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low water, consists of an iron pipe 20 feet long and one wide; in this works a float, which as it rises and falls with the tide drives a rack, carrying a pencil to and fro horizontally along the top of a barrel or cylinder, covered with a sheet of paper, graduated to hours and feet; this cylinder again is connected by a wheel and pinion with a clock, which causes it to revolve once in 24 hours; the combined movements of the clock and float cause the pencil to describe on the paper the daily course of the tide; and it may by inspection be read off to half an inch of rise and fall, and to two minutes of time.

This simple, yet beautiful, machine is the invention of Mr. Mitchell, civil engineer of her Majesty's dock-yard at Sheerness, who erected one there in the year 1831; and a similar apparatus is at work in the other Government yards at Portsmouth, Plymouth, &c., as well as at the London docks, Liverpool, Bristol, and Dover.

Many of our readers are probably aware that the subject of tides has recently engaged the attention of Sir John Lubbock and Professor Whewell, both of whom have published valuable papers relative to them in the Philosophical Transactions; and one of the benefits to be anticipated from the erection of a tide-gauge at Harwich is, that it will furnish these scientific men with correct observations on the tides of the East Coast of England to enable them to work out their theory.

We may here notice that a few years ago Professor Whewell pointed out that about the middle of this part of the North Sea, half-way between Lowestoft and the Brielle, a spot would be found in which there was neither rise nor fall of tide. The Shearwater, in the course of her survey during the last summer, has been enabled to put this prediction to the test, and actually found upon three trials a rise and fall of only eighteen inches. The combination of favourable circumstances, and the care required to ascertain this small difference in a depth of 18 fathoms water, may be easily imagined.

The tide-gauge at Harwich, although it has been at work hardly a month, has already shown some points worthy of notice: one, for instance that what is called the "Establishment of the Port" is 11h. 50m.; that is to say, this is the time of high water on the day of full and change of the moon, or the first high water after the moon has passed the meridian at twelve o'clock, and which takes place at night. The forenoon tide on this day occurs at 11h. 24m., and this is what is usually, but incorrectly, considered as the time of high water on the full and change days.

Another point that may be noted is, that the times of high water are subject to great inequality at times 35 minutes only is the interval between the times of two successive high waters; at others this interval amounts to 70 minutes. This, which is termed the "semi-menstrual inequality," and depends on the declination of the moon, is already perceptible in the observations made at Harwich, but they are not yet sufficient in number to deduce from them the laws which govern it. The "diurnal inequality" of the tides, also, or the difference between the day and night tides, which all sailors must have remarked, will be faithfully registered by the tide-gauge. The low water at 3. P.M. on the 29th November was a remarkably low tide, the water having fallen out, although a neap tide, eighteen inches below the ordinary low water springs; a shingle spur, which has lately grown out to the eastward from Landguard Point, was laid bare for 200 yards.

TRIDENT.-We perceive that the General Steam Navigation Company's Steam Ship Trident, has been chartered by the West India Mail Company, to carry out the Mexican Mail of the 1st of January. Our readers will probably recollect that this Ship was selected to convey Her Majesty and Royal Consort on a recent occasion from Scotland.

PRESERVED POTATO.-A sample of the Preserved Potato of Messrs Edwards' which we have frequently recommended as Sea stock, has been submitted to ENLARGED SERIES.-NO. 1.-VOL. FOR 1843.

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our inspection since its return from one of the vessels of the Niger Expedition; and does not appear to have suffered the least ill effects from climate or damp, during the voyage. Our opinion of this important article for the Mess Table remains unchanged.

WONDERS OF STEAM.-Two gentlemen left Brussels at three on Friday afternoon, and arrived in Liverpool at a quarter to seven p.m. on Saturday, a distance of upwards of 430 miles, in 27 hours. The whole of the journey was performed by steam. The travellers left Brussels by the railway on Friday afternoon, arrived at Ostend in time for the packet, landed at Blackwall, proceeded from thence to London by the railway, and just caught the train from London to Liverpool as it was starting.-Liverpool Times.

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FRENCH STEAMERS.

MY DEAR SIR.-I this evening observe in p. 850 of the Nautical, an account of the large French steamers building in France, copied from the Railway Moniteur.

I believe it to be very incorrect. I have just returned from visiting Brest, L'Orient, and Indret, and in February was at Cherbourg; and in each place saw every thing building and doing, and have been over and over again the steamers and other vessels. I regret that I did not take down all their names. At Brest there are three,-the Canada, Christophe Columb, and Magellan, all of 450 horse power.

The Christophe Columb is built in a Dock, and is now very forward with her machinery. The Canada, also built in dock, and not so forward as the Christophe Columb, her machinery is on the wharf. The Magellan is built on slip, and is not yet ready for launching.

In these vessels a good deal of Larch is used in the upper beams, and in planking; they are well built, all French oak, no African wood; and will carry 10 or 12 guns, if required for war purposes. The cost of an engine of 450 horse-power made in France is 1800 francs per horse, therefore 450 × 1800

810,000 francs, or, £32,400; being something more than the same would be delivered for in English make, and not so well finished.

In this port the Valmy, an immense ship, 130 guns, is now very far advanced. I observed that her deck is fastening with Galvanised iron nails,-I saw an anchor and chain of this metal; but there is a more curious vessel, the Psyche, a frigate of 20 guns, intended to carry all 80 lb. Paxham guns; she is built extraordinarily strong, and is getting fast forward.

Improvements are constantly going on in the yard: the principal one is an extensive foundry and atteliers for equipping steam vessels.

I do not remember the vessels at Cherbourg beyond two, the names of which I forget; you gave them as the Darien and Alloa, they are very similar to those at Brest, and of 450 horse-power also. An astonishing increase is making to this port and arsenal, and here also are most extensive foundries, &c. for steam machinery rising up.

At L'Orient are five large steamers-two of them steam-frigates of 540 horse power, of which one is recently launched, the other is in frame, and remarkably well put together, the diagonal timbers being 8 inches square; and three transatlantic steamers, of which two were ready to launch last springs,—the third is now planking; they are not working hard at them-their names are Carib, Cacique, and Eldorado. The machinery for one of the frigates is making at

Indret.

The foundries and workshops here are in excellent condition, and port greatly improving. The workshops here, as elsewhere, are furnished from Manchester. Galvanised iron has gained much repute with the authorities in this port.

At Indret, four vessels of 220 horse-power and 12 guns, are building at this port, of which one is launched, and manoeuvring at Quimboef. One is launched and getting her machinery fixed, and two still on the stocks. There is also a

royal yacht of 120 horse-power and 10 guns, in wet dock and nearly ready for sea; her cabin is beautifully neat, her furniture not rough and gaudily carved as in some steamers.

The Government foundries and workshops are very large, and increasing rapidly to an immense extent, the place is quite a town, in one way or other about 300 workmen employed. I saw there the steam engine of 540 horsepower, making for the frigate at L'Orient; two engines of 450, and others of 220. As in other places, the workshops are furnished from Manchester. December 16th, 1842.

Yours,

D. L.

DREADNOUGHT.-Report on the cases of Typhus Fever in the years 1841, and 1842, to 12th Nov.-In the year 1841, 94 cases of typhus were admitted, of which 18 died, or 19.1 per cent. These admissions constituted 33 per cent, of all cases admitted. Of the 94 cases, 32 were from vessels belonging to the following ports, viz.-Alemouth, Grangemouth, Goole, Hartlepool, Hull, Newcastle, Shields, Stockton, Sunderland, and Whitehaven.

The whole number of patients admitted from these ports was about 415consequently the number of typhus cases from this class of vessels amounted in the year to 7.7 per cent.

Up to the 12th Nov., 1842, 109 cases of typhus have been admitted, of which 15 have died, or 13.7 per cent.; these cases have constituted 4.2 per cent. of all cases admitted in this year. Of the 109 cases, 48 were from vessels from the above ports; the whole number of patients from which has amounted to 331; consequently the number of cases of typhus from this class of vessels, has been in this year, 14.5 per cent., or nearly double that of 1841.

This increase in the number of typhus cases in the present year would, however, appear to depend upon some general cause, and not upon one peculiar to the coal vessels, though it is to be remarked that, when the disease is generally more prevalent, it still retains its greater proportional frequency in that class of vessels. 62 per cent. of the typhus cases have been twenty years or under, of age, and the great majority has been apprentices or boys. It would thus appear-1st, that sailors employed in vessels of the above-named ports afford a greater proportional number of typhus cases to this hospital than is afforded by all other classes of seamen collectively. 2. That this greater frequency of the disease attaches itself more particularly to the boys and youths, and that it is a source of serious mortality at an age when death from disease is most rare.

With respect to the food, clothing, and exposure to weather of individuals employed in this class of vessels, there is no reason to suppose that any difference exists between them and other seamen. Exposure to wet and cold cannot be assumed as a cause of the increased liability to typhus, as the greater number of cases occur in the months of July, August, and September. It remains then only to consider the state of the forecastles, in which these men are placed, in which perhaps the febrile source of the evil will be found to exist.

Typhus fever may be assumed to be an infectious disease, the poison of which requires a certain degree of concentration to produce its effect, except upon highly predisposed individuals. This concentration will necessarily occur in the absence of free ventilation, and by the accumulation of materials containing the poison-such as bedding, clothes, &c.; and there is very little doubt but that, if more attention were paid to the cleanliness and ventilation of the forecastles, inhabited by, and to the frequent exposure to the air of the bedding and clothes worn by, the men in these vessels, the disease might, to a great extent, be banished from them.

Numerous instances have occurred of cases of typhus being furnished from the same vessel to this hospital in succession, at different times-a circumstance strongly pointing out the fact, that the poison will remain attached to the same locality for an indefinite period, if proper means be not taken to eradicate it.

THE MERCHANT SERVICE. The remarks of our correspondent the "Master of a British Merchant Ship," have not been lost on the press whatever effect they may produce elsewhere. We find the following in reference to them in the Gateshead Observer, of the 10th of December last :

"Desirous on all occasions, to promote the interests, and to do justice to the real friends of the British shipowner, we felt much pleasure, last week, in calling attention to the gratifying Report of the South Shields Marine Board for the examination of candidates for the command of vessels in the merchant service. The names of the individuals composing that Board, afford ample assurance of its usefulness. We can, therefore, only again express our regret at the absence of some legislative enactment, by which an amount of protection might be extended to the whole mercantile marine of the kingdom, equal to that which is creditably afforded to its supporters by the establishment in South Shields.

"An article in the Nautical Magazine of this month, by the commander of a British merchantman, under the title of Nautical and Commercial Observations on Rio de Janeiro, Cape of Good Hope, New Zeeland, and Valparaiso,' contains remarks in reference to the absence of legislative protection against the consequences of incompetency in commanders of vessels, which we cannot too strongly recommend to the perusal of the commercial public. We should have rejoiced, could we have expressed our belief that the statements we refer to were overcharged. We cannot do so. The Shipping Gazette, a few days ago, published a letter from Rio de Janeiro, fatally corroborative of the writer in the Nautical Magazine; and a considerable number of friends of ours, shipowners of old standing, and of extensive floating property, have assured us that the discreditable and ruinous circumstances which are commented on in the following extracts, are not, unfortunately exhibited alone on the coasts of South America. The Observer then makes the following remarks on an extract which precedes them :

"In sad corroboration of these remarks in the Nautical Magazine, we may quote the following letter (from a shipmaster to his owner in England,) which appeared in the Shipping Gazette of the 24th ult. :—

"Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 12th, 1842. "Small vessels are all the demand here for coffee, and a decided preference is given to foreign vessels over the British. A prejudice exists against the British ships and crews. The reason assigned to me by several merchants is, that they have received strict orders from their correspondents not to ship coffee in British vessels, if foreigners can be obtained, as they report that the latter always deliver their cargoes in good order, while the former, from the bad condition and construction of the vessels, the drunkenness and carelessness of the masters and crews, deliver their cargoes in bad order.

"Be this as it may, I have found it acted upon to the letter since my arrival here; and as these objections to British ships and crews are kept no secret here, it might be useful were they as well known in Britain.'

"The Gazette characterizes the opinion entertained in Rio of British vessels, as a prejudice; and we think our contemporary is right. The disrepute of the vessels is solely attributable to the degraded condition of their commanders? We believe that, on the whole, British shipping property is far superior, in character, to that of any other nation; but can we blame the merchants of South America, for preferring even less-qualified vessels, when aware that their property will be taken care of by more-qualified commanders? The finest that ever floated, is no better than a worthless hulk, if entrusted to a worthless officer. Improve the character of the latter, and British vessels would immediately resume that position in the carrying trade of the world, from which, if due care had been taken, they would never have been ejected."

The Observer is right, and the worthy officers, we are glad to see, are already wisely making a good beginning for their own sakes in showing up the "worth

less

ones.

PILOTAGE AND LIGHT DUES.

We find the following in which there is much for important consideration, in the Morning Chronicle of the 23rd Dec. last:-We have reason to know, that considerable efforts are likely to be made in the course of the ensuing session, to obtain for our shipping interest some relief from the oppressive tax at present levied in the shape of pilotage and light dues. The question was brought before the House of Commons in 1840, and at the present moment, we have been assured, measures are taking, with a view to urge the government to bring forward a measure of practical relief. Opposed as we are to all unfair advantages enjoyed by one class of the community at the expense of all other classes, we are not the less anxious that every branch of industry should be freed from every unnecessary burden; and if there is one branch better entitled than any other to such an exemption, it certainly is the shipping interest, on whose continued prosperity the permanency of our national greatness may, in a great measure, be said to be dependent.

In 1835, a commission was appointed by his late Majesty King William IV., to enquire into the then existing laws for the regulation of pilotage, and to suggest such improvements and reductions as might be consistent with the efficient performance of the duties, and "with the paramount object of affording the best security to the shipping of these realms." The commissioners were Lord Lowther, the Marquis of Bute, the late Sir Thomas M. Hardy, G. R. Robinson, Esq., chairman at Lloyd's; Aaron Chapman, Esq., one of the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House; Captain Beaufort, of the Admiralty; and O. Wigram, Esq., an eminent shipowner.

These commissioners, in due time, made their report, which was dated the 25th of February, 1836, and contained a mass of evidence respecting the practice at British as well as at foreign ports. Among the alterations recommended by the commissioners, was one respecting steam navigation, to which they had found the existing regulations a serious discouragement and a heavy burden. They reported, that "looking to the fact, as stated in evidence before them, that the masters and mates of steam-vessels, from the constant and regular use of the ports between which they daily ply, are well acquainted with such ports; that it is customary not to permit any pilot to take charge of their vessels (although they may have one on board, and are obliged to pay the same as if he acted), because they consider that their own masters are better qualified than the regular pilots; that the charge also became very oppressive upon vessels which quit and enter a port so frequently as steam-vessels by their power and speed are enabled to do;" they therefore recommend "that all steam vessels navigating between one port of the United Kingdom and another, and all steam-vessels navigating between a port of the United Kingdom and a foreign port, when the average time employed in such a voyage did not exceed four-and-twenty hours, and having actually on board a master, mate, or other competent person, who had passed an examination for the district-should be exempt from employing a pilot."

A bill founded on the recommendations contained in this report was shortly afterwards brought into the House of Commons by the late Lord Sydenham (then Mr. P. Thomson), and Mr. Labouchere. The bill was read a first and second time, and went through a committee, but was eventually withdrawn, in consequence, probably, of the difficulty experienced at that time in carrying forward any measure of public utility, owing to the vexatious and harrassing opposition against which the government of that day had continually to struggle. Since then no step has been taken to give effect to the recommendations of the commissioners, although, as we have already observed, the question was brought before the House of Commons in 1840, on the presentation of petitions from the General Association of Proprietors of Steam Shipping.

What the owners of steam-vessels require is, that when their own officers are fully competent to act as pilots, they may not be compelled to pay for services of which they stand in no need, the rapidity with which they are able

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