Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1855-07-21
1nfernal Machines at cronstadt.
A letter from the Baltic feet of Cronstadt,

A letter from the Baltic feet of Cronstadt
to The Times, June l9) says:
..At noon the Merlin, carrying the French
ADMIRAL Penaud and several French and Eng
rsh Captains, proceeded to reconnoitre Cron-
s,,dt They were attacked by the Dragon,
r;reay and corvette D'Aassas. Going first
Lang the north side Of the island they ap-
nroached within 1000 yards Of the blockshlp
,r;ng in the open water between Constradt and
=. petersburgh. They consisted Of four liners,
five frigates, and two corVettes, moored IN a
,;a. ,,one the three fathom bank, with their
nAa.asdes bearing upon the northern passage
I,s;des these, IA steam gun boats lay at anchor,
Ia under the wall of Man Of War-Harbor,
.nored in three lines, were "a row gun-boats.
WHEN the Merlin went in SO close, two Of the
- srn-boats came out, and one fired o
ss.yv shot at her, but it fell short.
al, the Man of War Harbor were seventeen
,:.o.ofbatt,e ships, four of them fully rugged
.nd the others in progress. Between this har-
~ snd Fort Kronslot were ten steamers OF
~ ,s,ns sizes. some of them screws, and between
slot and Fort Menchkoftwo three-deckers
~. r,oored how to bow with their broadsides
commanding the only entrance. The island
s..r,e fn,l of soldiers, for besides those quar-
tered in the town and batteries, three large
..mns were formed outside, two on the north
,,d the other on the south side. Immense new
Earth works have been erected this Spring;
comnlete chain of them runs from the Govern-
ar. house across the island to the old kesseli
Battery dividing it into halves, one fortified
the other without gun upon II. just as the
Merlin was returning. and when going about
s.sen knots an hour, severe shock was felt as
n she had struck upon a sunken pile. 1t made
the shin culver from stem to stern. The en-
zines were instantly stopped and reversed, but
before she had stern way upon her, another
h,cw. ten times more severe than the hrst,
.truek her on the starhoard bow, just before
de paddle wheel, sensibly lifting her over to
mort and making her masts bend and shake as
II they would topple down. The FREELY was in
the Merlin's wake, and before she could stop
she ran to starboard Of the Merlin and partly
tnrned round, when tremendous explosion
took place under her bows. causing her to stag
ger, and proving very plainly that they were
over a nest Of Professor Jacobs internal ma
chimes. the existence Of which is now beyond
doubt.
..They then proceeded carefully until they
got into deep water without meeting with any
more and then reconnoitered the south SIDE,
and getting so near the shore as to witness
sort Of review of the Russian horse artillery,
ana 1ttefWaTV TeLuTucu W INC uSSe' A UA'NA
was Immediately sent down to examine the
FREELY, and not the slightest injury could DC
detected; but inside the ship almost every bit
of crcckeryware was broken, and the bulkheads
thrown down or displaced. On examining the
Merlin, eight sheets of her copper were blown,
not scraped off, and the side appeared to be
charred. All the inside fittings of the engi-
neers' th-room, mess-room and store-room.
were completely demolished. An iron tank
which was bottled to the ships side, and con-
tanned Is cwt. of tallow, was knocked dis
lance Of four feet. Shot were shaken out OF
the racks, and almost everything movable in
the ship was displaced.
at is supposed these machines have been
laid down since Admiral Dundas reconnoitered
the place the last time for, after he returned
two steamers came from the harbor and were
busily employed for some time"
Latest news from the Baltic state that on the
l 4th ult the Allied feet we're to weigh anchor
for the neighborhood of Hango, at the entrance
Of the Gulf Of Finland, where the flag of Truce
vas fred on