ATTEMPTED SALE OF THE GREAT EASTERN.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 1012, 15 December 1881, Page 4

ATTEMPTED SALE OF THE GREAT EASTERN.

It was a classical writer, I think, who first said that the pride of one generation is the disgrace of another. At all evenls, the truth of the adage has received a new exemplification in the abortive attempts which have been made to sell the Great Eastern steamship. At the time of her launch the Great Eastern cost nearly £250,000, and even then a large outlay was required before she was fit to go to sea. Lately she was put up for auction m the city of London, and bought in by the vendors after the highest bid of £30,000 had been made. For many vears she has been lying idle, or occasionally engaged in laying a telegraph cable, but for this purpose she has been found to be less commodious than ships a quarter of her capacity, but constructed specially for conveying cables. If she were half her size she would be worth twice her present value. She is too large to go through the Suez Canal, or else she might perhaps have been utilised for the Australian or Indian trade. She has been tried for the American trade, and in this respect also she has proved a gigantic failure. When she came over from New York she—a vessel capable of carrying 2,000 passengers —had to be content with 200. What her ultimate fate may be it is difficult to say. If only she .were made, of wood she would be worth something to break up ; but the disintegration of an iron ship costs as much as it is worth. As a transport she could carry 8,000 soldiers in her hull, but no Government would care to trust so large a portion of the British army in one bottom. Like many nations, her size is her misfortune, and it may be feared that she will prove to be a “ white elephant ” to any one who may buy her.