NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE Queen presided on Thursday at a grand naval cere- mony, the launch at Portsmouth of two new ironclads, the Royal Sovereign' and the 'Royal Arthur.' The former is the greatest battle-ship in the world, being 380 ft. long, 75 ft. -broad, with a displacement of 14,276 tons. She draws 28 ft. 'The latter is the first cruiser, her length being 360 ft., her breadth 61 ft., and her displacement 7,711 tons. She is ex- pected to steam at least 19 knots an hour, and carries 850 tons of coal. Both vessels will be armed with the heaviest guns, and be fitted with the most modern appliances, and the gravest fear about either is, that they will take more brain -and knowledge to manage perfectly than any ordinary 'Captain and crew possess. They may prove, in fact, too like chronometers in the hunting-field. The Queen's weather, of course, prevailed, though London was being choked and darkened with fog, and the ceremonial' passed off splendidly, the noteworthy fact about it being that everything, even the smashing of the bottle essential to ships' christenings, was accomplished by electricity. We shall make electricity fight one of these days, and spare the cost of these prodigious structures of steel.
