been made captain. Mr. Jackson is still chief engineer. We cannot at
present explain the fact that she went more than twice as fast as she has
done recently, her engines making as many as 36 revolutions a minute, save
on the assumption that while lying at Dublin much of the enormous growth of
seaweed on her bottom died off, as will sometimes happen as a result of
change of water. Her engines and boilers, too, have had a good overhaul by
Mr. Jackson, and this may account in part for this improvement. It is much
to be regretted that the scheme of using the ship for her legitimate
purpose has not been carried out. It is not, however, yet too late. The
Great Eastern was not a success in Dublin, for one reason, that a beer and
spirit license could not be obtained for her. It is said that notice has
been given at the Birkenhead police court that any application for a
license of a similar kind will be opposed. Whether the ship will be as
popular a resort without as she was with a license, we cannot pretend to
say; and we may add that all our predilections are against her degradation
to the status of a floating music hall. The greater her failure as such,
the greater the chance of her being put to a better use; and it may help to
that desirable end if we say here something concerning the way in which she
could be rendered a commercial success as a trader.

It may be taken as proved that the present value of the ship is about
£26,000. Mr. De Mattos gave, we understand, £27,000 for her, and he bought
her by auction. The last sale gives nearly the same figures. If we assume
that there are 10,000 tons of iron in her, we may also assume that if
broken up it would not fetch more than £3 a ton at present rates; but even
if we say £4, we have as a total but £40,000. To break the ship up would be
a herculean task; we very much doubt if it could be done for the difference
between £26,000 and £40,000; her engines would only sell for old iron,
being entirely worthless for any other place than the foundry once they
were taken out of her; as for her boilers, the less said about them the