Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-10-17 00:00:00

. .
THE DEPARTURE OF : TflE GREAT
EASTERN FOR AMERICA, ON THE-24T11
INSTANT.

(From the Observer of yesterday)
Notwithstanding all the rumours, and confident asser-
colt.ioor:igcet.totp.‘Astthhe.eatcontrary, the announcement made in
The Observer of Sunday last, that the greatship would
before the. end of the present month be -far upon her
United
present tates
derided,will . t h ebl3:6 Ssefolulld to
will
leavebe
correct.
Holyhead on Monday, the 24th inst.- There may be a
short delay beyond this date, but- it win not extend to-
,
more than a day or two. The cause Of this delay, if any,.
will arise from the inspection of the ship and engines
in accordance with the terms of the contract with Mr.
Russell previous to their final acceptance by the- com-
pany. The contract nominated Mr. Fowler, C.E., and
Mr. kClean, C.E , arbitrators to decide upon matters
that might arise in dispute between the company and
the contractors. These gentlemen have now commenced
their examination, and have appointed Mr. Ilawkshaw,
C.E., as referee. Mr. Jordan and Mr. Bailey have
been requested to . survey the ship, and they have
requested Mr. Paterson, the builder of the Great
Western and many other ships at Bristol, to assist them
in the survey. It will be a relief to all persons
who have felt an interest in the success of this great
undertaking' when all matters in dispute shall have
been cleared up, and all the little rivalries and aniniosi,
ties which have so long- existed are merged into one
common desire to do all that is possible to secure the
prosperity of the great ship. This is the more ne- • •
cessary while the company has a united and most
influential body of shipowners to contend against, who.
cannot but see that the success of the Great Eastern
must materially interfere with the present system of
postal subsidies, and that the ship will prove a for-
midable competitor for freights.
The directors are, it is stated, satisfied with the per-
formance of the ship on the late trial trip. No official
report has yet been received by the board either from
the captain or the engineers in charge; but Mr. Camp-
bell and Mr. Bold, th managing directors, accompanied
the ship on the occasion, and they have furnished infor-
mation identical in every respect with- that which will '
be found in the 'letter of a special correspondent in •
another part of the Observer. Some very extraordinary
notions have been indulged in respecting the speed
which the ship was. to make, very far exceeding the
anticipations and calculations of Mr. Brunel, to whom
the great ship owes its origin. A short time only
before his death he stated most distinctly, to some
persons who were talking of the ship's making twenty
knots, that she would do nothing of the kind, that she
was never designed for such a high rate of speed, and
that his calculations were, that she would make the
voyage from England to Calcutta or Sydney in from 32
to 36 days : this he stated in the most confident manner
she would accomplish, the rate of speed required for
that purpose being only from 14 to 141 knots per hour.
These exaggerated opinions have led the public generally
to underestimate the results obtained upon the trip to
Holyhead. A vessel of more than four times the ton-
, nae-e of the largest ship afloat has been propelled at a
rate equal to that of the fastest going ocean steamer.
On a run of more than fifty miles from the Scilly to
Kinsale the Great Eastern made from 141 to 15 knots,
or between seventeen and eighteen miles an hour. A
few days before the trial-trip, the Delta, constructed for
the Peninsular and Oriental Company, underwent her
trial at the measured mile, axd the mean eteour
separate trials gave a speed of 14.6 knots, or 16.8
miles per hour. But the results obtained at the mea-
sured mile, even if conducted upon the fairest system,
cannot be compared with the average of a run of fifty or
sixty miles. Every one conversant in the slightest degree
with the trials at the measured mile know that an
amount of speed is obtained upon such occasions which is
never realised afterwards in practice. The Great
Eastern accomplished the same speed as the Delta in a
long run of 721 knots, when she made 14 2-5 knots
an hour. • Comparing the indicated horse-power of
the two vessels, the advantage is immensely in favour
of the great ship. In the Delta the indicated horse-
power was 1,612, for a tonnage of less than 2,000
tons ; in the Great Eastern the povier indicated
was slightly over 7,000, horses, with a. tonnage of
25,000 tons. The speed of the two was equal; but
the Delta tan but one mile, the Great Eastern eighty-
four miles; each horse of the Delta dragged little more
than one ton, each horse of the Great Eastern dragged
nearly four tons. The nominal horse power of the Delta
is 400 horses, of the Great Eastern 2,600 horses. In
the first case one horse draws only four tons, in the other
ten tons. The average speed attained by the Delta
is the highest yet reached on the measured mile; the-
three nearest to it are the Shannon 14.4 knots, the
Malta 14.1 knots, and the Paramatta 14.09 knots per
hour. The Great Eastern is not, only the largest, but
the swiftest steamship in the world. None of its rivals
can carry coal for more than three weeks' consump-
tion, the Great Eastern can take sufficient for the
voyage to India, or Australia and back. The Queen's
yacht is the fastest ship afloat,- but she does not make-
more than fifteen knots or eighteen miles an hour in her
ordinary work. But the Victoria and Albert has engines
of 1,000 horse power for a tonnage of less than 3,000
tons; there one horse drags three tons. In the Great
Eastern, as already stated, one horse drags ten tons, and the
speed of royal yacht is not higher than that of the great
ship. The theory of Mr. Brunel, that the increased size of
the ship would give greater speed. without corresponding
increase in the consumption of fuel, has been, therefore, so
far satisfactorily established. The consumption of coal of
the Great Eastern, if taken at the highest estimate of
250 tons per day, is still immensely below the proportion
which, compared with other vessels, would be due to
her size and speed. The Persia, according to the state-
ment of Sir E. Cunard, burns 150 tons of coal per day.
Her speed is not equal to that of the great ship, and
the tonnage is not one-fifth of its great rival. The
Great Eastern' would burn 750 tons of coal per day
if • the consumption of fuel was to be in proportion
to that of the Persia. The great_ _ship was un-
doubtedly in bad trim, and to this extent she
laboured under some disadvantages, and it is fair to
suppose that more favourable results may be obtained
when
however,an improvementthe result
has
i s
shownmade
thtahtistrhe Greatespect. AEsasitternis,
is capable of a speed which would carry her, to Calcutta
or Sydney in from 33 to 36 days, and to accomplish
that was the 'great object for which the ship was de,
sinned and constructed. If the great ship should be as
successful in her commercial results, as she has certainly
proved herself to be in a scientific point of view, her
proprietors will have no occasion to regret the liberal
expenditure of capital which has been employed to solve
this interesting problem of 'naval engineering,.

Nearly all the German towns of any importance are
making preparations for a worthy celebration of Schiller's
centenary birthday.
FIDELITY.—AII traces of the late war are fast disap-
pearing. On the plains of Magenta a luxurious
vegetation is all that meets the view. A dog of African
breed, which belonged to General Espinasse, still lurki- -
about the spot where his master shed his blood, and
though often taken away, even to some distance, con-
stantly returns.
MONSIEUR FELIX BELLY'S ENTERPRISE BURST UP.
—The glittering Frenchman went up like a rocket and
has come down like a stick. From a party recently
arrived at Nicaragua, we have received an interesting
statement of the bursting of the Belly bubble, which
confirms an account to the same effect from our own
correspondent, at Managna, from which it would
seem that the enterprise is utterly abandoned, the unpaid
workmen dispersed, and Belly himself, who seven mouths'
ago went to France, promising to return, has not only
not returned, but never will. Thus ends all his tia:inihnigs
manifestoes, and his notes of vast preparation,
magnificent maps.. Ile made a gran
.splashn
witha his
ex-Secretary of Legation, his cooks washerwomen,and
and all his fine retinue with high-sour.d in,.., titles. He
commenced .on an immense scale. On a house alone,
which he built at San Carlos, and some huts, he ex-
pended 700,000 francs—all the money he brought with
him ; and he called the village San Felix, after himself,
which led to a row between him and the commandant.
Both the English and American governments were kept
in a state of constant alarm, lest some exclusive advan.
tage should be obtained by treaty for France; f€r it
was a part of Belly's system to give out that lie was
authorised in what he did by Louis Napoleon. But
how are the mighty fallen ! When we recollect the-
flourish of trumpets made by the showy Frenchman,
and now contrast with it his lame and impotent conclu-
sion, we cannot help exclaiming, "Look upon that pn-
ic-
ture, and on this !" The splendid phantom has Ve
ished like the baseless fabric of a vision. Nicaragua
seems destined to be the graVc of brilliant hopes and
gratul enterprises, both civil and military. Belly's canal
and his engineers, Walker's military republic and its
busters, have shared the same fate.-214it0 York Payer.