Year: 1863

OF a distance Of four miles, provided the
gunnery is accurate. The Niagara has
been about year fitting for sea, and has
been almost entirely rebuilt in the
Charlestown Navy Yard. Her speed, with
her old engines and propeller, is said TO
have been sixteen knots an hour. These
engines have all been taken out, however,
and new and vastly more powerful ones
added, together with new and enlarged
propeller with the idea that her speed will
be greatly increased. Some Of the old
heads are Of opinion that her immense
armament causes her to sit so deep In the
water that she will be difficult to handle in
q rough sea, and tits rumored that some of
heguns are to BE taken off. TheEe guns run
on theimproved carriage resting on brass
rail tracks interesting each other fore and
aft the decks. The ports are so enlarged that
q very wide range is obtained, and the ex-
treme forward and after guns on both the
stsrboard and port sides can be swung
round to act either as bow or sstern chas-
ere. The Niagara is peculiarly an Ameri-
can ship. Her hull is by the late lamented
George Steers; her machinery is Ameri-
can, both in model and construction; her
main deck battery is composed Of guns Of
the invention of Admiral Dahlgren, and
her spar deck battery, rihed guns Of the
plan Of Mr.. Parrot. The speed Of the
Niagara was fully tested on her first erui-
ses, an6 she was then considered one Of
the fastest as well as one of the best sea-
going slips ever constructed in this ooun-
try. " that will she be now with engines
of largely increased power, and without
Esa1, ur.f9 NO
predict she will prove without an equal
As n cruiser she will be perfect; under
canvass nothing can touch her; and woe
to the Alabama, Florid9, or any other
steamers that her commanders may desire
to overhaul. Escape will be impossible,
except by stratagem and under cover of
darkness. When not in chase Of vessel,
canvass will be used almost entirely. Her
fires viii be banked, which will economic
coal; but steam can so readily be raised,
If Eeeded, that hardly any delay will take
place before this noble ship will be sure to
distance any competitor now on the ocean.


We will consider the solid shot used as
weighing 200 pounds each, both from the
rihed and smooth-bOred guns, and, as
twenty guns can be used in broadside, we
have 1900 pounds of metal thrown at
each discharge of the guns from one side
alone, which would be annihilation almost
10 any wooden ship that received it. The
extreme range of her battery will not
amount to much in sea say, but it still
possesses an advantage, from the fact that
one shot might strike, which would infict
serious damage long before her antagon.
ist would come within ordinary range
1t is when all the battery Of the Niagara
can be used that Its crushing power will
be felt. The broadside of an old fashioned
ship of the line, presenting mark like
row Of houses, would be hit at every dis
charge, and very soon torn to pieces. No
thing but an irOn-clad can Withstand this
truly formidable ship; and these, if she
can leave to search for some more vulner-
able antagonist. In the event Of q war
with any great mstitime Power, the Mag
ara would prove the most efficient vessel in
the world ty destroy the wooden navy and
commerce Of our adversary; and, in con-
sequence, We notify England of her exist
ence.