January 21.] 
THE FIELD 
expressed his thanks, and went away. A short time subse- 
quent to his departure, ono of the female servants had occa- 
sion to go into a room on the second floor, when to her 
astonishment she discovered the place in great confusion, 
and a jewel case broken open, and its contents, consisting of 
gold and silver bracelets, gold lockets, rings, aud chains, and 
an old-fashioned silver watch, maker’s name Barwise, ab- 
stracted ; a largo bag filled with wearing apparel was also 
found packed up ready for removal, but no doubt the 
thief was disturbed, and therefore unable to effect his 
object. The man is described to be about 35 years old, 
short and stout, pale complexion, and wore spectacles. 
He was dressed in dark clothes, and had on a low-crowned 
broad-brimmed hat, and had a mild and pleasing address. 
Spurious Gold Dust. — Persons are attempting to 
dispose of spurious gold-dust by offering it to money- 
changers in London. It consists of small pieces of some 
hard kind of earth electrotyped so as not to be discoverable 
by chemical tests. A parcel was brought on Tuesday to 
Messrs. Splelmunn, in Lombard-street, which wus com- 
pletely undistinguishable from genuine gold-dust, except by 
its friability and waut of weight. 
The Metropolitan Bridges. — Mr. Oliveira, M.F., 
has a notice of motion before the House of Commons as 
to the condition of the metropolitan bridges, and whether 
the toll-paying bridges should not bo thrown open to the 
public. 
65 
SOCIETIES AND INSTITUTIONS. 
Royal Naval Benevolent Institution. — On Mon- 
day the 16th inst., the annual court of the governors of this 
institution was hold at the Thatched-house Tavern, St. 
James’s-streot. Tho chair was filled by Admiral Sir Watkyii 
O. Pell. The minutes of tho last quarterly court having 
been read and confirmed, Mr. Skead, the secretary, brought 
forward the report, which stated that during the last quarter 
there had been received in annual subscriptions the sum of 
631. 4s. 6 d., which, with 566/. 16s. Id., the balance at the 
last audit, made an available income ol'63U/. Is. Id. The 
expenditure for the same period amounted to 477/. 2s. Or/, 
of which sum the amount of 367/. had been paid in grants. 
The income for the whole year, including 169/. 2s. ~d. 
balance in hand on the 1st of January, 1853, 1,070/. 10s. 4<7 • 
interest upon 36,195/. 12s. 2 d. invested in the Three per- 
cents., 837/. 5s. ; annual subscription, 5/. ; life subscriptions 
and 122/. Is. Od. received in donations, amounted to 2,203/! 
19s. 5 cl. ; and the expenditure for the same period, including 
1,660/. paid in grants, amounted to 2,048/. Os. Id., leaving 
a balance of 155/. 18s. lOrf. The report was unanimously 
adopted and a quantity of routine business transacted, after 
which the memorials of petitioners were taken into consi- 
deration, and tho proceedings terminated with a vote of 
thanks to the chairman. 
Institution op Civil Engineers.— At a recent meet- 
ing, James Meadows Rondel, Esq., President, in the 
chair, the discussion was resumed on “ Ocean Steamers.” 
It was contended, that tho statement of a supposed 
wave pressure of 85,000 tons of water, or even of 40,000 
tons, to which it had 6ince been reduced, by a modi- 
fied estimate, was inadmissable; it would be manifestly 
impossible for any vessel to withstand such impact from a 
body of water ; and if the position were admitted, it must 
be evident, that any oi the ordinary coasting steamers 
would constantly be liable to a pressure of 1,000 to 1,500 
tons, which would suffice to utterly destroy them. The 
comparison of the qualities for safe riding, when lying- to, 
between a line-of-battle ship and a privateer, was not to 
the point, as the former was encumbered by the enormous 
weight of her armament, and by her top-hamper; in short, 
the whole misconception had arisen from confounding the 
wave of oscillation with that of translation; this was ex- 
emplified by the case of a disabled vessel : as long ns she 
remained afloat she was comparatively safe, but as soon 
as she touched the ground, and the wave of oscillation be- 
came one of translation, she was immediately knocked to 
pieces by the impact of the waves. Next, as to the pro- 
portions of 6 to 1, which had been derived from as ancient 
a type as Noah s ark, — now, as far ns was known, as that 
construction had not been designed, either for sailing or 
steaming, but only to float with a very large cargo, it 
afforded no analogy for vessels built for speed, however 
propelled ; and, in fact, modem fast-sailing vessels had 
abandoned those proportions, which had only been per- 
petuated by the old tonnage laws, under which merchant 
vessels were enabled to be constructed to carry enormous 
cargoes, but they were unable to attain any considerable 
speed. It was further argued, that as steam propulsion 
was employed, the analogy became still less apparent; 
and, as an instance of the advantage of lengthening ships, 
the ease of the vessels belonging to the North of Europe 
bteam Navigation Company was mentioned. The City 
of Norwich, 183 feet long, 26 feet beam, 471 tons burthen, 
and 200 II. P., could carry, as cargo, 220 head of cattle, at 
a speed of 10 knots per hour, but she rolled considerably 
with a beam sea ; whilst the Tonning, 222 feet long, 27 
feet beam, 734 tons burthen, and 200 II. P carried 3G0 
head of cattle, at a speed of 12 knots per hour; she was a 
remarkably easy vessel, and had proved her sca-worthy 
qualities, by coming safely round the coast of Scotland, 
during a hard gale in September. Thus, with the same 
engine-power, by merely altering the proportions from 7 
to 1 to 8 to 1, nearly 60 per cent, more cargo space was 
obtained, and 2 knots per hour were gained in speed, with 
improved sea-going qualities. It must be remarked, also, 
that the relative proportions of the Tonning were almost 
identical with those of the proposed iron vessel for the 
Eastern Steam Navigation Company. Taking the Wave 
Queen as an extreme ease — her length being 213 feet, 
with 15 feet beam, and proportions of 13 to 1, with a 
draught of water of only 5 feet, and comparing her per- 
formances with those of the Christiania, a good vessel, 
about 170 feet long, and with about tiie proportion of 6 
to 1— it was found, that whilst the latter, in a moderate 
head sea, continually shipped tho waves, the former, in a 
similar sea, was perfectly dry. This ovidence was given 
from the personal experience of tho speaker. The Wave 
Queen had since been running between Nowhaven and 
Dieppe and it was to be expected, indeed it had been pre- 
dicted, that, from local circumstances connected with the 
entrance of the harbour at Newhaven, she would meet 
with some casualty. She was not stranded in consequence 
,ot any inefficiency in the power of the rudder, but after a 
very bad passage across the Channel, in the trough of the 
sea, which was running very high, she arrived off Newhaven 
wnon there was scarcely depth of water over the bar for her 
to cross, she touched tho ground heavily, and hung by her 
“heel;” abeam sea catching her at the same moment 
swung her round and threw her broadside on the beach 
where all the passengers were safely lauded. It was a good 
proof of the strength that could be given to iron ships, that 
though she was thrown broadside on the shore, by tho 
waves of translation, she was safely got off and brought 
round to the lhames without material damage. 
As to the elaborate calculations entered into, with 
respect to the three great navigation projects; before ad- 
mitting the correctness of those results, it must be clcarlv 
understood, that the Rattier, which had been used as the 
.•? e, n V x S bl „ ult durin g the most depressed period (scien- 
tifically) of construction in II. M. Dockyards. Her 
dimensions were 176 feet long by 32 feet 6 inches beam,— 
a proportion of about 5* to 1, and from what had been pub- 
lished, it must be evident, that she had just performed 
what might have been anticipated from such proportions. 
At the time of the construction of the engines of the 
Rattler, marine engineers had scarcely adopted, and 
rarely practised, the use of the steam at a certain amount 
ot pressure, and expanding in the cylinder, whereby 
such a vast economy in the consumption of fuel was 
now realised. Now, if the calculations of fuel required for 
long voyages were based upon the old scale of consump- 
tion, instead of the present rate, which, in good ships, did 
not exceed 3* lbs. per real II. P., the deductions from the 
calculations must he still more unacceptable. It was then 
contended, that all arguments based upon calculations of 
the speed and other qualities of such a type, must be 
utterly fallacious. It had been shown what increase of 
speed and of carrying qualities had been produced by 
lengthening the Tonning, without increasing her power, 
and, by analogy, it was only reasonable to presume, that 
if the proportions of the Rattler had been altered from 5i 
to 1, to nearly 8 to 1, there would have been a still more 
striking amelioration, and she would have been a more 
trustworthy type for tho calculations and arguments ns to 
the practicability of constructing, and of commercially 
working, large ships. It was argued, that with all these, 
and many other examples to the contrary, it was evidently 
incorrect to attempt to assume that 6 to 1 was the best 
proportion for vessels of any kind. It was assumed, that 
when it was stated a large steamer was intended to run to 
India, or Australia and back, without re-coaling, it was 
only meant that she would carry enough coal to avoid deten- 
tion at the intermediate ports, as, (unless it was ascertained 
that she could not procure a more profitable cargo,) it would 
evidently be more economical to send coals to the ultimate 
and distant port by sailing vessels, who would convey them 
cheaper than she could do. It must not be supposed, that 
the meeting received for granted the results of calculations 
based on such a type as the Rattler, nor that the Institu- 
tion could pretend to do more than offer a fioiri f ol . t i ie 
investigation of the scientific portion of the magnificent 
commercial experiments about to be tried, and for the 
success of which all must unite in offering their best wishes. 
Engineers, unless especially called upon to give opinions 
on the prospects of commercial success offered by under- 
takings, were only expected to consider the best means of 
executing given works at the cheapest rates, compatible 
with security and durability, but the ultimate remunera- 
tion for the outlay must be mainly a subject for the 
consideration of the speculators. The advantages of 
employing a smaller number of large ships, rather than 
a greater number of small ships, for a given trade, 
especially for long voyages, was beginning to be generally 
admitted by shipowners. A return was published in the 
Times of November 22nd, 1853, copied from the Liverpool 
Albion of November 21st, which presented the results of 
that experience in a remarkable form. “The following 
table shows the average number of days occupied on the 
passage by the vessels of different tonnage, ranging from 
200 tons upwards, despatched from Liverpool to Australia, 
in the years 1852 and 1853: — 
Under 200 tons.... 
From 200 to 300 tons ... 
300 to 100 „ . 
„ 400 to 500 „ . 
„ 500 to 600 „ . 
„ 600 to 700 „ . 
„ 700 to 800 „ . 
„ 800 to 900 „ . 
„ 900 to 1000 „ . 
„ 1000 to 1200 „ . 
„ 1200 and upwards . 
1852. 
Average number 
of days. 
137 
122 
123 
118 
113 
107 
108 
103 
102 
96 
91 
1853. 
Average number 
of days. 
133 
122 
113 
112 
112 
103 
101 
100 
95 
91 
90 
S ° f extraordinary length for steam voyages of m 
the meS 17 *l ,stancc- Then ns t0 tho c°mmercial S question ' • 
had?al^ ln? tS i e "Saged in the Indian and Australian trado 
ness St fl '° m data affordcd by their own bust 
■ ’ at amount of freight and passengers would re- 
* (n-*ni° m M 0jatio, V and ‘t was found that the quantity 
llted g Tho , Um C0U ‘ d bc received by the ship just calcu- 
\TntJtt ( t, n ‘ cn8 ; 01 * s ’ therefore, required to be enlarged, 
tr “ de - ti,us 
chit of votoli ■ a he dira ensions of the proposed large 
votok rbo As W he mcc hani C al strength of such 
vessels, theie was no difference of opinion on that Doint 
engineers, nrovided the stlueture was of P iron! 
Ships of wood, on the contrary wo.ro i • • 
the nature of the material Z' n/t 
manufactured , and therefore the produce was of limited 
ml?’ r r eaS P atCS ? f ,. iron could . on the other hand to 
rolled of any required dimensions. It must be observed 
also, that the strength of wood across the fibre was so 
smal that two planks could not be so united ’as to be 
equally strong in all directions, whilst two plates of iron 
rivetted together, were of nearly uniform strength. Further’ 
as to the resistance of large vessels to waves : it was’ 
evident, that the waves of the Atlantic, being of the same 
t!nn«i V £ C — 1 1® VeS8 S f ma11 or lar G e > their propor- 
tiona magnitude would bc decreased, as the size of the 
vessel was increased ; so that the large ship, in a gale 
would merely encounter waves of the same proportional 
size, as a ship of half the dimensions, in half a gale: and it 
should be remarked that the largest ships which had been 
proposed, were only double the liueal dimensions of existing 
vessels. As to the impact of waves upon ships, it should 
be remembered that a vessel riding on a wave became, 
virtually a part of that wave, and moved along with it as 
the mass of water, displaced by its bulk, had previously 
moved. The large Atlantic waves, observed by Dr 
ocoresby, did not strike the ship, but made her rise and* 
fall in a gentle oscillation, each of which lasted sixteen 
seconds, a period of too long duration to admit of any ap- 
proximation to violent collision between bodies. It was 
only the small wind waves, or crests, which moved at a 
different velocity from that of the ship, and the proposed 
vessels were so much higher out of the water, than tho 
observed altitude of these waves, that the decks would 
probably never he more than wetted by the spray. It was 
explained that II. M. ship Rattler had been assumed as 
a type, or good example of locomotive efficiency, because 
/VV3Da\ 3 ° 
the formula V £_/ g ave the highest result of any 
steamer examined by that rule. It would be seen, that 
the formula merely embraced the relations of velocity, 
displacement, and working power. 
It was stated that a vessel which, from any fault of 
imperfect steering power, was liable 
/f [ at ? th ? f l0u gj 08 ** *ea, would in that position 
be liable to fearful accidents ; and instance were cited of 
two vessels, of 800 tons and 1,200 tons respectively, Licinc 
cfrii/*!/ l\xr wmmo 1* ~ .1 - _ — * . i •• • • 
“ From the above table it will be seen, that in almost 
every instance, the average is in favour of the largest ships, 
the 600-ton ships having an advantage of twenty four days, 
on the average in 1852, over tho 200-ton ships, and the 
1,200-ton ships having an advantage of twenty-two days 
over the 600-ton ships. In 1853, also, it will l»c seen that 
the results are much the same.” But even with this evi- 
dence, it would not be wise to rush to the conclusion that 
vessels of enormous size would be applicable in all circum- 
stances ; in fact, that which determined the expediency of 
using a largo ship was the co-incidence of a great amount 
of traffic and great length of voyage. For example, it 
might be questioned, except for some special branches of 
commerce, which appeared now about to be greatly de- 
veloped, whether a very large ship would be likely to be 
commercially beneficial, between any two ports of Great 
Britain. It must be evident, that for each length of voyage 
and description of trade, there was a particular sizo of 
vessel, that would be most suitable ; and, indeed, ns in most 
other engineering works, the circumstances of the traffic 
would of themselves mainly determine the proportions of 
structure. Take for example the trade between England and 
America, as originally opened by the Great Western; 
that vessel, as first designed, although much the largest 
ship of her day, was of the smallest size by which such a 
trade could be conducted ; and her length was actually 
increased, during her construction, to a point then gene- 
rally considered dangerous. Since that period, all vessels 
on that station had been successively augmented in dimen- 
sions, ns the trade increased ; but even those vessels were 
too small for the Australian voyage of 25,000 miles, and 
tho necessity of increasing the’ length was shown, by cal- 
culating how much coal would require to be carried, be- 
yond that needed for an American voyage, in order to do 
the Australian, or the Indiuu voyage equally well. Such 
calculation demonstrated that a vessel similar to the 
Great Western would require to be lengthened to 520 
feet to accomplish that voyage. This argument showed 
that the conditions of the cuso compelled the adoption of 
struck by waves which had carried away all the upper 
works and swept the decks clear. These practical facts 
were given to show that the gentle oscillation of heavy 
waves must be received with some qualification. In 
answer to this, it was explained that in a storm there were 
generally two sets of waves, the long low oscillating wave, 
and the smaller waves, which were much shorter, rising 
under the action of the wind. It was these short waves 
which struck the smaller vessels with so much force when 
they got on the crest of a large one, but the deck of a 
very large ship would be too high for such wind waves to 
break upon it, except as spray. Returns were presented of 
the performances of a number of paddle-wheel, ocean 
steamers, for a period of 22 years, tending to prove how 
greatly the velocity had been increased. This was shown to 
have arisen from the augmented size and better build of 
the vessels, with greater power of engines and other en- 
gineering improvements. These tables showed the neces- 
sity ot a careful selection of the period, from which a 
mean average of velocity was deduced; for example, the 
Hugh Lindsay, II. E. I. Co.’s steamer, gave, in 1830, a 
mean average of 5£ knots per hour; whereas tho best of 
the Cunard and ot the Collins’ lines of steamers, gavo a 
mean average of 12* knots per hour, for the last three 
years. It was explained, that the average of 7-foths knots 
per hour had been derived from Admiralty returns, ex- 
tending from 1848 to 1851,— which were the only reliable 
documents of tho kind hitherto published. — Members were 
urged to supply tho present evident want of information 
on this subject. As to the question of measurement for 
tonnage, after discussing the present method, describing 
that proposed by the Parliamentary Committee, and those 
by the practical men who had been consulted, the system 
indicated by the author of the paper was examined with 
care, and was admitted to possess novel features worthy 
of consideration, in fixing a legal standard of mea- 
surement. It was, however, contended, that for scien- 
tific purposes the displacement to tho load line was 
required, and for fiscal purposes it was submitted that 
the light and other dues would bo more equitably 
imposed on an ad valorem duty on cargo, than on 
the bulk or form of the vessel. In winding up the dis- 
cussion, the dimensions were given of a great raff ship, 
called the Barou of Renfrew, which was built at Quebec 
in the year 1825, by the late Mr. Charles Wood, of Port 
Glasgow. Her extreme length was 304 feet; extreme 
breadth, 61 feet; clear depth, 34 feet; registered tonnage, 
5,294^ tons ; and cargo of timber, 8,500 tons. The draft 
of water at the end of the voyage, when water logged, was 
31 feet. She had four masts, and the sails of a 36 gun 
frigate. Iler greatest inclination under press of sail was 
about 20 degrees. Her greatest speed before she became 
waterlogged, but with 19 feet of water in the hold, was 
8£ knots, which was reduced to 6 kuots when she was 
quite full of water. She made the passage from Quebec 
to the Isle of Wight in 48 days. It was due to Mr. 
Charles Wood to mention this during innovation at so early 
a period. It appeared that if the dimensions of vessels 
had been increased, it was evident that there had not been 
any increase of danger, nor was any to be anticipated. 
The hesitation in receiving new propositions, of startling 
projects, was very natural, and, therefore, their discussion 
was valuable and really useful iu eliciting opinions which 
might otherwise probably not have been given. The feasi- 
bility of tho Britannia Bridge has been quite as much 
doubted as that of very largo iron ships, and yet it had 
been executed, and the result was before tho world. It 
appeared evident that in future Engineers must look 
even further forward than they had done, and iu their 
maritime constructions, must adopt dimensions for their 
