Eastern times. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1846-1857, 1855-01-18

and Welgn ABOUT ndiI a Ton each. Ihe lower
part of the hold will contain the machinery.
boilers, stores, coal and merchandise, while
the upper part will consist of three tiers of
decks for the passengers. one above the other,
and running the whole length of the vessel.
The lowest of these tiers will be at least six
or eight feet above the water line, and the
decks will be eight feet apart, affording ample
space for light and ventilation-the latter be-
ing provided for by portfolios of large size,
running at intervals along the sides, and which
can be kept open in any weather. For great
er security, there will be strong deck inter-
posed between the furnaces and machinery be-
low and the passenger department above, thus
cutting off all communication. The sleeping
berths will be ranged round the sides, and
there will be large saloons In the centre for
each of the three decks, go feet in length, and
of proportiouate width. The upper deck,
which covers all will be flush from stem to
stern. This deck, which will add very ma
terially to, the strength of the hull, will be
double and slightly arched. Its construction
will be cellular, like that of the tubular bridge
across the Menai Strait, and 1t will resist any
amount of strain or conclusion that can possi-
bly, be applied to it.
The principle on which the ship is being
constructed, is now recognized among all
practical and scientific men-namely, that the
strength of iron depends upon the plates being
placed at right angles to each other and the
whole framework of the hull has been ar
ranged with view to this object Internal
ly, it is a combination of iron walls-ten run
ming traversely, two intersecting these longi-
tudinally, and four crossing horizontally. All
the walls are strengthened still further at the
functions by solid angle-irons and the whole
Of this cellular arrangement is enclosed in a
double iron-casing or hull, which gives the
enormous mass perfect rlgidity, and a strength
which, we are assured, equals what it would
be if formed of solid iron. The plates, al
though numbered by thousands, are all cut
out, in the first instance, by means of wooden
models in the moulding-loft; each of them
has its peculiar list or inclination and shape,
with the number of holes to be punched and
each of them, as it leaves the rolling-mill, ,
where it is gauged to the sixteenth-part of an
inch, has particular letter and number marked
legbly upon it: and by means of this name,
which the plate ever afterwards retains, the
workmen, on its arrival, know at once its po-
sition in the vast pile. and it proceeds straight
to its destination.
We now come to the machinery by which
the vessel is to be propelled. She will be
furnished both with paddle-wheels and a screw
the former, of nominal power of 1000
horses the latter, of 1000 horses, but, prac-
tically, the combined power may be estimated
cry is now being constructed in the same
building yard, in which shed had to be built
for the purpose of fitting and erecting the en-
gines. The four cylinders in which the pis-
tons are to work are the largest in the world,
and the castings the largest that have ever
been attempted in one piece. For each cyl
inder, about thirty-fve tons of melted metal
were required and when the dressing and
clearing of superfuous metal was accom-
plished, they weighed twenty-eight tons each.
Of these unwieldy masses of iron, three have
been already successfully cast, and without a
flaw. For the castings, an enormous iron
cofferdam was constructed in the foundry to a
depth of 25 feet and after the mould had
been properly prepared, into this the contents
of several cauldrons Of molten metal were
simultaneously poured, and the casting made,
Some idea of their great size may be formed
when we state, that lying on their sides on
the ground, man with his hat on may
walk through without touching the upper
side and that table and seats, calculated to
accommodate eighteen persons, were lain in
one of them. The engines, when erected and
put together, will be upwards of so feet in
height. The machinery for the screw-pro-
peller is being made by Messrs. Watts of the
So5o Foundry, and will be of similar gigantic
proportions To set in motion this powerful
machinery, there will be twenty vast furnaces
and as many boilers, the smoke and waste
steam of which will be carried off by five fun
nels. The boilers and furnaces will occr. "
five of the central sixty-feet compartments Of
which we have already spoken, and the en-
gines will be placed in two others. The
weight of the entire machinery will be about
5000 tons, and of the hull 10000 tons-mak-
ing $4,000 tons. She will carry, in addition,
several thousand tons of coal and merchan-
disc. 1000 first-class, and 5000 second class
passengers, and her measurement capacity
gives her something like 25, 900 tons burden
Notwithstanding her enormous dimensions
her draught of water will be comparatively
small-not exceeding 90 feet when light, and
80 feet when fully loaded. When afoat, she
will present an appearance very different from
that of any workmanship yet built. She
will carry five or six masts and five tunnels
and will resemble huge three-decker, like
the Duke Of Wellington, only that she will be
nearly three times the Dukes length. The
three decks appropriated to passengers, will
rise, tier above tier, to height of IS feet ou
OF the water; and the row of port holes will