X 



THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



IN the month of February, 1912, there tied up at a 

 London dock a vessel of about 5,000 tons burthen, 

 which to any casual observer would have seemed a 

 rather ordinary looking steamship were it not for one 

 striking peculiarity, namely the absence of smoke- 

 stacks. The vessel flew the Danish flag and bore 

 the name Selandia. 



The absence of smokestacks marked the vessel as 

 something out of the ordinary. That the craft is 

 indeed very much out of the ordinary was evidenced 

 in a visit paid her by a notable company of British of- 

 ficials, including the First Lord of the Admiralty. 



The extraordinary interest thus manifested in the 

 Danish ship is explained by the fact that the vessel 

 was far and away the largest craft theretofore com- 

 pleted in fact the only large ship then in commis- 

 sion the propulsive power of which is neither wind 

 nor steam. Ships without sails are common enough ; 

 but a steamless steamship is obviously something new 

 under the sun. The Selandia, however, is such a ship. 

 Unlike every other large vessel that is not equipped 

 with sails, she has neither coal nor furnace nor steam 

 boilers in her hold. She is the pioneer example of a 

 new type of ship; and if present indications are to be 



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