New-York tribune., 1873-07-01
THE SHAH OF PERSIA.
HIS RECEPTION IN ENGLAND.

To osrrND THE nRVAsTATION-s sEA-GOING
QUALITIES OF THE vEssRIl-CRossING AND RI
CROSSING THE CHANNEL THE ARRIVAL AT
DOVER.
lFRoM AN oCc AsIoNAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE
LONDON June 19.-I suspect the fever of excite
ment INTO which the British public has fallen on the
subject of the Shah of Persia will seem aston
ishng to you in the United States as it does 10 our
continental eighbors. The Shah is the sensation Of
the hour; and We are all running after him, as we
have run in succession after Kossuth, Tom Thumb
Napoleon ILL., Garibaldi, and the Prince of Wales on
his recovery. You in New-York know pretty wen
the value of such demonstrations as that which
greeted NaSser- d-Din on his arrival IN Englahu'
and will not share the conviction OF oui
foreign critics that any man about toWh'
who pays ten guneas for s'ah "'
Covent Garden on Saturday night and the nun
dreds of thousands who mObbed the passage OF the
royal eortege to-day and squeezed ana Jostied 10
catch feeting glimpse of the Shahs Astrakhan fm
beaddress were aetuated by deep-rooted desire TO
impress upon His Persian Majesty the value OF the
British alliance as compared with that OF Russia.
ON the other hand il would be idle to ignore the
fact that even il the Shah had come from Prester
Johns kingdom instead of Persia, If he had as
many wives as solomon instead of paltry hundred
and If his diamonds had all been rOc's eggs, he
would not have excited such sensation. supposing
no political interest 10 have attached to his
visit. The truth is, rightly wrongly,
1nr Government believes that trouble is
brewing in the East, between Russia and England :;
that the alliance Of Persia may be of real service TO
our Indian Empire, and that, with the view of
cementing this alliance it is desirable to show
selves off before the Shah. This belief has been cir
cuated by the Press it has been taken up 10y
society and the great public. which is always ready
Tor any kind Of pageant, is inspired with n vague
inchOate impression that, in junketing. holiday
making, picncking and excursion-going in honor
Of the Shah il is somehow fulfilling apatriotic duty.
Thus much IL is necessary to say in order that you
may see how, though for the moment are Shah
mad, there usual a certain method IN our mad
mess.
How far our reception may be success through
ont remains TO be seen. The nrst day, how
ever, has begun well. Whatever our failings may
be in other departments we are in element upon
the sea- ard can turn out a naval show with conf
dence. Ever since last Sunday our Channel iron
clad squadron has been stationed in the Downs of
Deal. The squadron consisted of the Achilles, 9gG4
tons; the Sultan, 92S6 tons; the Monarch, SS2 tons
the Black Prince, 9137 TONS Agncourt, 106 627 tons
the Northumberland, 1854 tons; the Hector 6li8
tons; the Hercules s677 tons; the Audacous, 6OS4
tons the Vanguard GOA tons, aud the Devastation
91SS OF the whole lot the chief public interest
attached the last named vessel The Devastation is
armor-plated, doubleturret ship, and is supposed
by its partiSans 60 be the most formidable vessel in
the world while il is declared by the enemies of the
turst system to be certain to 60 down III the first
equal as the Inflated Captain and to be unavailable
for purposes of naval warfare. The controversy as
20 the seafaring and sea-fghtiug merits dement's
Of the Devastation is complicated by political jesl
ousy between-the late Tory Board Of Admiralty and
bts present Liberal successor well as by personal
quarrel between Mr.. Chiders the late First Lord.
and Mr.. Reed the late Naval Constructor. The De
vastation has only been afOat since last January
and, by strange of i'll, good luck, has never
yet encountered anything like rough weather in her
various trial trips that the problem Of her
wOrthiness still remains unsOlved. in out
ward appearance she is the ngliest of YES
sels. Indeed 1.-THE word vessel hardly applies to her
except by courtesy. OF the 80 feet of her hulls
hight only about four are above water, that she
presents the appearance Of huge eliptica iron raft
the longer axis of the elipse being barely twice the
length of the shorter. On this raft there are two
huge squat revolving turrets, fore and aft, inside
which the cannon are placed. In the space between
these two there is a middle deck and on this deck
again there is a flying deck with overhangine caves,
like a section of a railway rail- and on the summit
of this third deck is iron box, from which the
captain, ineased during action is TO direct the
tance the Devastation looks more like a series of
huge iron pill boxes. piled upon the other in
decreasing series than anything else TO which can
Lken her Everything about her, even to her sOli-
tary mast weighing 80 TONS is Of iron; and her crew
believe that no gun yet invented could pierce the
huge plates which incase her,
Yesterday morning the Devastation, the Auda-
niOus, aud the Vanguard were detached from the
fleet TO go to OStend and escort the Shah back
on his journey to England was fortunate enough
TO obtain permission to make the passage across in
the Devastation. Both coming and going we had
The smoothest calmest sea- think, l have ever ex-
perenced III countless crossings to and fro the
Channel; 30 that it was impossible to form any
opinion 10 the behavior of great turret ship
in storm, even if was professionally competent
60 form such opinion All 1 can say is that the
absolute steadiness of the ship Is something beyond
conception. Except once OF twice, when we were
going over ten knots an hOur. ] could trace no
symptom Of the slightest vibration. Even when
the sea Is like glass 10 look at, there is
always a certain swell in Mid Channel; but at
no time could ascertain the vessel was moving
smess we looked AT the objects in view TO confirm
our impressions. The double screw with which the
ship is worked is 80 low down-being - feet under
~a'er-that its vibration is not felt in the upper
range OF cabins where was placed. The Devasta-
Sloh 700, can state, is an excellent sailor We
went teh Knots an hour with ease using two tons of
cosA al hour' and could have done IA if we had
chosen 20 consume six tons. Nothing too could ex-
ceed the rapidity and ease with which the sbip
turned round and Unanswered. About her sta
bhty in rough seas should be sorry to express any
Judgment child could sec that the force
required to move her enormous dead weight ont of the
perpendicular must be something tremendous and
achld could also see that if she sbonld he 20 moved
to any considerable angle, she must nfsllblv touple
over without chance Of Tecoyery NJ in,nresaio,,