The Express.
London, England, 1857-11-03 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1857.

LAUNCH OF THE GREAT EASTERN.
(THIS DAY.)

ACCIDENT.

This morning commenced the above great opera-
*Ai, which has been looked twitted to with so much
1 anxiety. All night long Kr. Banta, Captain Har-
rison (the Sitars oommandar) Mr. 3. Scott Rama
(the originator of this leviathan atetmehtp) and 1,600

Sew:banis wine upon the ground making the necessary
reparations by gas light to: the momentous proceedings
of to-day. As witnessed from the rim, the some by
moonlight wu of an extraordinary character. Hundreds of
men, socmingly of liUiputian forms, ware flitting about in

_„
all directions, heaving, hauling, hammer ;rig, and rattling the re. ;
metal bottom of the stupendous structure, balanced. as it ,
were, in mid air above them. Now and then was heard the
stentorian voice of the euperintmdent giving directions, or C
the chorus of the working gangs, who pulled and NI
heaved the great chains and hawsers connected N
with the machinery and apparatus of the mad. at
Through the dark hours of the night those laborious peeps- 11.
rations were continued, and the day found them still pro- 04
reeding. By and by the vacant spaces in the neigh- E. I
bourhood began to bo tilled up with people ; row t.
boats dropped down the river in shoals, filled with rk,
watermen and mechanics, while the opposite banks It
gradually became fringed with human beings. Tem- ts:
porary galleries were erected slong the quays, the tops of 86
houses, Me breed roofs of workshops, or the decks of craft that
were mere cockboate to rho mighty ship opposite. As ths morn- Si.
ing advanced these miles of slender planksj wen appropriated ra
by eager tenants, and river steam-boats, from below and 1
above bridge, bustled about with decks and paddle-boar
completely covered. Within the yard ths earlier srrivela

re coidinod to the wive.. and fandllom of On

workmen, for whom every anoomrnedation was pro. 12
vided. At first a disposition we evinced to stria IL
round the ship,
.. but the falling beams of timber gi.

knocked from ;rider her, and the incansant whirling of

punks end cranes, rendering close inspection dangerous
the lees venturesome were fain to beet a precipitate retreat.
To make up for their disappointment they fell to speculating a.
upon the possible failure of the launch, There wu several LP
pude of land between the vessel and the water U
of the river at this time, the tide being very low, end cm- p
tainly the ship seemed to rest upon so alight • tim-
ber fetuses that misgiving, in timid minds were E
natural. The cradle appeared ludicrous compared st.
with the mountain above, and to an unfamiliar eye the
vessel seemed not to be propped up by any equivalent sup- rg'
port, but simply balanced on her keel. Immediately in
front ware two broad inclined planes down which the two It

cradles, the one at the stem the other at stern, were Si.
to glide with their wonderful burden. On the other side, g
but at some distance from the ship, there was fitted up the le
largest, and perhaps moat powerful, windlass in the world. It
Around this stupendous machine was coiled the equally se
messier chain that held back the ship, and would I.
WM sli her gently down the declivity. Every prop, beam, fender, :
or support other than the cradle and chain was safely re- Si.
moved by 12 o'clock. The inclined plane then received s
anal coating of grease and lampblack end the workmen Si.
returned to the beck of the yard, leaving but one
solitary Individual in front to watch the forward action re
of the floating apparatus. The position of this strong-nerved N
mechanic sent • momentary shudder through the multitude, se
who beheld what they thought was a pc/610u' situation, but N.
he did not remain long to awaken their apprehension, and
quite a relief was felt se he slowly seconded a rope-ladder N
and disappeared In the framework of the paddle-wheel,
It was now twenty minute. peat twelve o'clock, e
the tide was moaning up rapidly, the water lad almost
reached the foot of the outer cradle, a movement in the le
direction of the principal platform surrounding the yard,
placed those who observed it on the tip-toe the
of expectation, which was not a little Inerussi,
when • bottle covered with flowers, and fedened is
to the end of a rope was lowered from the 1s
outboard bow of the vowel. It was rightly Nuke- to
bared that the bottle contained the good old pad
with which the vessel was to be christened, and the crowd the
below raised • hearty cheer as it dangled ler a nee
few minutes in the air. Tho ceremony of chrietseier
was gracefully performed by Miss Hops, the dascither ■
of the well-known millionaire, and chairman of p
the Groat Eastern Steam Navigation Company, ris•
aloe christened lie vend "The Leviathan." The J 4
blow wee admirably aimed, and as the fragments of the 2
bottle fell to the ground • body of workroom made a rush ge
to secure the flowers. The spectators were efterwarde kept
for some time la a state of painful suspenee ; one o'clock was TN
approaching and the launching machinery had yet to
be put to the proof of positive experience. Every- sa:
thing was hashed and • solemn stillness reigned
throughout the vaaresultitude within the yard. Suddenly
the front mooring chains were seen to tighten. A cheer ree
broke from the workmen, and a cry was rained, " She 104
mover," " She moves." The vessel moved down the place is.
for about two inches, and the dram or windlass spun round ss
fe with srful velocity. The workmen were then seen to run L.
away from the &brie, and the operation of launching was le
'encoded. Inquiry wee then instituted, and it was sear. sit
tinned by our reporter that some slight portion of le
the approaches had got out of gear, whereby an accident had ss
been caused ti five or six men—four of whom were no g
much injured that they had to be conveyed to the Poplar 2
Ilispital. The tide was rapidly rising to the veeeel, and Mr.
Brunel stated that his preliminary movement of the chains
had bean a mere experiment, and bad so far succeeded, that Is°
it was likely when the tide reached its fiend, the veered would •
safely descend into the river.
The Lords of the Admiralty and the Lord Mayor and
corporation the Siamese embassy, and many diatinguishsd
members of the Corps Diplomat:4w were amongst the g
spectators. IS
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