The weekly sun. (New York [N.Y.]) 1851-1869, 1861-10-12
tn. D,.a.,erto the Great Eastern.

The Disaster to the Great Eastern.
By the London Times of tho 10Th ult we
| Learn tho exact cause OF the disaster. The rud-
/ Ter was Of insufficient power to steer the vast
4 ship in gale. She lay rolling in toe trough
Y manageable, according to two different &C
lsts, before the rudicrpin broke:
Ne were pdshing ahead with the gale on
our port bow, and when We tried to put her head
to wind her huge broldsidc exposed to the gale
proved more than her vast pc yer could CONTROL
she could not bo brought head ~ wind, nor
could she be turned to sail with the wind, aud
10 she lay in the trough Of the sea, until in the
iule9tous efforts ~ pu: her right her ruider
head broke abjvs; the raider plSt, all OF IN ~
HNe IRON ielded; then the wne-is O'hese PER
hap', W % not equa 20 their task gave
one af,er another ard SO thi' groAt lay
md powerful ship was at the srnng'
E waves, a log upon the billow' mercy OF the
A third tells the stor had. =, o.,
adding the signihc" n, Gao, ,t,,, ,Lo o.. 49,,
o.al,d tn, hreat ~ i'1' 'uA' u'o Vi0o's Coh-
'eN0u .'s D'' .Ing Of the ruddor and kept The
gang a. y . wheel, steering in duo form, to
pro- CIV aPanic, SO that whether the unman-
af' oility Of the ship was tho cause or the conse
quence fbreaking the rudler, is rot quite cor
tain.
AS to the ship herself for strength she ha, no
eIln; Dr;ing all the fury Of the gale and the
ho'' rolling in the trough Of tho sea in an
equinoctiil gale, which broke up the Atlantic
into one surface Of MOUNTAINOUS waves, not a
rivet hiss started anywhere, not butt OF a plate
can 10 discovered as shaken; the ship has IN ida,
may safely say, no water in her hull, anl IL
really seems as It the grnt idol were ro,l zod
IN the cons, raction Of ship not TO be brOked up
by winds or waves.
- THO o.
'-7s'n-' s-c lisa Glioachoi; the ma,
adWt-eh oros work q with 3 no ss.ess 70 ,ul a.
'V ho iN'lSon wni-h surp,5l all, AMI even
wnen the padilcwh'cis Yielded tho engine,
shovel no sympt ID; OF sIlkins. So with the
screw engines, the efficiency OF which has 50
contributed to our sGe'y. Exposed they
were to ths disls'er' which b.,ol tho rdIdsf,
which at one time dipped back upon t1c -,rsE
and pTlyon''d its worSin =, tA"y were iu fall
worsin6 order, anl were awivs rally 90 DO
dU'y who the r'pir Of ne rad !,rcL.lI for
their aid. Tnorc arc also tho d,uksy 81 ans
thrUigh,u, thu shr cbnt,ipG'iAs c,,sa.iN So
cJrity lee tse they en- clear cIcl 20 mp lrt mont
Of water ia case d need.
letter in New Noik paper d,nios that
there we're mora than two or three broken limbs
On board but the Tal.s writer, adhere to the
report q y.
The following extracts from a passenger
report give af.r.he- Wow Of tho succession Of
events -.
TuCRspAY.
This morning We hly, flesh gdr, VITA
good Sea. MONA hoyy gale; wird, from
nor'i to west; sea tram nioI5. We rol very
hea 7ily and ship IN my sE, no begin 10
understand the trus me iuin, or gale IN tho
Alta tic. The cap ga looks a,x,oIs, hit the
pa,scrgcrs have faith N the "o,s ship Tho
trolling" il e. IrfLl, md IA 70 up,ets all p'TOn,'
~ Of tho siell3uc4s Of the Great L. tdc-n.
-hf cur cows has her leg Oruken; in n short
they are both rolled TO death. Two
=, ,loCk. lo'l> worse. The c1pain tries
60 put our head TO the wind. The pore piillo
gives way with great crash Ia the attempt.
The ito Is set, presume 10 AID in steering, bat
il Is blown to riblnls in a teS mo nents. Too
rolling increases the deck presents an anglo Of
d dsgrees, aud none hu' exp ricnCoi solns1cn
walk about. Attention Is suddenly drawn 70 the
boats; they arc suspended on oi'hor side but
mostly on fixed davts. Tho heavy rolling
brings the bors in violent contact with tie
waves. The tackling Of tho Ion sbolt becomes
deranged; a man and boy enter II TO Tensty
the evil but the wind strikes the boat and gives
the occupants lorcibls Extraordinarily upon
deck AMI in a mt it is floating far away
from us. -Four other boats share a similar fate IN
rapid succession. Continued efforts are made 10
bring the sh p to the wind. j watch the men a.
the wheel, there is almost an army OF them.
They are con ending with an element whose
power they are indeed familiar with, but Iuno
fully estimate. They still stand TO their post
aud we still have hope. lj.-Jur pisilUn -
becoming indeed critical. A tremendous sea has
Just struck our stern. II has broken her rudicr
head and done serious damage To hsr stern-pOst
Still, we are not quite at the mery o. the waves;
we have our screw AMI we have oar starooi ard
paddle
The swapping Of the rudlcrheld Is double
misfortune II allows the rulder to swing rou nd
upon the screw, and entirely prevents It itom
being worked The ship has begun " DR. .
into the trough Of the SEQ. Another effort is
made with the remaining pIddle 10 turn its
head The effort i too much this paddle now
gives way and at last we are 90 7. M at the
entire mercy of the waves.
The Great Eastern was to' sed about as IL sho
had been All eggshell. B'Oken nses and black
eyes were to be seen everywhere. Two cows
bad cen, very I'M ropeily, accommodation Just
over the ladies saloon This miserable shed ave
wav al once. One COW popped her head through
window to take refuge against the bad wea-
Their in the ladies' saloon, but she unfortunately
broke her leg, and was thus prevented Further
progress. An Irish snilsr came running up the
staircase, long knife in his hand, aud eagerly
crying ont, g am going 10 kill the COW to save
her life
The Captain is a brave fellow, and keeps his
spirits up wonderfully. He is ever keeping the
men steadily at the wheel, although the 'rudder
has been gone for many hours. He knows the
alarm knowledge of this would create.
SATURDAY, $50 4. NJ.
The sea il getting more quiet, aud new hope
springs up. An American gentleman, Mr..
Towle, civil engineer, and passer ger, sug
gests means of repairing our rudder. The
Captain places the engineer department at hi
disposal
The sea is calm by comparison. We have
drifted about 100 miles in tvo day.; at first in
the wrorg direction but are now getting right
again, ard are going south west The steer
ing arrangements are going on well, ard hope
is expressed on all sides-it is written upon all
faces.s 80 There is joy which does not find
its expression in words or cheers. The ship
moves not by the drifting Of the sea, OF which
we have grown so tired during the last few
DAYS but by means Of her screw, and her head
is being brought round, bat her direction il
home.
The correspondent of the N. Y. Times says
b. feel the most entire confidence that had thu
Great Eastern been brought up in the wind
when il first increased to gale-say, at abou
4 o'clock in the afternoon Of the fatal Thursday
-sAe would have ridden il out without acct
dent, and with grea'er ease than any other shiI
aAOlt. She was voluntarily left in the trough
p Of the sea till the gale had increased to a de-
gree which rendered her unmanageable II I
equally manifest that there was serious erro
Of judgment on the part Of her Captain. Oh
his behalf, however II may DO said that th,