Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-07-31


superior vessel of like dimensions at
nearly one half the cost. Some persons
have said that she would be the last big
ship that would be built, and that vessels
of from two or three thousand tons are
the most suitab able-all things considered.
We entertain, however, different opin-
ions. The Great Eastern is worth going
a long journey to see. Her promenade
deck is nearly one-eighth of mile in
length, and her other great dimensions
are not appreciated until spectator
stands at the stern and looks forward
over the vast expanse covered by this
floating steam city.
We will now give some Of the details
of the voyage. The Great Eastern left
Southampton on Sunday morning, June
10th, at A. NJ, and arrived at Sandy
Hook, outside of New York Bay, at 7,20
A. NJ, on Thursday, the 18th ult AL
lowing for the difference of time, the
actual period of passage was IL days and
2 hours; and, so far as speed is con-
corned, may be considered a failure
Many bets had been made that the voy-
age would be performed inside of nine
days, and it was certainly expected by
all that she would at least beat the Ad-
riatic, Vanderbilt and Persia-all of
which vessels had made the run in less
than 10 days, with full cargoes aud a
large number of passengers.
To engineers and men of science, the
operation of her engines is one of the
greatest interest, for, otherwise, although
much unblushing ink has been split on
the subject, the voyage of this great
ship differed in no respect from hun
dred other Atlantic passages which have
been passed by, ''unsyllabled and un-
sung," It is related that 'the winds
were fair, the skies were clear" and all
nature smiled propitious to bring the
huge vessel rapidly to the Western
land;" but she was ''long in coming
The log of the chief-engineer, Mr..
Mcclellan, has been published, and it is
certainly the most instructive part of
her history, in mechanical sense The
distance run by chart was 1864 statue
miles, thus nearly averaging 866 miles
per diem, Or IA miles per hour. The
greatest run made in one day was 382
miles nearly 16 miles per hour-at
which rate she would have made the
passage in little over nine days and a
half; but this speed has been equalled
by the Adriatic. The circumference of
the paddle wheel of the Great Eastern is
$50 feet; the pitch of screw, Al feet
The paddle engines made 164 1926 total
revolutions, and the wheels therefore
travelled 1868 miles. The screw en-
gines made 533, ,024 total revolutions,
and run 4, ,433 miles. In both cases the
slip has been very great, but most in the
paddles. Steam was carried at press
ure varying from Is up to 24 lbs. The
total quantity of Goals consumed was
2,977 tons. The engines never stopped
for a moment during the voyage, which
speaks we'll for their construction and
operation We must candidly admit
from the quantity Of coal consumed, she
has done well; for the Persia, which is
not one-ffth of the tonnage of the Great
Eastern, frequently consumes 140 tons
per diem. ''Tubal Cain" (Mr. A. L.
Holley) a correspondent of the New
York Daily Times, was a passenger, and
has given glowing and able account of
the voyage. He states that the firing of
| the boilers was often very defective, so
that, so far as it relates to the question
of speed, according to the fuel consumed
in proportion to the mass of the vessel,
the Great Eastern is success without a
cargo On the other hand, if she had
been loaded with freight, she would un-
doubtedly have consumed much greater
tity of fuel The horsepower of the
paddle-wheel engines, as taken by the
indicator, was 1876 H. p; that of the
screw engines, 1876 III. P; total, 1852
H. P. The vacuum maintained in the
engines was 25 1-2 inches; that of the
screw, 27 inches In J. Scott Russell s
work on the steam engine, he maintains
that vacuum may be too great some
times; and this may account for the de-
fcient vacuum in the paddle engines
which he built, in comparison with those
of the screws which were built by j
Watt; but most engineers have totally
different opinion. These facts will be
useful to engineers in forming their own
conclusions as to the mechanical eff
cheney and success of. the great ship. 1t
must not be forgotten, in making the es-
innate of what she has done, that her
displacement of water is 25 feet in depth
by SO in breadth, which would make
1851 square feet Of her submerged Sec
ton. Her total displacement is 25,00C
tons, while that of the Persia is 5000
and the latter requires about 5000 horse
power to make the same speed.
The model of the Great Eastern is
exceedingly beautiful. No more grace
full hull ever foated ON American waters
She has the hollow bow On the "wave
line" principle, explained on page 354
of our last volume, and her stern is Of
the round clipper pattern, which we
have copied from that once maritime peo-
pie, the Hollanders. Her lines are SO
fine, and proportions so harmonious,
that she has been justly admired by all,
and for these features j. Scott Russell
deserves the entire praise. She has six
masts, stack of tunnels, and vertical
bow without spr1 upon it-a wise ar
rangement copied from Collins steam
'ers.
There is one particular point of inter
est to us connected with the steeriag OF
this vessel, which has been overlooked
by most persons, namely, the local mag
eetic action of such mass Of metal in
the hull, engines and boilers, upon the
compasses. There is great discrepancy
between the travel of the engines, and
the actual distance across the ocean,
which is only $3.50 miles to Southam-
ton. She was stopped at one period to
adjust the compasses, and it is well
known that unless they operate correctly
she cannot be safe to navigate. That she
has come safely is preof positive thai