The Press.
London, England, 1857-10-31 00:00:00

THE GREAT EASTERN.

As the period approaches for the launch of this
leviathan, and of the definite settlement of the many
great questions involved in her success or failure,
not only as a vessel, bitt as a mercantile speculation,
public interest is stimulated, and a general desire
exists to become thoroughly acquainted in detail
with every practical fact connected with this superb
vessel.

Since onr last notice of the building of this nauti-
cal wonder she has rapidly and steadily progressed
towards final completion. The hull is entire, its
double machinery is in and fitted, the bulwarks are
up, and the internal fittings inilsuch a forward
state as to show the launch is near at hand, and that,
if necessary, the Great Eastern could be ready to
make her first voyage by Christmas next:

The machinery for both screw and paddle engines
is in with the exception of the crank shaft, which is
being forged, and the screw shaft, which, though
placed, is not yet put together, or connected with the
screw engines. Both engines are of such ponderous
calibre and strength that the visitor;gazes ou them,
as they lie ranged beneath him, with the dumb feel-
ing of surprise that a sight of the tremendous rock-
hewn monuments of Egypt always occasions. They
look so dark and massive beyond all other engines
that it seems difficult to imagine how they them-
selves can be put in rapid motion, though, once at
work, you can readily understand the amount of
speed at which they would force even the Great
Eastern through the waves. They are beyond all
doubt the largest and most powerful engines by
some thousands of horse power that have ever yet
been constructed, and some of the largest pieces of
wrought iron that have ever been forged, and the
largest castings that have ever been run in one cast.
ing, are used in their manufacture. But all the
parts of the engines are so constructed and propor-
tioned that they will work safely and smoothly at
eight strokes per minute, with the steam at 251 b.
and full on without expansion (beyond wh'tt is
unavoidably effected by the slides), or at 18 strokes
per minute, with the steam in the boiler still at 251 b.,
and the expansion valve cutting off at one-fourth of
the stroke. Under these last-named circumstances

the paddle engines alone will give a power of about
5,000 horses.
The screw engines consist of four cylinders of t 4.4
inches diameter and four-feet stroke, working hori-
zontally. As with the paddle cylinders, each of the
four is in itself a complete and separate engine,
capable of working quite independently of any of the
other three. They work up to an indicator power of
4,500 horses of 33,0001 b. when working at 45 strokes
a minute, with steam in the boiler at 151 b., and the
expansion valve cutting off at one-third of the stroke.
They are, however, made to work smoothly either at
40 strokes per minute, with steam at 251 b., without
expansion, or at 55 strokes a minute with the ex-
pansion cutting off at one-fourth of the stroke.
Under these circumstances they will be working at
the tremendous power of 11,500 horses. It will thus
be seen ;that the paddle and screw engines, when

working together at their highest power, will exert
an effective force of not less than 11,501) horse power,
or sufficient to rai-ie 200,000 gallons of water to the
op c: the Monument in less than one minute, or to
drive the machinery of all the cotton mills in Man-
chester. The consumption of coal to produce this
amount of locomotive force is estimated at about
250 tons per day.
The preparations for getting the monster safely
down to the water are progressing steadily, and,
according to !present arrangements, there is
but little doubt that the launch may take
place early next month, or at latest early in Decem-
ber. As may readily be imagined, the manner of
launching is as peculiar and novel as the scheme of
the ship itself. From the position in which it has
been necessary to build her, and to avoid the tremen-
dous strain which a ship of her length would suffer
from being launched by the ordinary method, stern
foremost, it is absolutely necessary that she should go
into the water broadside on. By this plan no risk
of strain i 3 incurred, though, as a vessel of her
enormous weight and bulk would acquire sufficient
momentum in rushing down an inclined plane of
three hundred feet to the water to carry her quite
across the river, great precautions have to be
adopted in order to ease her gently off. The launch,
then, if the process by which she will eventually reach
the water may be so termed, is likely to be a long and
tedious affair, which will certainly occupy eight or
ten hours, and probably more. The way in which
it will be effected is this :—Two launching " ways,"
or large and powerfully built tramways, have been
constructed by the railway contractors, Messrs.
Treadwell and Co., running from under the fore and
after portions of the vessel down into the river at
low-water spring-tide mark. The foundation of each
is formed upon seven rows of piles, the four outside
rows being driven at three-feat intervals, and the
three inner rows at six-feet. These piles are all
forced home to the gravel of the river bed, so that
they graduate from a length of 32 feet under the
ship's bottom to ten feet at the low-water mark.
Down the railway metals on these " ways," the ship
will be slowly lowered into the water on cradles,
which are now being consttucted under her. The
process of launching, therefore, will consist of
lowering these cradles with the vessel on them
slowly over the " waves."
As we have said, it is expected to take place in No-
vember or December,and will begin at two in the morn-
ing, when the Great Eastern will be moved down as the
tide ebbs till she reaches low-water mark exactly at low
water. As the tide flows again she will, of course, be
floated off, moored in the centre of the river, and
continue her fittings, so as to be ready for sea about
February next. As a matter of course, if the
monster were left to itself, the instant the shores
were knocked away it would rush down the ways
and very probably strand itself on the opposite side
of the river. To prevent this catastrophe massive
chains are fastened to the cradles, which are passed
through doubled sheaves secured to clumps of piles
driven 35 feet into the solid earth. The ends of these
chains, after passing twice through the sheaves, will be
attached to windlasses, so that men working on them
may slacken the speed of the ship, or even stop it
altogether, if required. While passing over the first
200 feet of the " ways " great care must be used ;
but, that distance once safely accomplished, the
Great Eastern may be safely left to find her own way
into that element on which for years to come she
will be regarded as a marvel and a wonder. The
great extent which the launching "ways " cover
diminishes the weight per square foot which they
will be required to bear to little more than three-
quarters of a ton. The ordinary weight over launch-
ing " ways" is two and a halt' tons the square foot,
though launches are frequently made in London at
three tons. A tell-tale indicator will be fixed to the
two c adles, so that any difference that may occur in
the rate of descent of each will be immediately
rectified by the check tackle.
Every effort is now being made at the builder's
yard, Millwall, for the launching of this leviathan
vessel, the property of the Eastern Steam Navigation
Company. Large bodies of men are incessantly em-
ployed in relays, and from the state of forwardness in
which she appears there is no doubt that she can be
ready by the time fixed, viz., the first week in No-
vember. Mr. Brunel, we understand, has neverthe-
less proposed to postpone the launch until the first
week in December.

LORD STANLEY ON THE EDUCATION OF
MECHANICS.
Lnuo STANLEY delivered a suggestive address at the
annual soirée of the Wigan Mechanics' Institute on
Tuesday last. The noble lord said that it seemed to
him that the deficiencies of popular school-teaching
might be summed up under four heads-1. The
insufficient number of schools existing ; 2. Their
inferior quality in many cases; 3. The too early age
at which children leave school ; 4. Their irregular
attendance even during the years when they are sup-

posed to be under instruction. In the first great
improvement had evidently taken place ; in the
second there was as undoubtedly as much room for
improvement; and under the third and fourth heads
were to be found the real obstacles to improvement.
" Irregular attendance," said the noble lord, "is
universal," and it was on this indifference of the
labouring classes to the advantages of education
that the principal present obstacle to the spread of
education is to be found:—
You have existing in the upper and middle ranks of
society a general conviction really held by many, and pro.
fessed by almost all, that the existence of a class wholly
untaught is a national reproach. You have not a corre-
sponding conviction among the labouring class, taken as a
whole. Your supply of educational machinery, imperfect
as it may be, exceeds the demand ; you have created facili-
ties for popular teaching, but the inducement to make use
of them has not been supplied in a proportionate degree.
Until you can do that, be the means employed what they
may, success is impossible. Now, what is the origin of
that indifference? Various causes might be assigned, but
for my present purpose it is enough to name one. There
are no means of keeping up, far less of increasing, the
little stook of knowledge acquired at school. The school-
teaching of the boy has no connection with the after-life
of the man. It is forgotten because it is not kept up ;
it is not kept up ( I don't affirm that this is the only
reason, but it is an important one) because no adequate
machinery exists for the purpose.
lieie then came in the function of the mechanics'
institute. It was true that, though established for
the last twenty•five years, they had not answered
every expectation, but then, on the other hand, it
was unjust to deny that they had achieved a very
considerable success:--
Their chief fault, I think, has been this—that, depend-
ing wholly for support on their popularity at the moment,
they have been obliged too often to put mere amusement
before instruction; to rely on desultory occasional lectures,
not on systematic class teaching ; to fill their libraries with
works which met the taste of the day, to the exclusion of
works having a permanent usefulness and value.
Another error was that they had aimed at too much,
but this experience tended to correct ; and, that
after existing twenty-five years, and having risen in
number from 1 to 800, their utility was a palpaple
fact. In conclusion, the noble lord said:—
My argument briefly is this,—that the school and the
institute—call tient by what names you will—form parts
of one whole ; that their functions, though distinct, ars
inseparable; and that it is by strenuously promoting what-
ever efforts may be made for the improvement of adult
teaching that we shall best remedy the greatest present
defect in our school system.