New-York daily tribune., 1854-03-30
NRW PVBLINATYOWg
cuAMGEaSs JoJayAI.


Gr this mortr 10 addition 10 G variety Of Interesting mis-
eea matter coniars the opening ch4pier Of Things
8, They aIe 10 Amercs bg Wiliam Chambers The
Of ths acute snd intelligent observer viii attract
tie attention OF resders this country OF tao
ceeness era vvncify Of his deserpo the foo~ing
tracts scord favorable example
MANAGEMENT OF CUNARD STEAMER
Tie conducting Of this magniEcen: vessel from por. 70
or acIOis the ocean. exhibits remarkable triumph OF
luman Kill body Of officers dre,sed IN uHfcrmiike
at of the ROYAL navy charged with the management
Of the ship The chief command in the America FOR ths
time being Being 10 the hands Of Capt Shannon.
seotcbmsn of experienced seamanshP and most sgres
able and obgng IL his intercourse with the passengers
nder him three officers The iabOrIous duties of the
ship are performed by boaswsn and ec mt corps
Of Inaruers there il likewise head engineer win his
assistants having the special charge OF the msehinery
Ia the ordinary ing Of the chip seems to be rule
that officers shall always be on the aiert-ons sta
toned the sDgway ct the side of the paddle boxes u
LOOK sbarIy ahead the other stationed at the bnnsee to
coumurcaie orders to the man az the wheel When an
order /. Issued BY the captain fret officer duty it ia
repeaed aloud hy the second officer and you thus hear
raJidy echoed from P4nt to pobi TIL acted upon by tho
helmsran Orders TO the engineer 10 acken speed to
stop OF 20 on, are communicated by pulling the wre oi
bell at the paddle box by which simple cOntuVaDce the
movements Of The hp under the most perfect control
The watcher must be known to many are four hours
each end are regulated by striking bell placed near the
wheeI the sound. being answered by ben at the fore
cssile The bell Is struck every half hour. Half past
twelve oolook Is indicated by one blow enc clock by
eight blows At half past four they begin again and in
hs way the twenty four hours Of the day sre divided
Although ably assisted by the officers. tho conm1ntor
of vessel Of this class holds situation requiring sleep
less vigilance observed that in his roo n at night
light was kept constantly burning, TO illuminate the
charts cOrnpssses and barome;er with which the apart
mert is furnished and various times mariner
report the progress Of the ship aud the state Of the
wind Ii il sfo noticeable that any order patched
by the captain to tie officer duty is given in writing
80 as TO avoid the mistakes incidental TO verbal messages
Lattery tel tale compass hes been Invented for the
purpose Of checking irregularities in sailing BY means
Of an ingenious kind of mechanism attached 10 com
ras ts dial plate Is punctured in the line Of direction Of
the ship Should the vessel be kept unsteadiy on is
assigned course the aevatons will Dc marked the dial
like cloud OF zgZag pUnctures but ehOud the vessel DO
keIt steadily 70 lis proper path, the punctures accord
ingly will be in straight line French dias of paper are
supplied daily With Of these tell tale compasses the
cspain awakening in biz berih. can discover whether
bis orders have been carefully at ended to or otherwise
IMPORTANCE or THE COMPASS.
Captains Of ocean steamers differ considerably in their
attention TO Iactncss il COmpasses Good compa,ses8re
doubtless furnished TO all vessels Of this important class
useless By disregard o the petty circumstances on board
thlt dersnge s sctOD. Captain shannon related 10 as
curious instance of deran emen in the compass which
had since rendered him pJIciliousy cautious He had
left Halifax with his vessel the bomeward bound voy
ege. il during OF the cold winter months when
fOQs prevail tie American coast His directions at
re the officers Of tht watch ~ run for poot
thirty miles eastward Of Newfoundland so as to make
sure of keeping clear Of its rock bound shores and the
point OF the compass that would lead in this required
direction fixed upon On coming on deck in the gray
Of ths morning, what bis horror seeing thai the
ship had just entered small bay and seemed about to be
dashed in roces on the lofty precPces that revealed
Themselves through the mist BY instan!aneously shout
lug orders 10 the man the wheel and by reversing
the engnes he barely saved the vessel from destruction
After trouble padded out 10 deep water His
frs impression of that the compass had been
neglected But to his surprise. he found that his orders
in this respect hsd been exactly follow ed The head Of
tie veselhad been kent in the direction which, by com
yasa OH mid iCd IN m
land. and yet here was il running fun inshore 10 all
concerned. the deviation seemed perfectly magica-no.
any ordinary principle 10 be accounted for The truth
at lenth dawDed on the captain The error must have
arisen from some local arrangement Of the compass lilo
all the cOmpasses in the shpt be ranged on tho
deck and il perceived that no two agreed The
OF the disorder ascertaned 10 be al certain
spot close 60 the funnel Of the stove of the saloon Could
this funnel be the cause was of brass aud had
before shown any power Of d-ractieg the needle. On
looking into IT, however the captain discovered that,
when at Halifax iron tube had been put inside the
brass one without his knowledge and the circumstance
had never been mentioned to him There in that pal;ry
iron tube. the whole cause of the arrangement
which spec dy, added Capt Shannon made 70 shit
'i,s quarters" How near thus fine vessel being
wee Cd from petty circumstance which could
have previously dream of and may be said how many
fret csss se6mes assumed TO be diverted toward rocks
by cuents may have been led TO destruction from causes
equally trivial.
LIFE on BOARD
The America | ssid quilted her moorings in the M3r
sew on Saturday at noon and passing north about it
not until seven clock Sunday evening that we lost
sight oflTesDd and were fairly aoa the Atlsn, Wh-
ont any land in yiew the ship seemed 10 be xed 10
tie center of circular piece of water terminating IN the
sky And and on day after day. did the noble vessel
90 blowing her way this shifting liquid disk Sci
dom did amy sail make its appearance the track we
pursuing. Our ship was seemingly alone on the
waste Of watersa thing enchanted into life by the aP
GnCes OF science and ait fastening across the trackles
deep. and transferring living portion of Europe to
America How suggestive, TO sit down 10 dinner,
amid the spieudors Of a hotel and to many
refined people about you, yet know that yoa are
Thousand miles from land mere speck amid the
iumuuous waves The greatness of this marvel
is probably lssened to most minds by the pressure Of
common place circumstances The slightest touch OF sea
sickness takes away the poetry of the ocean nor when
man hungry does be indulge cOmplacently in fancnl
speCulstons One Of the first things that passengers 40
coming board to select the place whore they pro
pose TO SIT at table when lhey DO D! a!ius uo"n tne
card at the spot In this way party OF persons ac'
Guented with each other make choice of locality aud the
seat each selects he keeps during the voyage Let us
pause for moment on the appearance OF the saloon IN It's
vary ing character of sitting and eating room
1t is ono Of the many well managed matters in these yes
ses that the meals served peremForily to minute
according 10 the STRIKING OF the be No matter what
be the state of the weather the dishes brought in at
the appointed time and verify believe that if the ship
were sinking the stewards would st be continuing to
serve the dinner The stewards in fact twelve in nun
ber the whole under esf and dressed IN smart Olue
Jackets are but variety Of the waiter genus, aud know
only thiBgwhich is to supply the wants OF passen
gers Al eight clock in the morning they ring their rSt
hell which is the signal for Using and al half past eight
,bcv rirg AGAIN for breakfast Irish stew cold meat
ham Rucn chops sCne kind OF fish eeg tea, coffee aud
hot rolls placed in proiuOn on The two upper tables
The tables in the saloon eight in numberhat s four
on each side with sofa seats in red velvet plush Seldom
more however than the upper tables are covered for
breskfat for the meal is drawn out TIL ten clock ana
for two hours people come dropping IN ana gong ou' as
suits their farcy AZ ten the tables cleared After
tts nothing hot be obtained but any one at any me
cen have such ether fare is board Al hail past
eleven the tables covered TO larger extent and the
he'll at twelve O'Clock is the signal for lunch This
well at. ended meal and there is usually consderaoIe