Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1838-05-08
MISCELLANEOUS.
From the London .7thenGum

TFrom the London .7MenGum
ATLANTIC STEAM NAVIGATION.
Gs,eam 10 .rtp York-The well known steamship
Sirius. Lieut.. Roberts, R.. ~, Commander, is intended
TO leave London for New York, on Wednesday the 2oIh
of March, calling at Cork harbor, and 10 start from
thence on Monday, the I'd April, returning f'om New
York The LIST Of May
There is really no mistake, then, in this long talked
of project of navigating the Atlantic Ocean by steam
There is no doubt, that is, Of The existence OF an in'en'
ton to make the attempt, and to give the experiment. as
such, U fair trial.
The whole commercial community, at least Of our own
country, and we may add, of the United States, are alive
10 its interest, In Liverpool, n York, and the "Gfeat
Metropolis, the three depots OF the mercantile navi-
CATION Of Christendom, as one may CONSIDER 'hem
old Bristol herself, is the sound Of busy and emu!ous
preparation for a new contest of enterprise, science,
skill and renown on the seas, heard upon many n wharf
and shore ~:-'ferua epus'-,he work goes brnr'!y on.
The Sirius is absolutely getting under wr'Gh. while we
write this paragraph. fer America, New inrk RIA SniH!
The buzz Of xcite ment yesterday reached event the secIud'
cd walls Of our own study. We rushed down I" Black
wall, pelI nell, in an omnibus, Ike all The rest, u see,
not the Sirius, but the Great Western, which Inc pa
psrs have told us SD much about Tor a month past. WIN
a hundred workman OH board, engaged IN finishing her
ornamental work. and her berths merely, they hsVe
had q complete irvee OF strangers, II seems, Tor some
weeks past. Our waterpcn, who had good reason 10
remember well, rated the number the day before al o
thousand Groups of the nobility and gentry, with ms
Grace OF Wellington al their head, figured IN the cabin
album; and we met, as we came back, The Lo'c Mayor,
with his State carriage ana Tour tno'nlrn' roinhg IN gpIu'
GasIins down to Blackwell 10 get a glimpse; all III pnr.
sun, in a word, of the great animals OF the day-the
steamers now starting for the other side OF the Atlantic
The Sirius has succeeded in stealing a march on all
her long announced competitors; but IT Is only a start OF
Il fao davs, which in a race, for the first time, over The
Atlantic, is a triae after all. She left this port on We'd
nesday of the current week; and now The Great Western
is reused al length. One may see her excited almost
Ike q living thing. She heaVes her hinge whaie'iiRe
sides with Impotence. Her paddles instlnctively dash
into the water, as a war horse, when lie hears a trnm-
pet, paws The ground And see, how the fierce breath
Of giant defiance pours out OF her eager noStri!' Look
to il, Sirius!
In plain prose, we mean to inform nur readers that the
Bristol Company, the owners Of this fine boat, announce
;heir intention Of moving her from London Mts day,
round 10 her birth place, aud 10 start her thence tor New
York on Saturday next, April 9Th. They remark "a
Their sharply, tina, previously 10 her sailing, this ship
will have made several trip 10 sea She slows wIliease
sufficient coal for twenty five days steamlng II Is IN
necessary, therefore, 10 incur the delay OF calling a.
Cork" Furthermore, the Great Hestern is equipped
for the sole purpose of maintaining a constant commun.-
cation between England and New York. Again, mo
letters will be taken, excep, upon payment at the rate OF
is. the single sheet, newspapers and slips 3iracl. Far.
GELS in proportion to their size aud weight, and a sna'I
quantity of light goods at 81 per ton. Specie and Vaiua
bles a half per cent
A surgeon of high en.'ihc atoms is engaged, and n
branch pilot for the Bristol Channel aud IRISH coast is
attached 10 the ship, &c &c TINS looks. II must oe
allowed, very much like a systematic. doaa yfds, putting
Of our SO much agitsted theory a. iems;h TO the only tue
test.
The Sirius, is a boat belonging to the ST George
Steam Packe, Company, and has heretofore run, p''h
q good reputation, between London and Cotk. Though
by no means an old vessel, perhaps only old enough 10
have been thoroughly tried-sle is, OF course, not ex.
pressly built for The Atlantic route, being of The elder
and European regime; her tonnage abon; 700, with ei-
gines Of 32O horse power. Some Of them will remem.
Der the ridicule Of the crowds who, 80 years ago, saw
Fuitonis first effort 10 Iun a steamboat About the same
date good Sir Walter Scott was making merry with The
49, - r l. Hi 4 .i-n 49, 90. - - t"a ,-,
vious to his becoming President OF the Edinburgh OIL.
Gas Company, and having his own dwelling furnished
with the article from top to bottom We have some
where read g prediction ventuted IN 1874, that at some
day or other, when prejudice was blown over a little,
vessels would take guGdrantS TO sea
At all events, the Great Western is in itself an achieve
neut sufficient to renew for that ancient city, Bristol,
the fame of the days when Master Canynge's merchant.
ships were the frs, on the globe; witness the Mary md
John, of 600 tons, 40 years ago. This noble steamer
has a burtien of $40 tons. How it compares with the
class il belongs To, and with the spry little competitor
before mentioned, may be judged by the least seaman.
like reader Te have, when we say, that asiar as we Know,
the largest steam ship in Her Majesty navy, and that a
new one, is the Gorgon with q tonnage Of ,l50. The
Gorgon is constructed TO carry % days coal, q crew of
$50, and ] 900 men besides, and stores for six months.
Her engines are only of the same power with those ct
the Sirius. The largest American steam ship we have
heard OF is the Nalchez, now or lately on the stocks al
New York, intended to ply as a packet between that city
and The Southern port whose name she bears; her ton.
mage Is SUU. Inc NfllDtf'oi Ce ana I'ne ' lClOrld. nun
packets, were considered TO De- al the head Of the od
order of boats; the former a lu!e exceeding 900 feet IN
length, with paddle wheels "a Ter, in diameter, and ell
pines second only TO those used in the American scheme.
There may be a farther comparison with the Bristol boat,
b. stating that her length is about 24O feet; that each pad
dle.shaft, aller turning, weighs d 2 tons, and the inter
mediate shat, 4 9 tons, with da'nelers OF 1884 aud
II ! = inches; that her cylinders are 70 = inches in d.
ame,ei-the Gorgeous being Sc lnches-and nearly RI
valling the size OF the hughcsl ever used IN the most tx
tsnsipe operations of the Cornish mines; that she has
four boilers, rated Ia weigh, with The water IN them, loO
tons-bnrdering on a slowage room capable OF contain
ing in iron boxes nearly 900 tons Of coal; and that her
two marine engines IRE stated 10 have a 20 horse power
each. To imagine, ia a word, the appearance this
vessel makes in the river. among The myriad craft which
encircle her, one must conceive ola large man Of war
of so guns, with the unwieldy protnberances we have
mentioned at the sides: a steam apparatus Of the total
weight of 470 tons, q gre al black tunnel, and volumes
of smoke in due proportions; and wilhal, for The plan is
a complete sailing machinery-io emergen
of fair winds or accidents to MISUNDERSTANDING
rather low masls, rugged somewhat in schooner ST, lie,
md able TO add considerably on occasion TO the boats
speed. 1t appears that this ship is much the largest, on
he whole, ever built. The fore cabin is 46 feet long; an
.mple engine. room is lefl in The centre; and this separates
he former from a state.cabin Of S2 feet in length and
A in extreme breadth, taken up, except in The centre,
bsrths (liks the fo,e.cabin) q. The sides, including