Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1888-09-04
The Great Eastern.

The last page in the history Of mighty
steamship will soon be written The Great
Eastern is to be broken up aud sold for
Junk, where she lice beached Oh the hanks
OF the Mersey river There is something
pathetic in the fate OF ths monster vessel
and of the enterprise which brought her in
10 being. In 1852 company was formed
in England to maintain an ocean trade to
the east around the Cape OF Good Hope ;
but it was soon found chat the venture
would not pay if coaing stations had to be
supported at points along the route, as
seemed probable, since no ship then afioat
| could be expected to carry fuel enough for
the round trip. Somebody hit upon the
| idea of building vessel that would carry
thousand passengers, five thousand tons
Of merchandise, and fifteen thousand tons
OF coal. Accordingly in November, 1857,
| the last bolt was driven III the Great East
ern. Her gross tonnage was nearly 10000,
and she was 600 feet long, So feet broad, and
GO feet deep. She carried eight engines,
varying from one thousand 10 sixteen hun
dred horse. power. So huge and heavy
ship, it WINS feared, could not be launched
in the ordinary way, so she was built with
her broadside toward the water, and SID
down an enormous wooden staging the cost
of the mere launching process being be-
tween three and four hundred thousand
dollars. Next an explosion occurred on
board, killing several persons and requiring
the expenditure of large sum to make
good the damage done. As there was 10
certainty about the profits of the Australian
trade, for which she was especially designed,
it was concluded tc experiment with her
on the usual routs of trans atlantic pas
senger steamers. She made several voyages,
beginning in June, 1860, to and from the
harbor of New York, but her owners steedi-
ly lost money, partly because The travelling
public did not dare trust themselves on az
experimental ship OF her size, aud partly be
cause of tho steady outlay for repairs. In
Decem ber. 1861, when there we're threats Of
war between Great Britain ana the United
States, abe proved her value as 8 transport
ship by bringing two thousand troops from
England to Canada with scercely any in
convenience or discomfort, and three years
later she was employed to advantage in lay
ing submarine cables, Since then ahe has
changed hands on one or occasions ct her
last sale commanding price OF one hundred
thousand dollars. She has been used chiefly
rs CUGl ChIIlci DOIhOCu lCtuOpc 1)tiliSu
ports. Her cost to her various ownois, it is
estimated, has been somewhere near thirty
million dollars. and her final collapse is at
tended with the consoling reflection that the
chance to throw money away Oh her will
have gone with the breaking up Of her
hulk. She is the largest ship ever built
and is likely to hold that place undisputed,
at all events for good while to come.
Steamers are now built between 500 and
600 feet long, and from so to 60 feet in beam,
and show splendid sailing powers. The
Umbria, which beat the City Of New York
on her last trip out, is $50 feet long and 81
feet broad. Her sister Etruria is CT the same
dimensions but the point is rapidly ap-
preaching in shpbuiding in the opinion Of
experts, where increase of size must be
abandoned, on account rot only of the strain
which the great weight brings TO bear upon
the joints, but Of the unwieldiness of so large
o craft in the hands of even the most ex-
perienced navigator