Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1859-09-29

| B6R nol Oltg NNtWh see lulEu page
For Market Reports and Marine News see fourth
page.
The E xplosiOn on the Great Enstern--Fall
aud Interesting ParticnInrs--The Dane
gers and Escapes of the ship
The New York Times has special CORES
pondont on board the Great Eastern, and read
ers cannot fail t. be interested in the account
he gives of the sad casualty during the trial trip,
the cause of it, and tho other perils and Incl.
dents Of the voyage, His letter, dated on board
tho Great Eastern, Portland, England, Sept.
10th, is as follows:
Since an account OF the disaster on board the
! Great Eastern will be more interesting than the
details of purposely slow voyage, which was
not intended as q trial trip will describe the
particulars and results OF the explosion before
l proceed with the narrative commenced in my
! letter of the Sth
Most Of the company, about l75 persons in.
authority and guests, had just arisen from din
ner, and were collecting in knots about the
deck. Some dozen had ascended the bridge
between the padde-5uxes and were congratu
! lating Capt Harrison and the Chairman on the
success Of the vessel, which was now off the
coast of Hastings Together with half dozen
friends, had lust gone forward, and was lying
down in the extreme angle of the bows under
the bulwarks, where we should be shielded from
the strong head wind. We were all looking
aft, Listening to Mr. Nasmyth, noted engineer,
and Lord Alfred Paget, who were discussing
the safety and prospects of the ship, when sud-
denly, with the mingled roar and crash of bat
terry of artillery and liae of muskets, up shot
the great forward funnel of the ship in two
pieces, thirty feet in the air, amid shower of
splinters and pipes and volume OF steam and
smoke Supposing boiler had exploded
but not moment doubling the integrity of the
ships hull, since no shock loaS fei | rushed aft
noting the time, $780, as l ran Plunging
down the after sta.rcasc into the grand dccOrat
ed saloon, through which the volcano had burst,
and stumbling over piles Of gded ruins, met
Capt. Harrison and several men who were
knocking open the staterOom doors. The Cap
tain's own little daughter, who was found in a
ststcroom perfectly safe, and Mr.. Rawlinson
assistant adjuster Of compasses, who was not
seriously Injured, were the only persons there.
| One or two ladies' had lust left the apartments
Upon regaining the deck met Capt Comstock,
who wished me to Ego below and hurry up the
after force pump" which did, aud was absent
from the scene of confusion on deck some FIVE
minutes The great object in thro wing water
into ths boilerSroOm, or 'stOko hole" was to
check the heat and cDndense the steam so that
the scaldcd firemen below could be removed -
The chimney having blown of, the natural
draft of the furnaces was interrupted, and a
volume of smoke and flame issued not only
from the smoke chamber, but from the furnace
doors. This, and PERHAPS the burning ofsome
splinters which fell through the chasm into
contact with the boilers, caused the cry of fire,
and the alarm, as | again got to the deck, was
spreading to fearful extent. Men were wildly
rushing about, some trying to lower boats
and others rapidly creating a panic by cir
cuating the most absurd reports-that the
ship was sinking, aud that tho other
boilers would 40 in moment The cooler
passengers fortunately prevented uru IL -r;nu Il
of the bolts, as in such hands and heavy sea
they must have been swamped at once with a
great loss of life. | found the paddle engines,
which were connected with the four forward
boilers, still at work, but unaware of the exist
enee of the heater which did explode, still sup
posed boiler had gone and that the steam pipe
connecting it TO the engine had been shut oil,
This was a general impression for some time,
and therefore We looked anxously ut the depth
of the vessel in the water remembering the Arc
tic, and fearing a hole had been blown in the
ships side or bottom somewhere. But oul
fears on this point soon proved groundless,
The great struggle was to get out the miser
able firemen who it was known were scalmg
below, and whose terrible groans reached the
deck AS soon as the smoke and steam haC
been sufficiently dampened to render descent
, not safe, but possible, several men at once vol
unteered to 90 down the shafts In very few
moments all the twelve fremen on duty wer,
/ brought up, One or two were not very serious
ly injured, and singulary enough, the wors
injured seemed in the least p1in, and actually
walked of to the hospital, But the sight o
them was heart rendng The seal p Of one wa
hanging in strips from his head; tho boie,
, flesh of another stripped from the bones Of hi
hand while removing his coat, md the skin O
others peeled off with their clothing. Tn
, room designed for hospital had been use
: as carpenters shop and the floor was covere,
Z with shayings, upon which mattresses were has
tily laid Two ships surgeons and one of tn
London Hospital physicians, besides all othe
persons who could be proiitably employed, a
once SET to work TO alleviate the distress OF tn
poor sufferers, and even on shore, scarcely any
thing more could have been done, They wer
generally dellTOus, and oil seemed to be colo
and begged to be covered up. Apparently
their actual suffering was not extreme. Bu
they had breathed the fatal steam, and belor
> 10 o'clock in the morning, death, it almo,
seemed meroifuy, had come to the relief
three of them, while at least five others wer
y becoming quiet aud unconscious in his near al
d pToach
For about five minutes after the explosion
the ships head was turned towards the shor'
, it being determined Of course TO strand her
4 she was in sinking condition. but as soon q
Il was known that her sides were whole she wa
J. kept on her course The excitement around III
g shafts leading Gown 70 the boiler was iuteni
Iae y for AN hour, and until the persons on the 70
D. could be Identified, the men would not ceal
" their search for more uniortunates, down
~ that fatal chasm. II is generally believe
though decidedly contradicted that one of ii
u scalded hremen jumped out of u port-hole int
v the sea, in his agony; if he did, he was,
r course, crushed by the paddle wheel
A fresh panic, and a legitimate source
alarm, within ten minutes after the explosion
was the state of the other heater, which was, |
the uninitiated, momentarily expected to bio
up. Blue steam was Kissing from it's safet
r. valve, and the heat was intense The reason
this will appear shortly, Within half an hol
OF after the disaster the accustomed order an
quiet seemed TO be restored, and all hands we
y at work clearing away the wreck, removing Il
p top half Of the funnel from over the stathoa
deck, where it had fallen, and covering Il
- broken matches and windows The passenger
more or less excited, were talking over d
matter some with great feeling, in view
their proyidontial escape others as to &
cause Of the disaster, and not few with rele
enee TO ts commercial results.
A vague appr hension of fresh terrOrs, al
a, a deep and universal sorrow at the fate of /
% dying men and at the sudden check TO {
great enterprise in the hour Of its promil
gloomily usheredin the night. The ship vi
al G4 o'clock, heading for Portland, the pad,
engines making six turns, and the screw lr,
twenty-six TO thirty turns per minute. 4
pressure on the working paddle-enQiue boil