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THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 9, 1938.
A Century Of Atlantic Steamship Rivalries
she
ONE hundred years ago the paddle might be supposed, the boilers were by the size of her passenger list, the 68 centenary the '83,000-ton Queen Eliza- steamer Sirius left Cork, bound still in a primitive stage and consumed. persons in the cabin class being the beth, latest successor to the 705-ton for New York. After an eventful voy- so much fuel that it was well-nigh im- largest number which had embarked in Sirius, will be launched, and is due to begin her maiden voyage almost exact- age she reached Sandy Hook on the possible to bunker a vessel for a long a ship up to that date. afternoon of April 22. On the follow- voyage under continuous steam.
The next vessel to make a continuous ly 100 years after the Cunarder Bri- steam passage to New York was the tannia sailed on hers (July 4, 1840).
So much of the history of Transat- Royal William, 617 tons, which sailed
Al lantic steam navigation is a chronicle from Liverpool on July 5, 1838. After full tribute has been paid to though a good steamer she was delay, of technical progress that the human the achievement of the Sirius, it re-ed by heavy weather, and took 19 days side of the story is apt to be neglected. Even though the nautical aphorism mains the fact that her rival, the Great to complete the voyage. This vessel Yet it, is a story full of interest Western, was the true progenitor of might have claimed to be the forerun-
ing morning, St. George's Day, proceeded up New York harbour, where à tumultuous welcome awaited her.
Her voyage is historic in that, as the first Atlantic crossing to. be made under continuous steam power, it may be said to have inaugurated the North Atlantic steam ferry.
Great Ая
8 and
RAILWAY'S U.S. LINK
in
A few hours after the Sirius had the modern Atlantic liner. Not only ner of the modern cruising liner, since that "the sea is always kinder to big her greater size and engine power, but the advertisement of her sailing an- ships than little ones" requires some berthed, another steamer, the
her robust construction and compara- nounced that "the Royal William will qualification, an Atlantic passage
pleasure Western, arrived from England..
tively luxurious passenger accommoda- remain ten days at New York to allow the 'thirties and 'forties of last century
travellers to visit the splendid scenery, could hardly have been a
Charles Dickens, who crossed she had left Bristol on April
in the Britannia in 1842, wrote of her thus made the passage in 16 days, her tion gave her the right to that title.
that Though the Great Western was bare- of the Hudson River and the celebrat cruise.
ed Falls of Niagara." performance apparently eclipsed
in singularly unflattering terms. Yet Another innovation came in 1839, he was berthed in the comparatively of the Sirius. Yet for several reasons ly one-sixtieth the size of the Queen its Mary there is a distinctly modern ring
the when the British Queen, for which the comfortable saloon. What the less for- the latter's voyage, apart from priority, was by far the more impres- in contemporary descriptions of
"ornamental paintings, decorations, little Sirius had been deputising, sailed tunate steerage passengers had to put from London in July 85 the first
up with, even at a later date, is vividly &c. so lavishly expended on the saloon,"
Unfortun-
portrayed not only in the fictional me- and of "the taste and skill of the first- "cabin" or one-class liner.
dium of "Martin Chuzzlewit" but in the factual records of those times.
Cramped, ill-ventilated quarters, lit by smoky oil lamps, heating that was either non-existent or excessive, primi-
sive.
STEAM-AND-SAIL
Whereas the Great Western, a ves- sel of 1,340 tons, with engines of 750 h.p., was designed and built expressly for the Transatlantic
crossing, the
By Hector C.
Brunel formed a company, the ship his later was duly built, and unlike
Bywater
*
Sirius, of only 703 tons, with engines rate upholsterers, decorative and land- ately, as inost of the 220 passengers tive cooking facilities and little or none adorn elected to berth aft, this part of the for exercise and recreation--these made the the Atlantic.crossing a martyrdom for of 320 k.p., had been constructed for scape painters" who helped to
ship became overcrowded, while
deserted. all save the hardiest in the steerage. cross-Channel service only, and nothing the ship.
of her A further, point of interest about the forward saloon was almost was farther from the minds
the To remedy matters the owners made
WHAT OF THE FUTURE? builders than that she should ultimate- Great Western is that she was
Brunel, it known before the next voyage that ly brave the hazards of the Western child of Isambard Kingdom
Turning from the past to the future, Ocean. Her voyage was therefore ex- the great engineer and builder of the passengers in the fore cabin would re- Greater Western Railway. Since Bris- ceive a free issue of champagne daily, ceptionally creditable.
She encountered heavy seas and al- tol was to be the terminus of his rail. while those remaining aft would be res- what is likely to be the evolution of most constant head-winds; anxiety was way, he conceived the notion of "ex tricted to two champagne days a week. the Atlantic Ferry in its second cen- felt about the coal supply; part of the tending the line to New York by steam- Whether this produced the not improb- tury? There is no reason to suppose able effect of overcrowding forward in- that the Queen Mary, the Normandie crew became restive and wished to put ship."
stead of aft history does not relate. or the Queen Elizabeth represent final- back. But the iron resolution of the
ity in liner design. Many, however, foresee the eventual supersession of the commander, Lt. Richard Roberts, R.N..
HOW DICKENS SAW IT prevailed, and brought the voyage to venture--the Great Eastern-she prov-
All these pioneer ships operated in- surface liner by immense ships of the its prosperous conclusion.
ed commercially successful for
did air, which will convey passengers from New York between Long before 1838, of course, steam- years. The Sirius, having completed dependently, and although they driven vessels had ceased to be a novel- two round voyages across the Western blaze the trail, the ferry service they Southampton to
instituted was irregular and more or dawn and sunset, perhaps even between ty. In that year there were 668 steam- Ocean, was returned to ships of 78,000 tons on the British re- from whom she had been chartered, less haphazard. It remained for the breakfast and tea a vision which in case and henceforth plied only between Eng- Nova Scotian, Samuel Cunard, to found view of current developments cannot be gister, but in practically every
But so far at least as the early de- mail steamer service between Britain. steam was employed merely as an au- land and Ireland. The Great Western, in 1839 the first regular fortnightly dismissed as fantastic. xiliary source of power. As far back on the other hand, continued to run as 1819 the Atlantic had been traver- between Bristol and New York for nine and North America, and with it the cades of the second century are con
Transatlantic traffic will continue sed by the "steamer" Savannah, but years, and has therefore an incontest- firm which was to make his name fami- cerned it is probable that the bulk of travel by sea, perhaps in ships of di her engines were working for less than able claim to be considered the first, liar to all the world.
There is no space here even to refer mensions and speeds far surpassing four days out of the 29 occupied by the Transatlantic steam liner.
Her best "records" were 14 days on to outstanding developments in the first the largest and swiftest liners passage, which, to all intents, was made under sail.
the outward and 1344 days on the home- 100 years of the Atlantic Ferry, but it afloat or on the stocks.
some six While the marine steam engines of ward voyage.. A further record was is worth recording that
the that period were more reliable than established on her first homeward run months after the completion of
some
her owners,
to
now
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EXPLOSION IN JAP. SHIP IN BREMEN
Tokyo, May 3.
2
An alleged "Communist plot" to blow up the N.Y.K. freighter Taji- ma Maru in Bremen, on March was disclosed to-day by Japanese authorities with the lifting of મા press ban.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office released the following state- ment:
"An explosion of a mysterious na- ture occurred aboard the freighter (6,995 tons) at 4 o'clock on March 2 and damaged part of the steam- er's upper deck. No damage was done to the crew- or cargo. Dam- age done to the upper deck slight.
was
"As a result of an investigation it was discovered that the incident was engineered by Communist ele- ments whose base of operations is in a minor country and whose ob- fjective was to prejudice the friend- ly relations between Japan and Germany.
are
"The offender or offenders. still at large despite continued sear- ches. The Tajima' Maru underwent repairs at Hamburg and is expect- ed back in Osaka, Japan on May 5."
LIEUT. BEAL TO WED MISS HOLLAND
The..wedding is to take place shortly, of Lieutenant Charles Ed- ward Stuart Basil St. George Beal, R.N., of H. M. S. Otus, and Miss Isabella McKenzie Morrison, Hol- land, of 6, Minden Avenue, Kowloon.
THE CHINA MAIL, MAY 9, 1938.
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