. | am
acting, for myself as one of the propre,ors ofthe
sectioDal-dock.
Mr. Gilbert denies the false quotation Of the Ian
guage of the Navy Commissioner report which we
| have charged upon the former publication of the
Balance-dock Company, and refers To the files OF
the Union, December 10, lst5, where he says tina,
publication may be found. We were not aware that
the aforesaid publication had ever appeared in the
Union, but we have slip containing it taken either
from the New York Globe or Morning News, in o,u
possession, and which we are willing to exhibit to any
one, which contains the false quotation of So per
cent. instead Of 33i.
| Mr.. Gilbert admits that sir instead Of five sections
were used in raising the Henry Clay, but accounts
for the contrary assertion the part of the Balance
dock Company, by imputing it to their "extreme
| liberaty" C) in "throwing off one section in the
calculation to allow for the BALLAST II is a pity
that their "extreme hheraity" has been confined to
this single instance, and we must beg leave not to be
Iieve them when they claim such quality. 1t is ir
fact contemplate sneaking out of detected false
| hood.
Still on the subject Of the "Henry Clay" Mr. Gil
bert goes on to cay "they (the Sectional-dock Com
pany) do not venture to deny directly that the whole
effective lifting power Of the tanks was exhausted &c
get that ship up" We have directly denied this
charge, and proved it to be false, and we now again
emphacaly deny it.
We now come to an important falsehood in Mr.
Gilbert's statement. He says there are in the sec
tonal-dock "seven tanks, each "a feet broad, and
one sc feet making 204 feet fore and aft, the width
being 6S feet (if not more) and the depth ia"
There in fact two tanks to each Of the sec
tons. Each tank measures 81 feet, | inch
by 10 feet, instead of "a feet, as stated by the
Balance-dock Company, measuredfrom the outside
every case the planking being three inches thick
and these tanks are lS inches apart. The large
tank of the 45O-on section, measures 26 feet 6 in
ches, Gnstead Of 36 feet as stated by the Balance
dock Company by So feet 8 inches; SO that we
have l59 feet inches instead of 2O4 feet for tn,
length fore and aft. The depth is 81 feet instead
III on the outside, as stated in Mr. Gilbert's com
muncatlon. That publication has therefore added
to the actual length Of the sectional dock no les'
than As feet; and to its depth IL feet This is al
insult to the intelligence of the community. Ar,
we to impute to deliberate falsehood, or a stupit
ignorance of the subject they are discussing, sucf
garing mssta,ements on the part of the Balance
dock Company
Again, the publication of the 18th says, land THU
is the last of its falsehoods we shall notice. "he al
lowance of feet for keel blocks and water for float
ing, together with 26 feet, the draught of tn,
Pennsylvania or Ohio, makes depth Of at least AZ
feet Indispensable for the operation of such dock
It is certainly very obliging in the Balance
dock Company to give us greater allowance fo
keelblocks than we call for. We quite content
ed however, with 81 feet, which is all we require
IL - HI 81 4