Daily gazette and comet. (Baton Rouge, La.) 1856-186?, 1860-07-07
tFrrr, The y v Fvsnirs Express.
History Of the Greet Eastern

Company TOOK TIE matter IN hanns,
and as their capital was not suiBci-
ent 20 allow the enterprise to be
undertaken. IL was Increased by
special act of parliament The
shares in this large company are
held by upwards ~ three thousand
capitalists So soon az II was
found that there was enough money
IN the exchequer 10 allow the enter
prise ~ begin, the architect com
nenced operations. assisted by q
very large number Of workmen.
The building If the vessel was
commenced IN 1855. Mt Milwall, on
the eastern bank If the Thames not
far from London. but Of easy &C
cess by the people, who began 70
flock IN great numbers. to the ship
yard, 30 witness the ship az IL pro
gressed towards completion. The
munsterous bed Of iron upon which
The great superstructure was To- be
raised, the fivets requiring almost
the whole strength of mah to
manage even one If them. the tail
and heavy masls, the huge iron
sections into which the leviathan is
divided. these things and many 9th
ers. were IN themselves n sufficient
cause ~ attract thousands of peo-
pie, and almost every stranger in
the land. and 10 those initiated IN
The wonderful mysteries Of science,
il seems nest 10 impossible 10 so
arrange the disconnected mass OF
iron and wnud. that the result
should he floating palace. BIT
after three years Uf incessant lsbUt
The work was done, and towering
far above the house tops In The vi
entity. there rested on the stays .
ship. which three years befuie, the
great mass had said. man could new.
or succeed in constructing
The next difficulty was 10 launch
what had been 81 cleverly put 30
ge'her, aud many were the misgiv-
ings. even among the most conf
dent. when the evenlful day came
The rive, at Milwall is only one
Thousand feet wide, the slip is be-
tween sir and seven hundred feet
in length, end Mr.. Brupell, after
consultation with his assistants. ar
rived ~ The conclusion that the
safest way ~ launch the monster.
was by letting her into the water
sideways. On the 81 of November,
1851, the first attempt was made IN
the presence Of one hundred thou
sanu people, including many lead
ing personsges. At eleven o'clock
the word to "let go was given. and
at the same time. Miss Hope, a
daughter Of the CUmpaDy's Chair.
man. christened the monster by
what had been determined upon az
its name--.beviatlan. This has
since been changed 10 the Great
Eastern. The first effort NJ launch
ing the monster was failure, and
several of the wofkmen were bad.
" injured II was only after quite
three months Of incessant labor and
the expenditure of great sum of
money, that the huge bulk grace.
fully aosied in the Thames, and
was ready for her trial trip. Then
there were great rejoicing among
all classes of the people, and mo- one
seemed to be nj all skeptical ss TO
her successful performance when
at sea.
pFscatrrtoH ~ rnr vfssrL.
She il more than twice ms long rs
our own noble Niagara being 800
feet from stem 10 stern. and in bulk
is over ton times as large. Her On.
paciiy is 1875 tons. or by builder
measurement. upon which estimates
are generally based $500 tons.
Her width is ~ feet, and from paddle
box to paddle box, 100 feet. She
has six masis. which carry not less
than six thousand five hundred yards
of canvass, almost enough to drive
half n dozen Of tho ordinary packet
ships, which once were tho chief
mode Of conveyance bsiweep The Old
and New worlds. In case Of accident,
there are numerous life boats ready
for immediate use, and two steam
screw propellors, which could be
made available Mt a moments notice.
Her construction required thirty thou
sand iron plates. weighing in the ag-
grcgate ten thousand tons. and 10