Saint Paul weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1858-1859, 1859-09-17
SAINT PAUL A1INNEsoTA, SATURDAY MORNING.
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~ The Great Eastern has been described, pic
tured, written about, visited and marveled al
as q great ''show," something to see, as peo
| pie in country village look at learned pis
or a two-headed calf Now, the building q
this ship is a commercial transaction, and it i
impossible to calculate the influence and bear
ing it may have on the future commerce o
the world. If she proves financial, as sh'
unuuestionably has a mechanical success, WI
may expect several more just like her, o.
nearly as large. Some papers, among then
the London Times, predicted speed, or thu
ability to run, of over twenty miles an hour
That 1 doubt AS she sits on the water now
her paddle floats are fairly dipped in the wa
ter and there is no loading on board, eithel
cargo or Goals. Put twelve or fifteen thou
sand tons of dead weight in her, and she
will sink some nine or twelve feet deeper ir
the water, and then her paddles will be alto
gether too deep for good service at least thai
is my impression. A trial trip, however, OF
single voyage will decide this and many
other matters. .asae es1.. ... ..s.,g b.
When stranger first walks into st. Peters S
Church, Rome, he feels momentary disap'
pointment because it is not as large as he
anticipated. Much of this is occasioned, nc
doubt, by the admirable proportion of every
thing-the statues, particularly, these being
generally thirty or forty feet in height and
just about as large in proportion to the size OF
the vast nave as ordinary statues or living
persons are to ordinary churches. The spec
tator forgets to compare the living people on
the floor with the vast expanse of some four
hundred feet over head, and the immense
space and area on every side. But on the
Great Eastern ship it is very different, and
ones ideas of magnit ude are more than real
lied. The rooms and cabins between decks
look like town halls; the passages like streets,
and the whole like large town or city
There is no single saloon or cabin as large in
proportion to the size of the vessel as you see
on an ordinary ocean steamer. 1t would be
bad policy, and a waste of money and space
to make them so. The principal saloon is
finished and furnished in style of elegance,
the decorations being both rich and chaste !;
the colors, principally white and gold, enliv-
ened with red, pink and salmon. The height
is fifteen feet, giving one the idea of a lofty
room in palace or public hall. believe it
is not over eighty feet in length by forty in
width, and in reply to question put to Mr..
Scott Russell, the builder, it would accom-
modate about one hundred and fifty persons
at dinner; but bear in mind that there are
several other cabins and saloons nearly as
large. When we come to consider that a
vessel must be built with great strength, and
that choice, convenience or accident often ren
ders the occupation of some particular room
or part Of ship inconvenient or impossible,
we shall at once see the policy of dividing and
subdividing the room and resources of YES
sci like this into numerous Compartments
Put as large portion of this ship into one
long saloon, as you see in other vessels, and
it would not be so agreeable; it would be
more noisy, not easily kept at good temper
ature, and in case Of accident to this one
apartment, passengers would be without ade-
quate protection or comfort
The Great Eastern is about fifteen feet be-
tween decks, a ioftiness of ceiling that many
would consider useless. 1t, however, serves
this purpose The distance is, in many places
divided into two "stories" by an intermediate
floor, giving two tiers of state-roOms between
the two decks. But to comprehend the i'm
mense size of the ship, one must 60 on the
main deck, and here is one vast area that can
be compared to nothing but ITSELF There is
no poop, no "house on deck," and nothing to
break the grand promenade, save the six or
seven masts, the smoke-stacks, the stair cas-
es to the cabins, and the sky lights. Mr.. Rus
sell says-standing on one of the paddle box
es-" Here command the entire Ship
From that standpoint every foot of deck is
tho oh IF fhn S,fc nd
chimney and the wave of the hand can be
seen by steersmen or any officer on watch, on
any part of the deck. Go on to the bridge
between the paddle boxes, and look towards
the bow, and you can see a space and extent
equal to that of the entire length of large
steamer-nearly $50 fcet-aId then turn your
eye towards the stern, and you have double
the distance in that direction, the entire length
of the deck being little short of 700 feet, the
width being, if l remember rightly, over 80
feet. Your country readers will appreciate the
eXpanse of deck as about an acre of surface
or 16O square rods-stretched out into long
oval, half quarter of mile, or 40 rods in
length. A steamer was passing down the
Thames bound on a foreign voyage, and some
one sung out: "Mr. Russell, that steamer
would just about make long boat for your
ship" And sure enough it looked as if it
could be hung in the davits over the side, and
not be out of proportion to the size of the
monster craft
1t is only in connection with vast masses of
human beings that the enormous magnitude
of this ship can be seen. There were on the
day of the festival-day before yesterday
some $500 persons on board. When nearly
a thousand had gathered together for dance
on the after part of the deck it was not one
third covered, and there was plenty of room
to move around and through the immense as
sembly. Over head was an awning literally
covering about half an acre of space, and
you may picture to yourself the large band
of the Royal Artillery in their glittering uni.
forms, the gay and expensive dresses of the
ladies, with several hundred moving figures
in the enlivening dance, and tell me, if you
can, if there ever was another such scene
since man first became an architect, and
emerged from caves, woody tents and mud
huts. have crossed the ocean many =. Is
in the largest steamers now running nave
highest minarets of Milan cathedral, crawled
up to the ball that overtops the proud dome
of st. Peters at Rome, scaled the lofty spire
OF StraSDurg, anu, peleFe, seeh tiie Staiiu
est monuments of mans architectural skill
built in modern times but no work of human
hands that ever looked at comes up to this
can conceive that money and skill and labor
could build up those iron walls; but when
60 down to the engine rooms and see the pom
derous machinery that obeys the slightest
touch, and makes the whole mass like living
creature
"Walking the waters like thing of life."
my mind fails to comprehend the achievement
1t looks either like miricle, or like the crea
ton OF an omnipotent power.
The ship is to be finished and ready for heI
trial trip on the 23d of this month The next
question is, where is she to make her first
commercial venture? America is said to
have the honor of her first voyage. One per.
son offered 10000 for the first trip; and
while there were various debates and calcula