CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



a tonnage of 70,674, and 30,860 horse-power indi- 

 cated. The Royal Mail steamers of the Trans- 

 atlantic section, carrying the Scotch and North of 

 Ireland mails between Glasgow, Moville, and New- 

 port, usually accomplish the voyage in about 9 

 days. 



The navigation of the St Lawrence presents 

 unusual difficulties to the sailor ; it is frozen in 

 winter, and floating ice in spring chokes it up, and 

 is a source of danger to ships far out into the 

 gulf into which it empties itself. Besides this, 

 dense fogs occur, especially during the melting of 

 the ice, and bewilder the most skilful mariner. 

 The importance of regular steam-communication 

 with our Canadian colonies was, however, too great 

 to allow any difficulties to stand in its way, and 

 in 1856, Messrs Allan entered into a contract with 

 the Canadian government to run mail-steamers 

 between Liverpool and Quebec in summer, and 

 Liverpool and Portland in winter. The service is 

 carried on under the designation of the ' Montreal 

 Ocean Steam-ship Company,' which is more com- 

 monly known as the Allan line. The average 

 time taken on the voyage between Liverpool and 

 Quebec is a little over ten days, the mean speed 

 being about 10-9 knots per hour ; one of the 

 fastest runs made is that of the Sardinian in June 

 1879, between Moville, Ireland, and Quebec, in 

 6 days 23 hours and 30 minutes. The Allan line 

 has now extensive connections with other parts 

 of the American continent, having services to 

 Halifax, Baltimore, St John's (Newfoundland), 

 and the River Plate. Its steamers, like those of 

 the other Atlantic companies, are continually 

 growing in number and size, and all the most 

 recent improvements for insuring safety and 

 economy have been added to their machinery. 



Three other lines of Transatlantic steamers 

 claim a few words here : the Inman line, the 

 National Steam-ship Company, and the White 

 Star line. The full designation of the first of 

 these is the ' Inman Steam-ship Company, 

 Limited.' It is remarkable as the first ocean 

 steam-ship company which unreservedly adopted 

 the screw as a propeller instead of paddle-wheels, 

 and also as the first to carry the emigrant by 

 steam. Its steamers have made several very 

 quick voyages across the Atlantic. The City of 

 Paris was especially selected to convey H.R.H. 

 the Duke of Connaught to Halifax, N.S., and 

 accomplished the passage between Queenstown 

 and that port, a distance of 2236 knots, in 6 days 

 19 hours, or 14 knots per hour ; and the City of 

 Berlin did the return journey from New York, a 

 distance of 2850 knots, in 7 days 15 hours, or 

 rather more than 15^ knots per hour. This is 

 9! hours less than the time of the Russia on the 

 voyage already mentioned. The City of Richmond 

 has also made a very rapid run to the westward ; 

 leaving Queenstown on the i6th July, she arrived 

 at New York on the 24th July. Mean time 8 

 days, or 15 knots per hour. The steamer City of 

 Berlin, constructed on the Clyde, is 5500 tons. 



The 'National Steamship Company' was formed 

 in 1863. Its steamers are remarkable for their 

 very great size, which reduces the sickness-pro- 

 ducing motion at sea, and also enables ample 

 height to be allowed between decks, and is favour- 

 able to proper Ventilation. The Egypt measures 

 454 feet in length, 44 feet beam, 4670 tons gross 

 register, and 600 horse-power nominal. The 



458 



steamer America of this line, in 1884, performed 

 the voyage from New York to Queenstown in 6 

 days, 14 hours, and 18 min. The next fastest pass- 

 age is that of the Oregon, of the 'Guion' line, which 

 only took -i\ hours more for the same voyage. 



The ' White Star' line of steamers sailing between 

 Liverpool and New York, are all of very large size 

 and power, and have maintained from the first an 

 exceptionally high average speed. The Germanic's 

 passage in 7 days 1 1 hours 37 minutes mean time, 

 or at a rate of speed equivalent to 16 knots per 

 hour, in 1877, was till then the shortest on 

 record. The two shortest passages previously 

 were those of her sister ship the Britannic, 7 

 days 13 hours II minutes outwards (or about 

 the rate of 15? knots per hour); and 7 days 

 12 hours 41 minutes homewards (or almost 16 

 knots per hour). All the steamers have com- 

 pound engines of the most modern construc- 

 tion, so that this Company may be said to be 

 doing for this class of engine what the Inman 

 line did for the screw-propeller. The vessels of 

 the White Star line are remarkable for their very 

 great proportionate length, to which we have 

 already alluded, and also for having their saloons, 

 state-rooms, &c., placed amidships. These inno- 

 vations have been largely adopted by other com- 

 panies in vessels recently built. 



The Orient, of 5400 tons register, built in 

 Glasgow for the ' Orient Steam Navigation Com- 

 pany,' is one of the largest and finest steamers of 

 the kind ever constructed. In 1879, she accom- 

 plished her first run to Australia in 37 days. The 

 'Union Steam-ship Company' in 1879 possessed 

 a fleet of 14 splendid ships ; for many years this 

 company had the conveyance of the South African 

 mails. The well-equipped South African mail 

 service of Donald Currie & Co. proved of immense 

 importance to the government during the progress 

 of the Zulu war of 1879. 



The West India and Pacific Steam-ship Com- 

 pany, and the Royal Mail Steam-packet Company, 

 are the principal British lines to the West Indies 

 and South America the former from Liverpool, 

 and the latter from Southampton. 



The companies we have been speaking of have 

 mostly the carrying of mails and passengers for 

 their first object ; but there are numerous private 

 firms possessing fleets of their own in which the 

 carrying of passengers is merely secondary, the 

 transmission of goods being their chief object. Of 

 these fleets for their size often entitles them to 

 that name some consist of sailing-vessels entirely, 

 while others are wholly or partly composed of 

 vessels possessing auxiliary steam-power. The 

 opening of the Suez Canal has given a new impetus 

 to this trade, and many steamers have recently 

 been built with a special view to carrying goods 

 through the canal to the East. Our space will 

 not permit us to say anything in detail about these 

 vessels, but it may be interesting just to give the 

 duration of the voyages on some of the principal 

 routes : 



Sailing-vessels Melbourne, 70 to 80 days ; 

 New Zealand, 90; Valparaiso, 90 ; West Indies, 30 

 to 50 ; Hong-kong, 95 ; Shanghai, 100 ; Yokohama, 

 1 20 ; Tientsin, 145 days. 



Vessels possessing auxiliary steam - power 

 Melbourne, 54 to 58 days ; Bombay, 28 to 32 ; 

 Calcutta, 37 to 41 ; Hong-kong, 48 ; Shanghai, 54; 

 Japan, 60 to 62 days. 



