The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-09-14 00:00:00

manned, and they b,

.gan to heave, but t

When the -Birkenhead took up her position the
water was smooth as a millpond. The rising tide lifted
the lighters with their logs of wood up to the outriggers,
and the rest of the varied apparatus ; but the Great Bri-
tain overwhelming these with her monstrous wefght
seemed to bid defiance to the means devised by human
skill alone, although applied with steadfast perseverance ;
some power superior was requisite. The camels, which
were water-tight, were too large to be confined with the
hawsers used, powerful though they were, and they
bounced out of their stronghold with loud reports. Such
as were leaky became waterlogged, and helped to obstruct
the heave. The lighters seemed to slip from under their
burden ; the blocks flew out of their places, some of the
outriggers and their shores yielded to the pressure, crack-
ing with a frightful noise, and the great and powerful, but
steady strain upon the hawsers, by the purchases and cap-
stans of the Birkenhead, was utterly futile. The iron
mass could not be moved this day by this means, added to
the lesser, although more numerous, purchases employed
in the reat Britain itself. The signal, " She won't
come off this tide," cast a damp of disappointment over
every countenance, and of despair as to the result over the
spirit of many deeply interested in the stirring event.
Every exertion was made next morning to remedy the
causes of failure, and the dreaded south wind brought in
an increase of tide.
On the first signal " heave," the hawsers already on the
stretch were hove with a steady working step. " Heave
with all your might," was responded to by the increase of
pace applied with all the vigour of the men, each vying
with his fellow to lift the vessel off. " She moves"
animated every countenance ; each eye sparkled with the
light of hope, which warmed also every heart with an in-
expressible mixture of gratitude and joy. The hawsers
came in nicely. " She is all your own, boys," was re-
sponded to with cheers and fresh exertion. The great
steam ship obeyed the hempen calls of her iron consort
The weight again seemed all at once to - -
sand " -(1 env,—

nad come in contact with the Great Britain; but it
was not so. Her gallant captain, elated, as well he might
be with success and gratification, had prudently cast his
anchor, limiting the distance of the first movement of the
leaky vessel to a puint so near the low water mark as to
secure her floating with the next_ flood tide ; but still so
high and dry upon the sand as to admit of an inspection
of her bottom, and such reparation as might diminish the
influx of water, and justify or not the attempt to float
her on the ocean.

The retiring tide exhibited the celebrated iron steamer,
upright, high and dry, at once the astonishment and the
admiration of every beholder. Now were to be seen the
carpenters, and every one else fitted for such work, with
staves and wedges of wood and oakum, and grease, and
everything that could be used with probability of success,
stopping up holes, repairing breaches and stanching the
leaks, which were terrific. At this juncture the Irish
labourers refused to work the pumps, which compelled
new labours from Her Majesty's crews. These indefati-
gable men were ready, though their summons was ex-
ceedingly short. A light at the Peak was to announce the
want of men, and in five minutes, dark though it was when
it appeared, away went 25 of the men who had been la-
bouring for previous days and nights, from each of Her
Majesty's ships. The motion of the Great Britain was
diligently watched. A messenger came for men to take
up hawsers and bring in the paddle-box boats from the
distance of near two miles. The boat was presently
manned and pushed off. It was too dark to see what was
going forward. But soon the foresail was spread—the
wind which had lulled veered round from south to west,
and now a gentle breeze from north-west came off the
shore and favoured the floating off the Great Britain from
the beach. She evidently approached the Birkenhead,
insomuch as to create some apprehensions of her running
foul of her. With her came the paddle-box boats, and
then the crew of the Birkenhead to heave up the anchors.
It was then made known that Captain Claxton had been
forced to slip his cables and cut his hawsers, to escape
being stranded afresh on the shallows of Dundrum Bay.
To enable the men to heave the anchors, they had been
taken from the pumps. Meantime it was apprehended
that the leaks being so great, and the accumulation of
water so rapid, the ship would scarcely keep afloat. It
was a moment of intense anxiety. The labour of heaving
the anchor seemed to have increased tenfold, and every
moment begot the painful feeling that without help at the
pumps she must go down. She appeared low in the
water, and, in fact, the engineer betrayed such misgivings
as to require thnt both the Birkenhead's paddle-box boats
might be lashed alongside, in case of an emergency he
seemed to dread. The anchors up, the towing hawsers
were soon attached, and when she yielded to the paddle
wheels of the Birkenhead much anxiety subsided. The
return of men to the pumps reduced the water mark.
Fresh hope was excited, and Strangford Bay, some two
hours' distance, promised security to the heavy charge.
The sun began to dawn, and we passed St. John's Light-
house, when " Direct for Liverpool" was shouted from
the sister '
vessel. On reflection, however, it was deemed
by Captain Claxton, that men of whatever mettle, ex-
hausted as they had been by the almost incessant labour
of three days and nights, could not stand to the pumps, as
it was needful, for the many hours ere the port of Liver-
pool could be made. The pilot provided was well ac-