The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-09 00:00:00

TILE GREAT EASTERN.

The completion of this magnificent vessel was
formally celebrated yesterday at a banquet on board
the ship, which was honoured by the presence of
many of the members of both Houses and some of
the most distinguished engineers and scientific men
in the kingdom. During the short interval which
has elapsed since our last notice of this noble ves-
sel the work of her completion has progressed with
giant strides, and it is only doing bare justice to
Mr. Scott Russell's exertions to say that no other
man in the kingdom could have fitted the vessel in
the same time, and there were not a few who be-
lieved that the task would prove too much
even for his energy. Three' weeks or so ago
and only one or two of the six masts were fixed,
the bulwarks bad not been quite completed, the
hull wanted painting, the decks were piled
with indescribable lumber of all kinds, while
the labyrinth of cabins and saloons below seemed
only so many dirty storehouses for unfinished
joinery. Yesterday the scene on board was the
reverse of all this, and such progress has been
made that the ship now looks as she will look
when proceeding to sea, and as she ought to look
is• keep pace with her reputation as the largest and
finest specimen of naval architecture that ever
floated. The deck has been planed and scrubbed
to man-of-war whiteness, and not even a stray
rope's end breaks the wonderful effect produced by
its immense expanse. Her fleet of small boats
(that is to say, about the size of sailing cutters),
hang at the davits, 10 on each side. The whole
vessel has been painted, the saloons are finished,
the cabins decorated, and even furnished. The
masts are fixed and rigged with the exception
of the yards, which will be sent up in
a day or two. The three centre square-rigged
masts £re of iron. They were made by Mr.
Finch, of Chepstow, and are the finest specimens of
masts of the kind that were ever manufactured.
Each is made of hollow wrought iron in eight-feet
lengths, strengthened inside by diaphragms of the
same material. Between the joints, as they were
bolted together, was placed a pad of vulcanized
indiarubber, which gives a spring and buoyancy to
the whole spar greater than wood, while at the
same time retaining all the strength of the iron.
The breaking strain of the six shrouds to each of
these masts is over 300 tons, which gives maniple
security for the masts being properly supported, as
the weight of each is only 22 tons. On deck are
four small steam winches or engines, each of which
works a pair of cranes on both sides of the vessel.
Anything more simple or more perfect than
the double mechanism by which these are made
to work at both sides can hardly be conceived,
and the value of the invention may be estimated
when we say that with these four double
cranes alone 5,000 tons of coals can be hoisted into
the vessel in 24 hours. Thus the grave objections
of those who speculated on the loss of time required
to coal the Great Ship are entirely done away with.
The chief saloons—all save one—have only been
fitted to a certain extent• in a temporary manner.
The fittings are exceedingly handsome and sub-
stantial, but the decorations of the huge iron walls
and girders have been reserved until after her first
trip, and now are only painted of a plain white.
The absence of elaborate decoration in them, how-
ever, is amply compensated in the chief saloon,
which has been finished to show the superb style
in which the whole will be decorated when the
Great Eastern begins running to the East. On this
saloon Mr. Crace has lavished his utmost efforts,
and the result is a combination of taste and rich-
ness to an extent which is really astonishing.
Whether the fine traceries of gold and colour are
examined in detail, or whether one 'chooses to
judge by the tone and effect of the whole
apartment, the decision is equally favourable, and
this saloon is not only the finest and richest of any
that has yet been attempted, but is likely to re-
main for many years the standard by which all
other cabins of the kind will be judged. It is said
that the mirrors, gilding, carpeting, an 4 silk cur-
tains for this apartment alone, cost £3,000. In
the berths, of course, no attempt is made at costly
decoration of this kind, though the fittings are
good and sufficiently luxurious. The berths are
arranged in three classes—those for parties of six
or eight, and these are large rooms—those for
parties of four, and the rest in the usual style of
double cabins. All are very roomy as cabins go—
very lofty, well lit, and those on the outer sides
exceedingly well ventilated. On the lower deck
the berths are even larger, loftier, and more
commodious than those in the upper. Both the
berths and saloons here are, in fact, almost un-
necessarily high, having very nearly 15 feet in the
clear. The kitchens, pantries, and sculleries are all
on the same extensive scale, and fitted with all the
large culinary requisites of first-class hotels. The
ice-house holds upwards of 100 tons of ice, and the
lofty wine vaults—for such, in fact, they are—
already contain wine enough to form a good freight
for an Oporto trader.
But it was not to see the vessel only that some
300 or 400 visitors were on board yesterday. The
great feature of the day was the trial of both screw
and paddle engines for the first time. It is quite
impossible by mere verbal description to convey an
adequate idea of the colossal proportions of both
these sets of engines—the former by Boulton and
and Watt, the latter by Mr. Scott Russell. The
paddle engines consist of four oscillating cylinders,
of 74 inches diameter and 14' feet stroke ; each pair
owfiethasyitsdisccroannnkection
pump, forms in itself a complete and separate en-
, condenser, and air
three, so that the whole is a combination of four en-
gines. fine,
capable
a p a b cylinders,l e
A friction clutch connecting the two
from the other
cranks is the means by which the engines are con-
nected or disconnected. All the sets of engines,
both screw, paddle, and auxiliary, are provided
with governors, expansion and throttle valves. The
paddle engines work up to an indicated power of
3,000 horses cf 33,0001 b. when working 11 strokes
per minute with steam in the boiler in the boiler at
151 b., the expansion, valve cutting off at one-
thir of the stroke. All the parts, however, are
so constructed that they will work smoothly either
at eight strokes per minute at 251 b. without expan-
sion (beyond what is unavoidably effected in the
slides), or at 16 strokes a minute with the expan-
sion valve cutting off at one quarter of the
stroke. Under the latter circumstances the paddle
engines alone would give an indicated power of 5,000
horses. The boilers are immensely strong, and have
been tested to double the pressure they are required
to bear. Their weight, including donkey engine,
pumps, funnels, &e., is 210 tons, and they are cap-
able of containing 156 tons of water. Each set
has about 8,000 square feet of tube surface, exclu-
sive of flue or furnace, and about 400 square feet
of fire-bar surface. Each is equal to supply freely
with moderate firing steam for an indicator of
1,800-horse power when working with 151 b., but
with full firing can supply an indicator of 2,500
horse power. The fire-placei and ash-pits are fitted
so as to be well adopted for the use of anthracite
coal.

The screw engines are constructed on the same
improved principles. They have four cylinders
of 84 inches diameter and 4 feet stroke. The
cylinders are capable of being worked together or
separately. When working 45 strokes a minute,
with steam on at 151 b. and cutting off at one-
third of the stroke, these engines give an indicated
power of 4,400 horses, but at 55 strokes a minute,
steam on at 251 b., and cutting off at one-quarter of
the stroke, the power will reach to 6,000 horses.
Thus the united efforts of both' screw and paddle
engines will drive the immense vessel through the
water with a power of no less than 12,000 horses.
What fleet could stand in the way of such a mass,
weighing some 30,000 tons, and driven through
the water by 12,000-horse pourer at the rate of 22
or 23 miles an hour? The screw engine boilers
are in 'three distinct sets. Their weight is 362 tons,
and their capacity for water 270 tons. The pro-
bable consumption of coal when both engines are
at full work will average 250 tons per clay. The
cellular compartments at the bottom of the ship
will be used for pumping .water into instead of
ballast, and as the webs subdividing these are made