he ship
lifted bodily near the stern, after which it was seen to leisurely heel
over to starboard some eight or ten degrees, and finally repose, though
not until the tide fell, upon the mud. The old hulk had been mortally
wounded at last.

A complete knowledge of the disaster which has overtaken her (says the
correspondent of the London _Times_, to which we are indebted for the
above particulars) will not be obtained until a careful investigation
has been made of the hull in dock. But, from a hasty exploration which
was conducted on board, it was evident that the shot had not only
dislocated the inner plating of the double bottom, but had penetrated
the bunker compartment, stored as it was with coal, that the watertight
doors and compartments had ceased to operate, and that water was flowing
into the hull through a hundred crevices. To such an extent was this the
case that, though a strong working party was at hand ready for any
emergency, it was deemed useless to attempt to free the ship of water
until her gashes had been temporarily closed from outside. When this has
been done, she will be pumped out and brought into dock for careful
examination. From what has been said, it will be seen that while the
explosion of 95 lb. of gun cotton in actual contact last November simply
crippled the Resistance, the explosion of a like charge at the same
spot, and under approximately the same conditions, has in this instance
not simply disabled, but really sunk the ship.

* * * * *

AN ENGLISH CAR COUPLING.

The new automatic railway coupling illustrated below is the invention of
Mr. Richard Hill, and has been practically developed by Mr. B.H.
Thwaite, of Liverpool. It will be seen that the system is somewhat
similar to the parallel motion when in action.

The catch and peculiarly shaped hooks slide over the cross and catch
bars. These latter turn horizontally on a central pivot attached to the
jaw end of the drawbar. The cross catch bars adjust themselves to the
direction of the line of pull in the drawbar. The cranking of the
drawbar allows for the deflection of the buffer springs.

The arrangement of uncoupling, or throwing hooks out of gear, is
extremely simple and effective. The cranked part of the rod passing
across the end of the wagon, and with handles at each end workable from
the 6 ft. way, is attached to the catch hooks by means of a light chain.
On throwing the handle over, a