Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-08-27
Daily Tirsiaiau.
Tho Great Eastern Completed Steam
Raised.

The Great Eastern Completed-6team
Raised.
The English papers notice banquet on board
the Great Eastern on the 9th instant, In honor of
her successful completion. at which stenm wns
raised. Tho decks Of tho monster vessel hnd been
plnned and scrubbed to man-of-war whitencss,
and MT even stay ropes end breaks the wonder.
full effect produced by its immense cxpanse; her
fleet of small boats about the size OF sailing cutters
being at the davits, ten on each side. Tho whole
vessel had been painted. the saloons are finished.
tho cabins decorated. and even furnished. Tho
Tribune snys
The masts are 8xcd and rigged, with tho excop-
tion of tho yards. which will DO scnt up in day
or two. The three centre square riggod masss arc
OF iron. They were mado by Mr.. Finch. of Chcp-
stow. mud are tho finest specimens of masts If tho
kind that were ever manufactured. Each is mndc
of hollow wrought iron in eight feet lcngths
strengthened inside by diaphragms Of tho same
material. Between the joints, as they wero bolt
ed togetl'er, was rlaeed II pad of vnlcanized India
rubber, which gives spring and huoyancy to tho
whole spar greater thnn wood, while At the same
time retaining all the strength oi the iron. The
hrcakng strain of tho six shrouds to each Of these
masts being properly supported, as the weight Of
each is only twenty-five tons. On deck arc four
small steam winchcs engines each OF which
works pnir Of cranes ON both sides of the vessel
Anything more simple or more perfect than the
double machinery by which these are made to
work IN both sides can hardly he conceived, and
the value of the invention may hc estimated when
we say that with these four double cranes alone
5000 tons of cons can be hoisted into the vessel
in twentv-fonr hours. Thus the grave objections
of those who spcculated ON the loss oi time rcqur-
ed to coal the great ship, are entirely done awny
with The chief snloons--nll save one--have on
ly been fitted n certain extent in II temporary
manner. Tho fittings nrc exceedingly handsome
anl substantial. but the decorations OF tho huge
on walls and girdcrs have been reserved until nf-
ter her first trip, and now nrc only painted ofa
plain white.
Tho al>"ncc of elaborate decoration in them,
however. il amply compensated in tho chief sa-
loon. which has been finished to show the superb
style in which the whole will be decorated when
the Great Eastern begins running to tho East.
On this saloon Mr.. Grace has lnvishrd his utmost
efforts, aud the result is combination OF taste
and richness to mn extent which is really aston
i-hnG Whether the tne tmceries oI gold aud
color IRE examined in detail. or whoth one
choose to judge hy the tone and effect Of the whole
apartment. the decision is equally favorable, and
this saloon is not only the fuest and richest ui
any that has yet been attempted. hut is likely to
remain for many years the standard by which nll
other cabins OF the kind will be judged. ltis
said that the mirrors, gliding. carpeng and silk
curtains for this apartment alone cost 900
ln the bcrths of course, M attempt is made ut
costly decoration If this kind though the fittings
good and sufficiently luxurious. The Lerhs
aic arranged in three classes--hose FIR parties
Of six or eight, and these are large roons-thosc
for parties OF four, and tho rest in the usual style
of double cabins. All are very roomy rs cabins
go--ve lofty, well lii, and those ON the outer
side exceedingly well ventilated. On tho lower
deck the berths are even lnrgcr loltier, and more
cnmmudious than those in the urper. Both the
bcrths and snloons here arc, in fact, almost unnc-
ce,sari!y high, having very nearly ID feet in the
clear. The Kitchens, pantrics and sku!orics are
all the same extensive sca'e, and fitted with all
the large culinary requisite Of frs-clnss hotels.
The ce-house hollis urwa,Is of 100 tons of ice,
and the lofty wine vau'ts-tor such, in fact. they
area already ron,an wine enough 10 form II good
freight fbr m Oportn trader
But it was not to see the vessel only that some
800 or 400 visitors were on board yesterday. Tho
great feature Of the day WIS the trial of both
screw aud paddle engines for the first time. 1t
is quite impossible by mere verbal desert ption to
convey adequate idea Of the colossal proper
tons Of both these sets of rngines-tle former If
Bolton G.. Watt, the latter by Mr.. Scott Russell
The paddle engines consist Of four osslllating cyl
inders, Of l01 inches i'll diameter and / feet
stroke each pair of cylinders, with ts crank
denser and air pump forms IN itself conn letc
and separate engine, capable of easy disconnec-
ton from the other three, so that the whole is
combination of four engines. a friction clutch
connecting the two cranks is the means by which
the engines are connected or disconnected. All
the sets Of engines, both screw, paddle and auxl-
iary, are provided with governors, expansion and
throttle valves. The paddle engines wcrk up to
tho indicated power Of 200 horses of So 600 lbs.
when working | strokes per minute with steam,
in the boiler at Is lbs, the expansion valve cutting
of at onethird Of the stroke. All the parts how
ever are SO constructed, that they will work
smoothly either at strokes per minute at 25 lbs.
without expansion. (bcyond what is unuyoidably
effected IN the slides, or ut lG strokes, minute
with the expansion valve cutting of at one-quar-
ter Of the str ke. Under the latter circum stances
the pa,ldle-engines alone would give an indicated
power of 1000 horses. The boilers immensely
strong. and have been tested to double the pres
sure they are required to bear Their weight ii,-
cluding donkey engine, pumps, tunnels &c., ~
2lO tons, and they aro capable of containing l5G
tons of water Each set has abnnt 5000 square
feet Of tube surface, exclusive of fue or furnace,
and about 400 square feet of frc-bar surface.
Each is equal to supply freely. with moderate f.
ring. steam for an indicator Of 800 horse pwer
when working with l6 lbs, hut with full firing
can supply an indicator of 900 horse power
The fre-placcs and ash-pts are fitted so as to be
we'll adapted for the use of anthracite coal.
The screw engines are constructed on the same
improved principles. They have four cylinders
of 81 inches diameter and four feet stroke. The
cylinders are capable of being worked together
or separately. When w,rking As strokes per
minute, with steam ON at Is pounds, and cutting
nf one-third Of the stroke. these engine, will give
an indicated power Of 4.400 horscs but at So
strokes minute, steam ON at rs pounds, and cut
ting of at ono quarter Of the stroke, the power
will reach to 800 horses Thus the united eifrts
Of both screw and paddle engines will drive the
immense vessel through the water with power
of no lcss than 10000 horses. What feet could
stand in the way ofsucl mass, weighing soine
10000 TONS and driven through the water by L.
900 horse power at the uf twenty two or tw en-.