Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1860-07-06
letter from Now York.
Correspondence Of the Richmond Enquirer
Nrw YoRK, June 80, 1850.

| the acc. As you will have been oni! .S Iii
s s ,he extraordinary fitness Of details punliSl-
81 hv the New York papers, the DAY OF her
aroni cntrs into our bay, was remarkably cicar
md fnn. and. as she had been telegrapned as
earlv ,s 10 a. NJ, and did not cross the par
,ntil about 8, P. NJ, it gave an opportunity
Gu a. -, immense assemblage Of people to gather
ahont the Battery, along the piers and on the
house tops, while innumerablc small craft.
,.nropelled in whole, or in part, by steam,
swwarmed over the water in every direction TO
witness her ascent from the Narrows to inc
city. Our station was on the top OF the Me'-
chants Exchange, on Wall street, which com.
manded a full view Of the Narr"ws, the coaSt
Of Long Island, Jersey and Staten i<laHo' WIFE
the shores Of the North and East ls!vcrs' -.
The first thing we could secoi the great snip
were the tops of her tall masts, ana SCOT a,'c.
her huge hull rose TO view, causing al INV +
craft in the lower bay TO dwindle mo " SUI. VI
mere cookie shells. On she came, eNPano','s
in bulk as she came into closer r!eW' uh''' S,'e
approached the Battery. When passing .he
q. S. frigate Niagara, the latter, though tue
largest Of her class, shrUnk into lns'G''hca''
dimensions. As she proceeded, she was Salu,
ted BY the guns from Governors iSlan' ana
from the U. S. steam revenue cutter tiarT'ct
Lane, and by guns from the CunaTu steamer
at Jersey City, and along the CITY SAG Oh !l'e
North river. The great ship, IN coming
through the lower bay and Na:1n"S' also h'e"
| ~SaIuteS. The scene was orc OF tie nloSt 'hpo'
sing and inspiring character, an" not 10 DC 10Y
gotten during life by those who Witnessed H.
Her subsequent ascent up the North river 10
42d street. and her rounding 70 and return 10
the wharf, to which she became mooica,
and incidents pertaining thereto, you nave
been fully posted by our daily press. Inc
| lin, of the wharf is parallel with the IL
ror and the great steamer lies with Ler
bru.dsjde towards tie land, with her DOW
p~ointing towards the Battery, anu her stern
No the river. II length she reaches tnIce c't9
blocks or squares, taking III the river Ter
minus Of Hammond, Try, ant SehR"sS s'ee:S'
I'm other words; she lies with one proau S'uI
to the whole open width OF the r!Tc:, cAnoSeu
to It's open wind and wares. Hence, thc 'cc'-
dent to her whccl during the squat o. yest|F-
dav afternoon, which partially deinol!S,ica '"e
Brooklya Academy OF Music. IL cnaiea III,
land side great iron wheel against enron GAIA
boat, which interviewed between tie IesStiS
side and the pier head. The great snip hef,
self. was not effected in The slightest 10y "i'',
or wave. Except, in Il heavy gaze 0! "'i'' '",'
in q tremendous sea, she Is Salu I" oe "i'noS'
free from motion, and the di>agretao.e p,'c!i'iS'
so sickcning to all iandS.inrii, Is Sasa 20 |"
absent in hey. She required aooS! 'sreS-
quarters Of g mile 10 turn around In ana
hence, the whole North river one m!ie "ioe'
was of barely sufficient width to enable hcr 10
yet around without grinding tne notion OIL
one side or the other.
Her immense size. viewing her from the bow
backwards, is concealed by the sharp curv'i'-
near lines Of her proportions. 1t is only wieh
walking from her stern to her bow, along her
whole length, that you can real!Ze her Immense
size. TO imagine her great bulk, measure OIL
on q plat Of ground, or along 1 path or street,
about 90 yards. and thcn, 1t right angles to
it, 2S wards and imagine 4 depth helo~ yon OF
GO feet, or 20 yards, and You can realize IN
Your minds eye the dimensions o. TINS mon,
ster Of the deep" Her great strength is secured
bv introducing into her structure the principles
Of the Britannia tubular bridge. Mr. Stephen
son, before building t:is chief corkef has G.rt.
entered upon 4 series Of valuable experiments:
FIRST. he tested the tcnacity and strength OF
iron bars horizontally and lengthwlse, Il great
many specimens, so Us to secure the best quail.
ity. He then constructed circular tubes and
subjected them to lateral and perpendicular
pressure and noted the amount Of t"rce At
which they gaze way. His Rail Road Tubular
Bridge had TO be suspended over one hundred
feet in mid ai-, and 10 bear an immense hori.
rental pressure, as well as the force OF power
full winds, such rs that which wrecked the
ROYAL Charter not ia: from, the site Of his
bridge. He finally discovered that a square
formed tube, laced on all sides with bars ot
iron s~crossing each other Mt oblique angles,
leaving intervening diamond shaped holes 1c.
tween, while the bars were TO be- strongly Dotted
Il; all points Of their Intersection, ioI;Hcd tue
strongest tubular structure, that could be
made.
If pressure is applied vertically, the lace.
work Of iron bars on its sides, prevents any
lag, and, if pressure is applied to lis sides, or
l~aterallv, the same diagonal iron network pre-
vents its yielding in that direction. 1t is pre-
ciscly on this plan that the strength OF the
Great Eastern has been Obtained. 1t IS like
building Il McnIac tubular bridge GI3 icct
lon., and 81 feet wide and 80 feet deep, aud
then converting lis surroundings into the
beautiful ship form as we now sec III the
Great Eastern-with the additional security
of 4 longitudinal lace diagonal iron laca.work
for her whole length, with several divisions ana
partitions OF 4 similar structure, reaching from
her bottom to lr,r deck works. Such Is
the enormous strength o.. her structure, that
we have heard it stated, and believe it TO be
true, that she might DC poised with her
ends in mid air, and her immense hui!
would not lag or hog rs the sailors have
it. .An.! if suspended in Il similar nla'ncr on
i.cr side. there would be no possible bend in
the middle, hence, her enormous power oi re-
siStil.c the fury of the wind and waves, which
may beat against her great iron sides.
The first Yankee question asked about
her, as all things else. Is. will she pay? we
say. YES; if not in dollars ami cents, IN the
great experiment Of showing how the strongest
and biggest ship the world has ever seen may
he constructed. Her structure andcquipmenlS
have involved many new discoveries, invsi!.
tons, and improvements that might never other.
wise have conc to light, both III the appllca-
ton of steam power aS wei! as the advances
made in mariuc architecture. Size must stand
rs u model for future generations from whence TO
adduce valuable data for future progress. She
may hc = little in advance o! her tltnc. The
era is coming when the ocean Will abound with
such monster Si!ip:, traverSinS tic Atlantis;
and Pacific in intcr-cOntiHcnial COMMUNICATION,
and when Il voyage across either will DC thought
little mere Of than crossing to Brooklyn or Jcr-
scv City by lcrrlcS. " ;lctl lniS country NUM-
bcrs its hundred million Of inhabitants, the
world will require great ships Of this kind.
The Egyptians could po!"s 20 t'ic!: pyra
mjds, the Greeks to their temples and 10 the
colossus OF Rhodes: the Romans 10 their pala-
ces, pantheon and coliseum, nut Great Brl.
tain can certainly DO allowed the pardona-
bic p,idc OF pointing 10 her great factories,
| to her Thames tunnel, TO the BRITANNIA tu-
bular bridge, and to the Great Eastern, all
oil vastly greater utility and greater mon
umcnts OF genius Than ii! that has pre-
ccdcd them. in no other country could pri.
vate capital have been found or the materials
necessary haze been so abundan.iy supplied as
in England and in Wales. 1t is 4 great pity
that Mr.. Brunei could not have survived 10 lave
| come over in this first voyage Of this great
ship, Oh which lie so long and 50 a~rGenily Ia.
bored, instead O! dying Of n broken heart in