TELEGRAMS.
Napieb, May 18. — 12.25 a.m., Nevada from Wellington ; 7.45 a.m., Wellington from Wellington. 12.27 p.m., Nevada for Auckland ; 12.27 p.m., Wellington for Auckland. The s.B. Welliugton, Captain Kennedy, left here on Wednesday last at 2.45 p.m., and arrived at Napier on Thursday at 7.45 a.m., thus making the run in seventeen hours, being aa average speed of twelve and a-balf knot 9 per hour. The Wellington left; this port ahout two hours before the Nevada, and arrived at Napier four Lours before the latter vessel, thus beating her by two hours in the run from port to port. The Wellington left Napier for Auckland at 12.27 p.m. on Thursday, and the arrival at Auckland of both vessels will be looked forward to with some interest. The s.s. Taranaki, Captain Wheeler, arrived at Nelson from Manukau and Taranaki yesterday morning at seven o'clock, and left; NelBon this morning for Pieton and Wellington, and is expected to arrive here late to-night. She is appointed to leave here for Southern ports to-morrow (Saturday) at 10 p.m. The Koyal Commission on the Construction of Ships of War have resolved to obtain practical experience of the subject they are appointed to investigate by taking cruises in the Waterwitch, armor-plated iron gunboat, worked with hydraulic power instead of steam ; andon board theHotapur — the new fixed taxget heavily armored ship, carrying one 35-ton gun. As the torpedo has come to be regarded as one of the most important agencies of harbor defence, it is worth showing, from Sydney papers, the part played by the late experimental torpedo in the sham attack and defence exhibited by the naval and land forcee on Saturday week. The "Empire" writes: — st It remained then to fire the torpedo. This terrible instrument of modern warfare hud been sunk in mid-channel between the Heads —the position being marked by a boat, carrying a flag, which was moored over it. The signal to fire was the discharge of one gun from head-quarters, at a point near the boat ; in fact, the instructions to the gunnera were tantamount to directing them to 'go as near as possible without touching.' This direction ■was obeyed with marvellous skill and discretion, and all eyes were turned upon the mark" Nor had they long to wait. A huge volume of water, lashed into the consistency of cream, rese to a height (as it appeared from St. George's Head) of about 100 feet in the air ; it shot upwards, appeared to hesitate a moment, fell over in an immense mass of fonm irridaated by the sun into literally ' all the colors of the rainbow.' Of the old boat not a vestige remained, save a plank or two wafted like a pith ball on' the surface of a fountain." We see by the " Sydney Morning Herald " that the torpedo was constructed of wroughtiron boiler-plate, three-eighths of an inch in thickness, cylindrical in form, 3 feet in length ana 2 feet 8 inches in diameter. The charge consisted of 800 lbs of powder, and was fired from Lady Bay, through about 700 yards of •wire, by Mr C. E. Craoknell, the superintendent of electric telegraphs. The firing apparatus "was an ordinary magneto-elcctvio machine, and the bursting charges in the torpedo were ignited by Abel's fuse.
TELEGRAMS.
Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3203, 19 May 1871, Page 2
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