The Canadian Trans-Pacific Steamships.

The idea of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean by a railway through British territory had long been a cherished vision of British and Canadian statesmen, railway engineers, and travellers in the far West; but owing to the vastness of such an enterprise for a people of four millions, a “baseless vision” it continued to be until after the confederation of the provinces in 1867. Twenty years before that time, Major Carmichael Smyth, writing to “Sam Slick,” advocated the construction, by convict labour, of a trans-continental railway through British territory, and prepared a map on which the possible route of such a railway was marked—almost identical with that of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[29] Hon. Joseph Howe, in course of a speech made at Halifax in 1851, said he believed that many of his auditors would live to hear the whistle of the steam-engine in the passes of the Rockies, and to make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific in five or six days. Hon. Alexander Morris, in his lecture, “Nova Britannia,” delivered in 1855, predicted the accomplishment of such an enterprise in the near future. Judge Haliburton, Sir Edward Bulwer, Sir George Simpson and other savans had all prophesied after the same manner. Sure enough, it was one of the earliest measures that came to be discussed in the first Parliament of the new Dominion. Preliminary surveys were commenced in 1871 by Sandford Fleming, chief engineer, and the work of construction by the Government followed soon after. But it early became apparent that Government machinery was ill adapted for successfully dealing with a work of such magnitude, and one unavoidably leading to political complications. It was therefore resolved to have the road built by contract. Finally, in 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was organized, the prime movers of the enterprise being Messrs. George Stephen and Donald A. Smith, of Montreal. At this time the Government had under construction 425 miles between Lake Superior and Winnipeg, and 213 miles in British Columbia. This company undertook to complete the railway from Quebec to Vancouver, a distance of 3,078 miles, within ten years, for which they were to receive $25,000,000 in money, and twenty-five million acres of land, together with the sections of railway already under construction by the Government, the entire railway when completed to remain the property of the company. Such was the energy of the contractors and the skill of their engineers, the railway was completed in one-half of the time stipulated; for on the 7th of November, 1885, the last rail was laid on the main line, and by next midsummer the whole of the vast system was fully equipped and in running order. The opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway was followed by an immense development of traffic.

The natural outcome of this was the inauguration of a line of steamships from the western terminus of the road to Japan and China, as well as to Australia. Sooner than might have been expected, three very fine twin-screw steel ships were built at Barrow-on-Furness for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, under contract with the Imperial and Dominion Governments for carrying the mails to Japan and China. The ships are named the Empress of India, Empress of China and Empress of Japan.

The inauguration of the “Empress Line” was of the nature of a magnificent ovation. The maiden trips of the three sisters were largely advertised in connection with an all-the-way-around-the-world trip, via Gibraltar, Suez, Colombo, Hong Kong, Yokohama and Vancouver, and thence by the Canadian Pacific Railway across the continent and home again by any of the Atlantic liners, all for the modest sum of $600. The proposal took readily, with the result that the three ships had a full complement of cabin passengers, all of whom expressed themselves as delighted with the arrangements which had been made for their comfort. The first steamer, the Empress of India, with 141 saloon passengers, reached Hong Kong on the 23rd of March, 1891, under easy steam, in forty-three days from Liverpool; leaving Hong Kong on April 7th, she reached Yokohama on the 16th. She left on the 17th, and, although encountering a very heavy gale, reached Victoria, B. C., in 10 days, 14 hours, 34 minutes, an average speed of 406 miles a day, or just 17 knots an hour. The regular monthly service from Vancouver to Japan and China commenced in the autumn of the same year. For this service the company receives an annual subsidy of $300,000, and an additional subvention of about $35,585 to secure their services to the British Government whenever the vessels may be required as transports or cruisers. The three ships are all just alike. They are painted white and are beautiful models, with raking masts and funnels, and graceful overhanging bows. They are each 485 feet in length, 51 feet moulded breadth, and 36 feet in depth; gross tonnage about 6,000 tons each. They have triple expansion engines of 10,000 indicated horse-power, which with 89 revolutions per minute, and a consumption of only 170 tons of coal a day, drive the ships at an average speed of 17 knots an hour. The arrangements and fittings for passengers are of the most complete and even luxurious description. The saloons and staterooms are tastefully decorated, handsomely furnished, and brilliantly lighted by electricity. They have ample accommodation for 180 first-class, 32 second-class, and 600 steerage passengers, with capacity for about 4,000 tons of cargo. They cost about $1,000,000 each.

C. P. R. STEAMSHIP “EMPRESS OF JAPAN.”

The distance from Vancouver to Hong Kong is 6,140 nautical miles; the average passage is about twenty-two days. Yokohama is 4,300 knots from Vancouver, and the average passage is from eleven to eleven and a half days; but in August, 1891, the Empress of Japan made the voyage in 9 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes, the shortest time on record, being at the rate of eighteen and a half knots an hour. After a fairly quick railway run across the continent to New York, and close connection with a swift Atlantic greyhound, her mails were delivered in London in the unprecedentedly short time of 20 days, 9 hours from Yokohama. This feat astonished London, and gave rise to speculations of rapid communication with the East hitherto undreamed of. Even with existing facilities, it is now not only possible, but it is easy to go round the world by this route in less than seventy-five days, and to do it in palatial style for less than $1,000!

In connection with the Canadian Pacific Railway a line of steamers commenced a monthly service in 1893 between Vancouver and Australia, calling at Shanghai, Sandwich Islands, Brisbane, Queensland and Sydney, N. S. W. The pioneer ships are the Warrimoo and Miowera, of about 5,000 tons each, which have so far given a very satisfactory service. They receive a small subsidy from the Canadian and Australian Governments as a means of developing trade and commerce between the two countries, and as forging another link in the chain that binds the colonies to the Mother Country. A third steamer, the Aorangi, has recently been added to this line. The distance from Vancouver to Sydney, direct, is 6,832 knots, and the voyage has been made by the Miowera in 19½ days, showing that with a fast Atlantic service and close connections the quickest route from England to Australia will be via Canada.

Still more recently, the unprecedented rush of adventurous gold-seekers to the Klondike has induced the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to inaugurate another line of steamships to ply between Victoria and Vancouver and ports on the northern Pacific coast. Two very fine Clyde-built steamers have been placed on this route, the Tartar and the Athenian, of 4,425 and 3,882 tons, respectively. These vessels are fitted up in first-class style, with excellent accommodation for large numbers of passengers. With the exception of the Empress Line of steamships to Japan and China, they are said to be much the finest steamers on the North Pacific coast.

George Stephen, now Lord MountStephen, was born at Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland, June 5th, 1829: came to this country in 1850, when he entered into business in Montreal, and was the pioneer of the woollen manufacturers in Canada. He became President of the Bank of Montreal and also of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which was completed mainly through his Lordship’s energy. Sir George Stephen, Baronet—so created in January, 1886—was elevated to the British peerage in May, 1891.

Donald A. Smith, now Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal, who was associated with Lord MountStephen in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, was born at Archieston, Morayshire, August 6th, 1820. He came to Canada in 1839 on the Hudson’s Bay Company’s staff, and eventually became Governor of that corporation. He has represented the city of Montreal in the Dominion Parliament, is President of the Bank of Montreal, and Chancellor of McGill University. He succeeded Sir Charles Tupper as High Commissioner for Canada in London in August, 1896. He received the honour of knighthood from Her Majesty the Queen in May, 1886, and was raised to the peerage on the occasion of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, in 1897. The gifts of both these gentlemen for educational and philanthropic purposes have been upon a princely scale, running up into millions of dollars.

CHAPTER VI.
STEAM IN THE BRITISH NAVY.

The British Navy—Marine Distances—Sunday at Sea—Icebergs and Tidal Waves.

GREAT as have been the changes brought about by steam navigation applied to commercial uses, the transformations of the navies of the world have been even more remarkable. It seems almost incredible that at the commencement of Her Majesty’s reign there were less than twenty steamships in the British navy, and none of them over 1,000 tons burthen. Of the 560 “sail” comprising the navy of 1836, ninety-five were “ships of the line.” The largest of these were styled “first-rate ships;” all of them wooden three-deckers, carrying 100 guns each, or more. One of the most difficult problems the Admiralty of that time had to solve was how to ensure a sufficient supply of oak timber for ship-building purposes. Forty full-grown trees to an acre of ground was accounted a good average; at that rate it required the growth of fifty acres to produce enough timber to build one seventy-four-gun ship; and as the oak required at least a hundred years to reach maturity, and the average life of a ship was not much over twenty-five years, the acreage required to produce the entire quantity was enormous. But the prospect of an oak famine was speedily dispelled by the substitution of iron and steel for wood in naval architecture.

“DUKE OF WELLINGTON” BATTLE-SHIP, 1850.

Of the 689 vessels of all kinds constituting the British navy in 1897, there are only about twenty-two wooden ones, and these are nearly all used either as store ships or training ships, seldom, if ever, to leave their anchorage. And so entirely has the paddle-wheel been superseded by the screw-propeller, there are not left a dozen paddle-steamers in the entire fleet, including the Queen’s yachts and a few light-draught river boats. As already mentioned the compound engine was introduced into the navy in 1863. The twin screw was first applied to the Penelope in 1868, and has since become universal in vessels of war, the result of these improvements being a marvellous increase of power and speed, with a great saving of fuel. Roughly speaking, a pound of coal is to-day made to produce four or five times the amount of power that it did in 1837.

Experiments had been made with steam power in the navy as early as 1841. In 1845 as many as nineteen sets of screw engines had been ordered for the Admiralty, but it was not until some years later that it came into general use. About 1851 the Duke of Wellington,[30] the Duke of Marlborough, the Prince of Wales, etc., all full-rigged ships, each armed with 131 “great guns,” were fitted with auxiliary steam-engines of from 450 to 2,500 horse-power. The introduction of iron armour-plating—first practised by the French towards the close of the Crimean war—presaged the beginning of the end of “the wooden walls of Old England,” and the disappearance forever of the beautiful white wings that had spread themselves out over every sea.

TORPEDO DESTROYER “HORNET,” 1896.

The Warrior, completed in 1861, was built entirely of iron, protected at vital points by armour-plating four and a half inches in thickness, which, at the time, was supposed to render her invulnerable. She was the precursor of a class of enormous fighting machines, which, however ungainly in appearance, have increased the sea-power of Britain to an incalculable extent. But, alas, for the four and a half inches of armour-plating! Developments in gunnery called for increased thickness of protective armour. The rivalry betwixt gun and armour-plate, keenly contested for years, has not yet been definitely settled; but when ships’ guns are actually in use weighing 110 tons and over, capable of throwing a shot of 1,800 lbs. with crushing effect a distance of twelve miles, and, on the other hand, when ships are to be found carrying twenty-four inches of protective iron and steel plating, it seems as if the climax had been nearly reached. In the meantime the insignificant-looking “torpedo destroyer” is coming to the front as one of the most formidable instruments of marine warfare. Although only about 200 feet long, with a displacement of perhaps 250 tons, they have yet a motive power of 5,000 to 6,000 horse-power, and a speed of from 25 to 35 knots an hour. Some of these destroyers are supposed to be strong enough to deal a death-blow to a first-class battle-ship, and all of them are swift enough to overhaul the fastest cruiser on the ocean. The estimation in which they are held by the Admiralty is apparent from the fact that already upwards of one hundred of them are in commission, and many more are being built. Twenty-five destroyers, it is said, can be built for the cost price of one battle-ship, and in actual warfare there would be exposed the same number of lives in fifteen destroyers as in one battle-ship.

Although no great naval battles have taken place to test the power of the steam navy of Britain, it has been occasionally demonstrated in the form of object lessons. The great Jubilee review of 1887 was a magnificent spectacle, when there were assembled at Spithead 135 ships of war, fully armed and manned, and ready to assert Britain’s sovereignty on the high seas. Two years later the exhibition was repeated in the presence of admiring Royalty. In January, 1896, shortly after President Cleveland’s threatening message to Congress, and while strained relations with Germany had arisen out of complications in South Africa, in an incredibly short space of time the famous “flying squadron” was mobilized and made ready for sea and any emergency that might transpire, without at all encroaching on the strength of the ordinary Channel fleet. The recent naval review in connection with Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, however, surpassed any previous display of the kind, not alone as a spectacular event, but as a telling demonstration of sea-power, such as no other nation possesses. On this occasion 166 British steamships of war were ranged in line extending to thirty miles in length, and this without withdrawing a single ship from a foreign station; the only regret expressed on this occasion being that not one of the old “wooden walls” was there with towering masts and billowy clouds of canvas to bring to mind the days and deeds of yore, and to emphasize the remarkable changes introduced by steam.

The following table published by the London Graphic exhibits in convenient form the numerical strength of the British navy at the beginning of 1897:

Classification.No.Tons.Horse-
Power.		Officers
and
Men.		Guns.
Battleships, 1st class29 377,176355,000 19,2911,301
" 2nd class12 114,03075,000 5,672346
" 3rd class11 77,82057,600 5,487365
"armoured18 136,960116,000 10,386604
Coast Defence, Iron-clads16 61,41030,460 3,211209
Total armored86 767,390634,060 44,0472,825
Cruisers,1st class17 157,950278,000 10,514688
" 2nd class57 243,820461,100 19,3461,359
" 3rd class52 110,685220,340 10,994927
Gunboats,  Catchers33 25,940113,300 2,935203
"Coast Defence42 11,8285,860 1,527106
Sloops22 23,30528,000 2,764318
Gunboats, 1st class (police)20 15,81023,400 1,670202
Miscellaneous Vessels24 112,712202,300 4,998318
Torpedo Boats and Destroyers 250 25,000300,000 5,860690
Grand Total 689 1,494,440 2,266,360 104,855 7,638

First-class battle-ships are vessels of from 10,000 to 15,000 tons displacement, with steam-engines of 10,000 to 12,000 horse-power and attaining a speed of from seventeen to eighteen knots. To this belong the Magnificent, the Majestic, the Renown, the Benbow, etc. The first three carry each four 12-inch guns, twelve 6-inch, sixteen 12-pounders, twelve 3-pounders, eight machine guns, and five torpedo tubes. The Benbow carries two 16.25-inch guns, each weighing 110 tons, in addition to her armament of smaller pieces. Second-class battle-ships, such as the Edinburgh and Colossus, are under 10,000 tons, and with 5,500 horse-power develop a speed of about fourteen knots. Third-class battle-ships are represented by the Hero and Bellerophon, vessels of 6,200 and 7,550 tons respectively.

First-class cruisers include such well-known ships as the Blake and the Blenheim, each about 9,000 tons with 20,000 horse-power and twenty-two knots speed. The Powerful and Terrible, also belonging to this class, are among the finest ships in the navy, each 14,200 tons, 25,000 horse-power, twenty-two knots speed, and having crews of 894 men. Additions to the British navy are not made arbitrarily, but with due regard to the enlarged and improved naval armaments of other countries, and with the determination to keep well ahead of all foreign rivals. Accordingly we find that an order was given by the Admiralty in 1897 for the construction of four additional battle-ships and four large cruisers of great speed, the former to be of the Majestic type, but with heavier guns, more efficient armour and higher speed, at the same time of slightly less draft, so that if necessary they can pass through the Suez Canal. The cost of a first-class battle-ship, including armament, is about £700,000 sterling or about $3,500,000. A first-class cruiser of the ordinary type costs £450,000, but the Powerful and Terrible, when ready for sea, are said to have cost £740,000 each. The latest type of torpedo destroyer costs £60,000. The largest projectiles used in the service (as in the Benbow) are 16¼ inches diameter, weigh 1,820 lbs., and are fired with a charge of 960 lbs. of powder. The average annual expenditure for construction and repairs is between four and five millions, but in 1896 it reached £7,500,000 sterling.

THE “RENOWN,” FIRST-CLASS BATTLE-SHIP, 1895.

Flag-ship of Vice-Admiral Sir John A. Fisher, K. O. R.,
in Command of the British North Atlantic Squadron, 1898.

An interesting feature of the Diamond Jubilee review at Spithead, as on former occasions, was the presence of representatives of the mercantile marine in the garb of armed cruisers. By arrangements between the Admiralty and the Cunard, the P. & O., the White Star, and the Canadian Pacific Steamship companies, £48,620 were paid last year in the form of subventions, the vessels so held at the disposal of the Government being the Campania, Lucania, Teutonic, Majestic, Himalaya, Australia, Victoria, Arcadia, Empress of India, Empress of Japan, and Empress of China.

“TEUTONIC,” ARMED CRUISER, IN 1897.

Many other mercantile steamers besides these are also at the disposal of the Government, being subsidized, and the facilities for converting them into armed cruisers at short notice are most complete, a reserve stock of breech-loading and machine guns being kept in readiness at convenient stations where the transformation can be effected in a few hours. The armament of the Teutonic when she appeared at Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee review consisted of eight 4.7-inch quick-firing guns, and eight Nordenfeldt guns. As an example of how quickly a large auxiliary fleet might at any time be equipped, the case of the Teutonic is in point. Leaving New York on Monday, June 14th, with her usual mails and passengers, she reached Liverpool on the 21st. Between that and the 24th she discharged her cargo, was thoroughly cleaned, took on her armour and full complement of naval officers and men, and having on board a host of distinguished guests, was at her appointed place in the review on Saturday, the 26th. Returning to Liverpool, she laid aside her guns, and on the 30th sailed for New York, as if nothing had happened. The Campania, which left New York two days later than the Teutonic, also appeared at the review in holiday dress, her only armament, however, on this occasion consisting of a large detachment of members of the Houses of Lords and Commons, among whom doubtless were many “great guns.”