The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-27 00:00:00

(Copy•)

"Dear Sit,—l have not yet been favoured with an official
answer to my letter of th© 19th inst., and as time now
presses I am desired by Mr. Lever to make a final offer,
which 1 shall be glad if you will at mace lay bef:re your
Board.

" For the sake of clearness I will state the proposal as
now submitted, viz. :
" 1. The owners to effectually work and man the ship,
and provide everything except coals, port charges, and pro-
visions for the passengers.
"2. The ship to have complete accommodation for not
less than 500 first, 500 second,.and 1,000 third-class pas-
sengers. _ _

"3. The ship to be at her port of departure ready for sea
in the month of September next. The charterers to have
30 days' previous notice, or such other number of days as
may be eventually agreed upon.
_ _

"4. The charterers, to have the entire use of the vessel,
and to pay for the hire thereof the sum' of £25,000 sterling
in cash, upon signing the formal charter party.
"5. Thirty working lay days to be allowed for all pur-
poses.
" 6. This offer is subject to the vessel steaming upon her
trial trip 14 knots per hour.

" 7. Should any contingencies arise during the continu-
ance of the charter, and the interest of the charterers be
prejudiced thereby, and should anytifferimee of opinion
arise thereon, the settlement shall be referred to the chair-
man of Lloyds, or any other party mutually agreed upon
on signing the charter party, whose decision shall be final
and binding upon both parties.
" Mr. Lever wishes your Board to clearly understand
that this offer, subject to such modifications in its -details as
may be mutually .agreed to, is final, and must be taken as
his ultimatum.
" As I understand your Board will meet this day, this
offer is subject to an answer not later than 12 o'clock to-
morrow (Friday).
" I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully, C. CAPPER.
" J. H. Yates, Esq., Secretary, Great Ship
Company (Limited).
" P.S. Should there be no berths for third-class passen-
gers Mr. Lever will fit up at his own cost whatever number
of berths may be required."

The following is the letter which accompanied
the offer made by Mr. Lever, through Mr. Capper,
to the Great Ship Company, for chartering the
vessel on her first passage across the Atlantic :
" 40, Cannon-street East, London, E.C., Aug. 25.
" Ducar am desirous that you should place before
the directors of the Great Ship Company a few facts for
their consideration in reference to the final offer I have this
day authorised you to make. No practical man would for
a moment contemplate so great an undertaking as to charter
the Great Eastern unless he could command great and pe-
culiar advantages, which I think I must be acknowledged
to possess. These consist
" 1. In having a fleet of steam ships ready to take the
place of the Great Eastern should an unforeseen aeciient
happen to the untried ship. I refer to the vessels now
advertised by me in connection with the Great Eastern, by
Messrs. Bake, Adam, and Co:
" Are the directors aware that in case of an accident the
shareholders would be responsible for the detention and
conveyance of passengers from any port, either in the out-
ward or homeward trip ? .

" 2. To make this trip a profitable ono, or rather to save
the shareholders from loss, a machinery of an extensive
character must be set in motion which cannot be impro-
vised. I allude to securing passengers and making all the
necessary preliminary arrangements that would give confi-
dence to the public, security to the voyage, and a certainty
of profit to the shareholders. Have the directors of the
Great Eastern all these preliminary arrangements at their
command ? Have they a fleet of steamers ready to take up
and carry out their engagements with the passengers should
the necessity arise ? Have they a net-work of booking
arrangements for passengers both in Europe, Canada, and
the United States ? Are they prepared to sustain a loss on
the voyage should they fail in these particulars ?
Let me now point out some of the msnetary provisions
of the proposed charter which I contemplate-
1. My offer for charter in cash is
2. Coals out and home near 5,000
3. Advertising in Great Britain and on the Continent 2,500

in United States and the North

American colonies
4. Brokers' commission in Europe

in America
5. Provisions for passengers
6. Insurance of passage money out and home ....
7. Port charges and contingent expenses ........
8. Fittings for third-class berths

2,504
1,250
1,2.50
9,000
7,500
4,000
1,000

—Say £59,000 sterling.
" 1 may further remark that Mr. Jackson himself men-
tioned to me that he had seen it stated in the papers that I
was going to take the ship to Quebec; pray disabuse his
mind as to that matter. On referring to my offer he will
find that I stated the ship should be sent 'from a safe port'
to 'a safe port.' Now, it is clear that I could not safely
send that ship into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and that there-
fore, I could not mean Quebec. Again, I beg to say I did
not require the ship to average 14 knots, but merely to make
14 knots on her trial trip, which, it must be confessed, is
only a moderate speed compared with what is expected from
her, viz., 20 knots. Mr. Jackson, however, stated, in my
interview with him, that if I had only bound the ship to
make 11 knots it would have been just the same.
" As the American autumnal traffic is returning, allow
me to add that unless I have the ship
.within two days as-
sured to me for the purpose of advertising, which would o
course be at my own risk, I could not offer half the sin!
which I have done. Time is just now all important.—.
am, dear sir, very faithfully yours,
" Charles Capper, Esq."

"J. 0. LEVER.

The day is now fast approaching when the Brea,
question of the success of this noble vessel as a kind
of ocean railway will be finally set at rest. This
afternoon is the last occasion when the public will
be admitted on board, as the whole of next week will
be entirely devoted to getting her ready for sea.
The works that yet remain to be completed are,
generally speaking, matters of minor detail, all of
which, however, will require a certain time for ex-
ecution, though not more than three or four days of
next week will be amply sufficient to accomplish.
Among the other things that have yet to be done
are making the necessary openings in the bulk-
heads to coal into the bunks over the boilers. Wa-
tertight doors have also to be put to the openittgs
in the main tunnels running fore and aft the ship
from the engine-rooms. The capstan deck forward
has also to be planed, the entire deck caulked, and
an access made to the bearing for the screw shaft.
Some kitchens have to he fitted up, and cooking
ranges fixed, and several of the cabins to be painted
and furnished. Accommodation is also ordered to
be prepared for 450 passengers to dine in the 80
feet saloon aft. Several berths have yet to be fixed,
and 150 additional sofas provided. The yards have
also to be crossed and the sails bent, and the steer-
ing apparatus to be fixed in place and tested. All
thse items seem to make a vast amount of work
yet to be done, but this is so only in appearance. Al-
most all these details belong to- different depart-
ments, and all can be going forward without hin-
drance at the same time. If it was necessary, not
the least doubt is felt that as far as these matters
are concerned the ship could be made ready for
sea in. from 24 to 36 hours at furthest. The
new steering apparatus will, perhaps, take a few
days to fix and regulate. This simple but most
ingenious invention is due to Mr. Langley, the
shipbuilder of Deptford. By means of this Cap-
tain Harrison, or the officer of the watch on the
bridge, will be enabled to steer the ship by a signal
indicator with as much certainty as if he guided
the wheel himself. A small illuminated dial, with
a moveable index, is fixed on the bridge, in front of
the officer of the watch, and connected with an-
other of the same description in front of the men, at
the helm. Moving the index finger of the machine
on the bridge to port or starboard moves the index
of the machine before the helm at the same time,
so that not a second is lost in putting the helm hard
up or down. In the same manner the rudder itself
is connected with another small dial before the
helmsmen, which tells by its index that they have
exactly obeyed orders, while this again communi-
cating with a similar machine on the bridge shows
the officer of the watch the instant his commands
are executed. The movements of the latter dial
being, of course, regulated by those of the rudder,
the officer on duty has always the helm, as it were,
under his eye, and can detect if the men suffer the
vessel to deviate a quarter of a point from her course
even for a second. The apparatus, moreover, pos-
sesses another advantage, and that is, that simply
moving over the index finger to hard aport opens
up two red lights on the port side, and by turning
it to starboard a double green one is similarly dis-
played. Thus small vessels are afforded every faci-
lity for getting out of the monster's way in her
imp
petuou rush over the deep. Crossing the yards and