, 1864-01-05
s;ycly and to certain description of cutoff:


yeeeels have either been taken BY the char-
tered steamers or run ashore By being headed
off in The channels Of the Southern harbors.
In the open sen they arc too feet for Uncle
sam's specimens Of ship building. Another
trouble with most Of these war sloops is that
they roll frigAtfully In a sea-way. The rea-
son Of this is said to be their light dranght
fact that they are armed with very heAvy
gEne, all Of which are necessarily mounted
On deck. So that with all our immense feet
Of ships, ifthe war was to close to-day, orr
navy would shrink, SO far as effective ships
are concerned, to it's former dimensions:
while, ns compared with the navies Of the
other great maritime powers, we EFonld be be-
hind even that OF the King Of Italy. or the
AZ regards the Monitors, If the reports Of
the Captains of ell those which took part In
the famous bombardrnent of Fort Sumter and
other dcfences Of Charleston. under Captain
Dupont are scanned, it will be seen that
forti1eations. So that the superiority Of the
fortified places over naval nttucks is almost
as great to-day as 1t ever was This fact se-
cures our fortified harhors against attack,
Which Is to our advantage, as, were 1t
not so, New York, Boston snd other Athntic
cities wonld be at the mercy Of
foreign foe. What, then, are the monitors
Z
enid before the publication of these reports,
to tarbor defense against shipping, whether
iror-clad- or not As against wooden res:
stls they are invulnerablc, while against
iron broadside vessels of large size, in
narrow channels, they must prove almost
equally effective. They could be still more
effective If they could concentrate: . larser
number OF guns upon g given point But
this they cannot do. AT sea, or against large
and fast broadEide iron-clad vessels, they
could do nothing. The 1atter could choose
their distance, concentrate their fire, and,
ifthe worst came to the worst, run oTer the
monitor-that Is, If provided with rams, as
be in the future. Take such a ship as the
Minotaur, lately built fo1 the British Govern
ment. She Is $50 feet long, 60 beam, 600
tons register, armed With fifty 800 pound
rifled guns, driven by !, 400 horse power en-
gfnes, and plated with iron 51S inches thick
from end to end. This vessel could deliver
1850 pounds of iron at one broadside, md
could select her distance, as. her speed is
nearly sixteen miles m hour. OF course, no
monitor, OF half dozen monitors, could. do
anything With her ut sea. In narrow cllan-
mel, where she could not maneu1er, they
would, however, have the advan-
tage, It is this discoverY-that we
are harmless in tue open sec, which has doubt
less urged Mr.. Welles TO build the Dunder-
berg, Dictator, Puritan, and other vessels of
that class, and later, to project the bsoadsidc
iron cluds, to cost ire millions of dollars
each. Unfortunately, the Dictator and Puri-
tan are also Of the Monitor class, and will be
useless, except for harbor service. The for
mcr is eco feet long and % feet deep, yet has
but one tnrret, with two guns, She draws
twenty feet Of water, great draw back to
her. yet not two feet Of her hull is above the
Water line. In sea she would be nearly as
dangerous Us one of tho old monitora. The
Dunaerberg will mount more guns, and Is
better calculated for sea service, but still is IL
bToadside slip. It is evident, then, that af-
ter building 60 many, Mr. Wellcs las con-
cluGed t1lut he must look to other vessels
than Tic monitors for our future navy. And
in THE he is right. But the trouble Is that
nearly all the money which has heretofore
been spent has been thrown away, except for
the present benefits it has secured In block
ading the Southern ports, opening the mouth
Of the Mississippi and helping to clear that
river. There is no doubt, however, but that
the cost OF tile entire monitor fleet is we'll re-
paid In the repulse of the Merrimac, and con-
Eequently the preservation vf our then wood
ell fleet, aud OF The Effectiveness Of the block
ade, to cay nothing Of saving many of our I'M
guarded northern seaports and towns from
destruction. The trouble with our navy now
Is that after I'LL the millions which have been
expended on It, re must begiu, DE- nopo, TO
build up fleet, In accordance with modern
idlas and tie requirements Of the new eys-
TEN, now in the full tide Of development by
all the great maritime nations.
TIE PATENT OFFICE Observation-Disclosures
FOR OUR WAR TROPHIES.
TIE patent office Is being decorated for the
reception Of tie trophies Of the war-aags,
ct etc. The tes,orations, however, are general
II condemned. They consist OF painting after
the style Of temple or palace discovered
among the ruins Of Pompci The pillars
and pilasters are dark blue, the ceiling
lighter tint Of the same color. The cornices
are red and white in what il called the Greek
chain. It has to me barbaric appearance,
o. On account Of the great contrast, Tue pecn-
4 gentlemen connected with the Office said It
a1Wnys reminded him, when he looked at it,
Of q lager bier saloon. When the whole is
finished 1t may hayo grnnd and imposing
appearance, but doubt it. The coloTs will
doubtless absorb great deal Of light, de-
as the halls arc already lily constructed IN
that respect.
SALE OF REBEL ESTATES.
Fjfty-four homesteads or farms in Virginia
are to be sold in Alexandria on Monday next,
for non payment O., taxes levied In iusurree-
tionary districts. Among them l. the farm
lately occupied by Gen. Lee, at Arlington
Heights. 1t contains ], 100 acres, and Its
property 600 acrcs), the estates Of Dr.. Il.
u. Lewis, Lawrence s. Taylor, Orlando Fir
fax and others arc also offered for sale The
District Court here {Judge Wy1ie) has also
granted dccrecs Of condemnation against forty
cases Of property seized under the Contlsca-
ton Act. The property Of Wm. T. smithson,
recently sentenced by court martial to i'm
prisonment in the Albany Penitcntia.y, hes
also been seized.
RCMoRED LARGE DEFALcAT1oS.
There was rumor Of another large defa.-
cation IN the Treasury Department, last even
ing, This time the amount is put at $500, ,000
The detaultcr, who is a prominent officer, is
said to have left the country. ZErA.