The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1857-08-20
MISCELLANEOUS.

wishing to see him, but were not permitted.
MISCELLANEOUS.
| LIE IREAT EAsTERN.-The traveller by on,
y, Tue names steamboats, below Londor
Bridge, passing through the smoky region o
Mlliwali, has on either side of him the twl
giants OF 1857, destined to alter our nosit;or
on this side of the Atlantic, to open mn q new
era IN the history of British North America AND
70 Tie us still more closely to the land of ON,
iathers and the home of our infancy. On one
SIDE coil after coil, till the eve wear;es of its
endless convolutions, lies the Atlantic cable
soon to be deposited in its marine he'd On
the opposite, ia Scott RusselPs monster shin
oesuneo TO introduce new era in ocean stean
navigation. at is not easy,o saws the Times
;" to convey an adequate idea of q ves.ol ,ba. -
lo,CCo tons larger than the largest sb;n in Tho
world Her length between perpend;cnIa-. i
6eo feet, on the upper deck 692. nearly double
the length of the height of St. Paul's and moe
than double of the United States new sc,a,U
lrigalee, about which go much has been latelv
said. Nearly 5000 tons of plate iron have al.
ready oeen used in her construction, and 4. 600
IONS OF machinery, boilers, shaftipg. and iron
WORK, nave still to be introduced before abe
VIII De ready for launching. These are already
on me ground, and are fast dropping into their
appointed places; and in August the launching.
oi' more properly, the lowering into the water,
eAPec,ea 10 take place. Her engineer, who
uesIsneo tne Great Britain, has given to every
thought and thorough scientific inyest;oa.; r1p
Built on the principle of an iron beam. q com.
Pie,e double ship, one hull inside the other.
and the space between complete cellular tis,
sue OF iron plates riveted together. after the
design OF the Britannia Tubular Bridge. she is
the strongest ship in the world. would beach
without injury, and might be lifted BY a chain
ronno the centre, if such could be procured
dehectIng the line OF her keel. Her great
length therefore is no detriment to her stresgth.
whilst IN the most violent Atlantic storm she
would rest always upon three, and generally on
four, OF the longest waves, 200 feet long. She
will consequently not pitch, and will roll less
than any vessel that ever swan. The arrange
ments OF the partitions between the two bulls
are SO peculiar, that whilst she would oppose
the transverse plates on their edge to any col.
hslon or floating mass of ice that she might
encounter each section of about six feet square
is under the control of the engineers, who can
NIL or empty any of the portion between the
Two hulls with water at pleasure. By this ar
rangement the vessel can suit her water dis
to any exigency that may occur, and
as her Goals are consumed can ballast herself
with water to suit the reduction of her weight
or II she sprung leak, could Withdraw the wa
ter from between the two bulls, and tighten the
vessel by the turn of a valve or changing the
position of handle. Her safety from Collision.
either with any future monster of the deem like
herself, with rocks or ice, is indeed, as far as
human foresight can divine, almost perfect;
with fifty feet torn from her sides, she would
be comparatively unscathed cut in two, nei-
Their end would necessarily sink and with two
or three OF her compartments filled with water,
she would be scarcely inconvenienced.
She Will carry IL, 600 tons of COAL and 5000
tons of merchandise. One great object in car.
rying so large quantity of coal is, to avoid
the enormous expense of foreign coaling sta.
tons, and the freight of fuel in other vessels to
supply steamers for the homeward VOYAGE.
Some years back, the average price of coal for
the West India mail steamers was f3 sterling
per ton, though their home supply was obtain,
ed for l5S., and at the same period (l85N the
Oriental Company had in their employ 400
sailing vessels transporting English coal to their
foreign depots between Southampton and Hong
Kong, many of them having to double the
Cape of Good Hope, and making the average
price OF their coal 42s per ton, against 14s, the
home price. The Great Eastern avoids all this,
and will save $4,000 per voyage between Eng
land and Australia on her Goals alone, by car
rylng sufficient for the return trip. Another
great element of safety and economy is the en-
ployment of different systems of propulsion in
different parts of the vessel, the engines being
in separate compartments, and perfectly dis.
tinct; an accident occurring to one set of en-.
gines cannot therefore affect the other
She combines all the advantage of a paddle.
wheel steamer with a screw propeller, and a
beautifully modelled clipper; and whilst her
steadiness in the water will assist the efficiency
of her paddle wheels, her six masts, spreading
whole acres of canvas, and her four powerful
screw engines, will be her main dependence.
In dimension, she is double the length and
breadth of Noah's Ark, as given in the Book
OF Genesis, and four times the tonnage, and
would find room for greater variety Of char.
acters or specimens of natural history. Should
an unfortunate craft ever come in contact with
her whilst in motion, the blow would be deci-
sive, and she might prove, if taken from the pur-
suits OF peace and the requirements of com
merce, powerful engine of war. Her immense
capacity, $4,000 tons, her own weight, $4,000
tons, and her probably high rate of speed of
nearly 20 miles per hour, with solid iron bows,
nearly as sharp as kuife, would cut through
The most formidable man.ofwar without dam
age TO herself. She could not be caught, could
run down any ship, and, biding her time, could
lemolish feet
Some of the separate dimensions of this huge
mass of floating iron, and the machinery by
which she is propelled, strike the mind with
more majestic idea of her proportions than the
,ize of her hull or the tonnage of her register.
Take, for instance, the paddle wheels, and en-
yines by which they are made to revolve. The
wheels themselves are sc feet diameter, and ia
eet over all. -Four engines, with cylinders
eet 2 inches in diameter, ID feet stroke, and SO
eet high, assist in turning these cyclopean
wheels. Each revolution causes the vessel to
advance nearly fifty yards; and with only ten
revolutions per minute, and the usual allowance
Of per cent. for slip, the Great Eastern will
cross the Atlantic to New York in six and
half days. Magnificent as these proportions of
paddle wheels and their engines are, they are,
1Owaver. far ipfor;or IN ,o>uar I'D of,o,opcv m