lo. 5. 



The Iron Steamer, Great Britain. 



165 



The Iron Steamer, Great Britain. 



The " Times" gives the following descrip- 

 on of this gigantic vessel, — the largest in 

 le world. The Great Britain is built en- 

 rely of iron, with the exception of the 

 ooring of her decks, and the flooring and 

 ! :namental parts of her cabins. She is 324 

 set in length aloft, or upwards of 100 feet 

 >nger than our largest line of battle ships, 

 'ler extreme breadth is 51 feet, and the 

 epth of her hold 32 feet. She is registered 

 ',200 tons, so that her bulk far exceeds that 

 'f any two steamers in the world."" She has 

 our decks, the lowest of which is of iron, 

 Sid appropriated for the reception of the 

 'argo. The upper deck, with the exception 

 'f a small break in the forecastle, is com- 

 letely flush from stem to stern, without 

 wilding or elevation of any kind, so that, 

 esides the masts and funnel, there will be 

 lothing above deck to offer resistance to a 

 lead wind. 



1 The two intermediate decks are appro- 

 bated exclusively to the use of passengers 

 'nd the equipage of the ship, and consist of 

 Sur grand saloons, forming together a length 

 f dining room, of 350 feet, two large ladies' 

 iabins, or family rooms; and one hundred 

 •nd eighty state rooms, each containing two 

 pacious sleeping berths, so that besides the 

 ortion appropriated to the crew, steward's 

 epartment, &c, the immense number of 

 '60 passengers can be accommodated, each 

 jyith a separate bed, without requiring a 

 ingle sofa to be made up in any of the sa- 

 laons. — The principal saloon is 108 feet long, 

 y 32 feet wide, and 8 feet 3 inches high. 

 Jesides the vast space appropriated to the 

 passengers, crew, &c, and that occupied by 

 he engines, boilers, &c, she has sufficient 

 oom for the stowage of 1000 tons of coal, 

 '.nd 1,200 tons of measurement goods. There 

 .re three boilers, capable of containing 200 

 ons of water, which will be heated by 24 

 ires, and she has four engines, each of 250 

 lorse power, making in all 1,000 horse 

 xwer. Some idea may be formed of her 

 fastness, when it Is stated, that 1,400 tons 

 )f iron have been used in her construc- 

 ion. 



The most novel feature about the Great 

 Britain, is her mode of propulsion, which is 

 )y the newly improved screw-propeller, pa 

 ented by Mr. Smith, of London, with \m- 

 movements made upon it, and applied by 

 ;hat gentleman with complete success, to 

 :he Archimedes. The Great Britain will 

 ae fitted with six masts, on five of which, a 

 single fore-and-aft sail only will be carried, 

 ;he mainmast alone being rigged with yards 

 ind topmast. These masts will be low, as 



compared with the size of the vessel, al- 

 though the mainmast will be 95 feet long, 

 and the quantity of canvass, though inconsi- 

 derable to what she would carry as a full 

 rigged ship, will still be as much as would 

 cover three quarters of an acre of ground. 

 It is difficult to ascertain the precise limits 

 of the speed which she is calculated to per- 

 form at sea. Probably the expectations of 

 the directors are greater on this point than 

 they choose to confess until an actual trial, 

 but something considerably exceeding that 

 of any sea-going steamship at present afloat, 

 may be looked for. The rate at which the 

 Oriental steam vessels accomplish their 

 voyages, does not average more than eight 

 miles an hour: the Atlantic steamers about 

 nine, and the most rapid sea voyage yet ac- 

 complished, has not exceeded an average ol 

 ten miles an hour. It is estimated that the 

 Great Britain will accomplish from ten to 

 sixteen miles an hour, according to the na- 

 ture of the weather and the sea; and no 

 doubt is entertained that her average will 

 be at least twelve to thirteen miles per hour; 

 taking the lowest of these rates, there would 

 be an amazing increase over the great tri- 

 umphs of steam navigation hitherto heard 

 of. 



Wool.— Michigan. 



George Hentig, an intelligent correspondent of the 

 Western Farmer, who writes from Marengo, Michigan, 

 contends that the Southdown, Cotswold, or Leicester 

 sheep, are preferable to the Saxony, both on account 

 of the fleece and the carcass. He very justly incul- 

 cates the sentiment, that " a well bred animal will al- 

 ways amply compensate for its good keep." He thinks 

 "more money may be made by raising good mutton, 

 than good beef;" and that our native sheep are not a 

 fair sample of what mutton ought to be. He closes 

 his letter with the following paragraph: 



Is it not strange, that among the many 

 emigrants arriving in New York and else- 

 where, that scarcely one finds his way into 

 this State] Certainly no State in the Union 

 holds out greater inducements to the emi- 

 grant, than does the State of Michigan. 

 There never was a better time for a person 

 commencing on a new farm than the pre- 

 sent. We can, at this time, get our open- 

 ings, or prairies, broke up at the low price 

 of twelve shillings per acre, and fenced for 

 less than half that sum ; then there is a 

 farm to go on with — no clearing land and 

 waiting 10 or 12 years for the stumps to rot 

 out. I think many that are now working 

 the heavy timbered lands, would soon stop, 

 could they have a peep at our Western 

 country; indeed, I may say, "Western Mi- 

 chigan against the world." 



