ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF IRON SHIPS. 697 
on the 23rd of September, 1842, the iron steamer ‘ Prince Albert’ glided from 
Walker slipway into the waters of the Tyne. 
During the next eight or ten years very little progress was made. The 
vessels mostly in demand were colliers, and no one thought of applying iron 
in their construction; but about the year 1850, the carriage of coals by 
railway began seriously to affect the sale of north-country coal in the London 
market, and it became essential, in the interest of the coal-owners and others, 
to devise some means of conveying the staple produce of this district to 
London in an expeditious, regular, and at the same time economical manner. 
To accomplish this object, I caused an iron screw steamer to be designed in 
_ such a manner as to secure the greatest possible capacity, with engines only 
sufficiently powerful to ensure her making her voyages with regularity. 
This vessel, the ‘John Bowes,’ the first screw collier, was built to carry 650 
tons, and to steam about nine miles an hour. To the success of this experi- 
ment may be attributed, in a great measure, the present important develop- 
ment of iron shipbuilding in this district, and the fact that we continue to 
supply so largely the London market with coals. On her first voyage, the 
‘John Bowes’ was laden with 650 tons of coals in four hours; in forty- 
eight hours she arrived in London ; in twenty-four hours she discharged her 
cargo; and in forty-eight hours more she was again in the Tyne; so that 
in five days she performed successfully an amount of work that would have 
taken two average-sized sailing colliers upwards of a month to accomplish. 
The amount of prejudice with which nautical men, and persons engaged 
in the shipping and coal trades, opposed the introduction of screw colliers 
was great. They argued that it would be impossible for steamers carrying 
650 tons of coals, and costing about £10,000, to compete with vessels that 
consumed no fuel, and which, though carrying only half the quantity, cost little 
more than £1000, or only one-tenth the amount. I was, however, confident 
of the result, and persisted in the development of the system. How far my 
views have proved correct will be borne out by the following Table, which 
shows the number of cargoes and tons of coals imported into London by 
screw steamers in each year, from July 31, 1852 (the date of entry of the 
first screw steamer, ‘ John Bowes’) to June 30, 1863 :— 
Year. Cargoes. : Tons. 
1852 a Gt svat S107 blog suB na 9483 
1853 ais ns Sree) oo eS as . 69,934. 
1854 ccs MRE esc 2? Wiese fs +» 199,974 
1855 ee Crimean War... 27a) <os 3 v— - 85,584 
1856 ios ae a eqmig ny ss i; ss. 238,597 
1857 “ae o «estat OAT eas Fr +++ 547,099 
1858 sels ay sca 2a ae Pa s+» 599,527 
1859 ... Italian War ... 899 ... 7 ss 544,614 
1860 Ae ee. ..» 1069 ... i --- 672,476 
1861 +43 abd s8 aA2gor Ik x, --» 851,991 
1862 =e ae wae AD tere + es 929,825 
1863 Half-year ending June... 714 ... a «+. 463,609 
5,212,713 
By this Table it is seen that a total quantity of 5,212,713 tons of coals 
have been imported into London by screw colliers, and, in addition to this, 
large and increasing quantities have been taken to other ports both in this 
country and abroad. Since its first introduction, too, the screw collier has 
been greatly improved, and the facilities for loading and discharging very 
largely augmented. The screw collier ‘James Dixon’ frequently receives 
1200 tons of coals in four hours, makes her passage to London in thirty-two 
