, 1863-12-31
1SEEEKsYf0O1eVG9 IN TIE
NAVY.
Reason of the Want of Speed In Gov.
ernment Steamships.

tfrom the New York TTibu1e-]
The country has been several months asi.
tatcd BY constantly recurring charges Of the
"incfnciency of our navy" end committees
In vain to discover the reason why, In this
country, where the fastest steamships aud
steamboats, In the world are produced, our
naval vessels should be unable to keep pace
with such ships as tho alabama, or to cap
turc any blockndc-runncr which once passed
ont Of reach Of their guns. The real reason
seems to have been disclosed in the COURSE Of
ajndic1al Investigation Just ended in Wash
ington. The .casc-which, from its conse-
quence to the public, has become one Of the
greatest importance-was in itself tridlag,
Involving small sum Of money, and OF no
public Interest; but it disclosed IN impor-
tant TACT, as will be seen By the following
statement:
A Mr. Mattlngly in Washington sued q
steamboat company for share Of tho say
lngB which had been effected On q steamboat
owned by them BY reason Of the application
Of peculiar form Of cutoff, the right to use
which he owned and had sold to them for
share OF Its savings. The amount saved WAS
proved to be moro than onc-third Of the fuel,
and for the valuc Of that the verdict WAS
asked; but the. defendants called bs1i. l.
1heffood, the Engincer-in-Chief Of the
United States Navy, who swore that such
saving was impossible; because he had NTH
sn f'cg ar three gears discovered that the only
possible saving which con1d be effected By
using steam cxpansiyely over using It abso-
-lutcly Without expansion, is Is per cent, mud
tLcreforea saving OF 81 per cent Is impossible.
In order to give weight to the testimony, be
sWoro that his new discovery, which had never
been suspected to be true till about 1360, had
been adopted By the Navy Dcpo :Hinent, and
that all Of our new ships were built and
building upon 1t. The effect Of his testimony
Was to convince the jEsy that there must
have been some fraud in the experiments by
which the thirty-fo1i per cent. Of saving had
been shown on the steamboat in contrcVersy,
and TIE plaintiff was IN despair Of q recovery.
At this point some Of alr. AIattinglys friends
thought Of sending hero for Mr. Dickerson,
IN engineer who las been admitted to prac.
tice law also, and through him the facts have
been brought to light. On cross.examina-
tfon Mr. 1shcrWood admitted that if boat
could go materially faster when using steam
expansiTe1y than when using it at full stroke,
his Theory was gil false, and the navy d
botch.", Upon this admission Mr.. Dicker-
eon at once proposed 10: the other side to test
the truth Of this new theory On steamboat
on the Potomac-tiie Court and jury to wit
ness the experiment; but the defendant de-
clinedIto bo present. The test, however, was
made on the Collyer, and 1t turned ont that
with Geo lbs. Of coal an hour she could run
Al lie fate Of tNent9-6eyen REVOLUTIONS
minute with expansion, md that but twenty
minute could be got Without expansion and
with 7u0 lbs an hour.
Similar facts on several other ships, which
Mr. sherwood swore to be impossible, wcro
proved to be true, and upon the truth Of
which, If 1t could bo proved, he admitted his
theory to be fnlse and the navy failure. No
ono bnt Mr.. sherwood ,vas found to yindi-
cate his views, except one Of bis subordi-
1--+& - r.1A
well-Inown engineer Of great experience,
called by the defendants themselves, admit
ted that If the engines Of tho navy were made
in the usual way, the ships would be much
faster and moro powerful than they arc,
It will be found, wien the matter is sifted
to the bottom, that sherwood and his con-
federatcs have lost no money By the adoption
OF tie contriyanccs that have ruined the
speed Of the national war slips.