, 1862-03-19
QUE WASHINGTON LETTER.
lFsom pur own CorrcEpondent.1

HAEdlaN1uNs a1AkGA A1tAs AEV&*
The exploits Of the little Monitor continue
to be source Of wonder and 7copgratulation.
4 ltyely controversy has sprung up as to the
priority Of claim to the invention. I find In |
Haektcood'S IAdgazine Of November, 1880,
{pase 6s4,) the following paragraphs in an ar
tie1e On iron-clad ships Of war; speaking |
particularly Of ".thc invention of Captain |
cowpor Coles for shielding guns crews with
iron c7tpoJas." -.
ave point to this YgJy Of Captain Coles because
it shows that the necessity for an iron shield to
project guns crews had taken s i'm hold Of the
minds Of naval officers
Then in i foot note on the same page ne
find the following report Of a commissioner
appointed to examine Capt. Coles's model 1
III. u. 6. S7KoAgo1l,
Pursuant to an order ftop, Rear admiral Sir E.
Lyons Kt. E. e. B., Commander u Chaet &c. &c,
&c, We, whose names are hereto subscribed have
segsrsa e On bossM l. M y coes
and ne are or opinion that the Invention IL one OF
the q34atest practical Edlue. r,-
Coles produced that the raft combines many adran
tasee amongst which arc: 1st, light draft Of va.
ter Cd facility OF propulsion 20 M simplicity and
heayr gan OF mortar can be used on each with
great precision Of fire; s1h, protection Of tho
EfCW,
"Icokins 10 the probable resnlts Of future ope-
ratio1s agaln*t our present enemy, We are further
of opinion thst this proposal merits the imnedia:e
the fn1 benefit mar be derived fsom It, we venture
to think It desirable that Commander oIes shoala
he directed TO proceed to Englaad snd personally
explain his proposal TO their lorGships
I'VE further suggest that the present clrclm-
stances secrecy is desirable.
lslexEpl +:Pnssident, Reax:AamiEal Sir Hous-
TON STEWART, l. G. E.. second in command
ffATt- 3EfET7H ECM1IIES. r.. N.
II! HqxalE, G5ief Engineer Of II.
Carpenter OF T. N. s. Hannibal.
Capt. q. HAY, Il Ms. Hanniba1.-'
In the December number (1SG0) Of the same
magazine, is IN a1Iuslon to report OF the
Royal Defense Commission, which says, s. 4
method Of mounting guns j.. e12polds o'4 ss"ozo-
| mi1tcc. No trail Of this plan has yet been
submitted" 1t would appear from the conf
| p1aining tone Of the article in B1aektcood that
| the plan did not commend itself sufficiently to
the admiralty to secure a trial. It is stated
q 9ti5u,ae that CAPT. Ericsson tried to get his
| plan adopted BY Louis Napoleon during; the
| Crinsean wax # this is true he Is still en-
| titled to the eaho1c honor Of the Monitor.
| Otherwise he can claim only the successful
| application Of It to war purposes, which, how
ever, Of itself is sufficient Tor the ambition of
It Is now manifest that Congress ought to
repeal the recent act appropriatlns s., ,O00,o00
for additional stone foTtiiications- The money
would pay for twenty-five Monitors, and. il
expended for forts will be sure to be wasted,
and worse than wasted, for somebody will be
sure to be corrupted By handling it.
The statistics Of tile Sanitary Commission
show that the deaths in the ARMY Of the Po-
force OF cay rs 600, which is about Is to eacl,
of the 240 regiments every thirty days. But
if our men have been hitherto comparatively
secure from harm, they will not be SO much
longer Bullets they may not attain, bud
Yellow Jacks will meet them in due
season along the South Atlantic and Gull
coasts The Sanitary Commission may bt
| never so active and intelligent, land they have
indeed done a work Which will one day rs
found tho count1y,) the malaria and heat o
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Louis
lana, will fight against us with vastly worst
rtsnlts than The pine columbiads tCcntreyille
and there is no better way to avert the threat
| ened and sweeping danger than to call in tn
services Of the loyal blacks in tho sickly Gai
section. They can do both the working an.
the fighting. They can hold garrisons in tn
neishbo1bood Of the deadlicst swamps, wller
b:eath Of the tainted air is death to North
I ern white man, and where 4 single nights res
is death to a Southern white nlan. Her
Providence points Us to cur duty, not onl
with the suggestions of wisdom and human
ltY, but with the enforcement Of strong ne
cessity. May re see our duty ere the thinne
battle sn1ote them, shall bring us to our knees
The Powell and Davis controversy amuse
the Senate couple Of days last week. Th
] Hcn. GarTett's speech on this occasion VT
somewhat shorter than his etfurt on the Brigl
case-commcncing as far down in the anna
; | Of !iule as the construction Of Noah's arl
and giving small attention to the reign Of 7
: :,erius Caesar. It was clear case Of pot cal
ing kettle black The majority of the Senat
| Legislature would send another man as b.
as Davis. Each Of the twain occupied who
day in discussing the others loyalty, and
9 was proved by each that the other Was
4 traitor.
Since the promuIgation Of the tax bill the
has been an excitement touching hoop
- skirts The manufacturers Of the article ha
h protested against what they deem heavy il
L position on their wares, while the jobbe
It view The prospective rise with alarm. II
Il dollars per dozen for the cheaper kin
1t seems onerous. Fortunately there is
r. way to avoid the tag. while still clinging
the sRirta. The bill only taxes those made
Is steel or other metallic substance. BY subs
T tuting Wpalebone, or bamboo, or osier y
l9x the ladies' can sin haye ,s eef SPREAD
is pleasant feature Of the controversy
= The incentive which the topic gives
. Members Of Congress to perpetratc unseen
IN Jokes. Iam Eor1y to say that such tender
c- has teen manifest since the meeting Of
: 1nanufact urers was held in New York to nv
Il the danger to their craft It Is believed t
Ill | when that section Of the bill comes under
49, ccssion, the House will 60 into secret sess
III under Senator Wade's joint rule.