The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1857-06-26

IiIE NIAGARA IX ENGIAHD-Thc London
News has n long article upon the steam frigatc
Niagara, most of which is taken up by des-
er'pt'on Of the vessel anil will not, therefore
he "f interest to our readers. We pubisl, the
following. preface to the article:
Half annie or so below Gravcscn.l. lust n.
bout where the river tourist might expect tu
recover from having seen the Great Eastern at
Miilwail, another monster Of the dcr, stand full
III view. She Is vast rs ark, with II pccu-
liar defiant air, an expression which tells YOU
at once that she was made for other than the
peaceful purposes of commerce, though moth
ing in the way of armament, or even in the
trim of yards denotes the ma;i-of-war. This
ship along whose decks crowd Of fashionable
Wis tors daily and hourly stream. a:d all a.
round which lie Il fleet Of shore boats ",nastcr-
of The situation,' aud making us much of it ms
it the President himself was on view, is the far
famed frigatc Niagara. She is, we believe, :hc
first States fry gate that has ever anchored off
Gmvcscnd Let our readers, therefore, or at
, least such Of them rs love to gaze upon noble
specimens of naval architecture, avail them.
selves OF the unusual opportunity. Such an
one will not soon again present itself for in size,
form, speed, and intended weight Of arma-
mcnt til" Niagara is beyond doubt the first
anof war of her class in the whole world.
| AS the visitor approaches her lofty sides he is
| struck with the easy graceful manner in which
she SITS the water, with her bows well up,
slowly rising. and showing off her beautiful
lines and clear run to fine advantage. But be.
yomI this feature tn" general effect of her en-
| icri"r Is not very pleasing. The dark hla"l;
hull, unrclicvcd 10y II single streak of white,
gives heavy appearance quite foreign t" her
shape. She is ais" very hollow in the waist,
which nrarts that wall aspect :" charac
tcristic Of the American liners, but which their
| fine fri,,atcs, except in this instance" have IMAM
aged to avoid, "or Mt least mitigate. She is ship
ri.gc,l, with all AMI somewhat heavy sI,ars-
: II novel feature in an American screw, as their
builders hay. justly rri'!ed themselves on av"i.
ding our practice of vcrmastin" our steamer
| But, heavy Us the niagara scc...s alof, she has
II" rope or spar too much On the contrary,
the marvel is TINT they can d" the work as
crbrl I" thcm for, under sail alone, she cal,
run, it is said from l6 TO II knots an hour!
! This speed which even our river steamboat:
! would count a5 cxrclcnt.-Frun the sy,ar-,lcck
the Niagara Looks by no means imposing. Tho
bulwarks of such unusual loftincss, md Sc
curved i'll MS apparently to diminish her rca
size. In fact, many of our figates, lcss than
half her size, and not I" be compared to he,
/ in any war,likc or sea going quality, sccm lar
ger the deck. Not till the visitor has walk
! cd forward and rcrchcd himself here
near the b"wsririi, can he fully arprecia:,
! her immense size and beautiful form, and f.l
that he is looking. down such war.stearnc,
as tl,: world has not yet seen the equal of, al,t
by the side Of which the English navy cnn show
nothing to compete.