About 20 knots
16 to 17 knots .
15 to 16
14 to 15
12 to 13 11 to 12
་་
21
Total
422
ENGLISH Steamers of over 3,000 tons building or in contemplation.
Number of Steamers building or in contemplation.
5
Tonnage, gross register.
Speed.
::::
About 9,000 tons,
5
5,000 to 8,500 tons.
3
5,000 to 7,500
T
17
3,500 to 4,500
-1
14
3,500 to 5,000
13
14
3,000 to 4,000
"
38
Ships of 3,000 tons and upwards are in the hands of a limited number of shipowners. They are employed in the conveyance of passengers and mails on the principal lines, and the most valuable or perishable descriptions of merchandize. Below this size come the great bulk of the ordinary trading steamers, whose speed is determined by the exigencies of the several trades in which they are engaged. The steamers which trade from the north-eastern ports of England range from 500 to 2,000 tons. Their chief business is in imports of a bulky nature, and they commonly take on their outward voyages cargoes of coal, for which the proximity of the north- country coal-fields to the ports of departure affords favourable opportunities.
The number of foreign steamers of 1,500 tons and upwards is shown in the following Table:-
423
full supply of coal. Steamers can make the outward voyage to Australia without coaling: and Mr. Ismay states that his ships could carry coal enough for the voyage from Liverpool to San Francisco rid Singapore and Japan. He remarks that the quantity consumed depends much on the speed, but he would be prepared to steam 100 days at an average speed of 11 kuots. He also says that a steamer lifting 3,000 tons of weight (which probably means a first class ship of about 5,000 tons), in addition to machinery and ordinary stores, will carry sufficient coal to run 5,000 miles, leaving two-thirds of the space for cargo. Another witness states that he has been out to China round the Cape without coaling, but only carried a cargo of one-third. Even the slower class of steamers commonly make the voyage to Alexandria and back without coaling; or steam out to Calcutta or Rangoon, and coal for the first time at Galle on the return voyage. Moreover, according to the evidence of a North Country witness, there is this advantage in steaming as far as possible with coal shipped in England, that being freshly wrought, it is of better quality than even the same kind of coal exported and stored abroad; as it deteriorates sensibly in store, especially in hot climates.
But the considerations which mainly govern the use of distant coaling-stations are the conditions of trade with respect to freights for the time being,
It would be obviously economical for a steamer not having a cargo to take enough coal for the entire outward voyage, and part of the homeward voyage, so as to dispense with the necessity of coaling at the port of destination. Many steamers do more than this, and take out cargoes of coal rather than go in ballast. This is why the price of coal at distant stations is often much lower than might be expected, considering the distance it has travelled. On the other hand, when outward cargo can be obtained, it is more profitable to take a small quantity of coal, and to coal frequently on the voyage.
On the whole, however, there can be no doubt that, owing to recent improvements, steamers are much less dependent than they have hitherto been upon intermediate coaling-places.
Steamers are now exclusively built of iron or steel, as wood has long been abandoned, and composite ships are no longer built. The ordinary amount of shipping, sailing as well as steam, annually built in the United Kingdom is from 400,000 to 500,000 tons. Over 600,000 tons have been built in a single year, and the capacity of the yards is doubtless larger still; indeed. Mr. Duncan considers that we could, on an emergency, produce no less than 1,000,000 tons of steam shipping in one year, sufficient, in fact, to do the work of all the British sailing-ships now
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French..
American
German
Dutch
Belgian
Italian
Spanish
Austrian
Swedish and Norwegian
Danish
Portuguese
Egyptian
Russian
South American
Japanese
Total
3. LINES OF TRADE.
The principal lines of the direct trade of the United Kingdom, and the annual value of British trade and shipping upon them, excluding the trade with the northern ports of Europe, are—
Above
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,500
to
to
to
to
Total.
5,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
in use.
1
23
20
53
90
:མ
8
23
24
57
16
26
20
62
13
9
26
6
8
17
2
8
11
19
14
34
2
16
18
4
4
4
5
2
2
2
2
10
9
4
8. The line to British India, China, &c., viâ Suez Canal.
2
4
56
116
183
361
We are informed that there were in the year 1879 about 1,300 foreign steamers of 500 tons gross register and upwards. Of these, 800—or 62 per cent.-were built in England.
Possibly in course of time, the No foreign steamers can compete with the best of ours. Americans may become formidable rivals; but iron ships under existing circumstances, can be built much more cheaply here than in America. "No Power," says Mr. Barnaby, “possesses a merchant-steamer with an average ocean-going speed of 14 knots except England."
Great progress has been made in late years in increasing the speed of steamers and reducing their consumption of coal. As a general rule, it may be assumed that the greater the size the greater will be the speed, and that, with few exceptions, steamers of 3,000 tons and upwards have an average speed of at least 11 and 12 knots. Few ships of this size and power were built till fifteen years ago, and most of them have been built in the last ten years. The tendency at present is towards still greater size and speed, and there is every reason to anticipate progress in both respects.
"The average rate of steamers," say Messrs. Rathbone, of Liverpool, referring to Atlantic steamers, "has increased since 1860 from 11 to 13 knots." The time of the Atlantic voyage has been shortened one-fourth in the last twenty years, owing to the improvements (which are by no means at an end) lately made in steam machinery. Super heating of steam and the introduction of surface condensers and compound engines are means of getting more power out of a given quantity of coal than could be got formerly. One ton of coal will now do twice as much work as the same quantity twenty years ago; so greatly, indeed, has the consumption of coal been already reduced, that any part of the world is now accessible to steamers without coaling on the way. Most vessels, according to Mr. Holt, are being built to steam 100 days before exhausting a
j
1. The line to the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
2. The line to the east coast of the North American Continent across the Atlantic.
3. The line to the west coast of the North American Continent viâ Cape Horn and the Pacific.
4. The line to the West Indies and Central America.
5. The line to the west coast of South America.
6. The line to the east coast of South America.
7. The line to British India, China, &c,, via the Cape of Good Hope.
9 Thine to Australia and New Zealand, via the Cape.
10. The line to Australia and New Zealand, viâ Suez Canal.
11. The line to Australia and New Zealand, viâ Cape Horn.
12. The line to South Africa.
18. The line to the West Coast of Africa.
The Mediterranean line represents the trade from the southern ports of Russia, from Italy. Austria, Greece, Turkey, Roumania, Egypt, Morocco, Algiers, Gibraltar, Malta, Spain, and the southern ports of France. The trade of Portugal is also included, the line to Portugal being identical, so far as it goes, with that of the Mediterranean trade. In addition to the trade carried on with countries bordering the Mediterranean-the steam trade of India, China, and the East, amounting to two-fifths of the whole, and half the homeward trade of Australia, also traverses this sca.
The Atlantic trade with North America, whether the United States or the British North American Colonies, is mainly in steamers, and is restricted to a well-defined and narrow zone.
The Pacific trade with North America is almost exclusively with the port of San Francisco in the United States, and is one of the few trades still carried on in sailing-ships. Of this trade the greater part passes down the west coast of South America, and round Cape Horn. A small proportion is conveyed across the Isthmus of Panama, and thence follows the same line as the West Indian trade.
Central American and West Indian trade is conveyed by steamers, and follows a nearly direct line, passing the Azores.
The trade with the west coast of South America is mainly with Chile and Peru. The greater part is still carried by sailing-ships, though steamers are gradually but steadily taking their place. It nearly all goes by Cape Horn or the Straits of Magellan, where, together with the North Pacific trade, it unites with the homeward sailing trade of Australia. The stream of trade then passes up the east coast of South America, receiving several tributaries, and thence strikes across to the Cape de Verde Islands, where it meets the great line of commerce rounding the Cape of Good Hope,
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