The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-05-13

steamship of twenty-two thousand five hundre
tons register, with a capacity for Goals and carg
Of eighteen thousand tons, and capable of convey
ing an army of twelve thousand five hundre'
men, has been completed, launched, and nov
awaits only the final outfit and equipment for
voyage across the ocean. In solidity and strengtl
of construction, the great Leriathan has probabl.
no equal in the woodland in gracefulness o
proportion and elegance of form, no superior
We trust that she will endure to make many {
safe passage from continent to continent, and tina
in all respects she will answer the expectations o
her builders. With regard to the pecuniary
profits of the enterprise, indeed, we have mucl
doubt. Those who have invested their money
in it with a view to golden returns, will perhaps
be disappointed. But however this may be. there
is no question that the undertaking, SO boldly
conceived and SO triumphantly carried out, is one
of the grandest monuments of modern skill and
labor and the name of Brunei, known to the
world before as that of the engineer of the Thames
tunnel, now assumes, as the architect of the great
Leriathan, a foremost place among the names of
living engineers.
The great Leriathan is a type of the m
of the world. But a few hundred years ago the
trade of nations was carried on chiefly by means
of caravans, which wendell their weary way
among the mountains of the Caucasus, and the
deserts of Arabia, bearing to and fro in mutual
exchange, the treasures of the east and west.
Maritime mme was of less importance than
inland. But the discovery Of the properties of
the compass in the year 1000, gave an impetus to
this branch of commercial intercourse ; and since
then m has rapidly expanded under the
discoveries and improvements of a growing civili-
zation, until now, in the latter part of the nine
teenth century, it has brought together for the
exchange of staples, nations of the ends of the
earth. 1t has sent forth its ships to every sea.
and its messengers to every land. The entire
surface of the globe is covered with its golden
meshes. 1t is comparatively but a few years
since a vessel of one hundred tons burthen was
deemed amply sufficient for all the purposes of
commercial intercourse. Now a great Leriathan,
with a carrying capacity equal to that of two
hundred and twenty such ships of olden times, is
deemed none too large for the purpose of trade.
The construction of the great Leriathdn, too,
affords an excellent illustration of the character
of the age in which we live. Progress is the
great watchword of the day-progress, not in the
barren sense of flibustering ambition, but in the
sober and practical sense of improvement and re-
form. The past century has been eminently one
of great events. And now, more than at any
other period, the minds of men seem to look for
ward to and strive after great objects. As civili-
cation approaches perfection men find that knowl-
edge affords the surest path to wealth and fame
and melted by the prospect of such reward, the
mind is up, everywhere, exploring, in
vocfi ro finr md racnrdipn In fha yarinuS 1pe,rt-
ments of art, science and literature, and, indeed,
in every branch of attainment, there is a strong,
enduring effort for Advancement. 1t
is gratifying to observe how the different nations
of the earth are vying with each other in this
general steeple chase after knowledge. and how the
of an important scientific fact, or the
accomplished of a great and unprecedented me-
ch%anical, artistic or literary work, belong to what
country he may, becomes at once a character in
history.
Among the improvements which have assisted
commerce to make its rapid advances are those in
to the form of the ship-rendering it bet
ter adapted than formerly To battle with the
winds and waves, and better fitted for its intended
The iron chain has taken the place of
the hemp cable. and iron has been brought more
generally into use in lieu of weaker and more I'M
material. There are for example, the iron
and knee, the iron pillar, the iron anchor.
The great Leriathan possesses, in common with
of other vessels, an iron hull and of
ate, iron standing rigging has been intro
iuced, and is said to be far superior in many re-
'pects to rope. Improved charts, nautical alma
and superior instruments of observation con-
tribute to the safety of cargo and the preservation
If life. But above all other improvements rise
The employment of steam and the electric tele-
,raph-the one enabling the freighted vessel to
'peed its way through storm and calm across the
eas, and the other bearing news and commune
results with lightning speed. What a
contrast the magnificent steamers of Europe
md America present to the imperfect craft
If yet uncivilized nations of the world
.ude plank tied together with ropes-and the
chinese junk which, though on a higher scale, is
till almost as awkward as a raft and but little
The introduction of steam power is by
ar the greatest improvement yet made in COM
nerce. Rapid rivers and intricate channels offer
little impediment to the modern steamer. All
PARTS of the ocean are broken by the splash of it's
paddle wheels. Everywhere ..the spirit of Robert
Fulton moves upon the face of the waters"
But while improvement has been SO busily at
work in the commercial world, its march has
been as wonderful, its progress as rapid in the
of neutrality-suspicious. which was the
employment of man, and in which more
han any other branch of industry lie the sources
If national wealth. The invention of the cotton
Tin by Whitney was one of the most valuable dis
,overies ever made. For thousands of years the
oft and silky produce of the cotton plant was
useless from the difficulty of removing the
leeds with which it was filled so great was the
abor of picking it by hand that cotton cloth was
nearly as valuable as silk. Whitney's invention
the value of lands in the Southern United
and swelled the production of American
cotton from a few bales to more than a thousand
million pounds-providing employment for the
opd looms Of both EuraDo opd A-o-:oo