BRITAIN'S WAR SHIPS. A LIST OF OLD ENGLAND'S FLOATING PFACFMAKERS (BOSTON GLOBE)

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1997, 25 April 1885, Page 3

BRITAIN'S WAR SHIPS. A LIST OF OLD ENGLAND'S FLOATING PFACFMAKERS (BOSTON GLOBE)

Look now at these moustcis— the ad milted effectives. Of these theie aic now the Inflexible— behe\ed to be a match for anything afloat— of 11.S80 tons •litplac^ment, having twenty four inches of iion armoni, on a solid backinc; of twenty-four inches of teak, of 8,010 hois.; power, and with four 80 ton guns lv her two turreta ; a vessel to whose ability to batter down fortifications Alexandria's ruined batteries bear witness ; the Die,idnought, which has just ip lie\ed hei m the Meditenancin, with four IW ton aims mi hei two turrets, and with bghtei nunour of only fourteen nulns; the rhundeier, Neptune, Colossus, Edm burgh, Agamemmon, Aja\ and Monarch, .ill two tunet ships of \arying t>pis, the Thunderer having two 38- ton and two 3f>tonguns; the others varying fiom foui 43 ton breech-loaders and two 6 inch guns to 38 ton and 12-ton guns; while the Monaich. known to Portland, Me , folks, a- having brought over the body of (ieoige Pcdbody to that harbour, has four 25 ton guns vi her two turrets, iw ) i 2 ton guns and one (H ton— all muzzle loadeis, and thert'foro not considered of the best kind, but also powerful at Alexaudna. Named after the famous Biitish AJmitale Tre the new biibet»e slnps, the Anson, Benbow, Camperdown, Howe, Rodney, and Collingwood, of about ten thousand tons each. The first four aie yet on the stocks. The Benbow will carry two 110-ton breechlo.ideis, pretty little baiker*, with a playful piojf-ctilt- of "2,.}00 pounds weight or more, calculated to knock out even John L. Sullivan him ■«elf- if within a r.mge of nine miles The othei Ad minis have foin G.i ton guns ami Mualler pets of six mchts bore ; while the Ceint raire, Impericuse, and Warspite— smaller vessols of the same class— are content with 25 and 18 ton cannon. Kne turret iams. one of which is the New Heio, yet on the stocks, are also included in the list. Then the central battery fleet— fine vessels, all of which have been «.uccessfui —must be reckoned There are elm en of tlie«e ships, from the Alexandra of 9400 tons, with two 25 and ten IS-ton cannon, and with twelve inches of armour as her maximum, to the Orion of .")870 tons dis placement, which, like the Belloislo. its sister ship, yet contrives to c^riy twelve inches of iron ainiour and four 2-Vton trims. Of this class of ships the Swiftsurc, Triumph, Audacious, Invincible, and Iron DuUe are almost alike, about 6000 tons, d awing twenty feet of watei, with eight itichts of ron atmour, and canying each ten 12-ton muzzle loaders. Three armed cruisers, the Nelson, on the Australian station, the Northampton, flagship m the North American fleet, recently at Newpoit, and tho Shannon, have 12 and 18 ton guns. For coast defence there are fire good tin let ihip*. The GUtton. a lam, has nineteen inches of armour defending hei turret, which has a 25-ton gun, and the Cyclops, Gorgon, Hecate and Hjdra of two turrets each, eight and ten inches of iron armour, and with J8 ton guns. The tut reted ships M.igdala and Abysj nnia are in Bombay hubour, and the Cci burns, already mentioned, at Melbourne. Then there are eighteen unarmourcd vessels, seven of which aie fast cimsers, building in the royal dock yards, and four first class ironclads are, by a iccent vote, to be added to the list. These will catry 110 tons, and will be designed to take the tirst rank — Boston Globe

"Giri^ will be giils," says a contemporaiy. Oh, no! that's a mistake. If the girls' wishes are consulted tlie^ will be married wotneu some day. Disctssim; the chances of seiioiis damage from the shells of a hostile cruiser, the Melbourne Arytis w rites : — "It is good fioin the mihtaiy as well as the eamtaiy standing point that no city is moie straggling in its formation than Melbourne, that the streets arc wide, that parks and gardens and piivate grounds abound. Our residences are apiead skirmishing fashion over many a square mile of hill and dale, and if closely packed cities such ts Paris and Strnsburg escaped the com paidtively little hurt from the sustained hie of the batteries which were con stantly fed by railways in their rear, our widespread capital might hope for ■still better luck when the attack came fioin the compara tnely easily exhausted magazines of one or two cruisers The onimunists in their madness did far more to Paris than the Geiman foe Indeed, when Yon Moltke enteied the city it was intact. The majonty of the Hhella which had fallen in its bounds had buried themselves in the ground and had exploded harmlessly, and when one crashed through a house it did not follow that the inmates were hurt. No shells probably contain exclosives so powerful as the machines used by the dynamitards in London, and even then, when the charge is specially placed so rhat it may do the maximum of misliief, there is more frieiit than injury. To sum up the situation, the mission of irtillery is to clear a ro.ul, or to wreck a building, but a man of war has neitbei •he guns nor the utorea for the dea cruction of any large city — more es pecially a straggling city such as Melbourne, which can be exposed only to a vertical fire." Thk Post predicts the failure of the toithtoming Exhibition, it sajs:— Tlip erection of the Exhibition building is .roing on much more tapidly and satisfactorily, we think, than anything else in connection with the show winch is to be opened in September. Dr. Hector <tiul Mi Call is aie no doubt working j liaid, ,md possibly Sii Julius Vogel may know what they arc doing, but the mblic know nothing, and the idea is tapidly gtowing into a conviction that the Exhibition will not be a conspicuous success. All public interest in it, in fact, seems dying out, and little or nothing is being done to keep th.it interest alive. The Committe of Aid ami Advice have only once been called together, at.d we believe that one of the bub com mittees have been called together for some weeks past In fact, so far as Wellington is concerned, neither aid nor advice seems to be desired. Theie will, we believe, be no lack of exhibits, but we are sadly afraid that there will be a great deal th of visitors to inspect them. The mere collection of exhibits is not enough to make the Exhibition a success in any way. The object aimed at will not be attained unless the exhibits aie brought under the notice of laige numheis of people from all parts of the colony. Arrangements should long eie tins have been made for the conveyance of visitors. The longer time given to people to prepare for a\isit, the larger probably will be the number of visitois. The Go\ eminent have not yet even intimated what concessions they are prepaicd to make in the matter of the railway conveyance of visitors, and the steam shipping offices have made no sign. We would again urge upon the authorities to at once ascertain what arrangements can be made fur Exhibition exclusions, as also to face the question of how laige ciowds of uaitois are to be piovided for in Wellington, if they do come. The Test of Actual Trial. This is what proves the merit of a preparation. The pioprietorof Green's August Flower.knowing its valuable pioperties, meets this test boldly by pieparmg sample bottles of this remedy, which are sold ar <»d. This enables doubters to try its virtues at a trifling expense. August Flower is a panacea far Dyspepsia and all disoiders of the Liver, including Biliousness, indigestion, sick Headache Costivene^s; &c, &c. Three doses will relieve any of the above, and a faithful use will certainly cuie. No medicine in the world has ever given such proof of its merits. Druggists recommend it with perfect confidence and physicians prescribe it regularly. Price for fullsized bottles 3s Qd. Sold by all druggists.