The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-24 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE ATHENIEUM

Greenock, June 18.
It is confidently expected that the day on which your
next number issues, will be the same on which the
British Queen will make her first trial trip on the river
Clyde. On my return from the western lakes of Scot-
land, I paid a visit to her, as indeed most strangers do
who come within twenty miles of Greenock, near to
which town the Queen is moored. Every one admits
that she is a very handsome vessel ; and perhaps the
greatest proof of her symmetry is, that as she reposes
her leviathan bulk on the level shore, she does not
appear so enormous as she really is. Instead
of seeming herself overgrown or gigantic, she merely
renders every vessel around her of diminutive
appearance, and the steam-vessel which brought
us alongside seemed a perfect cockle. The external
appearance of the ship, seen from the shore,
is imposing and beautiful. The figure-head is a grace-
ful representation of the youthful monarch of Britain,
so well proportioned as to seem of not more than usual
height, although twelve feet in stature ; and it is only
when the sturdy fellows, who form her crew, approach
the Sovereign, that her Patagonian size is determined
by their Liliputian dimensions. The appendages of the
figure-head and cut-water are beautifully outlined,
moulded, and covered with gold, and the effect of the
vessel at the bow on the whole is very majestic. Pas-
sing round to her stern, the vessel is still very fine ; the
carving of the stern is in perfect keeping with the rest
of her ornamental work, and the stern galleries are
elegant and well placed. The rigging is also well pro-
portioned ; her masts are beautiful, and her yards are
of great stretch and excellent proportion. There she
rides majestically, Queen of the Seas, the noblest steam
ship the world has ever seen.
It was only when I gained the deck of the British
Queen that I became thoroughly impressed with the
truth of her enormous size. The deck is what is called
a flush-deck, perfectly continuous from one end to the
other, instead of having higher and lower portions,
forming poops, half poops, &c., as most common in
vessels of her size. The deck is a long promenade,
and the distance from stem to stern is a good rifle-
shot ; her breadth on deck being some sixty feet.
Her cabins are of the dimensions of her Majesty's
drawing-rooms, and the whole of her accommodation
spacious, airy, and sufficiently splendid. Descending
to her engine-rooms, the engine does not strike
the spectator as being extraordinarily large ;
but when once at the bottom of it, looking up, you
perceive the men who guide the whole machinery,
and regulate and direct the combined strength and
simultaneous energy of 500 horses, with greater suc-
cess than the tyrant Philopater his galley of 3,000
slave-power, and feel that you are in the presence of one
of the noblest of human creations, the impersonatio❑ of
the adage, that " knowledge is power"—power applied
to the benefit and improvement of humanity. The
engine is of the Gothic structure, some thirty feet high,
occupying a length of eighty-four feet, and weighing
with its appendages about 500 tons. It does great cre-
dit to the engineering talent of the River Clyde ; and
although its appearance is rendered somewhat heavy
by the fact of having two condensers instead of one, it
is otherwise strong, light looking, and well proportioned.
The whole river Clyde is, indeed, at this moment,
a scene replete with interest to the man who is in-
terested in the progress of steam navigation. We
were shown a large ship called the Achilles, of about
1,000 tons, floating in the basin of a Mr. Steele, at
Greenock, which is to contain engines of about the
size of the British Queen, and which we were also
shown in the establishment of Messrs. Laird and Co.
The Achilles is a noble and symmetrical vessel, rising
to a great height out of the water, yet standing as
stiff as a castle ; and her engines are framed in a
colonnade of eight Grecian-Doric columns of gigantic
proportions, carrying an entablature which connects
the two engines with- much elegance. I should have
imagined that this vessel was designed to cross the At-
lantic or Indian Oceans, at least ; but, to my astonish-
ment, I found her merely built as one of the magnifi-
cent line of packets between Liverpool, Greenock, and
Glasgow, to ply in concert with almost equally fine ves-
sels called the Actaeon, Eagle, Commodore, &c.,—ves-
sels so large that the dock-gates of Liverpool (to their
shame be it said) cannot admit the largest, and barely
the others. Tue Achilles will form a most interesting
experiment in regard to power. The proportion of 500
horses power to 1,000 tons, is a proportion utsequalled
in the world, and will decide some important questions
of general interest.

There is another experiment of equal interest at
present in progress in the Clyde. The Fire King is a
vessel of very peculiar construction, built for Mr.
Ashton Smith, of Wales, as a steam. yacht. The
midship section of the vessel is very
peculiar, being
a plan of Mr. Smith's invention ; and the water-
lines adopted are those of which 3ou have repeatedly
given diagrams, in your accounts of the British Asso-
ciation, as having been proposed by Mr. Scott Russell,
to admit of the vessel's passing through the water
with least resistance. This experiment is the fourth
which has been made avowedly upon this form of water-
line, the two first having been made by Mr. Russell
himself :in 1834-35. This is the largest yet tried,
the vessel being 660 tons, and the engines '220
horse power ; and although the proportional power is
much less than what we find to be in general use on the
Clyde, yet this singular vessel is now the fastest vessel
afloat. We were told by a gentleman who was on
board at one of her trials, and who had previously been
prejudiced against her shape, that she performed, with-
out having set a stitch of canvas, the measured distance,
in rather fresh weather, of 15 2-ods miles in 64 minutes,
being about 15 miles an hour through the water.
And the same vessel has since gone from Liverpool
to Greenock, and from Grenock to Liverpool,
each way in less than fifteen hours, each way with-
out canvas, in fresh blowing weather, being about a
rate of 15 miles an hour. This vessel we saw lying
alongside the British Queen ; and although she seemed
very diminutive in comparison, yet she appears elegantly
shaped ; and the part of her above water has the form
of an excellent sea-boat. We were told that she has
also a great capacity for carrying cargo, and would have
been repeatedly bought as a merchant steamer, had not
the owner wished to retain her as a yacht. We were
also shown a large steam ship at Greenock for the India
Steam Navigation Company, by the Cape of Good
Hope ; and several large steam frigates, now fitting up for
Government ; besides preparations for large steam ships
for the Halifax and London mail communication : but
' must not extend further the notice of these prepara-

lons.

From the inquiries we have made, it would appear that
on the eventful night in ques'ion no less than eleven lives
have been sacrificed from boats having been upset, viz.,
one containing Mr. Graham ; one containing Mr. Rush,
Mr. Fry, and Mr. Latham ; a third boat, containing four
persons, named Croker, Wilkins, Roberts, and George; and
a fourth boat, containing Mr. Heath, a clerk in the County
Fire Office, Mr. Barthe, jun., umbrella manufacturer,
Cockspur-street, Mr. Lambe, jun., dressing-case maker,
Cockspur-street, Mr. William Bruce, baker, No. 27,
Charing- cross, Mr. Woolley, ironmonger, 19, Piccadilly,
and Mr. Griffiths, a gentleman connected with the Coal
Exchange, residing, at Pimlico, the four latter of whom
were drowned. It appears that the last six gentlemen had
often been in the habit of rowing up the river. On
Thursday evening, there being a cricket match at Putney,
Messrs. Barthe, Woolley and Lambe, rowed up ran-clan
in a wherry to Putney, where they met the other three
gentlemen, and that on their return Messrs. Barthe and
Woolley rowed sculls, Messrs. Heath, Lambe, and Bruce
sitting on the thwarts, while Mr. Griffiths sat in the stern
They left Putney about ten o'clock, and came down the
river in safety until they. shot Battersea bridge, when Mr.
Griffiths cried out they were sinking, and at the same
time, owing to the high wind and strong current, they
were overwhelmed by a wave, which instantly swamped
the boat.
Yesterday morning, shortly after three o'clock, as Cobb.
a wwerman, of Putney, was proceeding up the river in his
boat, he perceived the body of one of the sufferers lying!: ip
the mud, off Cheyne-walk. He immediately procured as.
sistance, and conveyed the body ashore, and deposited it in
the outhouse of the Old Swan 'Tavern, where it was shorty,
recognised as that of
.V..r. Lambe. The body of the de-
ceased was very disfigured, particularly the face, and tin
upper lip was much swollen as if from a blow. On it was
found a gold watchguard, but no watch ; and in the pockets
was 4s. 61. in silver, a .::acintesh being closely wrapped
round the body. Information of the finding of the hod)
was immediately forwarded to the parochial authorities,
and to Mr. Wakley, the Coroner, and during the day nu
tnerous persons were engaged in searching for the remainder
of the bodies; but up to a rate hour on Saturday night, no in-
telligence bad been received of their discovery.
INQUEST ON TWO OF THE BODIES.
Yes:erday, at eleven o'clock, two inquests were held at
the Red-houae, Battersea, before Mr. Carter, coroner for
Surrey, on the respective bodies of Mr. Henry Rush, aged
26, of No. 6. South Panicle, Little Chelsea, Solicitor, and
second son of the Rev. John Rush, vicar of Chelsea Old
Church; and of Mr. George Joseph Graham, aged 25, a
clerk in the Ordnance Office in the Tower, who were
unfortunately drowned in the Thames on Thursday night.
Thomas Clifford, an unloader of barges, livins, at Bat-
tersea, stated that about half-past three on Friday morn
in,,,,, he was proceeding to his wcrk along the bank of the
Thames, and had got half way between the Red House
and Nine Elms, when he saw the deceased, Henry Rush,
lying in the mud near the water's edge ; he was on his
face, and held in his hands a scull. Witness called to a
Waterman, and they together carried the deceased to this
house; he was quite dead, and there was no perceptible
marks of violence on his body. The deceased had only
his trowsers, boots, and shirts on. On his person he
found a watch, two rings, and I Is. in silver.
William Seymour, a bricklayer living at Queen's Elms,
Chelsea, identified the body of the deceased as that of Mr.
William Henry Rush, a solicitor, residing at No. 6, South-
parade, Little Chelsea. He was twenty-six years of age.
Mr. Henry Latham, of No, 14, Hunter-street, Bruns-
wick-square, clerk to the Registrars of the Court of Chan-
cery, stated that he was acquainted with the deceased.
On Thursday evening, at seven o'clock, witness, the de-
ceased, and a gentleman named Robert Walker Fry,
started from Graves', the boat-builder, at Chelsea, in
what is termed a ran-dan, and rowed up the River. They
stopped first at the Crab Tree, Hammersmith, and
afterwards proceeded to the Red Lion, Chiswick, where
they staid till nine o'clock, when they started to return.
At that time witness was positive all were sober ;
the deceased took the sculls, and Fry the after oar; witness
the forward. They had passed through Battersea-bridge
about forty yards, nearly in the middle of the river, when a
wave broke over them, nearly filling the boat. The wind
was high, and the water extremely rough—wave after wave
broke over the boat until it went down. There was scarce
any cry raised, and witness told the deceased Rush, to take
hold of an oar which witness held, and he did; wit-
ness had nearly reached the shore when he felt
the oar lightened, and upon turnips, round he found
that the deceased had sunk. When witness had
reached the shore he turned round, and saw a dark mass
floating down the river, but it disappearad almost immedi-
ately; he had no doubt it was the deceased. The deceased
Fry, whose body has not been found, immediately upon
the boat sinking, struck out for the Middlesex shore, and
being an excellent swimmer, witness thought he would
have reached it. The swell of' the water was caused purely
by the wind and tide, and not by a steam-boat. The time
the occurrence took place was about eleven o'clock, wit-
ness's watch having stopped at five minutes to eleven.
This being the whole of the evidence concerning the de-
ceased, Henry Rush, the Coroner, addressing the Jury,
said no doubt could be entertained that the deceased's death
was attributab!e to accident.
The Jury returned a verdict of" Accidental death."
The Jury then proceeded to view the body of George
Joseph Graham, and after their return the following evi-
dence was adduced :
George Reeves, fisherman, stated that he was following
his occupation, about three o'clock on Friday morning
when he observed some substance lying on the bank. Wit-
ness went to see what it was, and found it to be the body
of the deceased; he was quite dead. Witness brought
the body to this house. The body of the deceased, Henry
Rush, had been found nearly at the same time and place,
and witness brought them both in his boat. The deceased
had on trousers, hoots, flannel shirt, and pea jacket, and
on his person he found two rings, a gold watch and chain,
which had stopped at seventeen minutes past ten, and 17s.
in silver; there were no papers, nor did witness know the
the deceased, or how he came into the water.
Mr. Allan Bailey, of No. 9, Arlington-street, Camden-
town, architect, deposed that be knew the deceased ; he
was not with him at tho time the accident occurred, but
they were together at Putney, from which place the de-
ceased left at nine o'clock in a very light wherry. He
was alone, and going to Westminster ; but it coming on to
rain the deceased moored his boat under a tree, as also
did witness, who was in another boat. They remained
there about three quarters of an hour, when deceased went
ahead ; and when witness had got near Battersea Church he
saw the deceased going through the bridge, which was at
least two hundred yards distance from witness, who never
saw him alive afterwards. He proceeded into Lyon's
Wharf, Lambeth, and there waited fur the deceased, and
was surprised lie did not come. The wind was blowing
strong, N. by E., and the tide was going up. Witness is
positive that if the deceased went through the middle of
the river his boat could not have lived. About a quarter
to twelve o'clock some men brought in the boat, which
they had found capsized, and some clothes of the deceased.
A gentleman named Walker afterwards came in, who said
he had seen a person, who, from his description, witness
believes to have been deceased, sink about midway between
Battersea and Vauxhall bridges. The deceased was sober
at the time, and an experienced amateur waterman.
By the CORONER—I've no doubt the deceased lost his
life from the upsetting of his boat, which was caused by
the heavy swell. _

Witness heard that the deceased had been found at seven
o'clock on Friday morning, at Lyon's. The deceased was
25 years of age, and a clerk in the Ordnance-office at the
Tower.
The Jury returned a similar verdict in this case.