The Netherlands Line,
officially styled the “Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvart Maatschappig,” of Rotterdam, has a fleet of thirteen steamers, most of them from the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast, and ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 tons each. They are very fine boats of their class, and have attracted a fair share of the passenger traffic between New York and Amsterdam and Rotterdam, sailing alternately for these ports every week, calling at Boulogne-sur-mere. They carry the United States mails, which do not seem to be very weighty, as the pay only amounted to $165.03 in 1896. The latest addition to the fleet is the Spaarndam, formerly of the White Star Line (the Arabic), a fifteen-knot ship, of 4,368 tons and 3,000 horse-power. The company, which commenced this business in 1872, has a capital of $1,680,000.