In 1886, 17 Gloucester fishing vessels were lost, worth $115,800, and 115 fishermen never came home. The year was remarkable for the small inshore catch, almost all the fishing being done on the high seas.
The Latest Yankee Craze.
At the forthcoming American Exhibition in London, we are promised, among other novelties, a house of straw, which is now being made in Philadelphia. This house is to represent an American suburban villa, announced to be "handsome and artistic in design," two and a half stories high, and covering a space of 42 feet by 50 feet. It is constructed entirely of materials manufactured from straw—foundations, timbers, flooring, sheathing, roofing, everything in fact, including the chimneys—the material being fire proof as well as water proof. The inside finish is to be in imitation rosewood, mahogany, walnut, maple, ash, ebony, and other fine woods, the straw lumber taking perfectly the surface and color of any desired wood. This straw house is, in the first place, to illustrate Philadelphia's commercial, financial, and industrial interests by means of large photographs of the leading buildings; but it will also demonstrate how far the inventive Yankee has succeeded, not in showing us how to make bricks without straw, but how to produce timber from straw. If, after this brilliant exhibition of inventive genius, we do not bow down and worship him as the "licker" of creation, we may consider ourselves lost to all sense of what is proper under the circumstances.—Iron.
EFFECT OF A TORPEDO ON AN IRONCLAD.
The British government lately strengthened up the bottom of the old ironclad Resistance, and tried the effect of firing off a 90 lb. guncotton torpedo against the vessel. To the surprise of every one, the ship was not seriously damaged. The Engineer comments upon the experiment as follows:
The Resistance experiments so far tend to demonstrate that the total disablement or destruction of a modern ironclad is not so easy as many people imagined. It was too hastily assumed that the explosion of a charge of 90 lb. of guncotton in contact with any portion of the hull under water would have such destructive effect as to overcome the protection afforded by a thick lining of coal and the cellular system of construction now always adopted in vessels of war. There are, however, certain considerations attached to this experiment which, if duly weighed, should reassure the advocates of the torpedo, and restrain the exultation of naval architects within reasonable bounds. We shall endeavor to place these before our readers briefly and impartially, reserving a fuller summing-up until the remaining experiments are concluded, as they are of greater importance than any of those preceding. It is the more essential to do this because the Times, in a leading article of November 3, leads us to believe that as this attack failed, in the broad sense of the word, similar attempts under different conditions would have a like result: and that although serious damage would be caused, the ship would remain "floating and seaworthy, with her offensive powers not materially impaired." We are not prepared to accept this conclusion, for the following reasons:
First, let us consider the general effect of a submarine explosion. It closely resembles the action of gunpowder when ignited in a gun. We know that in the latter case a quantity of heated gas is formed, which in its power of expansion exerts force in all directions. Prevented from expanding by its rigid confinement, except in the direction of the bore, the gas attains its object by the displacement of the projectile. This is, in fact, the line of least resistance. When the same explosive is ignited under water, the heated gas presses outward in all directions, forcing the surrounding molecules of water against their neighbors, which are, in turn, propelled forward with great violence. This effect continues until the back pressure of the liquid medium equals the now reduced pressure of the gas due to its expansion in the space vacated by the displaced water, which is likewise to some extent compressed by the action of the gas. Though brought actually to a state of rest, the surrounding water is under the influence of great pressure, which by the law of fluids is transmitted equally in all directions. When a vessel is sufficiently near the explosion to be struck by the water which has been so violently disturbed, it will act upon her like a huge projectile, and it is obvious this range will be in proportion to the amount of explosive employed. This, combined with the resistance her hull offers, will also determine the effect produced.
If the charge is too near the surface of the water, the liquid layer above it will not restrain the liberated gas sufficiently to allow of its full power being exerted in other directions, and hence permits its escape into the atmosphere, throwing up the water in its way to a greater or less height, according to the thickness of the layer. The spectacular effect, therefore, afforded by the upheaval of a large and lofty column of water is no criterion of the efficiency of a submarine explosion, but, on the contrary, shows that much of its energy has been expended in the wrong direction. The amount of submersion to give the greatest lateral effect to different charges of explosive has been ascertained by practical experiments. For 100 lb. of gunpowder, it is stated to be 10 ft., while for the same quantity of guncotton it should be 15 ft. As the charge employed against the Resistance was 90 lb. of guncotton placed 10 ft. below the surface, it is probable that some loss of power was sustained in the manner we have indicated. At a greater depth also the charge would have been to some extent under the vessel, where its explosive effect would have been more severe, and where the construction of the hull cannot be as strongly fortified with coal as was the case in the Resistance. We are unable to state why a depth of 10 ft. was selected on this occasion; but it may be due to the fact that up to a late date most of our locomotive torpedoes have not carried a larger charge than 40 lb. of guncotton, and are usually run at 10 ft. below the surface.