Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-12-13

every peEsou WIZ sHdll engage II SE 1lA VI
abet such rebellion as aforesaid, shall forfeit
all claim which surh person may have to the
service or labor of any slave or slaves and
the slave or slaves of such perscn shall be,
and are hereby, declared freemen, and for
ever released from such servitude, anything
in the laws of the United States or OF any
State to the contrary notwithstanding.
Sec. 5. And Be IL fHrthsr enacted, That no
person shall be arrested or surrendered as q
fugitive slave upon the order of any person
in the military or naval service Of the United
States.
A Terrible KagIne of DestructIon-..The
Ericsson Battery 20 be Completed h the
18th Of .JnnuRrTs
[From the New York Journal of Commerce
The construction of the Ericsson Battery
furnishes 6 Characteristic instance of Amer
ican energy and dispatch. The contract for
the work was signed on the 5Lh Of October
last; the work itself was commenced on the
10th Of the same month; and the-e is no
doubt that the battery will be finished on
or before the 18th Of January, 1882, within
the specified period. About one thousand
skillful mechanics are employed on various
portions Of the structure and its equipments
and the labor is pushed on both night and
day. The central part of the hull and
deck is nearly completed, at tho Oontinsn-
tai Iron Works, Greenpoint. The principal
engines and boilers and screws arc N an ad-
Vanced state, at the Delamster Iron Works,
loot of Thirteenth street, N. R. The Novel
y Works are rapidly giving shape to the
desth-dealing turret. Messrs. Chute Bros,
of Schenectady, will not be bstind with
the turret engines and gun. .carrirgsS. Three
large rolling mills in this city are employing
all their available force in the production Of
iron plates.
Capt. Ericsson invests his undertaking
with no mystery. The public are free to
know all about the plan, the Dimensions, the
armament, and the most minute psculiarities
of his unique invention. The following des.
cription may convey some idea Of it:
The battery rests upon two vessels, an up
per and lower one. The upper g brilt of
iron, ia feet long, Al feet inches wide
and feet deep, with drsuyht of 3 #. 6,
inches, leaving only Is inches Of the sides
exposed above the EatsS ps p,uiTlh1 TIE sj gjjfiseBgs
thick. The deck is made Of oak beams 10
inches thick, covered with plank 6 inches
thick and q one-inch iron plate. The upper
vessel is Hat bottomed, and hes a wedge.
shaped stem and atern. The lower vessel,
which Is entirely submerged, is l2z feet long,
"a leet wide and feet inches deep. Ii
contains the working machinery, TIE rudder
and the anchor, housed away beyond IT ach
Of the enemy's shot. Upon the dec, of the
upper vessel, and the only conspicuous oh.
ject on this 'low, raking," and terrible craft,
is the turret 20 feet in diameter, Q feet high
and composed Of nine one-inch iron plates.
tapped over each other and fastened with
Thousands of bolts A shell-proos ROOT, 6
inches thick, covers the turret which Is en-
tered through hatchwsys from above. The
total weight of the turret is 12o tuns.
The armament consists of two colum.
biads which are preferable to rieed guns at
short ranges each carrying a ball Of one
hundred and eighty pounds, and working
through circular port holes three feet above
the deck. The carriages are made of
wrought iron, and move on forged iron
slides, The turret can be turned at pleasure
by double-cylinder engine, and controlled
by lever in the tuTret. By this oontriy-
ance the guns can be aimed, almost instant
ly, at any part of the horizon. The cylinders
for the main engine are 40 inches in diameter.
with piston stroke of 20 inches. Blowers
for the boiler and for ventilation are worked
by small separate engines. The smoke Is
passed off through gratings in the deck =
The entire cost of the battery will be S2T5,-
900. Guns and men to work them will be fur
Lished by the Government.
Among the requirements of the contract
is one thstthe battery shall hare q speed of
not lsss than eight miles an hour. Captain
Ericsson believes that this rate Is easily at
tainable. There Is another remarkable
provision, that the battery shall be tested at
the shortest ranges before the enemy's guns.
The inventor is not in the least alarmed at
this prospective ordeal. If the nine-incb
platings on the turret (the only exposed
part) do not prove strong enough, three
more iron plates can be put on without ma
terially affecting the draught or tse safety of
the battery. But it is believed nine inches
will be a sufficient thickness. The best
practicable thickness can only be ascertain
ed BY actuaf experiment. That Soar and a
half inches (the thickness of plates cn the
LaGlOire and Warrior) are not enough, was
satisfactorily proved by Capt Ericsson in
experiments conducted by him many years AGO
Inc test 70 Whlcn the battery will be sub /
iected will probably settle ali that is un-
known about the resisting power Of iron
Plates. Immediately upon tie conpletion
Of the battery il will be taksa to position
In front OF some Of the enemy's accessible |
most formidabls prefsrred-
and will Hpitch in" at ranges rom 900 to |
300 yards, and Gs much less than the. es will |
be necessary to silence the rebel Guns /
Should 1t not prove potent enough at the |
irst trial-about which no apprehension
nee1 be felt-the additional plates can be at
sached in very short time, and the Success
Of the battery, in the closest engagements
and under the heaviest FIRE, be placed beyond
any reasonable doubt.
The practical results of this bold and orig
inal invention will be looked for vith great |
interest BY military and scientisc men in this
country and Europe.