Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1860-07-24
The Great Eastern in a Storm.

d
lest seas without rolling OF pitching. Bu
her recent trip across the Atlantic prove
that she rocks and heares as we'll a
/ smaller craft, though TO far less degree
We make the following extracts from
/ the narrative of the Iri6,tfc'S reporter
who remarks "' that the theory that ship:
above certain size will march through
the waves superior to the perturbation OF
/ the sea, is ended by our experiment for
ever. No ship can be made large enough
TO entirely ignore the gigantic pulsa,ion
of the ocean," He says
At 4 o'clock drizzling rain set In, md
the ssill strengthening wind gave prom
lse of stormy night. Some of us had
been apprehensive, from the mild man
ner IN which we had set out, that the voy-
age might run through the entire of its
term III the same dull way, and thus while
1t deprived us OF the least possibility of
becoming heroes, land US at New Y fork
without any further knowledge Of the
ship and her sea-goIng qualities than we
could have learned by studying her while
anchored in the Thames. The fear of
such disappointment, however, was dis
iOiA'sA At liz A4ilIC We i4dta W lR~I Ottk
teards from dinner, for on ascending to
The deck at G o'clock, and taking our po-
sItion on the elevated grating IN her bow
we saw the levialhan, before 50 dead, so
apparently inert, and which had been
passing through the waters like some
spectral island, quicken with life, aud
bend with a slow grandeur TO tie motion
of the sea. " Thank God, she solls!'
exclaimed an experienced officer on her
first trial trip, when she was caught IN
series of heavy swells off Portland Race,
and 1t was with something like the same
ebultion of delight that we saw the
mighty ship cast her silent disposition off
and make her obeiaance 10 the sill nigh
tler deep.
Her motion was a gentle and mai este
swing from side to side, TO the extent of
three or four degrees, and now and then,
when billow fell away from her bow,
and a swell at the same time would roll
under her Stern, she would mildly Weld
her head, not short and sudden, with
plebian start, but with Il monarch meas
ured grace, as If she felt herself TO be
the master, and only yielding to the cour-
Z =
20 see her thus leaning her way from
side to side through the parting waters,
while good sized ships, viii h were then
IN sight, were rolling uneasIly or pitch
ing from stem 10 stern. II was like some
accomplished swimmer who sweeps for
ward gracefully hard ever hand, COM
pared 10 a clumsy novice who barely
manages to keep ahoat through the ra-
PldIly OF a short digging motion. The
Great Eastern was alive, but mighty as
she was, sill she was amenable TO that
vast throb and puisation Of the SEA, which
IS mighuer than The mIghtlest Never
theless she proved, by the comparison be-
fore Us, her superiority TO all ordinary
shigs as well as 10 any disturbing motion.
In fact, her soft uudulailons gave actual
relief and pleasure to every one who
stood upon her.
IHcsday, Ju1tc I9-I was awakened
litle after midnight by the howling of
the wind, the shouts Of the seamen taking
IN sail, and a trampling overhead. The
vessel was rolling more than she had at
any time beforc-say about eight or ten
deCrees-and | could now feel a lille Vi
bration of her bow, impaired by the
screw as II smote and studded into the wa
ter whenever the motion of the vessel lit
ed its blades above the surface. | went
to my window, bat the night was too thick
for anything 20 be seen, and all | could
distinctly hear was the measured wall of
one hundred and twenty men (for both
watches had been called up) in chorus,
10 "baul the bowline, haul - while eu-
gagged In trying to take IN the maintop-
sail The wind seemed to soften little
at two o'clock, but perhaps that was the
notion of my druwsiness, for | fell asleep
at that hour, while the men were sill
as busily engaged at the mainsail IS er-
er. | afterward learned that It had en-
poyed five hours to furI il, in the furit us
tempest that prevailed. The cause OF
this difficulty was partly owing to the !
oIence of the gale acting upon the i'm
mense area of the sail. and partly TO the
unhandy size of the tackle by which II
must necessarily be worked. Everything
, is exaggerated IN the way Of size Oh
board the Great EasJe IN, aad to be ham
died aloft as other ships, she requires an
extra breed of men. The gale subslded
q llule in lis fury at i . clock, but when
| rose, at Z, | sllI found il blowing very
hard, and the sea covered with thread
ike foam, which filed the nollows as
well as whitencd or bilow-tops. Still
the ship rolled only eight degrees, and
her stately nod did not disturb a plate
upon the table. The storm rack was
laid al breakfast to protect the dishes but
I i was net needed, for my full leacup sat
outside of it without being IL the slight
/ est peril of a slip. Nevertheless, "A thre e.
thousand tun vessel would have been
/ pitching sadly. TIE motion did not sue
ceed in making a single person sea-sIcll
/ though there were among our passen-
/ GERS several who had not seen sea before
The wind moderated still more du-
i ring the afternoon, and we Sc. all our
,opsails, bu, the ship kept Up her motion
and went froliclllng along her path as
fail Of life as a clipper, brig or pilo;
/ boat Nothing could be more beautiful
/ than 10 stand upon the elevated grating
in her bow, and see her stern lift iiseii
maies,ically against the sky, as we
dropped into some yielding wave before
Us; or to behold her rising sideways
10 her equilibrium, like some frolicklng
beauty. lifting her shoulder In her downy
( bed | could hardly realize. as viewed
her buoyant step upon the deep, iha
10000 plates o. iron, REPRESENTING
= Opl tur- ~ IDar- fuatal ..iaruuzd b,