AN IRONCLADIANNIHILATOR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 159, 6 July 1881, Page 1

AN IRONCLADIANNIHILATOR.

In the new nurnbef of Scribner'tt Monthly we are given a iolerablyffuil account of Captain Jjhn liricsson'd latest invention — " an Bpgressive torpedo boat, aptly named the Destroyer." If this vessel, which an enthusiastic Government seem to have allowedfthe inventor to construct at his' own" expense, can do all that the writer claim 3 for it", the star of our noblest ironclads has for ever set, and Captain Ericsaon deserves at the least a vote of thanks and a statue. The Destroyer is a boat having a length of 130 feet, with a width of 12 feet and a depth of 11. As she is to float in the water rather than on it, theße proportions are not so outr€ as might be thought. There ia ah aftnoured deck, and the space between the two decks ia partly filled with cork and air bags. There are a deck-house and funnel, the des ! ruction of which would be, as Mr Toots would put ifc " not of the least consequence ;" but in front of the deck-laouee is a plating of very thick armour placed at an angle of 45deg.j bo as to deflect any shot which might otherwise reach the j engines. As to the motive power of the vessel we are disappointingly told that " space forbids a detailed description" of it, but that the entire engine of 1000-horse power reßts upon the surfsce condenser, and is only a trifle over eight feet square, being a simple horizontal engine with two cylinders of two feet diameter and 22 inches stroke. Steam is luppiied by " two boilers,*' of which no further description is given ♦ and the coal ia stored " between decks," but how much of ifc is not stated. The gun, if gun it may be called} is fixed in the hoh'j and is §)Q feet lon gj with a bore of 1G inches. The muzzle of the gun is at the stem of the boat, and, as it is always under water, is protected by a valve, which opena when the gun is to be fired. The projectile ia a torpedo twentyfive feet six inches long* and weighing fifteen hundred pounds, including a charge of two hundred and fifty pounds of lt explofeive*" It is propelled from the gun by a charge of powder — thotigh this point is not quite clear — and travels invisibly for about eeven hundred feet, at a great pace. We are told that the way in which the inventor has overcome the difficulty of firing a heavy gun into solid water, mast remain a " secret," but that we may " take it that the Destroyer can outrun any ironclad, and fire into her, shot after shotj in rapid succession ; and that forty such "Vessels could be built in New York in ninety days at the Coat of one Inflexible." As "it is, however, not alone the offensive power of a fleet of Destroyers that will help vs — -it ia their moral influence," it seems a pity that we have not more particulars oj engines, boilers; and coal bunkers ; no record of a run at a measured mile or a trip out of harbor; no results ot a trial of the sub-narine gun ; and no subje:tion of the vessel to adverse battering. We await these before feeling the " moral influence." The Hon; Colonel Brett's utterances in the Legislative Council on the Chinese Bill are reported in the New Zealand Times as follows:— Colonel Brett said the Bill was reversing the great law "Do as you would be done by," and was opposed to all justice, equity, or Christian benevolence. Why should we make a poor Chinese pay his owo passage and pay £lO on landing when we brought othera here at our own coat most of whom had not half-a-crown on landing? Where were Chinese to get the money ? It was most cruel, and a direct violation of the law of nature and of the treaty we had forced on them at the cannon's mouth and the bayonet's point. Two thousand years ago China was the most civilized country in the world, and now it educated every child born, while not a third of our children were. Were Chinese any dirtier than Scotchmen or Irishmen or other barbarous nations— [great laughter] — many ot whom never washed themselves from year's end to year's end, while Chinese washed themselves aa often as possible? He had lived among 8000 for many years, and therefore knew. Did we not, and do we not, plunder the Maoris, arid are not ashamed of it? [Laughter] Then why should not the Chinese plunder us, as we have plundered the Maoris of" their gold? Ho doubt the Maoris would be ashamed of us if we passed the Bill. His friend opposite (Mr 'Ngat'alfi) would blush for us, and no doubc was blushing, only they could not Bee it. [Gfreat laughter.] The earth was the Lord's and the fulness thereof. The Bill fhould not only be thrown out, but with indignity. [Hear, hear.] It was due to party feeling, to a want of backbone, and to fear of the general election.. It was merely to curry favor with their constituents by those who should be ashamed of theuißelves. [Mr Wood rose to order.] Well, he would drop that part of the. subject;- " [jGtfeat laughter.] Anything he could say would not change the minds of those alluded to or make them ashamed. There were parts of this town as filthy as any Chinese quarter. They Bhould show backbone, and throw out thiß trashy and abdminabla Bill, which stank in his nostrils. A somewhat amusing case came before one or the Visiting Justices at the Invercargill gaol. A Chinese prisoner sentenced by tho Queenstown Bench to two months and one month— three months in. all refused to do any more hard labour, on the ground that he had done " plenty." Argument and persuasion we; a of no avail, John had definitely made up his mind io do no more work. He was, therefore, sent to his cell for three days' reflection ba a diet of bread and water, after wh}ch, he may, nerba^Be§»^ing*ioß:differmit light,