TORPEDOES IN OUR NAVAL SERVICE.

Auckland Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2297, 16 July 1877, Page 3

TORPEDOES IN OUR NAVAL SERVICE.

The Morning Advertiser observes : — " Though for some occult reason the torpedoes with which the Danube and the water* on the shores of the Black Sea are said to be alive have not yet made themselves felt in the course of the present war, it cannot be doubted that the torpedo is destined to revolutionise naval war-fare. The Lighting, which has just been running the measured mile in Stokes Bay, is without exception the fastest ship in our navy, and only 84 feet in length. She will be armed with Whitehcad's torpedos, which will be discharged from her forward deck. The latest, improvement about this phenomenal misssileis that it can be set so as to return to the surface at half-cock and without exploding if it miss, the object aimed at, and thus be .safely picked up. Though fired from a deck above the surface of the sea, the torpedo will at once dive down to the distance wished, and then proceed in an unerring line on its mission of ueath and devastation, it being calculated to make a breach of 70 feet in bursting. No vessel, however built, could long continue to float after such a blow, 'and the demoralising effect of such a disaster on the rest of a fleet maybe easily imagined. We shall hope to hear that the navy will soon include fifty Lightnings at least, the whole cost of which would be but coo, or about half that of an ironclad." AN OCEAN RACE BETWEEN NEW ZEALAND SHIPS. A long distance match by sea lias just been decided, which caunot fail to interest a trreat number of our readers in New Zealand. On the 10th of March last two iron clipper ships left .Lyttelton Harbour, Canterbury, New Zealand, bound for London, the '-Crusader," Captain Davies, and the "Rangitiki,' Captain Scotland. Both vessels being about the same tonnage, and both having the reputation for fast sailing, heavy bets were laid on their respective performances on the passage home. In fact, tUeir start caused in the comparatively limited community of Canterbury almost as much excitement as does the Derby at home. Each coasting steamer captain as lie came into port forwarded to the local papers a report of the two ships' progress as far as they were sighted, namely at dusk on "the 12th March off Banks' Peninsula, up to which time they were well together, and betting was about even on them, each ship having its own enthusiastic partisans. The race haaterminated in one of the most remarkable runs ever made by a sailing vessel from he Antipodes, the " Crusader," Captain Davies, having reached the English Channel within 65 days of her leaving Lyttelton Harbour. Tliis passage is an unprecedented one and worthy of record, being in fact little if at all in excess of what a steamer's run would be over the same course. The " Crusader" is a fine looking craft of 1,053 tons register, and is one of Messrs. Shaw, Savill & Co. s Passenger Line of Packets. The " Rangitiki" has not yet put in an appearance, although the "Crusader" lias been in London over a fortnight.

THE SITUATION IN MORMONDOM. New York, June 6.—The "Tribune's" Skit Lake special says :A. delegation of representatives of non-Mormon citizens waited on General Crook to-day in regard to the concentration of troops in the Territory, and the story that Brigham Young is arming his people to make a fight in case he is prosecuted for complicity in the Mountain Meadows massacre. The delegation told General Crook that they apprehend no danger of a general uprising of the Mormons against the constituted authority of the country, but said that they did fear" an outbreak in case Young was V...AV,,vt,f t 0 trial for murder. Crook replied

that it would be time enough to provide for trouble when an indictment had been f nind.

TRAIN BOARDED BY THIEVES. New York, June 10.—The out train on the Pennsylvania Railroad, due at Jersey City this morning, was boarded by a band of thieves who robbed and nearly beat to death Thomas Downing of New York. The conductor and brakemen who attempted to rescue Downing were driven away with revolvers, but succeeded in locking the ruffians in a car and telegraphed the police at Jersey City to be ready at the depot. While the train was running 30 miles an hour three of the desperadoes escaped by jumping out of the windows. The fourth man was arrested. LEE'S UNPUBLISHED CONFESSION. Washington, June 10, —Among the papers submitted to Attorney-General Devens by District Attorney Howard, of Utah, are the unpublished portions of Lee's confession. They are said to implicate Brigham Young and other high members of the Mormon Church, as having been in direct complicity with the Mountain Meadows massacre. The chief difficulty in effecting a conviction upon Lee's statement, arises from the difficulty of procuring witnesses who are now widely scattered.

! nesses who are now widely scattered. FEARFUL TORNADO IN AN ILLINOIS i TOWN.—LOSS OF LIFE. I Cincinnati, (O.) June ith.—A special to the I Associated Press from Mount Carmel, Illinois, says: A terrible storm struck this city to-day, j by which sixteen men lost their Jives, and half a I million dollars worth of property was destroyed. A large number were wounded, several of whom ; will undoubtedly die. The bodies of four of the killed were burned in a house that took lire. There are at least 35 still missing. Later information says that four more bodies have been i found, and two of the wounded have since died. The ruins of the demolished buildings are burnin?, threatening' the total destruction of the town. Private telegrams state that a tornado struck Mount Carmel about 1 p.m., causing a : great loss of life and property. Twelve are I known to have been killed, and thirty to fifty ! wounded. About twenty others are missing. I Among the buildings destroyed are the PresbyI tenan and Methodist churches, two schoolj house?, the Court-house, and several stores and residences. Mount Carmel was a thriving town of about three thousand inhabitants, on the Cairo and Vincenncs Railroad. The duration of the wind did not exceed two minutes, but rain continued to fall for some time after the cyclone passed. The velocity of the j wind is estimated at 150 miles per hour. I During its prevalence, the air was filled with Hying roofs, windows, doors; lumber, rails, clothing, etc. Much of the debris was carried more than a mile away. It being a rainy day, many farmers, who could not work at home, were in town. The County Court was also in session, which brought many people to i the city. Men, women, and children were blown helplessly about, some a distance of four ' hundred feet, as if they were feathers. The best part of the town is destroyed. Some seventy families arc houseless. The search for bodies still continues. FAMINE IN COREA.

A letter to the Hoclit Shinbun, of Japan, from Ooreu, says:—Owinjf to the terrible famine, the Coreans arc in extreme poverty. We (Japanese residents) observe the poor natives everywhere starving to death ; while crowds of beggars arc wanderinar about in search of food. 'They arc emaciated to the last degree, and reduced to dreadful extremities. Some of them are occasionally found on the point of death in onr settlement. Exports consist mostly of gold dust, ox skins, and.ginseng. The Kold dust hos fallen oil" greatly in quantity of late, and the natives brought gold rings, pins, and hair ornaments in exchange for rico and wheat; each of them is about thirty monmc in weight, and made of pure gold. In addition to the horrors of starvation the poor Coreans are atllic'ed by pestilence. Dead bodies are sometimes found lying in the streets, where they are left for many diiys.