300 : The Atlantic 



1827 a ship named the Curasao was built in Dover and bought by the 

 Dutch Navy. In 1829 she made the passage between Holland and the 

 West Indies, and thereafter for a number of years repeated this run an- 

 nually. In 1 83 1 a steamer called the Royal William, built in Canada, 

 crossed the Atlantic in nineteen days. 



Steamers continued to grow in size and also in number, and the 

 developments took place in the United States quite as rapidly as they 

 took place in England. By 1835 there were 700 steamers operating in 

 American waters and this was twenty more than were accounted for 

 in British waters two years later. About a third of the English steam- 

 ers had engines of 100 horsepower and sixty-five of them were rated 

 at 200 horsepower, but these were still vessels designed for coastwise 

 operation. 



In 1838 there comes into the record of ocean vessels a remarkable 

 man, Isambard Kingdom Brunei. He was primarily a railroad engi- 

 neer, but he was so much an engineer that he felt he had to take his 

 steam experience to sea. Specifically he was an engineer for the Great 

 Western Railroad and in order that the influence of the railroad might 

 reach to America he began building steamers, the first one of which 

 was naturally christened the Great Western. The Great Western was, 

 for her time and age, a handsome vessel amply powered and her con- 

 struction and her projected Atlantic service aroused interest. Another 

 company decided to compete and bought and equipped a smaller 

 steamer called the Sirius. The overloaded Sirius got away to sea first 

 and the Great Western sailed four days later and they commenced 

 a race to New York. Both vessels had been scheduled for an earlier 

 sailing but had been delayed, so there was apprehension in New 

 York regarding their fate. Apprehension was succeeded by excite- 

 ment when the two vessels made port safely. They did not arrive on 

 the same day, but within twenty-four hours of each other, the Great 

 Western having made the passage in fifteen days. 



The arrival of two steamers in a single port, having made the 

 passage across the Atlantic, led many people to feel that the day of 

 the sailing ship was drawing to its close and that the period of the 

 steamer had arrived. This however was far from the case. The public 

 did not yet realize how dangerous and how expensive the steamers 

 were. They were hardly even aware of the fact that a little steamer 

 like the Sirius had to carry an enormous volume of coal since her 

 engine was so inefficient. She came staggering into New York under 

 her own power, but by the barest margin, having burned up the 

 sweepings of her coal pile and some of the wooden fittings and furni- 



