, 1859-09-29

~ rubbish, where the funnel bad lust stood
from which the condensed steam was r1,sh;n.
up III white, and therefore not bot, yapor, bu
;noaxh to hide completely all that had harpeuct
yellow. 10 another minute a1l the passenger.
came rushing towards the spot
The twenty or thirty who had remained III
sAhle IN the saloon next that which blew up
CAME on dccE also. aud it will gire your reader,
s"fse iaca oi the gigantic strength Of the yesse
when trll ttlcm that these latter until tl.cy &C.
sul4ts saw the smash, were almost uuaware nj
'he tefr'hc explosion which had occurred l,c,
s'ae thelu- II was only the dull l,easy rnar
Followed by the rattling Of fragments Il, ,;1ey
fAinrd dn~n Oh and through the xkyl gifts whicl,
warued them that something dreadful lad oc
CARED Still none knew whit had really han.
pened, or what injury the resse1 had sustained,
captain !larrison, who was aft at the moment,
rushed trrward, md, sciziug rome, lowered
hlmsclf down through. the steam into The wreck
~ Tue grand saloon, and calling to six men to
! follow hun, began seurch a.no1g the ruins for
those who might ha.e been below,
-. me only Que in the apartmrnt was bis own
Mfie daughter, who had just arrived at the alter
i'art at the moment Of tie explosion, aud who,
| mead, had escaped, by miracle. totally unhurt
captain Harrison merely gave the order to pass
her up through the skyiigLts, and continued his
| search This was no easy matter. The wreck
and rubbish piled IN all directions in the ladies'
small saloon. forward of the funnel, made it diE-
:'cuit 10 more about. The steam hid almost
every object The place was broken, the loor
| in pnrls uplcaved and riveu, so rs to show
STU more irlshtful smash in the saloons aud
Cabins below.
Through these apertnres the bright glare BE-
neath the lower deck Of all, showed thai the fur
mace doors had either been blown open or blown
away. and the funnel being gone, the draught
was down the rcmains of the chimney, forcing
out tue hatncs und asIses ia fierce and dun.er
Gus stream This, as the embers touched lie
water, sent m close sufocating air,-hulf
steam, ''alf gas.-in which it was difficult to
sec aud almost impossible 10 breathe. In the
'neautltne most Oh board, including the visitors,
LOOK steps to restore order and confidence, AZ
lhare already said, there were fortunately no
holiday tourists ilcrE, or the nntter would haye
been 'nuch worse. Some Of tile ablest engineers
aud maeinists we're on deck, who could pretty
well guess what lad happened uud what worse
might follow.
blown up, was evidently getting intensely bot,
and Of those present none knew to what extent
,ts Jacket OF outer casing. had been damaged
or how soon it might explode. 1r. Scott Kus-
sell, followed By one or two engineers, Ut once
went below to the furnaces OF these boilers, and
ordered tue steam to bc blown of. the speed Of
,hs engines to be reduced, and every prccaution
remained calm aud collected on deck, getting
tl'e crew forward and preventing any unneccs-
sary Alnrm. Sumo Of the men instantly vent
below to search for those employed at the stoke
holes, whom it was now evident must he fear
fully injured, if indeed alivc.
THE DAMAGE DONE.
u dangcr from fire or another
explosion be'ng now at M end. those VIM chose
we're enabled 10 80 down and examine for
themselves the sceue Of the disaster. The lit
ter on the deck showed that in the compartment
in whicl. it llad taken place and where it was
confined By the wrought iron bulk heads, it
Ind been wide md general. The fore part uf
Nr. Grace's beautiful saloon was pile Of
glitteriug rubbish, u mere confused mass Of
toards. carpet slrcds, ilangings. mirrors, gilt
frames. and sp!intcrs Of ornaments; the rich
gilt castings were broken and thrown down,
the brass work ripped, the handsome cast iral
columns round 1he funnel overturned aud
strewed about In the more forward mart, a
state sitting room for ladies, every single thing
and wrcnclled up.
Hut tue dualagc in this part seemed q mere
baRatelle xhcn compared with the r4rugex
among the lower deck cabins behcaih. 1t WAS
difficult to 70 down there, for the whole place
was filled with fragments of Loards, chars,
beds, cabin fittings, broken steam pipes aud sy-
t'hun tubes, torn out rivets, and nlasscs Of tic
.l'ner and outer tunnels rent 10 pieces like cal
ico, and lying about like heaps Of crumbted
cardboard. Everything was in literal fragments.
The course Of tile explosion could then be seen
at once. The water. or rather steam, in the
casing had crushed in the iuncr casing, blowing
up tlIc funnel ubosc deck. while both tunnels
below it we're torn to pieces nnd hurled about,
hometimcs in single rivets or scrnps no longer
t.san ones hand, sometimes in crump1cd.up
Jumps weighing several hundred weight h.
meath this deck, toward tbs stokehole. where
tie remnants Of the funnel left yawnInG hole
ike IN extinct volcano, the force of the expIo-
siOn WIS still more manifest. Not only was the
iron compartment nearest to the boiler partly
rent und pushed bnck, but one Of the main deck
bcaula, an enormously nlAssire wrought iron
girdcr about two feet deep. and strengthened
w,th au1le irons, wus wreuchcd back and nearly
bent in halves.
THE HrS on TIE STEAMER.
Tie Great Eastern. in spite Of all that Inns
happened, still remains the finest vessel thut
WIS eser built, and one over which, notwi.ll
standing ulf that has been predicted to the coll
trary, The sea seems to exercise no influence.
brought the narrative Of her voraGe down to
her anchoring at tile More on Thursday night.
During tue passage down the river only tile
speed lad been asccrtaued, und this was shown
in wuy which, when her trim was taken iuto
consideration. must have surpassed the most
sanEuine expectations. But us The night fell OH
HAt A4tEA <l4IAV&Aus1 IL AtIG *UEEt LuEfN
sce,urd d fair chance Of seeing next day how
she would conport herself III smart sea down
the Channel The dawn disappointed no une
who wished 10 know how the Great Eastern
would behave in Il seaway. Tho anchor was
got ur, md the run down the Channel com,ne1l-
ced, The Girdler sands being passed soon after
IL o'clock. The breeze kept fscshinr, till it
amounted ut times to gale, and the old music
among the shrouds and rigging became louder
and louder.
In .hc Downs the wind ffcshcncd considcra.
bfy, coming dead ahead, and fnr the first time
fir comparison Of The Great Eastern with other
stips could b.. made ut sea. 4 heary swell was
running, aud large vessels we're lyingto under
c!osc-retftd top saifs, pitching deeply to the sen,
and sending tie spray IN clouds from their bows.
At this time the Great Eastern was IL notion
less US rock. Now aud then heavy roller>
passed her, but their size and action could ONLY
be known by observing their effect on other
ward to the extreme end Of the bows, and re-
n,alued watching the steam Of the vessel tv
comparing it with the Inc Of the horizon 10 de-
tcct 4 movement. Only By sncl, rigid test rs
Ibis could it be dscerned tt,at the Great Eastern
wns moving gently now and tllen, scarcely more
than foot along her entire length. MS the wavcs
rushed under her. 1t was calculated that The
surfacc Of the Great Eastern opposed to the
wind was equal to IN adverse pressure Of up
wards OF 100 tons, and made difference Of
between three and three-and a.hatf knots IN
hour in her speed. Yet. with ter paddles only
Eotng sir or seven revolutions, and her scrrw
from Is 10 80 (Which was exactly what is called
halCspecd). the mean average oi her pace gave
more than II knots IN hour,
THE WAR IN CHINA.
Details Of the Affair OF tho pciho.