78 Book of Steamships 



what I want to call the midway, or 

 youth, period of the still growing 

 steamer. 



Let us take the Persia (1856) first. This 

 fine vessel was the first Cunarder to be 

 built of iron. She was 380 ft. long, with 

 a beam of 45 ft. and depth of 31 ft. The 

 Persia was built and engined by the well- 

 known Glasgow firm of Robert Napier 

 and Sons. The usual side-lever type of 

 engines were fitted, driven by two cylin- 

 ders having a diameter of 100 ins. each, 

 the stroke being 12 ft. These engines 

 developed what was then thought the tre- 

 mendous horse-power of 4,000. Steam 

 was supplied from eight boilers, which 

 had forty furnaces. The steam pressure 

 had risen to 20 Ibs., per sq. in., coal con- 

 sumption to 1 60 tons a day, whilst the 

 huge paddle-wheels were 40 ft. across, 

 and the speed rose to 13 J knots. 



On our " family tree " under date 1862 

 we have an entry Scotia. The latter was 

 a similar vessel to the Persia, and goes 



