The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1862-02-13

him Tor MS neglect 10 take the pulpit lEn-
mediafely on his arrival This incident is
illustrative of the Commodors's energetic,
earnest character and sincere piety.
Test OF THE MORTAR BoATs-THE Ex-
PERTINENT PERFEcT SUocEss-Th regular
army officers who know everything worth
knowing, have had great deal to say about
the incapacity of the mortar boats, con-
structed at st. Louis by order of Gen. Free
mont. A late trial of the boats at Cairo
demonstrates that they are terrible engines
of war, calculated to drive the rebels from
Columbus in very short time. We clip
the following account of the trial from the
Missouri Democrat: tl-- esq eaf.s.u Ed
Everything having been gotrin readiness,
Captain Constable fired small charge of
four pounds of powder for the purpose OF
" scaling the mortar. Tha first expert
ment with shell then followed, with
charge of eleven pounds of powder. When
all was ready the boat was cleared of the
company, most of us retiring to the shore,
Capt. Constable alone remaining to dis
! charge the gun. Ready fire ! A deafen-
ing conclusion, aud in an instant the huge
6uCAl WdD SOOA AnOhhtlhks III thC all nlSL
magnificent curve, and its terrible roar
gradually diminishing as its distance from
us rapidly increased. Ii may have risen to
the height Of half a mile and was almost
lost to view before it L,gan to make its
de3cending curve-- ~rF.-
Ga its disappear ance our eyes were eager
ly directed to the rivers level to mark its
fall The suspense was relieved by the
sudden shooting up from the waters line of
| a white column of spray far down the Mis-
! sissippi, and, as it was estimated, two miles
and half away from US. The mortar boat
was scarcely moved by the explosion, and
the monster carriage recoiled but two or
three inches. This was very encouraging.
The second experiment was made with
twenty pounds of powder, Capt. Constable
| again diseharqing the gun. The concus-
sion was terrific. Some distance IN the
rear Of the boat, where | was standing, it
| was not painful, but those who remained
alongside and in the boat were considerably
shocked. She she'll rose beautifully, mount
/ ing much higher in the air, aud at the eX-
pirstion of 294 seconds, struck the water at
an estimated distance of three miles. This
conclusion showed itself very palpably up
on the boat The hatchway coverings in
the front part were lifted off, and in some
cases broken and split, while the boat itself
recoiled some two or three feet, and pene-
trated the soft bank of the river
Experiment number three was made with
the full charge of tl0enty- three pounds q
ponder Theetime of the flight of the bal
was thirty-one seconds, and the distance
three and hiatt miles. The recoil of the
gun carriage was about two feet, and the
effect of the conclusion upon the loos'
wooden work of the boat was the same a;
. in ha rrcuiana ahof
The mortar boats are about sixty fee
long, and twenty-five feet wide, surrounded
on all sides by iron-plate bulwarks, six o.
seven feet high. The mortar itself wsignl
/ 1920 pounds :; has bore easily admitting
, a I3-ineh SHE'LL and from the edge of tn;
bore to the outer rim is II inches. Th'
mortar bed weighs A, 500 pounds, and from
the experiment of to-day, is pronounced b!
Captain Constable to be the most admira
bic mortar carriage yet invented. The shell
filed with wet sand weighed $50 pounds
an enormous missile TO be hurled through
the air a distance farther than from th'
levee to Grand Avenue, in your city. FilleC
with powder, these shell will weigh I'll
pounds, and can be thrown at least a half |
mile farther than were those filled with th'
sand.
Say, twenty of these mortar boats droI
! u0h II W hAAuAu AOdCn VI |OOAuA8buo
and at the same time be out of the reach o
the best riaed cannon the rebels may bring
to bear-so small, indeed at distance o
three and a half or four miles as scarcely u
be observable on the surface of the water
Say ftarther. tha~s sasl. &c -siaS5sS DOaIS VII
IRE, at very low estimate, four shells al
hour. Then twenty of them would dis
charge eighty shells an hour, with peTfec
e IMMUNITY, and at this rate for one night O
= ten hours eight huidred Of these terrific nlis
: siLes may be thrOs0n into the rebel camp an
1 Notifications. Can they endure it? Pan
| demomium would be a Paradise to thi
: place it could make Of Columbus. A'a.
3 The trial of to-day demonstrated that th,
3 recOil of the boat was altogether lateral
8 and not perpendicular. as it was feared i
t would be. It also shows that the iron but
+ warks render the conclusion more sever
than it wOnld be without them, and that i
, they are permitted TO remain, some plaI
! will have to be devised by which the gun
, ners at each discharge may get outside o
them Illustrating the effects of the con
I cussiOn is the circumstance that the cap O
the gunner who discharged the 15-poun.
charge was carried away from his head, auC
he almost taken off his feet.
: na- Damage to the amount of 5 8 OU
) was sustained by the Wabash and Fri
~ L II. A.