The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1846-03-27
EDITORS CORRESPONDENCE.
NV Yos. March ps. Is46.

..s y,EnL NEw YoRK, March 20, ls46.
Los " The paekei-shi Heavy Ciay--.u Thisrs's His
tory u ne Consulate and Empire; volumes 6, T. 8, q
| sSrs1 az one tn.s.-Iieaeh steam project notice.
%'yy W eonfmsahon'-Saeesssid results Of oesa,
afsm navigation gtisr eight years triad Causes q
Jtiurs and baekoaIdness vih the United States /,
.hisaiie sisam navigation, &c. &c,
News reached this city last night Of the loss o.
the splendid packet-ship Henry Clay, the partic,l
lars OF which You will see alluded 70 in the city pa,
pers. She went ashore ia the gale of Tuesday nigh
on the dangerous coast Of Squam beach, New Jersey
The inhabitants adjacent thereto have recently been
honorably acquitted of barbarous and lhieyng CON
duct, In reference to the other disastrous wrecks
which have preceded the unfortunate Henry Clay
The conduct of many of the coast wreckers desery-
ed great praise instead Of censurc. The Henry
Clay was commanded by Captain .Nye, AN expert
eneed and able officer, who no doubt did every thing
IN his power to preserve the ship and the lives OF
the passengers. The Jacob Bell steam tow-boat
was despatched 10 Squam beach early this morning
win all necessary assistance. II is believed, be-
sides me crew and passengers, the latter said 10 be
from the after cabin, who persisted with the boat,
no other lives have been lost The weather has
agreeably moderated. A vessel which came up to-
day reported that the hull Of the ship had righted
and the people seemed TO be at ease on board, who
wl no doubt, be brought up to the city this evening
The editor Of M Thiers's History Of the consu-
late and Empire Of France, M Paulin, has an
nounced that the 9th volume of this great work will
not De published until the 7th and 9Th are ready 20
appear with Il. The author has decided that il is
best Tor these volumes TO appear at the same time,
as lhey Wal exhibit more completely the events APP
pertaining TO an important period OF the history,
commencing with the campaign of Austerlitz, and
ending with the battle Of Wagram.
In reference TO the propositions made by Messrs
Deahaute, Boikel, & Co. to the French govern
ment TO establish four lines of Atlantic steamers,
III fNxT.n a n =.
10 state one popularity Of their plan That was that
the government should guarantee per cent per an
mum TO the stockholders. III the income fall under
that amount, the government 10 make good the de-
hcieney. II the dividends should exceed 10 per
cent, then the same to be equally divided between
the company and the government. The vessels to
be at the disposal of the government under fair
valuation in case Of need.
IL was my good fortune TO 20 on board The Sirius
by Captain Roberts, the day she cast
her anchor OF the battery in April 1899. She was
The first Brihsh steamer which ever crossed the At
antic. The Great Western arrived within twenty
four hours after the Sirius The former was not
built in reference To crossig the Atlantic but TO run
believe, between Ireland and England, across 81
Georges channel. She was sent over as pioneer
The British Queen succeeded and then the Presi.
dent, both Of which Captain Roberts commanded
being afterwards lost in the latter vessel.
On the LIST July, 1910, | saw the Britannia, the
hrst OF the Cunard line sail on her first trip from
Liverpool 10 Halifax and Boston. The sailing of A
steamer to cross the broad bosom Of the Atlantic
was then a matter Of so much novelty and doubt,
hat the docks, shipping, and houses on both sides
Of the Mersy were lhronged with vast mutitudes Of
people 10 witness her departure. About twelve
o'clock, the tide being favorable, and wealth
Dr. fine, she got up steam, hoisted anchor, and
with gay pennants Hying she bore CALAMITY down
he river, amidst the shouts and cheers OF the multi
iude,
The CWnard line now consists of five splendid
sassels, besides another which in building. All the
British steamsrs which have crossed the Atlantic,
including the Sirius, Royal William, Liverpool,
aud Unicorn, amount 10 thirteen different vessels
besides the new Canard vessel on the stocks Six
Of them have continued to make regular trips, six u
summer, and the Cunard line once month during
winter Steamers, therefore, have been running
regularly across the Atlantic for eight years. Du-
ring that Time they have conveyed vast number Of
passengers and let,ess, and Tecontly considerable
quantities Of valuable freight. Daring the eight
years only two have been lost--the President,
which, il was supposed, was wrecked on an ice
berg, or was burnt in March, lS4l, and the Column
ba, which went ashore on the coast of Nova Scotia
In the former case all on board perishcdin the lat
ter instance all the passengers and much of the car
70 and materials were saved. These eight years.
trial Of such successful steaming ought to bs suf
hcient to convince the most scepical Of the entire
and perfect success Of ocean steam navigation.
When the Atlantic steamers commenced their reeu-
lar trips, they had deal Of doubt and prejudice to
overcome. A mas who was considered high a,,-
thority had openly and publicly denied the practical
bilty Of Atlantic ocean steam navigation, and had
entered into calculations to prove the soundness Of
his views. But, fortunately for mankind the pub.
lications and practical arguments in favor Of the
scheme made by Junins Smith, esq, our country.
man. then resident in London had the effect to rein
spire the English capitalists, and to enlist their con-
hdenee, to some extent, in its practicability and
proftableness. But not so our own country
men and capitalists. The experiments they
guards &c. like those Of the Home
and the Pulaski, which were dashed to pieces,
combined with the impression made BY Dr.
Lardner's scientific blunders-unted, too, with
a great commercial revulsion-all couspired TO put
US far into the of Great Britain in ocean steam
navigation. With such perfect models before us
as the Cunard engines and steamers afford, we have
been too full OF experiments. The government
under former administration, has been most
grossly ''humbugged" and cheated, all of which
have tended to set the country back in Atlantic steam
Navigation.
1.-THE government was made to believe, that
plans of submerged screws and wheels were better
than any other mode of propulsion. And if any
visionary appeared with few friends and money to
back him, he was sure to gain hearing in favor
of his wild projects Of making steamers ball.proof,
bombproof and to outrun everything else. The
said has cost the government about five millions of
dollars. The sohemers have profted largely by
these discoveries, but we have yet to learn whether
the government has gained anything by them that
is worth farthing in the way of any increase of
national defence. We boast one steam. frigate,
the Mississippi, and that is all. The money which
has been wasted on useless experiments, if econom-
ically applied, would be sufficient to build ten efficient
steam-frgates as large as the Mississippi, which
herself, 1t 10 believed, cost third to a half more
than private enterprise unfettercd by government
jobbing on the part of contractors, could now be
built for inhis city. The advocates of screws and
submerged wheels contend they would make the
vessel safer in action, and the machinery less
Halle to injury than steamer with paddle-boxes;
that "bringing two Of the latter vessels into ac-
ton would be like bringing two clocks into conflict
This 10 true of all vessels constructed with machinery
of any kind. With a screw or submerged wheel,
if,he hull should receive ball or paixhan shell, or
shell should by recourse firing, fall on her deck,
such would be the destruction of timbers that its