The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-12 00:00:00

THE GREAT BASTERIV.

The progress which, during the last four weels,
has been made in the fitting and equipping the
Great Eastern steamship for sea has been so radii
that within a month it is expected her steam w'"
be up and she will be on her way across the Atlant'e;
The noise of workmen, and swarms of boats all
little steamers hovering around her constantly, 11,'
show that " Brunel's Folly" is yet a thing of
and hope, and of certain completion. The thrff,
iron masts of the Great Eastern were designed by
Mr. Brunel, and they have been constructed b;
Messrs. Finch and Heath, of Chepstow. Thesie
huge iron columns rise 122 feet above the UPP°'
deck, and have a diameter of 3 feet 6 inches for a
height of 70 feet, when they decrease gradually t°
2 feet 6 inches at the cap. The three masts alLe
now on board, and the first of them was lifted jai."
its place on Saturday. Its weight above deck ,
about 40 tons ; the two others are ready for hoist
ing, and will be in their places in a few days.
The three wooden masts, which are in their plac`i'
were supplied by Messrs. Ferguson, and are raagu;;.
ficent spars. They are not built masts, but a'ci
single sticks," as they are called. The fore an 4
mizen-masts are 140 feet in height, and 34 inc,hei
in diameter at the deck; the jigger- mast is 122 lee
in height, and of the same diameter. The trees
which form these masts have been, brought 133°1‘e
than 13,000 miles to occupy their present positio°
The trees are New Zealand pines. The topniostsr
are 76 feet in height, and 22 inches in diameter,f,°o
nearly six feet in circumference at their base.
spars, too, are of giant dimensions. The main
is 120 feet long, and at its centre it is a yard 11:
diameter, thick and strong as the masts themselVe°
at the deck.
The ship is built in water-tight compartments'
and so completely water-tight are they, that a feSV
days since the foremost one was filled with 6,000
tons of water pumped into it from the river, and not
a drop escaped into any adjoining portion. The
object in pumping this mass of water into the fore
part of the ship was to bring her down at the bows
and raise the stern while they fixed the screw.
This weight brought her down till, said one of the
men " her nose touched the water." She went down
11 feet forward, and was raised 7 feet aft ; a P°l-
- of her keel was, in fact, raised out of the water;
and yet, so strong and so rigidly is she built, that
under this enormous strain the ship did not dale;ilg.
an inch. The engines for working the paddles! l
is said, may be completed in a week. Everything
is in its place—cylinders, and pistons, and Vv,el:
nors. The engine for working the screw is it'
same state of forwardness, and on Thursday th
steam was got up for the first time in the boilers of
the screw engines. All that mass of iron, nfo,
inert and immovrble, will in a few days uphe:oo
rnd drive the ship through the water with 12,' ro
horse power. The steam willbe generated in boil!,
holding More than 500 tons of water, and require
250 tons each day to feed the furnaces which
them. Down in the depths of the engine-roora
engineer will receive all his orders from the car'
tain and mate by an .electric telegraph. fir
There will'be accommodation provided in the la
instance for 45 officers of all ranks, and for willbe
of 350. The first class portion of the ship fas.
fitted up in the first grade with 800 beds :and s°oo
In the second grade there will be acconimodatio
for 400, and in the third grade about the sa
number. This accommodation for about 2000 Pie
sons for the first voyage will leave untow,hed S° °f
acres of saloons and vacant space in other parts (re
the ship. The part usually devoted to steerel't
passengers in other vessels will not be touclied,f;e
present, and the passengers to be carried in the
first trip will be all first-class, but of differ,l,o
grades, each grade occupying a separate leck.
cabins are roomy and commodious, admirably ce't
tilated, and the dining-rooms are lofty. The fill
trip will be made to Portland, in the Stato of Main!:
and will, it is announced, be made early next month
The sums which bad been expended on. the shig
up to the time of its memorable launch amounted
to £640,000. The original shareholders had not
power to raise more money, and a new company
was formed, with a capital of £330,000,
for the purpose of purchasing the ship and equir
ping her for sea. Of this sum, £165,000 was to
_r
given to the original proprietors, and the remainde!
was to be applicable for finishing the ship.. Nea
in. D. shares,
the whole of the shares were tarn th.e old 13,17.,
prietors, so that the ship still remains :in effect re
the same hands. The contract for finishing It',l
whole of the works was given to Mr. Sc ott Russeb'e
for a sum of £325,000, and everything was t°ura
completed by the 4th of September. A pre that
of £l,OOO was also given for each week before '1,1,5.
time that the contractor could complete the w°r'`.,,,o
The whole expenditure on the ship up to the tig,
of its going to sea will be £970,000, and prolo.;:„
some incidentarcharges and contingeneie:s will brPe
the whole up to the round sum of £1,000,000.