Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1862-04-02
A V1s1T no - MoNIToR.

A VISITOR to the Monitor writes as fol-
lows
The crow say, ave fear nothing on land
or water, and are ready, whenever the order
is given, to proceed direct to Norfolk or Rich
mond. ~
The SPEED OF THE MOSIToB.-The nf0rma-
ton has gained ground that the "Merrinac
is superior in speed to the Monitor, " and
that If the former chose she could run past
her and go out to sea. This, was assured,
is an entire mistake. The speed of the
" Merrimac" is not over five knots an hour, |
whilst that of the Monitor is about seven.
On putting the question to one Of her gun
ners as to their relative speed, and the ability
of the "Merrimac to run away from the
Monitor, he replied, "he would like to
see her attempt it. She would then be at our
mercy, and by following close IN her wake,
we would soon cripple if not destroy her
rudder and propeller. A more enthusiasts
and confident set of men never manned shiP,
and they all express au anxiety that they will
soon have another opportunity to meether.
INTERIOR OF TIE TowER.-The gnns set side
and side in the center of the tower, aud are
intended to be fred simultaneously, the close
proximity of the muzzles of the two guns
enabling the two balls to strike the sides Of
the enemy in similar proximity to each other.
The moment the guns are fred two immense
pillars of steel, on the inside, about six feet
long, two feet in width, and one foot IN thick
ness, slide before the portfolios, completely
closing them and protecting the gunners from
the balls of the enemy.
EFFECTS OF THE SHoT.-There are marks
on the tower and hull of about twenty balls,
and some Of them seem to have struck the
tower fair and square, with no more apparent
effect than could be produced by the blow Of
a sledge hammer. The paint is rubbed of,
and if ifre-painted, It would be difficult to dis
cover where most of the shots struck. The
gunners of the enemy seem, however, to
have early abandoned the attempt to damage
the tower, though most Of their balls even
there were aimed at the portfolios, three
striking in close proximity Two of the six
or seven marks on the tower are said to
have been accidental shots from the guns Of
the Minnesota"
Tie greater part Of the shot marks are on
the edge of the hull, which, it shspld be re-
membered, does not rise more than twelve
inches out Of the water They seem to have
been under the impression that there mus
be weak spot underneath the water linz,
and they hammered away all round, but here
too, the invulnerability of the Monitor was
equally great, and the indentations are only
to the extent of fraction of an inch. There
is small fracture Of the edge Of the iron at
one point, which only seems to show It's
great strength at a point which might be
supposed to be weakest
The shot that struck the square PilOt-hOuse
did little more than knock the cement Out.
Had the pilot-house been round instead Of
square, as It IS now proposed to make it, the
ball would have glanced and lost half Of its
force, and failed to injurs the eyes Of the gal
lant commander. He is, however, l am
pleased to learn, rapidly recovering. The
retiring of the Merrimac from the contest
with her Insignificant antagonist, is not to be
wondered at, when the exercise Of all the
power she possessed for five hours, had done
little more than detace her paint.
The attempt ofthe 'Merrimac to run her
down left nomarks on the iron, except some
splinters from her timbersy which are sticking
to nut and screw OH her hull, She struck
her precisely amidships, directly opposite the
centre Of the tower and this experiment
having so entirely failed. it was evident that
no hopes could be entertained fromiis repeti-
ton.
WHAT TIE GUySERs SAT- had q converse
tiou with the gunners, and they are thoroughly
satisfied that at least three of their balls
passed through the iron roof Of the monster.
and they think that if they had used the
wrought iron balls they could have sunk the
monster rebel They had positive orders
from Captain Dalghren not to use them until
they were first experimental with, and none
were used, the impression beng that they
would be liable to burst the guns,