Mr. Dayton to Mr.
Seward
No. 526.]
Paris,
August 23, 1864.
Sir: The enclosed slip is cut from Galignani of
this morning, and I receive at the same time like information as to the
projected trial trips of these vessels from our consul at Nantes. There
is a thin iron plating, it is said, on the inside of these vessels not
more than an inch at most in thickness. I have given this information to
Captain Rodgers, of the Iroquois, who is now at Havre repairing the
boilers of his ship, and advised him to appear off the port of Nantes
and consult with our consul at that port.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c.
[Untitled]
[Slip from Galignani of Tuesday,
August
23.]
Another iron-clad frigate, the Magnanime, has been launched at
Brest.
Two ships, intended for the confederate government, have for some
time past been in construction at Nantes. The Phare de la Loire now
states that the San Francisco and the Chang Hai are still in the
dock at St. Nazaire, where their fitting out is being completed with
a certain mystery. A notice, placed in a conspicuous position before
the building shed, forbids the entrance of strangers. Fastenings are
said to have been placed around the sides of the vessels in the
vicinity of the engines, to receive chains, and thus form an armor
similar to that used by the Kearsarge in its encounter with the
Alabama. M. Voruz is stated to have received from the minister of
marine the authorization to try the engines; Count de
Chasseloup-Laubat, however, required that only one vessel should
leave the harbor at a time, and that he should be informed of each
departure and arrival of these ships. The Phare de la Loire adds
that the date for the trial trips has not yet been fixed.
