300 DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OV PASSENGER STEAMERS. 



the same deck as the main dining saloon but immediately aft of the galleys and pantries. The 

 galleys and pantries should extend for the full width of vessel, always be adjacent to the 

 dining saloons, and arranged only after considerable study to meet service requirements. 



A noticeable influence of competition and the Immigration Act can be seen in the third- 

 class accommodations. Quality and comfort are the watchwords today rather than quantity 

 in accommodations, and- steerage in the North Atlantic service is fast becoming a thing of the 

 past. Vessels with large steerage capacity can only be filled at the height of the season, 

 and only on the west-bound voyage, and suffer greatly between seasons due to their poor ac- 

 commodations. Hence the best practice today is to provide comfortable cabins for third- 

 class traffic. 



In the intermediate type of vessel it is essential that a large portion of the third-class 

 cabins be of the portable type to permit the spaces being used for cargo if desired. Another 

 important essential in liners which Mr. Rigg has made no mention of is to have certain blocks 

 of interchangeable rooms which may be used for either first or second, or either second or 

 third classes, depending on the variations of the trade. In this case the rooms must meet the 

 requirements of the higher class. The crew, particularly the stewards, should in general be 

 quartered in close proximity to their work, or else a fore and aft working passage provided 

 on one of the lower decks. Where third-class accommodations are located forward, it is de- 

 sirable to have a forecastle and plated bulwarks and so avoid the condition Mr. Rigg refers 

 to of the forward deck being "so airy that none but able-bodied seamen can navigate with 

 safety." 



Single-berth rooms should invariably be inside ones and the larger rooms located as out- 

 side ones, this in a large measure minimizing the ventilation difficulties. 



With reference to "Details of Construction," may I call attention to the fact that ply- 

 wood has recently been used in joiner bulkheads and panelled as required, proving very 

 satisfactory and also a time saver. Electric galley ranges are to be preferred to oil fuel ones. 



It is agreed with Mr. Rigg that we are not as yet adequately represented on the North 

 Atlantic, but this year has seen the begirming with the placing in service of several ex-German 

 vessels recently reconditioned, the George Washington in particular; this vessel, being the 

 largest and finest in the American service, is as good a combination of the practical and artis- 

 tic as any. Bids are now being asked for the reconditioning of the Leviathan, and it is to be 

 hoped that the reconditioning of the Mount Vernon, Agamemnon, President Grant and others 

 will soon follow. Our place on the North Atlantic could be realized earliest by the imme- 

 diate reconditioning of the better ex-German liners augmented by several of the 535-foot 

 class vessels after extensive arrangements and additions have been made to meet the require- 

 ments of this trade. 



Mr. Harold F. Norton, Member (Commimicated) : — I have not been able to give the 

 paper sufficient time to really properly digest its contents, but it is certainly quite interesting. 



Of course their best friends would hardly cite the Shipping Board passenger vessels as 

 ideal in arrangement, especially for general access. The reason is not far to seek — their de- 

 sign as troop ships and conversion into passenger vessels. However, the point is that the 

 American shipbuilder has not yet had a really good opportunity to show what he might do 

 with a large passenger ship. Also, in our experience, it has appeared that the matter of 

 arrangement depends largely upon the intelligence and progressiveness of the owner or opera- 

 tor. His ways of doing things must be provided for and his ideas deferred to. These ideas 



