The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-20 00:00:00

THE
.GREAT EASTERN.

The latest from New York states that a very large
accession had been made to the number of visitors
of the ship previous to the time of her starting on
the excursion to Cape May. The incidents of that
trip appear to have added another to the many un-
fortunate examples of mismanagement which have
marked the career of this great undertaking. The
New York papers are filled with the complaints of
indignant excursionists, and one of them has a long
series of headings to its report of the trip, in which
occur, among other startling lines, " Sufferings of
passengers," "The noble ship and her ignoble mana-
gers," " Great promises and small performances,"
and the accounts of the trip go on to tell of the
most unseemly squabbles, of ladies dragged out of
their berths by American gentlemen (?), of fights on
board, struggles for water, scrambles for mattresses,
hopeless attempts to obtain refreshments, intoxi-
cated stewards, bewildered nigger waiters, fabulous
prices of food and drink, disgusting series of rough
practical jokes ; and the account of one of the cor-
respondents winds up by saying, " All that men
could do to make a noble ship odious, and a grand
experiment contemptible, the directors of the Great
Eastern have most successfully done ; while I can-
not now bethink me of a single means of annoying
man, woman, or child, on a voyage of pleasure,
which the same ingenious gentlemen left untried
between the 30th of July and the Ist of August."
It is to be hoped that these pictures have been some-
what overdrawn, though the general resemblance
of all the sketches affords but too much reason to
behave that they are in the main correct. It is
stated that Captain Hall ,and Mr. Bold, the mana-
ger, both strongly protested against making the
trip until more complete accommodation was pro-
vided for the 2,000 passengers who were expected.
They wore, however, but the servants of the com-
pany, and as such powerless, for two members of
the board accompany the ship in the capacity of
travelling directors. Captain Carnegie is an ex-
cellent authority on the management of a frigate,
and Mr. Gooch possesses great knowledge and
experience in the locomotive department of the
Great Western Railway; but it would appear that
both these gentlemen have thoroughly mistaken
their vocation in attempting to do the work of a
Barnum. On the return of these gentlemen we
shall, no doubt, have some satisfactory explanation
on the subject. The Great Eastern was to leave
New York on the 16th, and by next Sunday she
will, no doubt, have arrived at Milford Haven. On
the trip to Cape May the performance of the noble
ship was in every respect satisfactory, the speed ob-
tained being 13 and 14 knots ; the machinery
was in excellent order, and gave the most complete
satisfaction to those on board. It would have been
gratifying if the other departments had been equally
as well conducted as that of the engineer's. It was
generally reported yesterday that the long-pending
arbitration between Mr. Scott Russell and the com-
pany had been brought to a close, the award being
against the company, notwithstanding that the di-
rectors had expended, it is alleged, some £30,000 in
order to complete the works left unfinished.

The " gridiron" at Milford Haven, for the beach-
ing of the Great Eastern, is now nearly completed.
It has been in course of construction for the last
two months, giving employment at such times as
the tide permitted to about 200 men both by day
and night. It is formed on the northern shore of
the haven, a few hundred yards frcm the terminus
pf the South Wales Railway, fronts the Royal
Dockyard, and lies as nearly due east and west
as possible. The beach, to the distance of 550
feet, has been excavated ansl levelled to within
a few feet of low watermark at spring tides,
which at high water will give a depth of 25
to 27 feet. The beaching place itself is com-
posed of two " grids," 50 yards distant from each
other. Each grid is 150 feet long, constructed of
40 strong transverse " baulks" (or beams) of 45, 35,
30, and 25 feet long by 13 inches square. They
are laid down in four lots, ten of each length, with
an interval between each beam of three feet. Each
baulk of timber is firmly fixed in its place by three
iron-shod piles, of from three to four feet long. The
longest of these lots is laid nearest amidships, and
the rest according to their length, thus tapering off
to the stem and stern, so as in some degree to cor-
respond with the beard of that part of the ship
that will be immediately above them. Two " dol-
phins".3o feet in height, made of four baulks, each
13 inches square, firmly clamped and bolted together,
strongly supported by back and diagonal* struts,
have been driven in at about 300 feet apart. These
arc for the ship's side to lie against, as well as to
act as guides in the actual operation of beaching.
One of these dolphins will be just forward of
the starboard sponson, and the other near her
starboard quarter. These, together with the
mooring tackle and other necessary gear (all of
whifli are provided) will keep the vessel in her
position. It being intended that while beached
the ship's bead shall be to the westward she will
have to he swung before she goes on the girdiron,
which with a craft of her size will be a delicate ope •
ration well worth seeing. The Great Eastern being
650 feet long it will thus follow that when in pose=
tion she R ill be supported for 550 feet of her length
—viz., 300 on the two grids and 250 on the levelled
beach, leaving only 50 feet of her bow and stern
projecting beyond the timbers and excavations.

The engineers of the South Wales Railway are also
constructing a pier of loose stones (found on the
beach and forming part of those excavated in pre-
paring the gridiron) to enable visitors to the big
ship to have a ready mode of ingress and egress at
all states of the tide. The whole structure has been
made at the expense of the South Wales Railway
Company, and will cost upwards of £l,OOO. Capt.
Ramsay, C.B. superintendent of the dockyard, has
given all the facilities in his power to the proceed-
ings.