New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-03-16
WARRIOR DEFENGE.

time, are hut the prOMse OF WIN tHcy VIM Oc III tho
future. 10 New.York City the General Govern
ment looks no. only for loans Of money TO carry on
great war, but 10 heG ship-yaTds and manu'ac-
tories for the sudden creation of uayy for cloth
ing, guns. carriages and AL the material OF war Tor
a GREAT army. while from her dense population that
army Is most speedily recruited
While the knowe &c of those facts gives conf
dence to ourselves it also has the effect to excite
the cupidty of others; sud We nay reasonably OK
meet. m case OF any nj understanding with foreign
raions either that, knowing orr iuci zen; prepare
( .ous from want Of foresight to deiend ourselves
against assault, we shall BE- precipated into war,
the herald OF which will be the advent at the mouth
or inside OF our harbor OF Zee. o. Ton-clad5 and
rans, or il are ia such state Of preparation as
10 insure destruction to those making the attempt,
we shall have no dliicuos but those easily settled
by diplomacy. Men do not rile
" ln.o tue jaws Of deltlL
Into t..e glte, Of bell
deliberately to capture wealth, but give them the
usual chances of escape from dean in battle, aJou'
thousand TO one, ana the glory OF The achievement
in addition 10 other Indictments, Wi. inspire them b
advance.
Whie consider ii impolitic to dampen the mill
,rovnce o. the representatives OF a great CONNER.
cnl and manufacturing community 70 prepare with
d ,berl'ion such means Of Goicuse, If possible, rs
viii g.ye positive protection against al possible
me lps f asult; "vr ounce Of prevention is bet
Ter than 4 pound Of cure.'
The r'erchan' Who iptrasis lis whole capital TO
he mercy OF The waves would s00a be without
cTedL II &c were not insured
TIE civil engineer who would place the expensive
gu, ,rltruciure OF a bridge or building upon founda
,iou tbe strength of which he had crudely guessed
n, but bad not estimated from actual data care
fully az to place its durability beyond contingency
would yooa ind him.elf withou. employment.
la AL branches Of private industry nervous
anxiety is continually shown by pssottio TO
arrive 3, that nice adaptation Of means to ends that
ii at least equal to giving certainty to the result,
while the almost universal practice Of the art Of
war, upon which liberty, more valuable than hfo
itself. 10 to depend, 10 always asserted to be lottery,
and the fate Of battles uncertainty. While the
yoisries OF ART and science making their efforts
to arrive a, certain results and to nspre confidence
the business Of has hitherto been conducted by
men whose field OF labor is exclusive, and whose
result SO OFFENsE" and " DEFENsE are
alternately set before us as having the advantage.
Yesterday an iron plated target set up, and
gun placed before it. The shot pierced and scattered
the strong ron, and, on passing through, exploded
behind, causing death and destruction to imaginary
dozens OF before confident men, who bad placed
the lnsss es behind il, and OFIXNsg" shouts from
the top Of ordnance bureaus IhAt "OFFENsE has
the advantage
To-day the trial is repeated, taking the precaution
to grease the socket OF the daodeicm on he iae n
ne p. I. W. > Y, in The rear Of tie plate ami By
accidenf piece of india rubber lie slipped between
the plate and the backing, which causes the bursting
of the gun exactly 200 yards Of at the fourth ound
and although nobody WAS hurt owing to the fact
tina. the whole party of officers aud punners had re-
tired to a safe bomb.prooi, and fired the gun with
long LANYARD, defense has the advantage, for The
mark on he plate was but slight, owing to the fact
that tie Jreech d tie gun refused 10 hold on, until the
powder had pushed the shot out at the muzze of the
gun. The Ordnance Bureau PUSHES TO tire Govern.
ment prntinghouse and publishes a long illustrated
re port, in long primer, double eaded," TO the
effect that "The above examples bring us to the
conclusion that We are far from possessing prac-
teal knowledge Of the properties OF cast.lron in its
application to gun laundering"
Alter one Of the experiments in which oiIense has
the advantage, if it were asked why not make the
plate OF greater thcknessl the answer would be
given inches is the greatest thickness practicable
to be carried on sea-going ship, and the inquirer
would be left 10 draw the inference that tho progress
of science in the direction of increasing the thick.
ness OF iron plating on ships must be slow, and that
We hare leisure 10 derise any other species Of ord
nance that may b. better adapted 10 the purpose and
are not pyccip,tated iao haSty Questionable meas
uss." Before tho practical plans of Bogardus and
OF the Badger Iron Works of this City for iron
buildings were proposed by which compensation for
unequal expansion WAS provided, it would have been
NJ disgrace to an architect to whom an application
for iron building was made If he had refused to
furnish the design, on the ground that il would not
be durable Oh account Of tho changes OF tenn
peraiure 10 which it must DO subjected. To-
day, with SO many examples of success be-
fore him, he could not refuse on that ground,
for the principle thus affecting them is universal
and well understood. And ordnance officers must
baye great confidence III the stability Of their po-
SH'oHs and III the patience OF me people, when they
will persistently refuse to take cognizance of such
self-evident proposition Of means, compensate in
guns for the effects OF unequal heating and expan-
sion rs has been presented pcrsst0ntly by me to
them. for more than q year. while they confess they
themselves hare not The practical knociedge neces
Sary 10 make trustworthy gun. If an irOn-clad
ship of the United States Navy should encounter
the Warrior off New.York harbor, and neither could
penetrate the armor of the other with their guns,
the contest might DO long continued, tor each Would
to project shot through the ports of the
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