The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1861-02-21

OSE or THE UNNECESSARY DANGERS OF TIE SEA-
The Lord Mayor Of London has lately had TO adjudi-
cate in a case OF great Importance, rs showing how
many lives may be sacrificed to the %culpable careless
ness Of individuals, who are themselves far removed
from the risk they cause. The defendants were the
shippers OF what are called apOthecarie>' wares, which
were sent on board a vessel named the PerG, for con-
veyance to Singapore. Ii happened, however, that
some Of the ware leaked out and caused asmell, which
betrayed the nature Of the contents Of the package.
Chemical investigation showed that the outer box
covered n bottle Of sweet spirit Of nitre. which
bCils at a very low temperature. and which, when
boiling, gives OF! n yapOr Of a highly lnham-
mabie and explosive character. DR.. Letheby, who
explained It's nature 20 the Lord Mayor, showed IN
open court how easily this explosion might be pro
ducel and stated that the one gallon Of this liquid
would produced 2OOO cubic feet OF explosive vapor-
enough 10 blow up several men-OEwar. Perhaps tbs
most remarkable part Of the whole case was the state
ment Of a number Of witnesses that they were in the
habit Of shipping these dangerous goods IN the man
Her complained Of The inference is irresistible tEaJ
steamers are constantly sent to sea with hundreds d
valuable lives on board, and yet charged with su5-
stances Of the most subtle AMI powerful qualities, ca
pablo Of causing the destruction Of allCn board. WHEN
We read Of such mysterious wrecks as that Of tbe
CyHHGu-5f, Ne must remember the case Of the PcrG,
and the witnesses for the deence.-.nont. HeraiE-
\ NV System OF SHIPBrILDrSG.-Mr Towel. n
England, has recently patented u new system Of ship
building, which he says l. preferable 10 all others nov
in Use, n l. combines large sJ0wace capacity with
. very high rate Of speed. The bow Is copied from
the mead 81 \ salmon. AMI the hit'T Dolly from fHc
form Of the swan under water. Upon this comb:nss-
tiJn he has built several vessels, al % which have
proved emIneutlv successful. One oithem, the LrVCt-
Ing Hg'er, vas AL tons register, and she has FIRE
queutly performed Is knots. She took 70 Hobart
Toxin lO4 tons dead weight. 10 tons liquids, 357 t0ns
measurement rDods-totaI 9g7 tons. This was with
in , tons OF double her register, sufficient TO estIt-
ii-h his claim of large s'owage capacity, and, with
this large cargo, she Ourslilei every vessel which
left about the same time. Mr.. lowell assumes that
the speed lies - IN the form Of the fore body from the
lutl-water line 20 the keel, making only IT, due pro-
portion of displacement for the free passage Of the
water under the fore part Is found 10 lift the ship, so
that, instead of accumIlatIng about the bows or
around her, and forming an obstruction, II causes a
decrease Il the submerged area q every section from
forward 20 dead fiat. lie holds. also. that "A latent
p~gpeling power Is possessed, consequent on the form
# tn. after body, which J. brought into play rs soon
a. the ship J. put into motion ahead that the pre-
psuIerltiuE weight Of the after body, over that u the
fore, Of the weight Of cargo ablfr the dead fat over
that before il, with the addition caused hy the lifting
OF the box, all aii the onward progress Of the ship.
There J. not . foot u straight below the load water
line, which IN other ships retarl their sailing power.
Every ton weight put into such vessels, Mr.. Iovell
declares. increases the length and breadth TO carry
a., and that they 20 faster when heavily loaded than
when IN ballast trim One feature in their Cpustruc-
ton j. the curved instead Of the straight keeison.
Ia their forerake they look much ike the Madras
boats, and in the stern quarter like the yacht Ameri-
ca. though tine dead wood j. not so deep