The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1855-12-13
oEanRsL NEWS.

aThe new mammoth steamship Vanderbilt constructed
for apd named in honor or Cornelius Vanderbilt who u
khowa r. he commodore Of steam vessels 40 s srgY, 2.
morning ths yard II Mr.. jeremiah Simonson, Mt
Greenpoint, Long Island. =. II :
Prerarations Tor the great event had been go;Es 90 Al
night So that thing would be in readiness IN te
Al twenty minutes past nine o'clock this morning the
signal yeu that The ship was rendy 10 shdc INTO .he
element and in second afterwards little crcakihg noise
was heard and she moved gracefully from the ways into
the water.
Sire passed ino tie East river very rapidly and went
up with the tide short distance Tremendous eheers
were given by the spectators on Shore and the excitement
was kept up by freqnePt disehargs5 ~ artillery me
steamer IN to1 by three stesntngs ann fo"ea
down the East river TO the foot of Market street She
there 20 be placed in the balance dock for coppeing
There from four 70 hse thousand persons AZ Tue
launch The yard and WORKSHOPS and the docksin me
vicinity crowded with men, women enc fpnaien
Notwithstanding very cold norhery wind was blo~ing
the multitude withstood the ncony until the iast
act Of the ship-buildsr was consunmated.
Among tie spectators the yard we observed Rus
sian naYa. oFcer who 10 take great interest IN
American naval architecture. Commodore Vanderbilt aud
family Ex-Governor Seymour and latyi er-Naym " est
ervelt Captain Nye; Alderman Barker presdsn' o. 'ne
New York Board Of Aldermen and many New ork nef-
chants shpbuiders &c. The ladies were very numerous
and occupied the windows Of the workshops for seeing the
launch
steamer aaoa, Her frame il composed OF large mbers
and she Ia thoroughly constructed In very superior man
ncr Of we-oak and locust Sixty tons o bolts have been
tons Of iron The bolts Of great size and thickness
and all Of her mbers thick and heavy Her diInen-
sons are follows Length deck, 800 feet brcadtn OF
BEAM 40 iect depth OF hold ~ icet ana oioo 'ohs DIT
den. .
She viii have beam engines. Of 90inch Cylinders
and twelve stroke made by the Alaire Works She
was launched with por ton Of her machinery consisting
Of the bed plate cylinders and condenser Her water
wheels will he AZ feet in diameter line opportunity
OF viewing this gigantic steamer Will be afforded while she
il in the balance dock II il not stated whether tue an
darh inter iie IN ~ q
for aea for some time
SAFPTY OF RAILWAY TRavgLilya.At recent meeting Of
the English Railway Club which composed Of the repre-
sentayes Of the principal English railways Mr. Edward
g. Watkin the general manager Of Of the most extern
sve Inca presided aud made Speech which was received
with great attention lie said those present represented
1900 0Oo employed more than 10000 men, and
administered revenne of f2o,0oo,0oo annually In
regard the safety Of railway travelling DR. Watkin fur
nshed novel statistics lie said he had often thought
that person wanted lie in the safest place in this
world he should get into rstclass railway carriage and
never leave IT,
In 1854 the English railways carried ll10o00o0; the
number killed in consequence of accidents beyond their
own control IL. Those lll,o00o00 travelled about
Is miles each that It was clear man must make be
tween 10 and II journeys travelling between
and 60 900 600 milesand that would take, he had cali
crated between 2o0o and 1000 yearsbefore fatal
cident might be expected happen TO him. Now he cha
enged comparison in point Of safety between railway
travelling and that OF any other mode Of travelling
any other avocaton Two-hirds OF the accidents
from moral causes and not from physical ones, as the
breaking Of axle some defoct in the permanent
way.
GErrIse INTO SAVE euARrzEs.-The following strange
story appears in late English paper:
mos. extraordinary instance Of fox preservation ato
y occurred at Ccmogan Castle eynard returned there
ain IA Init duUh naed
took line for the diningroom window. visitor who
was watching the hunt from the turret and puzzled
to bear or two OF the hounds bay up to the window
while the whole OF the field digging furously at
drain outside Of the garden descended into that ROOM and
found Mrs Phillips knitting before the fire. On telling
her how oddly the fox had been lost she quietly rose and
opening the door Of cupboard showed him the animal
living curlcd up OF the shelves II seems that no
had dashed through the glass and sued for compassion
MIRA Philips rang for her maid and while the latter kept
guard against the hounds at the window she found
refuge for the fox She kept him there all night and fed
him The cunning animal became familiar with the
doesics and allowed them to pat his head before he
let out the morning into his native woodland Wild
MIcaoscopic puoroeRAprts--Somc microscopic photo
graphs exhibited Manchester, England have excited
much admiration One of the size Of pins bead, when
Inagniied several hundred times TO contain
group Of portraits OF members Of the artists family
the ikencsses being admirably distinct Another micro
scopic photograph Of still less size represented mural
tablet erected the memory of VIM Sturgeon the cleo
trcian This ,tc table covered only nine-hundredh
part Of superficial inch and contained ESQ letters every
one of which could be distinctly by the aid Of the
microscope.
FENCING IN aAraoAp.-on motion OF Mr.. ITolladay the
Virginia house OF delegates have adopted resolution in
qurng the s1pedency Of requiring the baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company fence in their road with fences
and stops all crossings in the counties of Marsha
and wetze and further to make the said company liable
for the full saue all property injured their road from
the absence insuticiency Of such fences &c.
THn GREAT FIRE AT Mrsrms.--The following incidents
are furnished by the Memphis papers:
aThree gentlemen jumped from the outside OF the
CoIier-one never the surface, up but
sunk after few Intellectual struggles and the third
the river He was nearly exhausted aud completely numb
ed with cold and in fact has not yet recovered from the
effects young lady about sixteen jumped into the river
and saved hy gentleman who plunged in after her
and Selling Der by the hair brought her out negro
seen floating by the wharfboat and although boxes
res aud rope thrown to him. he too parnlyz
avail himself Of the Of and sank before he
reached the stern Several saved by epreserverk
but Others were rendered poweress by fear and plunged
into the river One poor negro on being told to jump into
,hs river replied that he could not swim lie told 10
jump and be would be picked up by the yswl he took the
leap, aud never 10 the surface
SrxpAYs ~ EseLAxp--rhe committee the National
Sunday League circulating petitions for the opening OF
museums picture galleries botanical gardens the Crystal
Palace and other public buildings throughout the United
Kingdom, on Sunday afternoons.