The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JULY 9, MG

dulums many would have disbelieved in the motion
of the ship altogether. The night, though very dark
and wild, was clear. The coast was kept close in
view, light after light was sighted upon the various
headlands, and the position of the vessel known
with as much ease and certainty as a man might
read his position in London by the names of streets
during the day. Conspicuous among all these bea-
cons was that of Dungeness, which has an electric
light, the brilliant rays from which so far outshone
all others-as to be literally beyond any degree of
comparison with them. Monday at noon found the
great ship off Portsmouth. The day was tolerably
clear, but squally, with showers of rain, the sea
still high, and the wind getting every moment
higher. The Great Eastern stood so close to the
Isle of Wight that, in passing the beautiful shores
of Ventnor, every house could be distinguished,
and even people seen. But from this point out
a wider berth was given to the mainland, and
she ran in the regular track of coasters, scores
of which were met, whose curiosity to see the great
ship closely brought them so near as sometimes to
epvuet Captain
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toindanngveenen
danger. Thus,
ansn, dinofotnene
pbatrhka,tuhnedrereoaullrssaielh,
abdorteodo
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ifullns t aunpeoe n, athe aslbli
rdueunlnyinagltbeerrecdl
oalnynd. theohffeltmhepßauteheardof
poovretrlatouda,avoid
just before dusk, we fell in with the Baltic, from
Southampton, which overtook the Great Eastern
only after a very long race, and this, be it said, was
the first vessel that had passed her at all. Every
other steamer we had come up with, either paddle or
screw, had been passed easily ; not that the great
ship had a higher rate of speed than seven knots, but
simply because heavy winds and seas which were
making smaller vessels plunge bows under had no
manner of effect either upon the speed or steadiness
of her tremendous hull and ponderous weight of
cargo. For nearly an hour it was a close race be-
tween her and the Baltic. The latter at last drew
a head, and seemed at one time as if about to cross
the great ship's track. But the imminence of the dan-
ger was so great that the attempt was soon given up,
though not until it had been pushed to an extent
that for the smaller vessel seemed awfully hazardous.
The whole of this night and the following Tuesday
were equally rough—wind, rain, and high seas
seemed as if they would never end. At seven on
Tuesday evening she was off the Land's-end, where
a heavy sea was rolling in from the Atlantic before
the full force of a strong sou'-westerly gale. The
lighthouse could just be discerned through the misty
haze, like a huge white tombstone on the rocks,
round which the waves kept leaping up only to fall
back slowly in clouds of spray and long white cata-
racts of foam. A more desolate picture could not
well be imagined than this solitary building in tho
midst of the boiling surf with a misty background
of cloud like a fog bank, which the clouds almost
rested on, while the great black rain squalls from
the sea came up before the wind as regularly and
almost as quickly as the waves themselves. In the
centre of this gloom and cheerlessness the sun shone
out a single ray from behind a cloud, and shed a
bright, though very transient, gleam of light upon
the rocky shores of Cornwall. It was only for a
moment, but it seemed like a parting cheer from old
England, and the whole scene was soon enveloped
again in mist and spray and driving lumps of half-
made clouds of rain.
Once past the Land's-end the Great Eastern's
long maintained steadiness forsook her. She did
not roll because she could not to a head sea, but
her heavy pitches were quick and deep as she faced
the long ranks of waves that came in tier on tier
from the ocean. This night of Tuesday was a very
wild one, and the Great Eastern laboured rather
heavily to the seas. Sometimes she rose with a
long, slow, easy swinging motion, but only to drop
more heavily into the furrow of waves beyond the
ridge she had forced her way through. Often, how-
ever, she was not so fortunate, and the masses of
water struck her with a boom like thunder, and
made her quiver from stem to stern, and seemed as
if she stooped half stunned, for a moment gather-
ing her strength to face the seas again.
At about half-past 1 a.m. on Wednesday a tre-
mendous sea struck her forward on the port side,
which rushed fairly in board and threw a consider-
able depth of water on her deck. The wind at this
time was very strong, and the sea, even for that
most turbulent of all Channels—the Irish—was very
rough indeed ; so bad, in fact, was the appearance
of the weather at 2 o'clock that Captain Anderson
was called, and from that time till after 4 he never
left the deck. Just after dawn on Wednesday, or
rather soon after 4 in the morning, a monstrous
wave struck her on the port bow, which rushed in
over almost the whole space of bulwarks between
the bows and paddle-boxes. This flooded the decks
forward, and was by far the worst wave she en-
countered during the trip. As it may happen even
to the most practised hunter to make his leap awk-
wardly, so it was in this case with the great ship.
She met her wave suddenly and unawares, and as it
struck her full there was nothing for it but to come
in over her, which it effectually did. Wednesday
brought no cessation of the. wind ; in fact, it was
stronger than ever. The sky
,was tolerably clear,
and the sun shone the greater part of the day ; yet
still the wind kept violently high, and the sea was
rolling stronger and heavier than ever. At no time
was there much broken water, though there was
still enough occasionally as the waves struck the
ships's side to cover the forward part of her decks
with spray. The rolling of the vessel during all
this time was absolutely as low as only three de-
grees each way, which in plain terms, means that
the movement was so slight that even the mode-
rator lamps on all the saloon tables were left, as
usual, quite unsecured. The pitching of the ship,
however, was by no means so moderate. In
fact, the great ship plunged till it seemed as
if she would take the green seas in over her
bows. Many times the forward pulley sheaves
which are to be used in hauling in the last year's
cable were dipped completely under water. So quick
and so continued was this pitching motion that an
examination of the cable tanks and their supports
was thought advisable. A very careful inspection
was accordingly made by Mr. Clifford, but the re-
sult showed that their fastenings were absolutely
perfect. Even beneath the largest tank amidships,
the sturts which have to sustain a weight of more
than 2,500 tons, not a sound could be heard beyond
a trifling creaking noise, which was as nothing com-
pared with that in the saloons in the upper portions
of the ship. Not a single adjustment, improvement,
or alteration of any kind was found necessary. The
tanks, however, being filled with water, and the
pitching of the ship occasionally spilling it over
their edges, it was thought better to reduce the
quantity. The valves beneath the tanks were there-
fore opened, and a mass of the water was allowed
to flow away into the sea.
Beyond these bare facts there is little to tell of
incidents connected with this fifth Atlantic telegraph
expedition. All through Wednesday the Great Eastern
kept plunging on across the Irish Channel—now
dipping heavily over a tremendous swell, and now
and then striking it as she would a rock, and cover-
ing herself with clouds of spray and foam. Wednes-
day, though the least pleasant day of the cruise, was
certainly one of the most interesting. It was one of
those rough wild times which are called in nautical
parlance strong summer gales. The sun was as bright
and the sky as clear above as on a mild day in spring,
ybeg
heavy
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seas was
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and
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and the wild violence of the wind and sea below.
Yet, in spite of all these atmospheric disturbances,
the large party on board did their best to make the
time pass pleasantly. There were many ladies of the
party, and music and singing were abundant in spite
of winds and waves. On the Monday, too, after
leaving, it was proposed to get up a burlesque, and
it says something for the inexhaustible resources of
the Great Eastern when we tell that a most humor-
ous and sparkling poetical skit on the cable and its
adventures below the sea was written by two of the
oniursingl‘blirl.i,D.anuddlethyist,hleviathrttishte,
dpasreswenagneexquisitelyfew
aimtext, was lithographed and distributed among the

performers almost within 12 hours after the idea was
started. Fortunately among the visitors there were
materials for a very strong cast. Colonel De Bathe,
Lord Hastings, Captain Boulton, Dr. Poore, Mr.
Vaughan, Mr, G. W. Elliott, Mr. Dudley, and Mr.
Barclay were chosen for the principal characters.
There was a great hunting up of " properties" in
which to make a suitable appearance, but, with the
keen zest in which all on board entered into the fun
of the thing, every difficulty was soon overcome.
The ladies placed their wardrobes entirely at the dis-
posal of those who were to act as mermaids, while
the sailors improvised the most characteristic cos-
tumes out of canvas and oakum for those who were
to represent tritons and sea monsters. Cotton-
waste and tow made capital wigs, and with two
preliminary rehearsals all was ready. The storm
of Wednesday, however, was so voilent, and the
pitching of the ship so heavy, that the idea of per-
forming that night was abandoned. But soon
after nine that evening the wind moderated and
the play was insisted upon by general acclama-
tion. In a few minutes afterwards all the saloon
tables were unscrewed and removed, a theatre of
flags strung up, footlights provided, and a curtain
rigged, and the whole performance, which was con-
ceived in the utmost spirit of burlesque humour,
and admirably acted, went off with the most enthu-
siastic applause. So great, indeed, was its success,
it has to be repeated again to-night, and a number
of visitors in the neighbourhood are coming off to
see it. The Great Eastern Theatre is rather a diffi-
cult one for visitors to reach just now, but as the
play bill says, " the captain's gig and the (gun)
carriages" may be ordered at any hour precisely.
On the night preceding this performance, Mr. Oliver
Smith, the brother of Willoughby Smith, the chief
electrician on board, gave a most astounding exhi-
bition of his powers as a mesmerist on a number of
the sailors. The trances into which he threw them
at will, and the extraordinary delusions under which
he made them labour, would be almost incredible to
any but those who witnessed it.
The Great Eastern anchored here at 7 o'clock this
morning. She lies far inside the bay, moored with
two anchors so as to swing freely, and is just beneath
the picturesque headland called, most appropriately,
" hungry hill." The coaling ships are all here, and
the work of filling up the bunkers commences to-
morrow. The William Corry, Albany, and Medway
are hourly expected with the rest of the cable. The
condition of the vast Mass of submarine wire on
board the Great Eastern has been tested night and
day by Mr. Willoughby Smith. Its condition has
steadily improved since its immersion under water
in the tanks, and it is now considered to be electri-
cally perfect.

The following telegrams have been received by
Reuter's Telegram Company (Limited) from Mr.
R. A. Glass, managing director of the Telegraph
Construction and Maintenance Company.

6 6 VALEIsiTIA, Friday.
" Shore-end of the Atlantic cable successfully
landed at 3 p.m. Tests perfect. The William
Corry proceeding to sea paying out slowly. Weather
fine. Cable of 1865, tested at noon to-day, is perfect
as when laid.

" VALENTIA, Sunday.
Novel, Blackbird, Pedlar, Skylark, and William
Corry returned to Berehaven at 3.30 a.fn. All ves-
sels will complete coaling at Berehaven to-morrow
night, and will proceed to sea to splice main cable to
shore end on Wednesday morning, weather permit-
ting. All going well."

mit of Vesuvius, re-peopling for the moment the silent
streets of Pompeii, and lending by their bright presence
a new charm to Sorrento and to Capri.

Rome, as every one knows, was their head-quarters
during the seven days' battle of the Carnival—(laughter)
—the ancient prowess of the Romans paled before the
valorous enthusiasm of the fair strangers from our New
World.

Young and old mingled in the fray as though it was
the great business of life, and from their balconies and
masked batteries they fired volleys of confetti and flowers,
and received the shot of the enemy in return with a
bravery that never flinched, and a resolution that never
flagged. (Cheers.)

They stormed St. Peter's during Holy Week. (Cheers
and laughter.) They invaded the Vatican by regiments.
In Indian file they explored the catacombs in companies.
Armed with their Murrays they trooped through the gal-
leries by platoons.

They were reviewed in the morning at the Pazza d
Spagna, and in the evening on the Pincio with a military
band. They marched and counter-marched the Corso
from the Piazza del Popolo to the Forum of Najan.
They gathered in the Colliseum by the light of the
moon, and by the most brilliant illuminations. They
bivouaced in the villas of the Italian nobles ; and ex-
tended their lines to Albano, Frascati, Tusculum, and
Tivoli. Their cavalry assembled at the meet and scoured
the Campagna, and they rendezvoused week by week in
the beautiful garden of the Emperor of the French, which
crowns the ruins that were once the palaces of the
Caesars. (Cheers.)
As we came northward late in the spring we assisted in
bringing up the stragglers in the rear, and swelling the
trains of baggage. At Florence they were in possession
of the Pitti and Uffizzi. From thence to Bologna they
were studying the admirable engineering of the railroad
across the Apenines. At Venice they were at home in
the piazza of San Marco, or embarked in gondolas on the
grand Canal, from the Bridge of Sighs to the Rialto. A
Padua, Ferrara, Milan and Como, Turin and Susa, were
parties of skirmishers, with couriers hastening to recross
the Alps, to renew in Paris their munitions of war, and
refill what the French with charming propriety designate
armoires. (Applause and laughter.)
Nor is it to be supposed that they returned empty-
handed, or that their invasions of the studios and ateliers,
of ancient palaces and curiosity shops, have been without
results. The bankers of Italy could assure you on this
point. The forwarding houses could point you to the
piles of boxes containing the fruits of their forays—paint-
ings, statues, cabinets, and antiques.

Indeed, I heard of one party from Boston, who in a brief
foraging expedition had actually captured an entiro gal-
lery, which is, I believe, now on its way from the City of
the Sea to the Hub of the Universe. (Laughter and
applause.)

In this beautiful Paris, whose increasing magnificence
commands our constant admiration, a handful of volun-
teers from New York have seized upon one of the finest
works intended for the approaching Exhibition—a group
in bronze of a tigress and her cubs, by Auguste Cain—and
this trophy is devoted to our Central Park. (Great ap-
plause.) And thus are the European masterpieces of the
olden and present time being rapidly gathered for our
country from tho Atlantic to the Pacific ; and this thought
suggests another, that now is the time for the American
people to lay the foundation of a National Institute and
Gallery of Art, and that the American gentlemen now in
Europe are the men to inaugurate the plan.
This brilliant assembly, then, is but a detachment of the
American army of invasion, whose coming is so cordially
greeted. You see here but the rear-guard, temporarily
loft at Paris, while the main body occupy the watering-
places of Franco and Germany. Some preparing to invade
Denmark and Russia, others to push their route, like Julius
Cresar, to the shores of Britain ; or hastening to conquer
the passes of the Alps, mounted on a mule, like the first
Napoleon. (Cheers and laughter.)
Wherever this army goes, it goes as an army of ideas ;
wherever its members go they go as citizens and as
sovereigns ; representing the nationality, watchful of the
rights, jealous of the honour of the American Republic.
(Applause.)
We aro happy in meeting at a spot where all Americans
aro at home—in the heart of that France that has fought
by our side, but never against us —(enthusiastic and pro-
longed applause)—and between whose people and our
own exist none but bright and cordial memories. (Re-
newed cheers) _

It is a pleasant thought that to-clay Americans in Europe
are assembling everywhero as we aro assembled hero ;
delegates from far different sections, members of different
parties, advocates of opposing policies, but all uniting, as
of old in the family circle, to celebrato with a common
pride the birth-day of our common country. (Warm and
prolonged applause.)
Let mo closo by calling for threo cheers for tho President
of the United States.

Those were given with waving of hats and handkor•
chiefs and wild enthusiasm.