New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-06-04

10 make q selection from the host presented. Scrh
standards were required in age, hight character
temperament and constitution, and these were sup
! pemonied by an extremely rigorous medical exam
nation. Ii is at the same time singular TACT tha''
with thecxception of Capt Mares, Commander Mark
| ham, only six others have ever been in tho arctic
regions The crew of The Alert will consist OF the
/ captain, tho commander, the chaplain, Tour
! lieutcnantS, one sub-eutenant. two surgeons one
Ass. stant payLaster, one naturalist, Two ohgheeiS'
petty officers able seamen. one sergeant. SIX marines,
four stokers, aud two dog-drveTs The latter VIII
not be shipped til the vessels arrive at Disco Inc
complement Of the Discovery viii DC smaller by ohiy
| three-a commander and two seamen. The Ice quar-
toru,astcrs are s experienced whaers all Of whom,
! before joining members Of the naval reserve.
| Three of those hail from Pcterhead aud
throe from Dundee The ships companies were
originally made up without chaplain, ara
4 in the House Of Commons. Mr. Hunt in reply toa
question stated that though they deeply regretted
| IT, the Admiralty would be unable TO End room Tor
chaplain every inch of available space being hied'
! Tbs decision, however was not adhered to; ie"
| oo,s afterwaid "a chaplain was added to each shin,
| and the appoinfnent of the Assistant PaymaSier
| cancelled. The Paymasters, however, viii certainly
proceed az far Disco, and IL L. doubtful IL rooii
viii not somehow other be found for them to con-
| tiure with their comrades as originally intended
/
| Nh Pullcn will be well known 10 Ameii-
cans as the author of the caricaturc, "Thc
Row in Dame Europas School" which appeared
q short time ago. The other chaplain Is the Rev. l.
f. llodson, Vi. A., one Of the naval chaplalns. Al
though one naturalist will accompany each snip,
the Council OF the Royal Society has not been idle
! in Trying to induce the Government to alio" the
voyage from Disco Island Of the ValoFols to he
utilized for scientific purposes The consent OF the
! -n1.a -. toe Ion hn
J. Grorun Jefifoys T. Il. S, who il wei known rs
the coaduor Of DR.. Carpenter and Prof Wyyille
Thomson in the Porcupne expeditions. He Will take
with him rs his assistant Nj. T. Herbert Carpenter
T. A. Tho object Of the Royal Society l. 10 OOtaln
such physical and biological exploration oil The
southern part Of Iain's Bay and the North Atlantic
between Cape Farewell and the British Islands IA
may serve to complete the work so successfully
prosecuted in other SEAS BY the Challenger.
The all-important task of the selection of the
shps and tie general direction of their equipment
was intrlscd 10 thOSe veteran arctic naYgators cir
Leopold McClntOck Admiral Shcrard Osborn >lnce
deceased, and Capt. Young. The former Part ~ the
work-the selection of the ships-was attended with
some difficulty In the days OF iron-ciads ana 'lfret
ships the navy was not likely to permit OF very
LARGE selection of vessels suitable for tins TASK
Many vessels were examined both OF The navy and OF
the whaling G,ots, which sail from Dundee. At
length the choice fell upon H. VI. 5. Alert. and the
nlrchase was advised of vessel till then known -
| tho bloodhound, and forming one o! the whailnS
fleet of Messrs Alexander Stephens " Go o. Dundee
! This is the vessel now called the Discovery, which
will play the most important part in the cXpehG"n
Tho cost was G22,775 She is iirStcass vessel.
100 feet long, 80 feet BEAM IL feet dcpth of hold.
having n builders tonnage of GGS and gross ton
rce of 300. Having been originally built for arctic
2 +r4va N..t
the British Government has had her completely over
hauled ard her already good points increased in
strength She was originally constructed with great
solidity forward Her bows contain great thickness
OF solid wood protected with cross pieces Of IRON
bark wood which IL its turn is protected again with
All iron shooting ve-oightls OF an inch n thickness
Tho vessel herself is built of fyc-inch oak
pIAnks and her sides aio protected by
diagonal beams of oak OF foO6 square.
She has three skins of oGk each five il in thick
ness Two tiers Of beams inside, one on the upper
snd one on the lower deck held together with iron
girders, sorye Us ties to the whole of tits nmens y
strong woTE.
The Alert was originally s0Op attached to the
steam reserve OF The British Navy at Davenport, and.
although not built expressly for navigating in Polar
regions it has been found that she can he very easily
aIaptel to TIC purpose Nearly the sane course has
| l,een pursued in her fitting ont IA with the Dis
| coverv though t was not considered requisite {"
give her such immense power Of resistance Still she
has been strengthened in every part and braced to-
| neither with iron aad oab beams Both ships are
fitted with steam power and are worked with screw
propelers of suitable size and strength. Ii has also
been arranged that the screws can DO removed and
hauled M and the shafts drawn in when the ships
are housed I'm addition, the screws and shaftng are
! in duplicate ON each ship and more tlan ole spare
r1ilder is carried by eaci ship. The rigging 81 both
Is 60 made ss 70 he applicable 10 either ship and il is
almost needless to say that many spare spsFs and
lines AZ can be conveniently stored viii he carried.
Each vessel is dvd,slintO FIVE water-tght conpart-
ments Will pumps in EACH to be worked by the en-
qines and each vessel Carried nine boats. This is
Doubt an usually large number for vessels Of their
! size but the reason is obvious Each boat il 80
constructed as 20 Do specially prepared 70 meet The
contingencies to which il will DO exposed. The
! boats arc a yawl twenty-five feet in length three
wLalers of the same length. one twenty-foot cutter,
! three ice boats and jOlly-boat
The internal fittings of The ships are admirable,
end the convenience of the officers and crew, well
40 their comfort, has been in every way studied Ia
tie utmost extent. II is hardly possible That they
should hsve very large quarters and indeed it il not
necessary. The OF The Alert, officers and men.
winbeG2 and of the Discovery 50. Tostow thisnum-
Der and the stores which they will consume in two
years in ships Of such comparatively limited capacity
nav readily IN imagined 10 DC task that requires
at least careful performance. Tie waTdroom Of each
slip, though not spacious, is snug and comfortable.
and OF sul ent capacity for it's purposes. Opening
from this arc the cabins Of the various officers, OF
sizes varying from about by feet TO feet by 4.
Forward of the wardroom and the engines are
tho lower deck aud quarters of the crew,
At present Of course somewhat confined. yet con-
tanning something above tho allowance of cubic
space which the British Navy gives to each man.