1888-89.] io7 



trade, after discharging in Prince's Dock, had rough bunks 

 fitted up for the conveyance of passengers to American ports. 

 Passengers had to provide their own bedding and cooking 

 utensils, and perhaps wait for days on the sailing of the vessel. 

 Now we have the passage accomplished in as many days as it 

 sometimes took weeks before, and passengers may book through 

 from distant inland towns, and calculate upon leaving our ports 

 almost as punctually as for a railway journey of a few miles. 

 Year by year has witnessed the increase in the size and safety of 

 our ocean steamers, and the substitution of screw propellers 

 for paddles. The use of steel in construction, and the 

 increased adoption of the principle of water-tight com- 

 partments, transverse and longitudinal, have tended to 

 this increased safety, as it is found that iron casing 

 breaks if struck, while steel only bends. Instances are 

 are also on record of vessels coming into port with water flow- 

 ing in and out of the front compartments, without in any way 

 endangering the safety of the ship, or delaying its voyage. 

 The use of double expansion engines has led to a considerable 

 saving of waste power, and in two new steamers of the White 

 Star line, triple expansion engines, which were first used in 

 1874, have been adopted, thus, by extra cylinders, using the 

 steam three times. It is believed that increased speed will be 

 gained at less cost. Substantial advances have been made in 

 other directions in connection with our mercantile marine, 

 notably in the matter of lighthouse illumination, the adoption 

 of sirens and similar apparatus in foggy weather, and the sys- 

 tem of meteorological observations and weather forecasts. 



Vast engineering works have been accomplished in order to 

 reduce distance. The Suez Canal has been completed, the 

 Panama is in progress, while at home we have the Manchester 

 Ship Canal in active preparation. In railway engineering, our 

 Club has seen the completion of the Mont Cenis and St. 

 Gothard Tunnels, while in Britain the Mersey and Severn 

 Tunnels are also in use. The Canadian Pacific Railway was 

 opened some two years ago, enabling a traveller to reach Port 



