The New York herald., 1864-12-08

Irons. But what . picture II gives Of the power
Of the confsderacy, when We dod the Empire
State OF tho South reduced 20 low that It re-
quires assistance from It. very murderers and
thisvesl
The uavy Ordnance Rspert-Inssrsstiag
And CaFieus Facts.
The annual report Of the Chief Of the Bureau
Of Ordnance Of the Navy Department furnishes
some very Interesting and satisfactory state
ments relative to that important branch Of the
service. 1t appears that there has been IN
addition made to the number Of guns Of diff
ferent calibres since November, 1868, OF l.522,
besides seven ten-inch solid shot guns and three
thirteen-inch for the Monitors. During this
war few ships guns have been surrendered or
abandoned to the enemy. The loss has, there
fore, been very small, and b confined mostly
to that accruing from accident. a. 10 the case Of
the Tecumseh and Commodore Jones. A new
class Of light thirty-two- Founders and eight-inch
small bores for small vessels Ii now In course
Of construction. The general rule In arming
ships-ofwar 10 to put on board the heaviest and
most effective guns they can carry with safety.
For broadside, nine, ten and eleven-inch guns
and PARROT rifles, in pivot, are used on our
vessels; ffteen-inch guns for the turrets Of the
Monitors, and bronze howitzers aud rifles for
deck and boat service in shore. The armament
of q first rate ship-of-war In the American navy
is now one one hundred and fifty-pounder rife
and one eleven-inch smooth bore, in pivot, with
forty two eleven-inch smooth, four one hundred
Founders, riHed, and four howitzers in broad
side. The armament Of vessels Of other rates
is in proportion. A first class Monitor carries
four ffteen-inoh guns in her turret The IRON
plated boats on the Western rivers carry
three nine-ineh, four eightinch, two one hun
dred-pounders, rifed, one nfty-poundsr and
one thirty-pounder.
The chief Of the bureau refers to the test Of
the value of pivot guns over broadside, as Illus
trated by the fight between the Kearssrge and
Alabama, where all the damage was done by
the former arm; but he conceives that mixed
battery Of both is the most perfect. II is stated
nance are entirely reliable for the performance
Of contracts, no difficulty being experienced In
procuring all that is required. The matter Of
projectiles is fully discussed, and the conclu-
sion is arrived At that spherical shot Is much
preferable to the elongated rife shot. The
question whether ON iron spherical shot Of
large dimensions could be cast perfectly solid
has been tested recently by submitting a
twenty-inch shot to two hundred and twenty
two continuous blows Of an eight ton
steam hammer, which It resisted with
out breaking. The value of grape and
canister from smooth bore ships guns e
proved BY the capture Of the forts in Mobile
Bay, where the embrasures were swept clean
Of the gunnsrs by these projectiles. Referring
to small arms, which are not a. much used in
the navy ~ In the army, breech-loading
weapons alone are recommended; and surisus
fact Il stated In this CONNIE ection, which shows
that either ear infantry are very badly trained
extraordinary things occur in the heat Of .
battle. On the field Of Gettysburg there were
27,574 guns picked up, and OF these $4,000 were
found to be loaded, and half Of them were double
loaded. One fourth had from three to tee
loads in, and many had I've or six balls to one
charge of power. In some cases the powder
was above the ball, in others the cartridges
were not broken at the end, while in one
musket twenty three balls, sixty-two buckshot,
and quantity Of powder were oil mixed up
together. To avoid such mishaps as these
breech-loaders are recommended for the naval
service.
Among other suggestions In the report we
might enumerate is ono for the establishment
Of a gunnery ship; another for the removal OF
magazines from the vicinity of large cities to
the interior, somewhere convenient to railroads
and water courses. The ordnance stores all
over the country are said to be in excellent
working order. They are located at Washing
ton, Baltimore, New York, Boston, Philadel-
phia, Portsmouth, N. H.; Pencecola, Key West,
Port Royal, New Orleans, Mound City, Illinois
Qor our river navy, and Mare Island, Cali
fornia, for the Pacific SOU ,dron. 1t Is urged
upon Congress to pass some mea -es for the
encouragement Of the manu- 'acture Of nitre in
order that We may be independent OF foreign
nations in this respect. 1t appears that there
is but one laboratory making it for the govern
ment now, while four companies are employed
making gunpowder, Of which we had manu-
factured l,325,O00 pounds last year, although
there were nearly 5000 tons Of powder ordered
In 1861.
I0EoBIE NoBIExEN OF ALL GRADEs.--Counter-
felt counts and bogus barons have always
been plentiful everywhere, and especially In
our American jails. The assumption OF some
grand title Is favorite dodge with European
swindlers who can talk broken English, and It
Is therefore not surprising that one of these
worthiss is now before our courts on charge
Of forgery. But It is matter Of some surprise