324 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



world has ever known, the impetus being derived from 

 three sources, if not four, at once. The use of steel 

 for shipbuilding, the rapid improvements in methods 

 of steam propulsion, the sudden and immense growth 

 in the size of ships, and the increasing need of our 

 teeming populations for the cheap food produced in 

 such enormous quantities by the opening up of new 

 lands. The fourth, if it be not called a controversial 

 subject such as I wish to avoid, was the position of 

 this country as the only home of free imports, which 

 could only be balanced in our favour by our maintain- 

 ing our position as the principal carriers of the world's 

 goods. And each of these developments give a striking 

 object-lesson in what the ocean means to Great Britain, 

 if only our citizens generally would heed it ; but of that 

 more presently. 



First of all, the epoch-making inventions of 

 Bessemer and Siemens for the production of immense 

 quantities and in great masses of mild steel with its 

 superior strength and greater workability, made the 

 building of very large ships possible. Working hand 

 in hand with the steel makers, marine architects soon 

 left that prematurely born leviathan, the Great 

 Eastern, far behind, for they combined strength with 

 symmetry and speed and economy. It was soon found 

 possible to convey in a wonderful short time in one 

 ship the produce of a county across the oceans, and 

 deliver those products in perfect condition upon our 

 shores. One ship especially fitted for the purpose will 

 carry the frozen carcases of a hundred thousand sheep 

 from the Antipodes to our ports, bringing as well a 

 couple of thousand tons of cheese, butter, and grain, 

 and landing it in almost miraculous fashion as regards 



