The Portland daily press., 1865-02-14
FROM WASHINGTON.

me Reported Sale of The Danish Ram to the
Observation-Disclosures of the Nomination of
Mr.. MorgGn-Report of the Committee on
8 Ord,saasce-Eroposstios for the Construction
Il Of. a. sMarisse RaiIscay. 4sou,sd Nia0ara
Falls. e5 gcg sias os sfaf s, 81 $50,
-. sai 81 hsa YiisWAsHINeToN, Feb. IS.
Fdrther information respecting the Bor-
deanx steamer, said to have been obtained by
the rebels is looked forb with interest, The
Danish Minister, Mr.. Rasloff, denies the report
that the vessel was sold to the rebels by the
Danish government. This information has
been obtained from an authentic source.
The President this afternoon sent to the SEN
ate the nomination of Senator Morgan of New
York, to be Secretary of the Treasury, but in
the course of an hour thereafter withdrew it. :
The committee on the Conduct of the War,
to-day, through Senator Wade, made report
calling attention to three classes of guns.
Fhst Those made entirely OF cast iron, the
Dahlgren and Rodman gun.e Second. Those.
made of cast iron, and bound with wrought
iron, the Parrott guns. Third. Those made
entirely of wrought iron, the Ames gun.
The committee say Dahlgren never received
any compensation in the nature of royalty :;
that Parrott never charged anything except
ing what he deemed a fair manufacturers profit,
and that Ames had made only twenty-one
guns ior the government, charging so much a
pound Tor them.., aairoe 1lesi5 81 5sfssfs 4
The committee have examined into the
bursting of the Parrot guns OF large calibre,
together with the bursting of some of the cast
iron guns Of large calibre upon vessels en-
gagged In the opera ions against Charleston and
3 Fort Fisher, which has tended to weaken con-
1dence in their durability, and seems to show
the necessity ct obtaining, If possible, some
other gun which can be more implicitly re-
lied on. The burs ting of these gans is gener-
ally attributed to the premature explosion of
shells within the nave Of the gun. 81 !. s,4@
4As The committee view Of all the facts clio
tied by the testimony, recommend that Con-.
gress Immediately adopt such measures as will
enable the War and Navy Department to OBJ
tain and Introduce into service wrought iron
guns, and probably of larger calibre at as
early q day as practicable. ~
At hearing before the Senate Military
Com mittee to-day. proposition was submit
ted on behalf of several capitalists, to con-
struct Marine Railway around Niagara Falls,
attheir owns expense, capable of transporting
the largest vessels employed in the commerce
Of The lakes, as well as gunboats, between
Lakes Erie and Ontario, provided the govern
ment, in consideration Of the free use of the
works forever, will, on completion Of the rail-
way, give to the company its bonds, payable
in twenty years. for one million dollars; and
also three hundred thousand dollars in bonds
annually for ten years after demons tration
of the entire success of the works. The ca
nal bill which recently passed the House, pro-
poses government loan of six million dollars,
| to be paid in tolls. 70
The Commission to select the site for ma
Ivy yard and naval depot in the western wa :
| ers, have reported in favor Of Carondelet and
| Senator Wilson to-day introduced bill to
INCORPORATE the sFreedman's Sayingsafa Trust