Civilian & telegraph. [volume] (Cumberland, Md.) 1859-1875, 1864-06-02

Some of our cotemporarici; both in this City
in Cincinnati, and elsewhere, have Locn great
L. exercised about few remarks that lately
.pearcd in this journal concerning the arna-
turc, armament, draft, and sailing qualities of
The American-buit ron-platod fiigatc Re d.
Italia. They said that her remarkable voyage,
from New York TO Naples was no test of her
speed-.h..t she carried The lulli of her iron
plating in her hold instead Of on her sid,&-
aud that il she had had the wei ht Of Lcr guns
board, it would have made very great diff
ference.
/. These would be critics did not take the
trouble to inform themselves at all rs 10 any Of
The facts oil the case. For their Lene6t us well
IS for the information Of our readers and the
naval and scientific public generally, we iI;-
uish some statements this morning. confirms
tory Of our former remarks, and OF a character
and nature not 10 be disputed. We give
letter from the eminent shiI-bui!der who cen.
structed the Re d Italia, W. Ii. Webb Esq, Vi
this city, and also extracts fom Tic Inl uLlish-
cd reports of commander Fehise., Commodore
Godon, Chief In gincer kimball, and Actin,
Engineer Furron, all ofthe United States Navy.
We have heretofore given the statements Of
Italian officers aboard during the voyage. We
may here say that concerning NO vessel have
we had clearer or more authentic detailed ac-
counts than Of this one beside her officers
the Italian Government had scientific nG,a
commission a loaid and our Government also
appointed ali examining commission, W ho have
already furnished reports to the Navy Depart
mcnt.
In brief, then, with regard TO the main
points, it appears frorn these various documents,
a. that lhc a.maiure Of the frga'e was on her
sides during The voyage. The iion eLirsss
consisted Of nine tou.scs, seven Of which were
in position on the ships sides when she made
her voyage across the ocean, while only a very
small portion between ports were left unplaccd;
or, as Commodore Godon says: ''She was
iron-plated az inches thick from feet below
the water line 10 0 feet above it, or on a line
with the guu-dcck ports" e } All hec arma-
mcnt was not on board (only eight guns; but
the deficiency in lis weight was more than
coun' e!balAu.ed By excess in Wi hit e coal,
spare and duplicate machinery, stores, Sc. 60 }
Win rbGi.TI 10 lUc sup ) tiaili hNcH 5plHE W
sea from New York TO Naples, She dr. W one
foot WAFER more than sic will ever draw when
put in commission ready for service. and she
left po-, much deeper loaded than was ever in
tended she should or ever will be required by
the service in which she will lie engaged, ~
The question OF hc speed is not tested by q few
miles, but by the entire voyage. By the log
the whole distance actually run on :he voyage
from New York to Naples was a. 920 miles; the
actual running time was 4jo hours mot in
Guiding storage of fifty hours at the Azores
and twenty hours at Citraltar;) and while
going up The Mediterranean, she steamed dur
ing q whole watch at The raieof fourteen knots
an hour 81 The whole consumption of~toal
was l.0i0 ,ons---an average OFF, tons per
hour.
With these facts properly authenticated be-
fore the public, there can be no doubt about
pronouncing the iron plated irigate Re d Italia
,one Of the greatest triumphs of American naval
g,nius and the only grief of the country Will
be that she does not belong to our navy IN
stead Of the Italian.-Mt,p York Times.