PRESERVATION OF SHIPS' CO...
The Times, 1824-10-16T00:00:00

IPRESERVATION OF SIeTI'S COI'I'Eit.-it is well known that the copper lately employed to sheath ships belonlging to the IRoyal Navy or to private traders has been liable to rapid oxidationi andI decay. It was of the utmost import- anec to ascertain the casse, an(i to discover the remedy of this acknowletdged evil. At one time it was thought the copper was more liable to be actedI upon by the salt water on account ot' its inixture witl- other metals. It was accort- ingly purifie(d f'rom alloy; but :t wvas not ren(lered more durabble. After mnaniy trials, a tmixture of copper wvith aiotlher metal was forined, which ha(l the provertv of' longer resisting sea-water; and a patent was tak;en out for it by Mr. Mlusnett, of Hlis Majesty's Mint. Thlis gentle- man was cmployed by the Lords of the Adlmiralty co try somne experiments with his patent copper ; and accordlingly procce(led to Portsmouth, whlere he saw some ships' bottomns shcatlecd half Nvitlh his aidt half with the conmmon coppcr. So far as the durability of the metal can be jhudged of fronm its state of preservation, this experiment has suc- cceded. But in the mean time, their Lordships had called in the assistance of Sir H. Davy, the President of the R.oyal Society, at the head of a committee of that bo(ly. Tils eminieit chymrst ascertained that coppei might be preserved f'romn corrosion by sea-water, through the mLeans of galvanic action, hy attaciing knobs or pieces of'ironi to the sheathing metal. Ilc accor(tingly provided several ships witlh pre- servers of' this kind, andl thc experiment so far succeededl as to protect thie copper from decay ; bUt it has bcen .ound out, that vessels coppered on this plan have returnedl aft-r short voyages perfectly foul-tlheir bottomis coverLd Witl sea-wecds, barnacles, or other wormns. The remedy, there- fare, is worse thtan the (lisease. TIhe oxidation of lhe metal is prevented by tie defensive action of the iron ; but the animalculhe which this oxitlation used to destroy, prev in security upon the vesscl when so defeinded by such durable copper. 'I'he learned President's experiments may, there- fore, be regardedl as a failure, so far as advanf tge to na- vigatiomi is concernied. however useful they may be to chymical science, and lhowever pleasant they mtiay have been to himselt' in proenring a summer excursion, at tllc public expense, to thle North Sea and the Baltic. Atbout hlalf-past two yesterday aftrnoon. a fire broke out in the shop ot' Mtr. Knight, oilman, 35 ~Viletead.strect, Soinlera, town,which bumuedl with such violenlce and i2pidity, that in less than a quarter of an hour, the snop, par our, aiti iirst floor, isitli the whole of the property, were ustroyed. Froni inquiry we learn, that Mlr. Knight was boiling some turpsentine over tiC parlour fire, which happeising to-b.sil ever, catught the flale,arnl in an instant the whole room wss in a blaze, which communicated to a smail barrel containing packages of gunipowvder, which exploded with two tremendous reports, blew out tihe entire of the window, and set the wshole shop on fire: the initmates muasle a precipitate re- treat. Mr. Knight had both lhis hands dreadfully burnied in endeavouring to extinguish the fire, andl his daughter, a Lhild about nine years of' age, liad bothi her arms, tace anud neck, shockingly burned. The shop contained a quantity of tar, pitch, oil, turpentine, antI other itiflaimnlable articles, wvhich burned witli the greatest fur,y. The parish engine arrived ini it few minutes, anti behig plentifully supplied with wvater. checked the progress of the flames till the arrival of other engines, when the tire was got under, but not before the lower part of the house "ad first floor. wilh the whoie of their cointents, were destroyed ; nothiiitg beiiig saved but a few barrels of rosin, tar, and oil ; scvt..l boxes of candtes, and other things, were brouglht out,but all rendcered uselebs. The wholc was aitnost inomentary, for rronti the comiseencetent to the coti was not more than a qluarter of an hour. Died, on Sattr(lav last, at Hose, advanced in years, Mr. S. Whalley, fointerh earth-stopper in the hunt of' his (race the Duke of Rutland. 'I'he deccased occupiied a snmall portion of land under the Duke: fie was a luan of penurious habits, and lived in a wretched secluded hut, (at a place caziled ilose Broc;-hisll solne distance fro m any town), whcre every wind that blew threatened de. struction to his hahitation. A fewi days ago 'he was taken seriously ill, wiichi conming to the knowJedge of sonic kind friend, he lhad 1fim conveyedl to tle village o' [lose, that proper assistance ntight be rentlemeth. Whialley soon grew worse, anid linding his dissolution near, disclosed to a relation that iie liad hid sownc nioney (to use his own words " not a little") in a pot under ground, ; but thait he h1in- selt' must to with the person, othierwise it vwould be itposbible to find it. I he next tlay was fixed for the purpose; but cre the morn- ing dawned, the grim King of'Terrors had%uninioned the earth-stop. per to his long laoue; lie was found a eorpse In bed. I t is ithe task now of his son and heir to discover, if possible, the hidden treasure; but hitherto the search has been altogether fruitless. Nothing can be ascertained as to the probable amount, bet it is supposed to be considerable._LincowI M1ercu ry.