10 Alec Wilson on 



built up till then, and, even now, there are some, loyal to the old 

 days, who would say she was the most beautiful steamer that ever 

 was built But, apart from this, she had an entirely new arrange- 

 ment of her passenger accommodation, the saloon and cabins being 

 placed amidships. It is becoming hard for us to realise the 

 strength of the convention which, for generations, held the place 

 of honour on board ship to be right aft : I suppose it dates to the 

 days of the towering citadels from which Drake and Columbus 

 conned their ships : it is even strong enough to have survived here 

 and there to this day. But, whatever its origin, the fii'st 

 ''''Oceanic" broke the tradition, for Harland put her first class quar- 

 ters in the quietest part of the ship, instead of right over the screw. 



To complete the list of broken precedents which were the 

 first outcome of this alliance between two great firms, the builders 

 entered no tender, and the owners neither submitted nor asked 

 for any specification. It is simply a fact, that from 1870 to the 

 present day, these two firms have had such a degree of mutual 

 confidence in each other, as to omit all the usual and often very 

 expensive conventions. The builders had to build the best boat 

 they knew how, as near to the ideal of their clients as they could 

 make her, and the owners have been willing to pay what the 

 builders stated to be the cost, plus reasonable profit to cover 

 interest and capital charges. As we have seen, the Bibby Line 

 connection is about 11 years older, but on the other hand the 

 White Star connection with Messrs. Harland & Wolff is 

 enormously larger, as well as more famous. There is really 

 nothing to compare it with. Since 1874, 45 years ago, one of 

 the very few absolutely first-class companies has built its entire 

 fleet in one yard, bar one boat only, the "'Republic," bought at 

 a sudden emergency. 



But again I find myself getting somewhat ahead of my dates. 

 The first " Oceanic " was followed by five other boats, practically 

 sister ships, during the next couple of years. 



In 1874, without any change in the name of the firm, the 

 two pupils whom I have already named were taken into partner- 



