AMERICAN RAILROAD JOITRNAL

387

of strength. A glance at the transverse inidsliip
section will show at once this portion of her struc-
ture. I-Iitherto it has been the practice to build
iron ships in exactly the same manner as regards
framework as wooden ones ; that is, the strength
of the sides has been made gradually to lighten
too ards the deck, which being of wood, can offer
but slight resisting power. Thus iron ships of the
old method ol‘ construction are peculiarly liable to
break their backs upon the application of force,
either to their two ends or to the centre of their
keels, just, in short, as a tube would be easily
broken, one side of which was made much stronger
than the other. ,The “ Birkcnhead” iron troop-
ship was a melancholy instance of this unscientific
method of construction; for it will be remembered
that when she struck, her wooden deck doubled
up and snapped in two, as a stick would snap
across the knee, whilst stem and stern reared for
a moment high in the air, and then went down
like stones into the deep.

As you stand watching the process of building
up this double skin, or framework of the ship, the
question immediately strikes the mind, how are
these unyielding plates of inch iron made to ac-
commodate themselves to her lines, which are
seen to run as finely fore and aft as those of a
Thames wager-boat”. How are the inuiuerable
curves which die away into each other, to be pro-
duced by any aggregation of rectilinear pieces of
flat boiler plate '2 In ordinary wooden ships, the
planking, by its elasticity, allows itself to be nio-
deiled to the ribs; but here there are no ribs, in
the true sense of the word, and the form of the
vessel must depend upon the inclination given to
each separate piece of iron before the fastening
process is commenced. And such in fact is the
case. Every individual plate, before being fixed
in its proper position, was the subject of at sepe-
rate study to the engineer. Of the ten thousand,
or thereabout, that compose the framework of the
ship, only a few situated in the midship section
are alike either in size or in curve. For each a
model in wood, or “ template,” as it is technically
called, had originally to be made, and by these
patterns the plates were cut into their required
shapes by the huge steam shears, in exactly the

"same manner as a tailor cuts out the various por-

tions of a garment. _ The “list,” or inclination to
be given to each plate, is the next process to be
gone through ; and this is produced by passing it
through a system of rollers, which can be so re-
versed in their action, and so adjusted as to give
it any required curve. The “ template,” studded
with holes around its margin, is then fitted to it,
and a boy with a stick dipped in white lead marks
through them the places upon the iron where the
rivet-holes are to be punched; when this last pro-
cess is completed, the plate is lettered with two or
three separate letters, indicating the precise place
it has to take in the ship. Thus the hull is first
carefully thought out in detail, and is then regu-
larly and mechanically put together, in much the
same way as a tessclated pavement.

The process of fastening the plates affords
another curious contrast to the old method of
bolting employed by the ship-cerpenters. The
holes in the plates to be held together being
brought in exact opposition, bolts at a white heat
are one by one introduced, and firmly revetted
whilst in that condition by a group of three men,
one the upholder, who holds the bolt in its posi-
tion by placing a hammer against its head on the
inside of the ship, whilst two sturdy Vulcans, with
alternate blows, produce the rivet-head on the
other. The bolts contract in cooling, and draw
the plates together with the force of a vice, and
hold them so tor ever afterwards. The rapidity
with which this process is performed strikes the
spectator with astonishment. A set of three men
and a boy to shovel the hot bolts out of the fur-
nace, will in the course of a day close up four hun-
dred rivets; and speed in the process is requisite
when we remember that before the ship can swim
three millions of them must be made secure.

If we clamber up the ladders which lead to her
deck; 8011.13 sixty feet above the ground, we per-

ceive that her interior presents fully as strange a
contrast to other vessels as the construction of her
hull does. Ten perfectly water-tight bulkheads,
placed 60 feet apart, having no openings what-
ever lower than the scond deck, divide the ship
transversely; whilst two longitudinal walls of iron,
36 feet apart, traverse 350 feet of the length of
the ship. Thus the interior is divided, like the
sides, into a system of cells or boxes. Besides
these main divisions there are a great number of
sub-copartments beneath the lowestdeek,devoted
to the boiler-rooms, engine-rooms, coal, and
cargo, &c.; whilst some 40 or 50 feet of her stem
and stem are rendered almost as rigid as so much
solid iron by being divided by iron decks from
bulwark to keel. Her upper deck is double, and
is also composed of a system of cells formed by
plates and angle irons. By this multiplication of
rectilinear compartments, the ship is made almost
as strong as if she were of solid iron, she is ren-
dered as light and as indestructible, comparative-
ly speaking, as a piece of bamboo. There is a
separate principle of life in every distinct portion,

and she could not well be destroyed even if broken

into two or three pieces, since the fragments, like

those of a divided worm, would be able to sustain

an independent existence.

Abettcr idea, perhaps, of the interior of the

ship can be gained at the present moment than

when she has progressed further towards comple-

tion. As you traverse her mighty deck, flush
from stem to stem, the great compartments made
by the transverse and longitudinal bulkheads, or
parti-walls of iron, appear in the shape of a series
of parallelograms, 60 feet in length by 36 in
width; numerous doors in the walls of these
yawning openings at once reveal that it is here
that the hotels of the steamship will be located.
If we were to take the row of houses belonging to
Mivart’s and drop them down one gulf, take “Far-
rance’s” and drop it down the second, take Mor-
ley’s at Charing Cross and fit itlnto athird, and ad-
just the Great Western Hotel at Paddington and
the Great Northern at King’s Cross into apertures
four and five, we should get some faint idea of the
nature of the accommodation the Great Eastern
will afford. We speak of dropping hotels down
these holes, because these separate compartments
will .be as distinct from each other as so many
different houses; each will have its splendid

saloons, upper and lower, of 60 feet in length ; its

bed-rooms or cabins, its kitchen and its bar, and
the passengers will no more be able to walk from

one to the other than the inhabitants of one house
in Westbourne Terrace could communicate tlir’gh

the parti-walls with their next door neighbors.

The only process by which visiting can be carried
on will be by means of the upper deck or main
thoroughtlire of the ship. Nor are we using figures
of speech when we compare the space which is
contained in the new ship to the united accommo-
dation afforded by several of the largest hotels in
London. She is destined to carry 800 first-class,
2,000 second class, and 1,200 third class passen-
gers, independently of the ship’s complement,
making a total of 4,000 guests. A reference to
the longitudinal and transverse sections will ex-
plain her internal economy more readily than
words. The series of saloons, together with the
sleeping apartments, extending over 350 feet, are
locatedin the middle instead of “aft,” according
to the usual arrangement. The advantage of this
disposition of the hotel department must be evid-
ent to all those who have been to sea and know
the advantage of a snug berth as near as possible
to the centre of the ship, where its transverse and
longitudinal axes meet, and where, of course,
there is no motion at all. It will be observed that
the passengers are placed immediately above the
boilers and engines; but the latter are completely
shut off from the living freight by a strongly
arched roof of iron, above which, and below the
lowest iron deck, the coals will be stowed, and
W111 P1'3Vel1l’= 811 sound and vibration from penetrat-
ingto the inhabitants in the upper stories. As
the engines and boiler rooms are separated from
each other by bulkheads, in exactly the same

manner, as the saloons, a peculiar arrangement
has been made to connect their machinery with-
out interfering with their water-tight character.
Two tunnels, of a sufficient size to give free pass-
age to the engineers, are constructed fore and aft
in the centre of the coal bunkers, through all the
great iron parti-walls. By this arrangement the
steam and water pipes which give life and motion
to the ship will be enabled to traverse her great
divisions, just as the aorta traverses in its sheath
the human diaphragm.

Let us return, however, for a few moments to
the deck, in order to give the reader a clear idea
of the magnitude of the structure under our feet.
The exact dimensions “over all” are 692 feet.
There are few persons who will thoroughly com-
prehend the capacity of these figures. Neither
Grosvenor nor Belgrave square could take the
Great Eastern in; Berkeley square‘ could barely
admit her in its long dimension, and when rigged,
not at all, for her mizzen boom would project
some little way up Davies street, whilst her how-
sprit, if she had one, would hang a long way over
the Marquis of Lansdowne’s garden. In short,
she is the eighth of a mile in length, and her
passengers will never be able to complain of being
"cooped up,” as four turns up and down her deck
will afford them a mile’s walk. Her width is
equally astonishing. From side to side of her
hull, she measures 83 feet, the width of Pall Mall;
but across the paddlc—boxes her breadth is 114 ft.,
that is, she could just steam up Portland place,
scraping with her paddles the houses on either
side. With the exception of the sky-lights and
openings for ventilating the lower saloons, her
deck is flush for and aft. Mr. Brunei has, we
think, wisely decided not to trust so precious a
human freight and so vast an amount of valuable
cargo to a single propelling power, but has sup-
plied her with three-—the screw, the paddle, and
the sail. l-Ier paddle-wheels, 66 ft. in diameter, or
considerably larger than the circus at Ashley’s,
will be propelled by four engines, the cylinders of
which are 6 feet 2 inches in diameter, and the
stroke 14 feet. The motive power of these will
be generated by four boilers. Enormous as are
these engines, having a nominal power of 1,000
horses, and standing nearly 50 feet high, they will
be far inferior to those devoted to the screw.
These, the largest ever constructed for marine
purposes, will be supplied with steam by six
boilers, working a force of 1,600 horses—-the rela-
tive strength of the combined engines being equal
to 3,000 horses. The speed of the ship under
steam is expected to average 20 miles an hour.

We all know, even on a calm day, what a wind
meets the face looking out of a railway train going
at that pace, and consequently it can be under-
stood that sails, except on ordinary occasions,
would act rather as an impediment than as an as-
sistance to the ship’s progress. It is not probable,
therefore, that they will be much resorted to ex-
cept for the purpose of steadying or of helping to
steer her. In case, however, of a strong wind a-

rising, going more than twenty-five miles an hour,

in the direction of her course, she is provided
with seven masts, two of \vg%)<(:)h aredsqufare-rigged,
and the whole spreading 6, yar s o canvas.-_-—
llt will be observed thapvshg carrilps notgowsprit,
and hasno sprit sail. e 0 not now ereaso_n
of this departure from the ordinary rig, unless it
be to avoid her ploughing too deeply in the sea.—_—
Her bow is also without a figure.-head; and this
peculiarity, together with her simple rig, gives
her the appearance of a child's toy~boat. If beau-
ty is nothing more than fitness, this form of how
is undoubtedly tine moat bczaiitiféul, ::p1d_tl1te Ami‘:-
cans who have ong a op e i in err rans- .-
lantii: steamers, are right; but to ordinary eyes it
looks sadly inferior to the old figure-head project-
ing out before the ship, as if eager to lead her on-
ward over the wave. Fewer hands will be requir-
ed to navigate the “Great Eastern” than her size
would seem to demand. Her whole crew will not
excegd 400 me;i—1ahthirc§ of‘ the nr.E1l:I1l3§I1‘f00IIlg.:§:
ing t e crew o a ree- ec er. e 1 er_en

made up by what we may term glean» 8a1lors.—-

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