The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-04 00:00:00

QUEENSTOWN, SOT. 2.

Wind S.
Arrived—Freedom, from Odessa.

WATIRFORD, Nov. 1:
Arrived—Genetore Nicole, from Constantinople.

N vw rriinn!v:o
southdE:
Nov.(BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAM)
tide, first hour's flood ; raining.
Ar
GRAVESEND, Wednesday Morning'
2—Jnlia, from Guernsey.
DEAL, Wednesday, Morning:
Passed, Nov. 3—Quiver, from London for St. Mich:kora
. by west, light.

THE ATTEMPT TO LAUNCH THE

GREAT EASTERN.

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

The following appeared in a part of our impression of
yesterday evening, in time for Post (3d Edition) :
Everything seemed to go off smoothly and hope-
fully up to about half•past two o'clock, when the
launch had proceeded so far that her stem was
moved about four feet, and her stern six feet some
inches. The strain at this time was immense
—the chains were worked into a straight horizon-
tal line by the pressure, and thousands in boats
and steamers on the water, as well as thousands
in and about the yard, were wound up to an
intense interest.

All looked well—when presently a loud crash like
thunder burst upon the gazing wonderers—for one
of the chains snapped ! and the water was in a
splash of commotion, boats and steamers were
so taken by surprise, and manifest disappointment.
What's next to be done? was the universal question,
but there was no one to answer at the moment.
However, nothing daunted by the accident,'Mr.
Brunel gave his orders with a calmness and forti-
tude worthy of his gigantic mind. "It will be all
right yet !" or something to that purport was his
ejaculation on the misfortune being ascertained.
It appears that the strain was so great near the
hydraulics engine and apparatus that a cast-iron
wheel near the winch suddenly snapped, and the
winch turned round with such impetuous velocity as
to throw four or five men, who were working at it,
rigid into the air, whirling them some distance.
The poor fellows fell and were dashed against
the planks and large timbers that were lying about
the yard. But for this untoward accident, it was
fully expected that the launch would have been
completed in the afternoon.

The dararge done to the machinery may be re-
paired in a day or two ; but the tides will "take
off," as the sailors say, thus verifying the old adage
that—

" Time nor tide,
For no man will abide."

We regret most sincerely this sad haphazard
to a project so deserving a the most complete
success. But as Rome was not built in a day,
nor the Great EAstern in many long days and nights,
there is nothing to despair of. She will be launched
in the fulness of time, and Mr. Brunel's grand
conception be crowned with surpassing and unex-
ampled glory.

The rain came on heavily after this accident. It
ig now said that the launch will be deferred until
the 2d of December.

(From the Timm)

Yesterday morning the first attempt was made to
lower this colossal steam-ship at Millwall into the
river. It was the first attempt, and only an at-
tempt, for from one cause and another the effort to
move her beyond a few feet totally failed, and the
gigantic vessel, which ere this should have been a
" monster of the deep," remains as firm, if not
firmer than over, upon the river's bank.
For another month at least, if not for a longer
period, the launch has been postponed, and the
2d December has been fixed as the earliest period
on which the next effort can be made. Owing to
the uncertainty which appeared to prevail even in
the minds of those most intimately connected with
the company as to the day when the attempt to
lower the ship was to be made, the public were
most unsettled. in their notions, and up to Monday
it was generally believed that the launch was not
to take place for some time. The attendance,
therefore, of the usual sightseers which one always
meets at such exhibitions in the metropolis was very
limited, and with a few notable exceptions, the
assembly to witness the proceedings seemed chiefly
belonging to the working classes. There was rather
a strong muster of engineers and scientific gentlemen
not only from all parts of England, but even from
France, Germany, America, and Russia, but of mere
fashionable !men, or members of the aristocracy,

the nnmber was extremely limited. The Count de
Paris, with the Duke d'Aumale and several French
gentlemen, were early on the ground, and watched
every movement in the day's proceedings with the
deepest interest. The Siamese ambassadors with a
numerous retinue were also present, and for a time
draw off attention even from the mountainous ves-
sel which seemed to shut up the whole yard. The
principal personage among these rather remarkable
foreigners was attired in a gorgeous robe of cloth
of gold, but the dress of most of the attaches to the
embassy was extremely simple, being for the most
part composed of common printed cottons. All of
them smoked and chattered incessantly, and ap-
peared far from being indifferent to the observa-
tion they excited among the spectators. So gratified,
indeed, did they seem by it that the attention which
they paid to the proceedings of the day was quite
subordinate to their efforts to display themselves
to a British public with advantage and effect. Con-
sequently their first appearance was attended with
considerable eclat and success. All the houses in
the neighbourhood which commanded a good view
-into the yard were surmounted with scaffolding for
\tbe accommodation of the throng of visitors who
vr, e expected on this occasion to overrun the Isle
of l gs, but who, nevertheless, it was evident, for
the most part infinitely preferred staying away. At
all events, the wide expanse of planks and boards
was almost wholly untenanted throughout the day,
which certainly in many cases was a source of com-
fort to the lookers-on, for some of the seats were
but ill calculated to support the weight of half the
people they vaunted to accommodate. The influx
of pedestrians who stood in all the streets around
the yard with their eyes intently fixed upon the
vessel was very great. So also steamboats and
wherries, laden almost to the water's edge, covered
the river, and all along the wharfs and works at
Deptford, on the margin of the Thames, was thronged
with crowds, for the great vessel towered like a
mountain of iron high over all around, and could
be distinctly seen from both sides of the river.
During the whole of Monday night the work-
men were retained in the yard removing the struts
and shores which supported her on the side to-
wards the river, aud'before dawn yesterday morn-
ing the last beam bad been entirely taken away.
Then, for the first time, the whole length of the
vessel, from stem to stern, was visible without the
slightest break. The graceful sweep of her lines,
the clear sharp run of her bows and sweep of the
stern, could be appreciated at a glance. The last
supports were not removed until every precaution
had been taken to ascertain that she was securely
stayed by her check-tackle, and that there was no
fear of her suddenly gliding down the " ways' and
, launching herself.
From the articles which have appeared in this

journal our readers must be quite fa.niiliar with the
peculiar construction of the launching ways, and
also have derived a correct general idea of the
nature of the tackle by which she was to be lowered
into the water. It may, however, be as well to
briefly mention again these mechanical appliances,
and the manner in which each acted. First, then,
on the river side four large lighters were moored in
the tideway, and worked with crabs and sheaves
upon the chains, which were fastened to the vessel
amidships. Each of these four lighters was ca-
pable of applying a strain of 60 tons, all of which
were to be used to draw the vessel down the launch-
ing ways in case of any contretemps which might
prevent her running. Two lighters were also
moored at the stem and two at the stern of the
vessel. The chains passed from the ship to these
latter were returned again on shore, so as to be
worked with a double purchase. Small stationary
engines on land were used to haul in these, and
made the whole force available to pull the vessel
off the shore upwards of 600 tons.
These were the moans taken to draw her down
to the water, but the greatest efforts of Mr. Brunel
were, of course, concentrated in the check tackle
which was to pull her back and prevent her
dashing into the river at the fearful mo-
mentum of 12,000 tons weight, sliding
down an incline of 1 in 12. For this purpose two I
most powerful drums have been constructed, to 1
which the cradles were attached by enormous
sheaves or pulleys of cast iron, expressly cast for
this purpose, and weighing five tons each. One
sheave was fastened to each cradle, and wrought
iron chain cables of the largest size connected these
with two other sheaves, each of which was secured
to the drum, which payed out the chain, and, in
fact, regulated the whole operation. These drums
and the framework on which they rest having to
bear the strain of the whole mass in motion, extra-
-1
ordinary precautions were taken to render them as
massive as they could be made by any known com
bination of wood and iron. The shape was that of
an ordinary reel, the axle of which was formed by
beams of timber and strips of wrought iron bound
together so as to form a drain about 20 feet long
and 9 feet in diameter. At each end of the cylin-
der are the wheels of the drum or discs, 16 feet in
diameter, each of solid iron, and weighing upwards
of 20 tons, so that the weight of each drum is more
4 than 64 tons in all. The axle, of the disc is actin a

frame of iron, while around its outer edge passes a
band of wrought iron to work in the manner of a
friction clutch or break. This, with the aid of
strong iron levers 20 feet long, brings such a
pressure to bear on the discs of the drum as to
lower its rate of revolutions, or entirely stop them
in case of the chain being payed out too fast.
These drums were set in a solid bed of wood
formed by driving down masses of piles into the
gravel, so as to form a mass of timber 20 feet
square. This is bound together with iron, and
strong shores pass from the cube of piles to the bed
of piles on which the launching-ways are built. So
that, in fact, no matter what the strain, it was
impossible for the setting of the drums to give,
unless the whole river's bank gave way with them.
One of these drums is built opposite each cradle—
the chains used between them and the cradles are
the chain cables of the great ship itself which are
2,1 inch in diameter, or about 601 b. the link. Be-
tween each drum and the cradle on which the ves-
sel rested, a hydraulic ram was fixed to " start" her.
That at the forward end gave a pressure of 600
tons, the one at the stern 1,000.
The launch was fixed to commence at 11 o'clock,
but things were not arranged for the moving of
the monster when that time came. Gangs of men
were employed in hauling chains, in clearing away
the slightest obstacle upon the ways, and giving the
metals the final coating down of black lead and oil.
Mr. Brunel's position was high up in a little ros-
trum fixed on the inner side of the vessel. On this
spot he was in a line with the conspicuous marks
which had been erected on each side of the ship
and facing him on Mr. Penn's factory on the other
side of the river. From this point he was to regu-
late the advance of stem and stern by signals, which
were communicated to the gangs of workmen, both
to pull her off and hold her back by means of flags
—a white flag being the signal to haul together,
and a red one to cease on all points.
It was nearly half-past 12, and the public was
beginning to yawn and manifest impatience, when
they were somewhat appeased by seeing the chris-
tening bottle of wine, gaily decorated with flowers,
carried forward to the stem of the vessel. Here it
was soon suspended, arid Miss Hope, the daughter
of the chairman of the Great Eastern Company,
giving it a hearty swing, dashed the wine over the
bows of the vessel and bade "The Leviathan" God
speed, amid the cheers of thousands. In a few
moments afterwards the word was passed to com-
mence the launch. At the signals the lighters
slowly but steadily commenced to haul taut their
tackle from the river, which it was thought would
of itself be sufficient to bring the vessel gently down.
It appeared, however, to have no effect beyond once
or twice producing in the vessel itself a sullen rum-
bling noise like distant thunder as the great strain
told upon her hull. It remained thus for about
10 minutes. Expectation was wound up to the
highest pitch, when the peculiar hissing noise of
the hydraulic rams at work to push her off was
heard. We should have mentioned that each of the
!drums was so constructed so as to be turned by
ordinary windlasses in order to wind up the slack
chain between the drums and the cradles, otherwise
if any slack was left when thehydraulic rams started
the vessel it would run it rapidly out, and Heaven
only knows the consequences that might ensue.
When the " rams" began to work, the order was
distinctly given to " wind up"—meaning to coil in
this slack between the drum and the cradle. This
was accordingly done at the forward drum, but un-
fortunately, at the stern of the vessel the men did
precisely the reverse, and uncoiled more slack chain.
Among the number of engineers who were looking
on, the danger of this was seen at a glance, but
there was no official to check the men, who seemed
ordinary " navvies." Suddenly there was a cry of
" She moves, she moves !" the fore part of the
vessel slipped, and the stern rushed down rapidly.
It seemed to slip some three or four feet in the space
of a couple of seconds, in consequence of the slack
chain from the after drum offering not the least
check. In an instant the strain came upon the
drum, which was dragged round, and of
course, as that was connected with the windlass by
multiplying wheels, the latter turned some 10 or
15 times for every foot the drum moved. The men
at the windlass madly tried to hold it, but the
heavy iron handle flew round like lightning, strik-
ing them and hurling five or sixhigh into the air as
if they had been blown up by some powerful explo-
sion. A panic seemed to spread as this shocking
accident took place, and the men stationed at the
tackle and fall of the level next the windlass rushed
away. Fortunately, most fortunately, for the lives
of hundreds of the spectators, the men at the lever
at the other side of the drum stood firm, and hauling
on their tackle drew their lever up and applied the
break on the drum with such terrible force that the
ship instantly stopped, though she seemed to quiver
under the sudden check as if she had received a
heavy blow, and the check-tackle and massive pile
of timber which restrained the drums strained audi-
bly. The whole of this took place in the course of
two or three seconds. The vessel dropped, the men
were hurled from the windlass, and with a heavy
rumbling noise the tremendous structure was still
on the " ways" again, almost before the spectator
had time to imagine what had occurred. For a
moment there was rather a panic, and a disposition
to run front the spot, but it was only momentary.
Four of the men who were injured were carried off
to the Poplar Hospital at once, and a fifth, who
seemed to have sustained some severe internal hurt,
was afterwards obliged to be assisted from the yard.
This melancholy occurrence seemed to exercise a
most depressing effect, especially upoa the work-
men, though the tremendous strain to which the
drum was exposed, and which even with the friction
of only one break proved sufficient to check the
vessel with a great and unexpected momentum on
her, showed that the check tackle was all that could
be desired. An examination of the place where the
accident occurred showed that the toothed wheels
of the windlass (which seemed totally insufficient
in multiplying power to enable the men to exercise
any check upon the revolution of the drum) were
broken, and appeared so out of gear that they were
almost useless. Beyond this damage, which was
of not the least importance, the rest of the apparatus
of the drum and framework was as firm as ever.
The vessel it was found had slipped down the ways
about three feet at the forward drum, and 4 feet 3
inches at the one fixed aft. The stern had pro-
gressed, of course, about 6 feet towards the river.
All this took place before a quarter to 1 o'clock,
and it was 2 before everything was again ready to
move her still further down the ways. Before that
time the weather, which at no period had been very
favourable, became still worse, and the little drops
of rain which had now and then fallen at short in-
tervals gave place to a regular, steady drizzle, so
that the public looked with unusual impatience to
the launching efforts. At a few minutes after two
o'clock the men were all again at their posts, and
the signal was given to recommence. This time
every precaution was taken to prevent a loop of
slack in the chain again occurring. All the lighters
from the river got their hauling tackle in order,
and began to strain upon the vessel, but without
making the least apparent impression. The tide
was then within a few feet of its highest, and it be-
came evident to all concerned that if the vessJ I was
to be moved at all that day no time was to be lost.
Again from out of the dense mass of timber of the
cradles came the little hissing noise at regular in-
tervais which told that the enormous pressure of
the hydraulic rams was found requisite to start
her ; still, in spite of all, she never moved or showed
the slightest symptoms of being at all affected by
the terrific pressure which was applied to her.
After the pressure with the rams had been continued
some time, a rather loud crash was heard among
the timbers of the foremost cradle, and some men
ran from it. What it really was did not transpire,
but it was nothing of importance. The stationary
engine which, as we have mentioned, was put to
haul upon the chains to the bows at last gave way,
and the chain itself snapped in two, though not
until some of the teeth of the wheels of the engine
as we were informed, had also broken before the
l thatrey
incheslle
strain. At the same time a pin in the piston rod
of the foremost hydraulic ram also gave way, and
the foremost hydraulic rani also gave way, and
these two accidents were irreparable. The signal
was made to cease hauling, and in a minute or so
afterwards the officials of the company arnic, unced
' that the launch was over "for the day. The
yard was then cleared of strangers, and, as few
were aware of what had really caused the failure
of the attempt, the most extravagant rumours
soon got afloat. Among these the
was that the launching-ways themselvesfavouhriatde
setuenmk under the enormousthsheiphad
settled d
o weight,
w there
and
er
below the stern. For this report
sevias
really
no launching have beenenitely
no foundation at present. But, as all further
attempts towards definitely
pos r settling down in the " ways"
that the fears as to he
tponed till the 2d December, it is not impossible
may be realised before that time arrives. With a
weight of some
12,000 tons resting upon new made
earth, the safety of the vessel may become at any I
time a question of considerable doubt. On inquiry
at the Poplar Hospital late last evening our reporter
ascertained that the four men who were most injured
at the windlass had been received into that institu-
tion, and that every possible care and attention had
been bestowed upon their cases by the resident sur-
geon,
M. Brownfield. The
John Donovan, Henry, Stacey,
,mr.
men's names are
John Browne, and
Anthony Maher. The case of Donovan, who, besides
severe internal injuries, has sustained a fearful com-
pound comminuted fracture of the leg, is considered
hopeless. Stacey, who has also received' a dreadful
comminuted fracture of his leg, is in a precarious
condition. The other two men, Maher and Brown,
are severely contused and injured internally, but
are both likely to do well. The fifth man who

was hurt was conveyed to his home at his owa
request.

THE ORIGIN OF THE LEVIATHAN.
With regard to the oiiginator of the ship, we m
mention that the general belief has been that M!.
. K. Brunet waste designer ; but, in order toe
impression r-
rect that we this day publish a s tat ea; t
made by Mr. Scott Russell, iu which all concern .(1
in her original design and construction have receive i
heir due share of merit. Mr. Scott Russell sa3s—
" My share of the merit and responsibility is that of
builder of the ship for the Eastern Steam Navitra -
ion Company. I designed her lines and construc,,d
the iron hull of the ship, and I am responsible fcr
her merits or defects as a piece of naval architeolurc.
I am equally responsible for the paddle-wheel
engines of 1,000 horse-power, by which she is t ou
propelled. But Messrs. James Watt and Co., . the,
eminent engineers of Soho, have the entire men!:
the design and construction of the engines of 1,5011
horse-power, which are to propel the screw.
to the company's engineer, Mr. I. K. Brunel, tau
the original conception is due of building a steam-
ship large enough to carry coals suthcieut for full
steaming on the longest voyage."