who at once took her.  He is, we understand, a Manchester cotton spinner, and he paid L25,500 for her.  It is no secret that Messrs. Lewis made a considerable sum out of the ship last year, and the knowledge of this fact has no doubt induced her present owner to follow their example.  The ship left Dublin on Sunday, April 3, under her own steam and in tow of two Liverpool tugs, the Brilliant Star and the Wrestler, and arrived in the Mersey without accident on Monday, after a passage of only thirteen hours.  Mr. Reeves, formerly her chief officer, has 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 L26,000.  Mr. De Mattos gave, we understand, L27,000 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 L3 a ton at present rates; but even if we say L4, we have as a total but L40,000.  To break the ship up would be a herculean task; we very much doubt if it could be done for the difference between L26,000 and L40,000; 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 better.  In one word, she would not pay to break up.  On the other hand, by a comparatively moderate further outlay, she might be made the finest trading ship afloat.  There are two harbors at all events into which she can always get, namely, Milford and Sydney.  There are others, of course, but these will do; and the ship could trade