Fremdent's Address for the year 1887. xv 



1887, is counted by hundreds of thousands of miles. 

 Practically next to the effect of instantaneous conveyance 

 of information upon our commercial and social relations and 

 mental development, we may place that of rapid and 

 convenient transit of goods or passengers by land or sea. 



Steam navigation achieved its early successes long before 

 1837, but up to that date steamers were practically confined 

 to rivers, estuaries, and local coasting service, one vessel 

 with auxiliary steam power had, it is true, crossed the Atlantic 

 in 1819, but nothing further had come of the experiment. 

 In 1838, however, Trans- Atlantic navigation with full- 

 powered steamers, as distinguished from sailing vessels 

 provided with small auxiliary steam power, commenced in 

 earnest, and from that day to this, the size and speed of 

 Atlantic steam liners has increased, until instead of vessels 

 of 1300 tons propelled by paddles driven by engines of 450 

 horse-power, at a speed of seven or eight knots per hour, we 

 have screw steamships of six times the tonnage and twelve 

 times the power, travelling at more than double the speed. 

 This great advance in velocity has been due to a combination 

 of causes — first, increased size, which is adv^antageous because 

 the resistance of the water being mainly due to surface 

 friction, increases only in proportion to the surface, and not 

 in proportion to volume. Consequently, a two-fold increase 

 of linear dimensions involves only a four-fold increase in 

 resistance, while it secures an eight-fold power of carrying 

 machinery and fuel ; secondly, some advantage has no doubt 

 accrued from improvements in the form of vessels ; but 

 thirdly, the most notable gain has been due to improve- 

 ments in engines and boilers. Instead of working at a 

 pressure of only about 20 lbs. above the atmosphere, with 

 boilers tilled with dense brine and coated with saline 

 incrustations of great thickness with large heavy slow 

 moving engines, working with but little expansion and 

 consuming 7 lbs. of coal per horse-power per hour, we now 

 have, thanks to surface condensation, compounding, and the 

 substitution of the compact and quick running screw for the 

 slow and ponderous paddle-wheel, comparatively small and 



