Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1846-01-16

n
ing in forty days or less. She will be completed
and rugged, and if The department WISH will haze
her armament furnished by Mr. Anderson, iiom
the "Tredesar Works." before she leaves on,
port.
This ship yard affords every advantage +,
building iron ships Of any size, both as to the con.
yeniencc Of launching, and obtaining al the NJ.
Terrell for building And il is worthy Of reina.
that our climate is SUCH that vessel NAV il
launched at any season, and The Contingency :,
war even cannot cut off The necessary supply Al
maeriel, all OF which comes down from the com.
tiesabove, by way Of The canal and railroad.
In connection with this subject we n,,, .,s,
express our high qualification al the .lm,s,
uneqnalled success of Mr.. Anderson in The Il.
orlcaiIon OF cannon for The Government ".
have been informed that our sailors. during ,be
lale war, were far more afraid OF Mciropn than :;
Inc enemy's suns-and tha, instances OF ialsl a..
cidenls have occurred within lew wears ras, :,
some OF our forresses, from The bursting ofcso.
non. To correct The evil as far as possible. on-
Government sent intelligent officers abroad 10
investigate The arr and mystery in The be., ioun
dries cl Europe lis most vigilani and scrutini-
zng attention was given 10 the subject, and all
the tests and recommendations which the comb
nation of genius, talent and experience could sug-
ges have been prescribed, and the result, is, that
the guns now made for The Government OF the
U. States, are probably The tesl in he world.
Some years ago, parcel OF guns were made
by the Tredegar Company, Of This city, for he
Navy Department, which proved unfortunate, Is
much higher tests were applied than were Ger.
icmplaled By the Company or the Governmen! at
The date Of The contract. As more than the
usual PER cent. Of the guns yielded, in some form
or other, 10 these high and unlooted-tor tests lie
rioIe were condemned, and great loss sustained
by the Company-besides ind citing scloCs
blow upon The reputation of Southern ounants
The Company contends that this was unjust
that their guns were as good as had ever been IT,
quired-that, in reality, most OF them we've as
/ good as had ever been made, and that the rs! Il
the new and extraordinary tests should have been
al the hazard Of the Government, and no, .! The
contractors.
| The Department, however, exercising lis sifiri
right Of unlimited discretion in he Application.
tests, and sympahising with theJus lears Of brave
seamen, who ought, at all hazards, 10 he protect;
ed as far as skill aid science could do il, from lie
danger Of thar Oarn ;ce0pon5 fell bonnd 10 con-
denim The guns Most Of them have Stree been
broken an, or melted as old run and we are IT.
formed-in the process-were ascertd'ned 10 he
probably as good guns as ever were fabricated.
One fact we have learned, as most striking indeed.
The battery Of one Of our ships OF war was con-
demned, AMI purchased by MIR Anderson a OF
iron. To prepare for The furnace, the guns were
broken by an immense hammer oft n al single
blow. But when this same hammer was appii.i
10 the condemned guns of The TIedesar COMPANY,
which Mr.. Anderson had also bought as old ir"n
nine repeated blows had 10 effect, and as The SUI
perintendent ordered the unbroken but condemn
ed gun 10 be melted in the furnace, he was heald
TO say, 81 believe il is as good cannon as ever
was made" Yet the reputation Of Richmond can
non was tainted, and nothing but The highest
success could fully redeem 1t. Inc new
tests prescribed by the Ordnance Department
We learn, appalled, al first all The ioundei'
But The Department., aiming at the highest a.
tainabe perfection, would not yield, although
many believed that one foundry only in me
Union would accept The contracts on The TENS
now prescribed and il was thong hl doubtful whc-
Their that one would accept the terms. Yet our
high-mcttlcd founders would not tie deierret--
Mr.. A. among ihem-and his late Triumphant
success, authorizes US 10 say, thai The Richn otd
cannon is probably inferior 10 none whaerer--
81, IN, tests X.
entitled 10 rank oborc il. We venture 10 say lhi,,
at The risk OF offending the mcdcs'y OF our 'oHnS-
man which is as conspicuous as his merit
Having made application 10 a friend more IA
miliar than ourselves with his subject, We learn
that The trial gun recently proved, was cast al
the Trcdegar Works by order of the War De.
partmen, with view Of asceIlaining The suiia.
bleness of The iron and Goals used atihal establish
mcnt for the fabrication OF cannon.
The result was highly gratifying. The gun
was .ponnder, weighing 1916 lbs, and was
proved TO extremity, Qbat is TO say, I'LL The gun
should burst,) by carrying it through five series
OF firing, as follows, viz:
Is, series 20 fires, 4. lbs. powder, ! shot.
ID series, 30 fires, 4. lbs. powder, , shot.
Sd series, 10 fires, 8 lbs. powder, Shot.
4th series, 5 fires, 9 lbs. powder, shot
9Th series, fires Ia lbs powder, Is Shot.
The gun burst with the seventh fire OF The hea-
w charges, having endured six of them, ana in
all sixty-one fires above-being three mois
than any gun. cf tie same calible, has &c, tn
dured in HE United States.
This gnn was made Of Pig Iron from he Co
ver,ale Furnace, in the county Of Boeionn. al
which MessTs. Anderson, Sharks Il Andersen
arc The propretOrs; and with coal from The nil,s
OF The Chesterfield Mining Company, in This ~
cinily-ot which A. F. d. Clifford, Esq, is fc
! aeenl-known Familiarity as "Black Hem coal
One other fact we have heard menliuncd-fat
specimen gun was broueh, from England, Is
our scientific commission Of officers, as q ra.-
tern, and 10 stimulate our founders 10 lhc;r NJ
mos, exertions. When subjected, in their pre-
sence 10 our exciting tests il burst 10 flinders, E.
fore our guns showed the least symptoms Of Civ
ing way. Well may we, therefore, ieel The priie
we express, in the success of our city and Stale
Improvements.
In connection with this subject we eyract The
following high compliment from The Planter,
Banner, published al Franklin, A,lakapas, coun-
", La:
great increase, Of late, IN tie number OF steam en-
eines used in ST. Mary. Five wears ago. there
was scarcely dozen in The Parish how there are
nearly ihrly On The CoasI and in Laiourohe,
the planters nerer think of using horse rover
In Auskapas, large minority Of our planners use
| hose mills, However, as they extend their tu,i.
ncss, they adopt steam. A. il is probable nary
will procure engines within The mex, year az tuc,
We would advise them 10 examine lhcs- low IN
use, and sclsc, The best, a, some are undouh,rdis
much heller than others We have cxam,red
he various engines in use, and there j. one
in this Parish, which We would advise Cur plan.
ers 10 examine: II is the engine from The Tree.
gar Iron Works, Richmond, Va, pni up This sea.
son at Col ID. z Sparks. Il will be tonnd 10 pos-
sess many advantages over those in general ne
Some ofihose advantages We will mention, arJ
our planters can Judge Tor themselves. The engine
rests on cast iron bed plates, supported by brick
Il. IL hano plac