The Express. — London, England, 1859-09-12 00:00:00

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We dem ben larkslassisst ___ 67, WINRB.—Rsil it to ary statism la soso&oa d ittag s trmons bowl. loosse . . P ro. ca t . ". Ma WX, lga dit 40i le drerhjeg i the Mteep 44 .0.. 47 rem eurreAme .." Litt Oeeetelt.diMet. w.O. .-- ChM. V.SCII. 111. Fr Mi d ! was ALE, Bitter, and Mild ALBS, Th., Be, aid byr pleb: Psi b.; bob Da .• awl an old 16. walla 10 mire et WWI IS IL If Pim Ibbley. . bztte i rbi. LS. P.S. Lab ab. Ow* THS BEST and CHEAPEST TEAS aad COTTISS b OWL \SD sm sa t z ars M bsselbsse et MTH sal CA.. TIM M•l4/80/4 Il• inusoprogkOkr. Ossisbesi mobil Oros Ws, 11. .fti1a•1L......b .. 13 . Ii: tide Ilmstrass Tsai. ta NC b. ISL, ss4 ils ?se mem to Ms miss el Na mat maims ha le ess Whew bilks es FEW ems b Kasess• • mks areal Nem lops's' mtekst seism WALTNRIP PATINT ami.wAT 09;tywintes --- MN • NOOROATIFATILICNT, CITY TUB New Ramos AT WISITWINSTEIL—It is sew tcoMently eatlelpriel Ott the Ir.t Ulf of the wow Whip w.ll W res.!, to ova tot pub* trodl , !. early to the gibe of the twain; yew. when t h. 04 WAIN will be et MOO toloved ead thou.ntttoctino of Ito °lbw portko of the weew O% I Huh. Dow prorroto hot be a mode what % WWII ti the °mop:et/nu of the upper melee sidle new Ittiloo; all the oral, with ho omoptioa of that mat the Ibd Mau shore, lege twat tamed, wed a swat piths et the permeesat way bee boa had dews. LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 12, 1869. SOUND and WHITE TEETH en i All.". 1. I L / 4, VDON • Flide ll"i ir a meirer of IsalliAV ... - 7;7 Arr o • =lllteur iail reeem: e p tex ya r sed i cemin i.. = Me paw* et neVillieditime et II b Thenetir le MO firN6 S. • Woos. be. ere ea it " A " 1 " Toti Ite.t. 1401••••aniss. • se Wm Mal* ea. ea. p.m bides. seder ambles= THE EXPLOSION ON BOARD THE GREAT EASTERN. (PLOY OUR BMW. 11,17011T11.) AT SEA, FRIDAY ignIZINO. On Friday morning every one wee en desk betimes to est their floating temporary home start tier Port land. The sky wee cloudy, hard, and windy look ing, and the white waste of the wawa showed that the good ship would have to plough her way through eassiderably troubled waters. All around, at various distances, the sea was dotted with sailing vowels of various rigs, and shaman of every sine and power. Stretching over the high bulwarks, we could see them pitching and rolling like cockboata, and with the sea washing over their decks, whilst the Gnat Eastern floated as stiff and steady as a rook. Such ships es were going free " off " the wind were premed down to their lee bulwarks, and the foam might be seen toppling over their bows as they plunged heavily into the sea. Others which were beating to windward were ander double-reefed topsails, and it was only by these indi cations people on board the great ship could learn that they were in anything but smooth water. At loaf-past Neves, as., Mr. Peewee, the 'sweetie and skilful chief officer, ordered the boatswains to pipe all hands to the capstan to weigh anchor, while a simmering sound and the black smoke puffing and snorting from the funnels announced that the iron steeds that stood stabled below were being hammed for their work. The first step, that of raising the anchors, was one of great difficulty. The men pushed hard at the cepetan bars to the strains of the pipe, and numbers of the more enthusiastic parengere volunteered an encumbering insistence. The et:am gear puffed and snorted and wrestled until at lost Taxman triumphed, and obtained the first WI by enieshing all the iron teeth in the head ef hie persevering opponent; in less figurative terms the restraining cogs gave way under the maws ous strains, and the heaving operation had to be suspended. Bat the resources of the ship were inexhaustible, and the well-known " moveable flake" which up to that moment had proved to be the very type of immobility, might be seen peering stealthily through the blue water. We could soon hear • soft, pleasant, full sound, which indicated by • regulated eseemaion of beats that both paddle and wow had reounsed their work, the vessel having, in Lot, began to move at the rate of 13 or 14 miles as ►our. The brisk breeze was rapidly rising into a gale, and the " mackerel sky" which makes the ocean sailor look grave was spreading over the horizon. We meld enlarge ships lying to under close reefed topsoils, smaller vessels appear and disappear as if about to he sugulphed, and steamers lashing, struggliag, and belching forth the black smoke which iadiested increasing fires and pressure, but still making so headway through the waves, which had by this time lost their brilliant blue, and had assumed the sullen grey tinge which is the sure forerunner of bad weather. Bat on board the Great Eastern no one meld tell by her motion that she was not still on her cradle at Millwall. Yoe might have played cricket on the spacious deck, and not one of the passengers showed throughout the day the slightest symptom of sea games. When off Dover, the wind had lien to a strong gale, and a little packet-steamer, with the trieolourat the main and fore, was observed to steam gallantly out of harbour and make for the great ship as if it were a port of destination. So much did she labour, that as we looked over our own lefty bulwarks, which were as steady es the battle ments of • bridge, persons who were unaccustomed to the terrors of the deep watched her with *nand anxiety, in the firm conviction that she must be soon Illigalphed. She pitched heavily into the sea every moment, and huge waves could be seen sweeping and breaking over the whole length of her decks. She 1 was crowded with passenger, and these latter, who in ordinary circumstances would have been stowed smugly away in their berths, were crowded upon her bridge and paddle-boxes gazing on the big ship and cheering with the greatest enthusiasm. Salutes were exchanged, and magus were "dipped," and in a few moments the little vowel put her helm down and ran rapidly beck to port. This might be said to be our first Wei dust since leaving the Nom, and it caused a deal of speculation and discussion, because it had given us such • striking means of judging by comparison of the unapproachable sea-going capabilities of our own vessel. The little steamer had evidently been pre sumptuous enough to try her strength against the Leviathan, but the latter seemed to treat her puny antagonist with the most sublime indifference, and to pass her by at her usual majestic pace without the slightest increase of effort. The most various reamen were in circulation about our visitor, and one perms, more ingenious than the rest, started the bold theory that she was • French man•ot-wsz Mesmer, and that the übiquitous Emperor was on board taking a sly peep at the great marine wonder, There was one pleasing fact cheered us throughout our whole progress. Every vessel that came near enough to be heard cheered lustily, and emoted to he ear eager partisans, so that a groat portion of oar time was taken up In exchanging the compliments of the cruise. We seemed to have enlisted on our aide the whole sympathies of the ocean, as if every sailor looked upon the ship as the melees chief of the world's navy. One great transport, laden with troops, manned yards, and made a tremendous demonstration, and we sub sequently found that this was a ship which had formerly been commanded by one of oar chief officers, and that the crew had taken this means of testifying their love and respect for their old cap tain. Once through the straits of Dover the weather broke and brightened considerably, ►nd as we passed majestically along the rations towns of the south coast could be distinguished rising successively up to the water line, The sun shone brightly, though it was still ham, the passengers were in high spirits, and people went about rubbing their hands and congra tulating each other on the surmising prosperity of their experimental voyage. Everything up to this moment had gone " merry as a marriage bell," and the wend of the dinner-trumpet collected as merry a party in the saloon as had probably ever sat down to dinner. The dinner-tables was crowded, the chairman sees in his place, the company exchanged oongrattdatione, and plied their knives and forks as people will do at sea whenever they are not sea sick. We could hear above oar heads the Genius of the Storm singing his stern, sontinuons, dull, but deep war song, bat we all felt and believed that he had now at last met with his muter, whom we could else bear fees below sending beck the foe's loud challenge in tame se steady and unflinching as his own. Immediately attar dinner the majority of the company adjourned to the desk to watch the points of interest which the ship was momently paining in her course, and to this happy accident may be attributed the almost complete immunity of the passenger from injury. Had they, as they had done on the pre vious evening, adjourned to the grand saloon, that whole gay thoughtless mud would moat pro bably have been killed or matilated by scalding steam or falling iron, and many of them hurried into eternity whilst some were chatting, same wen play ing cards, and still mere samurais groups wen crowded in the vestibule or ladies' drawing-room limening to gay waltzes or operatic symphonies from the band. About • dozen gentleman remained in the dining room conversing with one of the directors, a health had been proposed, and each glass was held aloft to do honour to the toast, when suddenly an indescribable report burst upon their ears, and showers of broken glass and fragments of wood and iron came washing the skylight Then was first a panel, then a mutual caution against panic, and finally a minteltsneme rush to the staircase. TM whole atmosphere at this plain was filled with steam through which We all emended half suer sated to the deck. TM ship was still pnming coward, like • hone that had Mt its rider, sad atAialli4nd all was still end deented, while in the metro all wee make, fire, vapour, and confusion. The great fond, eight teas weight, bad been allot up as if from a Lorin many feet into the air, and had returned broken in two pieces on the deck, whose imaines strewth had been sufficient to arrest its farther downward progress. The whole centre of the ship seemed to be only one vast chasm, and from It me Welds( up steam, dust, and something that looked andamely like incipient conflagration. Cap tain Hannon had now • noble opportunity of show ing his qualifications as a commander, and nobly he is it. lie had been standing on the bridge overhead, looking into the binnacle, and the moment be baud therepoct, and whilst thedestroctive shower was still falling feet, he jumped upon the desk and eirdprod an immediate dement to the ladies' saloon, baths firm conviction that they were all there as on the previous evening. But many of the men were panioatricken, and had already shrunk away from the explosion. A foolish passenger had raised a cry of " the boats," and, assisted by some of the sailers, was madly attempting to let them down. In one moment all would have born lost, for the rush to the boats Weald bare been universal, and hundreds would have been drowned, whilst the noble ship would have been left to certain destruction. But the voice of the captain was beard like • trumpet, calling out " Men to your duty, officers to your posts, give me • rope, and let six men follow me." The affect of this short address was eleetrio. In an instant he had slid down the rope into the saloon, followed by his brave boatswain Hawkins, and six volunteers were not ling wanted for the forlorn bor. One after another he dashed open the gilded panels, but the splendid apartments had, strange to say, only two inhabitants, his own little daughter Edith, and her pet deg. It was the reward of his gallantry, that his own child should be thus the one to be so providentially saved. But even then be did not for a moment Ices his self command. Snatching up the child, and with one glance seeing she was unharmed, he exclaimed, " Pam her along to the deck, there are more rooms to be searched." In this way did he move about rapidly, bat molly, and did not again return to the deck until he had satisfied himself that not a single woman was in the burning, steaming, suffocating chamber. His intimate friend, Mr. Trot man, who had followed him down almost lemma diately, found the poor lap-dog moaning under a heap of ruins and was the means of restoring it to its little mistress. To return to the deck and reams the command was with the captain the work of a moment, bat that moment had been sufficient to test the metal and self-pomession of two men who were as brave and reliable as himself. Mr. Atkin eon, the pilot, a little unpretending man, stood at his post on the bridge and, undismayed by the loud ex plosion, the descending fragments, the suffocating chasm. or the yawning gulf immediately beneath him, and in the firm conviction that all the boilers would go in succession, continued to direct the movements of the ship as calmly as if he were only turning her into • harbour. Some frightened fool shouted, " Atkinson, come down and save yourself," but the gallant veteran replied with grave nonchalance, " I'm no engineer, I'm a pilot, I've charge of the ship, and I'll stick to her." The officer, Mr. Sewall, who held the wheel under Mr. Atkinsoa's directions, was equally self-possessed. I maw his tall figure through the amok* working and turning the wheel with the regularity of clockwork, and I thought of the Roman sentinel whose skeleton was found upright at his post in the excavations at Pompeii. To thee. two men, next to Captain Har rison, I believe we are mainly indebted for the safety of the ship. Had they, whilst he was away on his mission of rescue—►lthough it was oily a moment —turned craven and deserted their poste, the huge leviathan would have become the sport of the waves, and everything would have instantly been hopeless chaos and confusion. For, to the panic caused by the explosion was also added another panic, by the cry of " A man overboard," and this was the first inkling we got of the dreadful work that was going on below. A poor fellow, one of the firemen, pro. bably one of the first who had become enveloped in the scalding vapour of the explosion, rushed to an open porthole in his agony, and was seen by his comrades to jump madly into the water. " A man overboard !" " A man overboard !" was re peated by a hundred voices, and every one rushed to the stem. The men at the wheel hesitated for a moment, as if about to rush like the rest to the rescue ; ►ut a third brave officer, I think his name Is Kitt or Lett, was here in command, and hie shout of " Don't stir from the wheel" soon restored them to their self-possession. But, even had they gone, the central steering power was still doing its work in the composed bands of Mr. Atkinson and Mr. Sewell, and thus amongst this trio of brave men bad we security until the captain returned to the deck. No man could be seen—life-buoy., planks, handspikes were madly thrown over, until at last, nothing being visible in the water, a cry of " False alarm" sent every one back to his post. But, unhappily, it we' no fa/as alarm. The poor fellow, maddened with agony, and having been literally flayed alive, had rushed into the water, and had no doubt been ground to pieces is one or two revolutions of the enormous paddle-wheaL As I said before, this was all the work of a moment, bat there are some moments the events of which it takes pages to describe. When next I turned my eyes to the centre of the ship, the captain was standing over the chasm, his flee black, his band bleeding, and his eyes almost blinded with the smoke, bat already be bad fifty men busy with the hose pouring tons of water into the hold ; and I now found oat that the two eleseate bad ambito' for Oft Alill6etina, for the explosion, whose easels I mast deseribe further on, whilst it sent perfect tomato of stem oat on every aide, had also thrown epsi the doors of the furnaces, and from them long tongues of flame were beginning to pierce their way through the heap of fragment' on the ship's floor, But the great ship seemed to have a provision for every ceutiagency. Bury great operation had in feet been provided for, and it was the neglect of only one little "tap," no bigger than a oast bottom, that had so nearly sent her to the bottom. There were powerful fitrilMielbell ready, and of coarse abundance of water, and in • moment all the apprehension of firs was removed. I could see now, also, that Mr. Scott Russell was at his post, giving the orders necessary for the safety of the boilers. Mr. Camp bell, the chairmen, who had been sitting on one of the paddle-boxas, had also harried down, and was son busy in restoring otalkianos amongst the more frightened of the passengers. One gentleman, where wife had gone into violent hysterics under the premiss that her child had been blown up, ran about in a terrible mate of nervous suitement, calling for his boy, =conscious that he had already saved hiss, sal that at that moment he held him convulsively by the band. Mr. Campbell soothed him, and pineed him rutty in cue of the 'leek Its= seem sad tbs proceeded to calm dowi the other alarmists. One man went about exclaiming hysterically "It's all staff; there's no explosion;" another wised you by the collar, and said sternly, while kis fate wee white with terror, "Tell me the worst; I'm reedy to meet my Ciod." Then people with assumed calm would call you aside and tell you confidentially " that they were engineers, that they knew the whole case, and that the mecca rive bursting of the whole nape( boilers was 'rely a gaud= of a few minutes of time." Or, " they had seen everything, the ship's side had been blown out, and she was filling rapidly"— then • man who "positively knew that the hold was on fin; that the flames were fast travelling aft, and that they would soon reach a ton of gunpowder which was stowed away in the after-hold." In the meantime, brave hands and cool heads were rapidly restoring order, and I, who could do nothing but look on, instinc tively took out my notebook, and commenced making the memoranda which I am now endeavour ing to systematise into a narrative. I now found that I had, while quite unconscious of the reason, suddenly become an object of general sympathy. I had, on my arrival on board, been courteously accom modated with one of the beet cabins in the ship, with two portholes open to the sea, and a table whereon I could ply my trade undisturbed. I had luxuriated in my acquisition, and only the evening before I had been visited by a dozen of literary friends to congratulate me upon my famous quarters. It was little dreamt whilst men, some of them with names well known in literature and science, were chatting merrily, that they were sitting over the immense steam chest which subsequently burst with the force, as an eminent engineer informed me, of twenty-five tone of gun powder, and that it was only their luck that it. explosion did not suddenly break up their sympo sium. The next morning, as soon u the ship had stretched away out of sight of land, and there was nothing to be seen but sky and water, I retired to this room to write the first division of my letter. I remained in ft till dinner was sounded, when I went to the saloon, leaving my hat on the sofa behind me, intending to return after the dessert to finish up. The explosion shivered my snug state room, with all the surrounding cabins, to pieces, and by the time I returned to the deck, hat, carpet bag, and all my invaluable "copy " lay buried amongst the steaming, smoking fragments at the bottom of the hold. Rad I returned to the room as I had at first intended, the world would most probably have never again been troubled with my modest effusions. Providence, however, had ordered it otherwise, and myself and my companion, a very promising young member of the fourth estate, were spared to look on unscathed at the terrible sufferings of too many of our fellow-creatures. In consequence of the loss of my hat, I was obliged to tie a white handkerchief about my head, and to this cimumstanee I war in debted for hundreds of hurried but friendly inqui ries as to whether I was wounded, and which puzzled me very much, as nobody had any time for explanations. Order had now been somewhat restored, the men under the captain's orders had drenched away all apprehensions of fire, and Mr. Scott Russell had been down in the engine room, quite indifferent to his own safety, reducing the pressure in all the boilers, encouraging the engineers and men, ucertaining by actual inspection the real cameo of the mischief, at the same time taking every human precaution against its repetition. The engines, which had never stopped for a moment, either screw or paddle, were now working at steady although slackened speed, and confidence was beginning gra dually to be restored. I must repeat that all this action was simultaneous and occupied but a few moments, however tedious it may appear in the narrative. The next thought was " Who had been hurt," and it was found that of the passengers only two had received any injury. The escape of one of them, Mr. Francis Fuller, the well-known originator of the Crystal Palace, was perfectly miraculous. He was standing with Mr. Norman Russell on deck clew to the funnel at the moment of its explosion. He maw it shoot up through the mist and smoke, lab the Afrit in the Eastern tale, and then to come down straight on his own devoted head. Of course if it had fallen upon him he would have been killed an the spot, but happily he stood under one of the wire ropes or stays with which the masts and rig ging were secured to the bulwarks ; and this rope, of course assisted by the slanting position hi which it wiuiplaced, actually arrest= the fall of the pon derous funnel, and sent it glancing off to the rail, which also proved strong enough to resist the further desceutof the ponderous projectile. Mr. Fuller escaped with only a slight scalp wound, but as he passed me pale and bleeding on the deck, I was afraid that a valuable life had been lost to his family and the community. The other passenger wounded was Mr. Rawlins= of Liverpool, who had assisted Mr. Gray in adjusting the compasses. He was sitting at the done of the grand saloon at the moment of danger, and was instantly overwhelmed with broken mirrors, furniture, and fragments of iron which had been thrown up from the hold. As he lay there mooning he was discovered by Hawkins, the brave boatswain, who wu just 'wending to the desk after his search for the ladies, and was pulled out, happily more frightened than hart, and brought on deck. Unfortunately a sad and different story has to be told of the poor fellows down in the engine room. When the funnel blew up it tore away everything. Duke, cabins, and below them, again, steam gearing of every kind. The scalding steam filled the place, and the tarsus doors being bunt open, fire poured tett, like busing lava, and burnt the doomed men (Stamped id. Additional.) [TWOPENCE. on one side, whilst the death vapour scalded them on the other. It was, in short, a realisation of hell in the worst form in which the place of pumehment had ever pictured itself to the oanscience-stricken fanatic. How any one was left to tell the tale is only one of those mysteries or eccentricities which always distinguish great accidents. The only way to save them was to drench them almost to drowning with water, and as soon as it had made the place ap proachable, to remove them from their scalding, fiery, living tomb. There were hundreds of volun teers amongst the men ready for the rescue of their comrades, and—what a scene, as they were brought successively to the deck! People stood round, sickened but spell-bound, as each dis figured mass of tortured humanity was brought slowly and tenderly into view. I saw one poor fellow whose face had evidently received a blast from the furnace. No feature was discernible, but it seemed as if a mask of raw beefsteak had bean placed over his counte nance. A low moan was all that could be heard from him, but you could read a tale of unattseable agony in the dreadful, peculiar motion of his arms. Apothem thought himself so little hart that, when near the deck, he insisted upon going up the few remaining steps himself. He faltered, and, horrible to relate, when a man on deck caught him by the arm to assist him, the flesh came off in stripe, and the bare bone could be seen through the torn and quivering muscles. But he made no sign of pain—he was beyond that ; and in a very short time after his removal to the sick bay there wee en end to all his troubles. A third came to the deck sturdily, and seemed almost offended when any one offered assist ance. " Let them go," he said, "to ether poor fellows who were worse than himself," but upon his own We death had plainly set its seal. He had re ceived a white heat blast from the fitrnace on the lower part of his body, and he was, I believe, the first to die. Some held out hands scalded, and from which the skin was dangling like white rags, others had had their scalps torn off, and hanging over their faces, some laughed deliriously, and others talked like men half asleep, whilst others, and these were the men who had still some chance of life, prayed to Ood to take them and release them from their pain. l'welve men in all were taken up with all possible gentleness, and removed to the sick bay, and, in addition, Mr. Briscoe, a promising young engineer, and favourite pupil of Mr. Brunel's, was scalded in the hands, but I am happy to say that hie injuries were pronounced to be of only a slight character. Every attention was of course shown by the doctors, Messrs. Slater and Watson, aided by Dr. Markham, physician of St. Mary's Hospital, who was fortu nately amongst the passengers. Many of the pas sengers also 'Legated, amongst others Lord Alfred Paget and the Rev. Mr. Roberts, both of whom re mained with the sufferers all night, literally pouring balm into their wounds. One poor fellow who re cognised Mr. Roberts as a clergyman, received in his dying moments great comfort from the spiritual ministrations of that reverend gentleman. It will hardly be believed, but it is nevertheless true, that whilst all these terrible scenes were being enacted in the middle section of the ship, the other portions were comparatively undisturbed. A man who stood at the bow subsequently declared that for a long time he knew nothing of what was going on, but that on bearing the re port of the explosion, he merely thought that some pausing ship 12,4 been paying us a com pliment. The Great Eastern, thanks first to the moderation of the weather immediately after the accident, and, humanly speaking, to her matchless strength, and the skill and courage of the captain and officers—amongst whom the chief, Mr. Prowse, shone conspicuous, although the coarse of this narra tive did not permit of his name appearing before— proceeded steadily on her course, as if nothing ex traordinary bad happened. Of course her speed had been slackened, and all strain had been taken off the paddle engines, but the screw worked wonders, and its engineer, including Mr. Blake, who had been deputed by Messrs. Bolton and Watt to superintend the trial trip, declared that with it alone he wee prepared to carry the ship in eight or ten days to America. However, we were not yet out of our troubles. An immense ship wall seen bearing down upon us, and there wee imminent danger of her striking us in the quarter. We hailed and shouted, but it was no use. The captain evidently had more curiosity than discretion, and still bore down as if to have a nearer view of the won derful ship. The helm of the Gnat Eastern had to be put hard a port in order to turn her towards the shore and get her out of the way, but at this critical juncture the tiller ropes broke, and in a moment she was swaying op and down and rolling, in apparently the most dangerous manner. The waves, hitherto so subservient, now made a mere plaything of her, and we thought that in a few minutes she would certainly have been on shore. But Captain Harrison had not forgotten this contingency. Chains were soon in readiness, this second danger was over, and the ship was again proceeding steadily on her voyage. There was a general impression that some intermediate port would be made for, but Mr. Campbell, the chairman, having fully considered the question, thought that the beet plan would be to make for her port of destination, and on going to consult Captain Harrison he found that, without any previous consultation, they had both come to the same conclusion. The news was not long in spreading about the deck, and everyone had to make up his mind for a night upon the water,. Already, gangs of men were busy clearing away the wreck, and I took the opportunity of descending to the scene of destruction, when I wu perfectly thunderstruck at the amount of mischief that had been done, and wondered how any structure made by human hands could have withstood the explosion which had taken place. You will think I ex aggerate, when I say that the first glance reminded me most forcibly of the ruins of Covent-gardbn Theatre a few hours after the great fire. Far before me a mighty girder, to which fragments of iron and wood, mixed up with the remains of arabesque doors and gilded panels, were banging, exactly resembling the proscenium, and immediately below me was the pit filled with ruin of every kind, and each object bearing a mute testimony to the force to which they had succumbed. A huge girder, the counterpart of that to which I have before alluded, had been tern in the centre ae if it were so much paper, and lay twisted up in per fect ribbons acme the floor. The vast fennel bad in its upward flight torn through everything—fire places, decks, girders, and bulkheads. The grand saloon had become a complete wreck, its flooring having been torn up, its staircase carried away, i 441 costly mirrors shivered to atom, and its gay decora tions hanging on broken girders, or lying raised op ' with the smoking fragments of the wens room. A minute before the explosion a lady, Mrs. Pony, wife of one of the contractors, was sitting at the plane, and at the other sad another lady, gri ll Cargill, wee seated at • table conversing with the Rev. Mr. Roberta. Mrs. Parry hearing a crash, nuked to the stairs, and reached the top step barely in time to be dragged on deck, whilst the staircase fell tumbling into the hold. Mrs. Cargill and Mr. Roberts received a shower of broken glass, but were able to escape at the other and of the room. I looked up to what had once been my state-room, and found that the whole fabric had been torn or smashed up, to what is known as the great longitudinal section, the strength of which, no doubt, by successfully resist ing the lateral force of the explosion, was the reason why the sides of the ship had not been blown out. I went to the foot of the other funnel, and examined its easing. It was too hot to be touched with the hand, and I could imagine easily what constant core must be necessary to keep one of its peculiar construction free from danger. But it was II dangerous and disagreeable place, gloomy and full of yawning chums; the smell of a recently satin• guished lire pervaded everything, and I was sur rounded by the huge boilers, one of which Might pos sibly explode at any moment. I coon returned to the deck, bringing beck a general impression that I had never men a rester :menet ofdestruction effected in so short a time; that the ship must have been a marvel of strength to have camped total deetruction, and that it was only by a miracle of Divine goodness that the Oreat Eastern and all her crew and passengers were not at tha moment at the bottom of the sea. The cause of all this mischief was simple enough, and can be made intelligible by • vary few words of ex. planation. From the plan elm construction requiring that the cabins should run along the whole length of the deck, it became necessary that her numerous funnels should run up through their centres. As this would greatly raise the surrounding tempera ture, the plan of surrounding them with what are called "water jackets" was adopted, the latter congaing of an outer tubing round the base and up • portion of the sides of the funnel, the interstice forming an annular boiler quite as large as any of the regular boilers of the ship. This was to be kept constantly tilled with water, and was to serve the double and apparently contradictory purpose of cooling rooms and generat ing steam, the latter to be carried off by pipes, and a "tap" being provided which was to act as the safety-valve of the jacket. It is to be observed of this contrivance that it had long before been con demned as unsafe—even the Americans, who are not over-cautious, hiving abandoned it, and sub. stituted air jackets to keep the saloons cooL Mr. Rumen states positively, and I am bound to give him the benefit of his statements, that this arrange• meat was forced spas him by Mr. Brunel ; that he protested spinet it, and that it was only in obedience to the stringent conditions of his contract that he adopted it.. This account was also confirmed to me by eeveral disinterested witnesses. Bat we come now to the second question. The safety valve of this steam generator was a tap which was to be turned by hand, and the opinion of every one who looked at the broken funnel was that it had never been turned since it war first placed in its present position. It seems that—in this case, at all events — the turning had been neglected, and that in conse quence the water within had rapidly become steam, and, finding no vent, had burst upwards in the terrible explosion which sent a long funnel weigh ing eight tons some fifty feet into the air. Another statement was, that the person whose duty it was to keep this " jacket" filled had forgotten it until it was almost empty, and then in his fright sud denly filling the red-hot iron vessel with cold water caused it to bunt and fly in pieces. It has been a ease of individual neglect somewhere; but as no doubt there will be a legal investigation I shall not here go any deeper into the matter. There was quite a congress of scientific men on board, and their unanimous opinion was that this arrangement should not have been adopted at all, but that, having been adopted, all care should have been taken to provide for the most constant and careful surveillance. The neglect of such precautions has caused what—if it check the career of the undertak isg—will be considered as an almost national calamity, but it in no way affects the principle of the ship, which, on the contrary, has oome out of the fiery ordeal with entire success. The accident was one which might have happened ea a penny steamer, the difference being that the latter would have been blown to pieces while the Great Eastern was merely injured in the immediate locality of the explosion. Neither can any blame attach to Mr. Campbell or his brother directors, who could not have been expected to be familiar with the technical details of steam machinery. They had taken every means that in them lay to make the trial trip a success, but the road to success is always paved with failures, and no great principle was ever tally carried out without long delay, many blunders, and unhappily, I most add, its quota of human sacrifice. Out of evil in this case will come good, as extra vigilance will no doubt be exercised, and as an instalment Mr. Campbell has already determined upon the appoint ment of an inspecting engineer, a man of skill and standing in his profession, whose duty it shall be to make daily inspections of all the machinery, and L to order the immediate repair of the slightest defect. The confidence of the public will, perhaps, be mo mentarily shaken by this terrible accident, but • few voyages will soon bring them round, and the rest Eastern will become an established fact, in the mine way as the railway', after many trials and mischances, and being objects of general terror and hostility, are now acknowledged to be infinitely safer than the stsge-coaches of the good old times. There is not much need be said abont the passage down to Portland. The night closed in cold and windy, but still a gnat number of passengers kept the deck, unable to divest themselves of the appre hension of another calamity. If one of the waste pipes sent forth a tiny jet of steam, or the screw wan heard to give a creak, every one became alarmed, and the probabilities of another explosion were forthwith discassed. Happily, however, we had now passed through the wont. Twelve poor men, it is true, were either dead or dying a painful and lingering death, and thousands of pounds worth of property had been destroyed in a moment, but the good ship had now reached the turning point, and in due time steamed safely into Portland harbour, where, for the present, we must leave her to the care of her brave and skilful commander. It is not expected that the voyage to Holyhead will be undertaken until the lit of October. WICYMOUTII, SUNDAY NIGHT. Of the unfortunate men injured by the explosion, William Sparks, John Yoxon, and William Tait were rammed to Portland Hospital this morning and are progressing favourably. Robert Adams and Richard Edwards remain on board in a vary precarious condition. The bodies have been removed on shore, and the inquest will take place to-morrow. c e lf e E m A t : and EXPEDITIOUS ROI= to MIAOW lOrara Warm Railway) to WATISFORD arl 0011 S, le gem to SUMO' D . awl Wm plowed mal ram= lint Ye Smarm al lloarri. Path Draw to wardri from LID 1111.71.. raid a Dr. Oar rare rare hoe Fridrarin. MONDAY, WIWI 1/DRY, arl MIDDY Y Ma to Sr 41. 1=-111. flradr" 40. 8 roarldra. SD. IL lam *DO R mar& for ono foralk 7!.. ltraalrgSoraiD li ga arm War Warrior! daDa at 3..l. : Al law irora Oft m, Foram Gad ilarriNay.—For .—,... Fal do !Lail look Or t , Mar. FORD mod .1.11 olotiON4 awl Railway SIMIrRIIIIIO4 IlaraTrat 111111 T. •arena ; or Sam. CONSIRD. O.