The Latest Ironclad.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3065, 27 November 1888, Page 2

The Latest Ironclad.

Tlit)follpwiuß from'tbo Standard gives ut description of tho newlybuilt mau-o'-war Mo :-Tlie Nilo is built from the design of. Mesais Barnes and Morgan, and represents the denre for fuller armored protection than was secured in vessels of tho. Admiral olass. The ship,' and with it the sister vessel, thoTrafalgar, roconily launched from Portsmonth yard, will bo tWPheaviest armorclada afloat, and wilpprobably bo the last constructed lor as tho present naval policy seems to beadesiro for swift cmisors, torpedoes and gunboats, for general ser. vice. Tho Nile is ono of tho'groatost ships of war over launched and represents one of tho greatest mechanical achievements. Tho Inflexible, until recently the largest of our ironclads, weighed 3,182 tons at launching,, and the Trafalgar 5,220 tons; so that the Chief Constructor at Pembroke and his staff havo beaten the record in the launching of heavy ships, The Trafalgar' occupied in construction 8& weeks, from commencement to launch average weight per week, 60,8 tons, at an average cost of LI 4 4s per ton. The Nile was commenced in April, 18j}G, so that she has been JO2 weeks in building, with an average weight of 61,7 tons, at a.cost,;ofLl4.os 9'd per ton, The shij«M an advanced state, and could baveHaon launched much earlier)' but as there is no dock large enough to take her sWill bavo to Ho afloat all the summewto complete the fitting other machinery and other heavy work, Tho Nilo is 345 ft long between the perpendiculars, and ■ and 73ft broad; her load draught of water will be27ftforward andisftaft; and when fully equipped foTplior displacement will bo 11,940 tons. Her' coal stowage is 900, which may : be increased to 1,200 tons. Her armament consists-of four lli|iu 67-ton breechloading guns, six 36pounder, .pick-firing guns, eight 6-pounder and ten ,'l-pounder Hotchkis's quick-firiu« guns, boatj. and other guns, and iwenty-four' Whitehead torpedoes, flie turret guns fire a projectile weighiug l,2Solbs, with a powder .•bargo of 6301b, and train through an ingle of 270deg„ The C-poun.dera : ivill be mounted on tho, upper deck' jetween the turrets,, and the eight 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns will all bo might from thespar;deck;... but the : > : poui)dcrguns will b«; distributed jotween'tho/spar \ decks^/ iterh'tops, andmilitary/ tops; 5 Tbero;. ire eight iiidfourbei6w,tho-watcr. v ,TJttyesßel .-'■■ s' •,, iriyeu;£ytan^ ylhi^ora.qf|!^i;pwev/ > hojrsoj?: mit are.itfcd .raught;to;ilio/bpildr/rpojns

vcssel, when under forced draught, is expected to attain 12,000 indicated horse powor, which must be maintained at" the official trial of tbo machinery for four consecutivo boats. With tin's [lower a speed of 16| knots is anticipated. Her armor consists of 'J thicknesses of skin rivetled to plato und angloframes lift deepum! Sit apart within these frames and behind the belt armor only is a second system of lightened plato frames 3ft deep and ■ll'tapart, oil the inside ol which iho outer bulkhead of the coal bunkers is rivetled. The strength of the armored side is thus exceptionally great. The engine and boiler rooms are divided it tbo middle lino of the ship by a watertight luunel 10ft Gin wide; tho upper purtj of (he/tunnel forms a passago for com-! niunrciition between the ends of the' 'ship, and also for the passage, of; ammunition through the decks itbow; { for- tho auxiliary armament; the j lower part (onus the magazine mid. shellrooiii, und it is claimed that being | situated here the latter arc much less, exposed to hostilo lire, She bus ,i ram bow. The wlioloof the armour j is steel-faced. The steam steering' gear can bo controlled either from the,, armored pilot tower, (he cliartlioiisu on the bridge, the side conning towers, or, in the event of'tho pilot guar being disabled, from a protected position on the platform deck directly below tbo tower. Taken altogether the Nile is not only tho largest and costliest, but the best equipped of our modern ironclads. The ship will be titled for ati- admiral's Hag, and will havo havo a crow of 538 men. The Beginning of the End, •

So tho "boom" is practically to an end, Wo know it could not lust long, for it liuil not a basis of wealth to support it, A great part of the transactions of which wo heard so much wore represented by paper only. One speculator would buy a piece of land, pay tho orthodox livo or ten per cent doposit, and thon by means of the puffing process sell to another at an advance of n hundred per cent or more. On this sale he would get the usual deposit, mid thus with a small sum in hand, ho would become the nominal owner of another piece of laud. So the business went on until mountains of bills must liayo existed in connection with these laud transactions, Now no further sales can be made, 'and people are beginning to ask for payment of tho bills, As well might they call spirits from the vasty deep. This demand will be in vain; for tho money does not oxiil with which to pay tho bills, and of courso they arc not negotiable, The effect of this state of things is to knock the bottom out of the" boon," and of courso tho collapse of the whole affair cannot now bo long delayed. Some persons, no doubt, succeed in making money, but some aro sure to find themselves great financial sufferers before long. If Melbourne' people had only been guided by the advice Now Zealanders could havo given them about 'booms', iu lauds, many of them would be better offihan they are now likely to be, It is a poor satisfaction, of course, but wo shall havo the laugh of tho Mclbournoites in the cud.— Christchurch Tolegraph.

Discovery of the Pool of • Bethesda-

" Wo have generally an announcement to make, but not often of so much importance as that of this day. It is the discovery of the pool of Mieada," So .writes Mr Walter Besant in the quarterly Statement issued by tho Palestine Exploration Fund, Ho is jubilant, as all Palestino enthusiasts aro likely to be, that a vexed question in regard to a sight is apparently settled for ever, ; Bethesda is mentioned only by tho fourth' Evangelist. In the fifth chapter of his gospel.John says:— ". Now theroisat Jerusalem by the sheep market (or gate) a pool which is called in Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having fivo jTorches," Tho word translated " pool" in the authorised . version is given hy some authorities as'"'swimming-bath," and the phraso "pool by the sheep market" is possibly better rendored '.' pheep pool." Eusebius explains the occasional red color of tho wator in this" sheep pool" a trace of the carcases of sheep washed in it bclbro sacrifico; hcuco ' the name, There were, according tq tho Evangelist, live porches or porticos around the pool Theso, Dr. Geikiethinks,;charity built,for the accommodation of sull'ercrs./It seems to us, however, equally probable that t, they formed a part of tho original Bchcmo for the bath, Kvo porticos would soeui to imply a pontagonal Btruoture; but this is by no means essential. A rectangular pool, with a portico on oYery side, divided hy one across tho middle, would answer the description. "J3ethesda" (a Hebrow namo which was vory probably iuvorited hy St. John) may mean oithor " house [of mercy" or " the place of the pouring fourth" (of water), , • At tho north end of modem Jerusalem, close to St Stepbon's gate, stands the church of St, Anno, At the timo of tho Crimean war it was a ruined mosque, hut when tho French came into possessionof.it tlicy restored tho church and handed' it • over to the Algerian monks, It is near this church of St Anno, and in connection widfi oxcavations made '. around it that the Pool of Bethesda \ has recently been discovered by Herr W Conrad Schick, There is a court- j . yard to the north-west of the church, which leads through a newly opened passage into another courtyard some ' 60ft square. At the north of this latter churchyard thero was at one time a small church, Beneath the floor of 'this some-time church are vaults, and through the floor of these j vaults n cistern is reached,' cut into' the rock to a depth of 110 ft. This cistern is a portion of the original ■ Pool of Bethesda, There is still water in it, hut it is difficult to say whence it comes, This, in brief, is Herr Sclu'ck's report of April sth. Since then further excavations have been made, and he has prosecuted more oxtendetl inquiries. A twin pool has been discovered. ■ Furthor examination will bring more details to light; but it may now be fairly assumed that tho two pools, tankor cisterns thus discovered really constitutes tho . Pool of Bethesda, "havinglivo porches," where Christ . healed tho paralytic of'eight and thirty years stantiiiij.-M Mall Gazette, i The Habit of Tea Dnnlung. Biitisli Medical Journal. The habit of tea-driiikiiig is becom- . ing mora and more thoroughly , national in the British Islands as the , century draws to a dose, Eighty - years ago tho practice was lookiil • • uponao a sign of effeminacy,' a wejl-

known patriotic ballad in praise of! roast beef lauding tho good old days. " oro coffee and tea, and such slipslops wore known." Qobbett, in his " Advico.to young mon," said—" Let mc beseech you to resolve to free yourselves from tho slavery of the tea and coffee and other, slop-kotllos." He thinks that his modol young man should devote to the study of arithmetic one-half of the time "usually wasted over the tea-slops," In 1888, tca-driuking is universal. Tho poor and the rich havo long been tea drinkers; it is amongst the lower and middle classes that the liabit had spread to a marked degree. Young men beginning life, and the great army of elder men, so well | known in great cities, whose duties involve in neb going about from one quarter of tho town to another, arc steadily recognising tho fact that tea is better than, alcohol at lunch. Jn real society and sham society the "afternoon tea " affords to that beverage tho powerful sanctum of fashion,

i The chief evil of tea drinking among j the poor is the practice of taki.ig tea | whilst it is very hot, so that it acts both directly and indirectly asit cardiac 'stimulant, causing pleasiirnblo feelings to the drinkers, but at tho same time irritating the gastric mucous inonibrane. At tho afternoon tea of polilo society, too much is often consumed by the same person, who may pay half-a-dozen visits before tbo dinner hour. Well-bred people hate excess, and dislike to bo seen eating and drinking, nevertheless they are often automatic in their doings, so that the fact that somebody is sipping tea often causes everybody else in the samo room to accept tho offer of a cup, which is the simplest, tidiest, and least demonstrative way of refreshing the inner man or woman. ■

Tho evils of tea drinking have long been recognised, or, at least, we know certain bad results, though it does not follow that others havo been as yet overlooked. The aeute objective symptoms of an overdose of tea aro relatively trifling, compared with opium poisoning, or alcoholic intoxication, yet amongst them is vomiting, and violent sickness under most unfortunate circumstances may bo tbo result of dining or smoking too soon aftor taking tea,

This accident may happon oven to a strong stomached person, at a "high tea" " soverd tea," or" tea aftor dinner" for, as Dr Lauder Brunton has shown, the tannin of the tea interferes with the digestion of fresh moat; while Dr J, W. jj'rascr has obsorved that it docs not interfere with the digestion of ha'iu, tongue, or other cured and dried flesh. Hone, a slice of tonguo is bolter than a out off the best joint at a " high tea," as at breakfast.