Chapter XXV.

Turbine Steamers.—Turbinia.—King Edward.—Queen Alexandra.—The Queen.—The Emerald.

The latest development of the marine engine is the Marine Steam Turbine, the invention of the Hon. C. A. Parsons, F.R.S., brother of the present Earl of Rosse, and a son of the builder of the famous “Birr” telescope, the largest reflecting telescope ever built.

The first vessel ever fitted with the new type of engine was appropriately named the Turbinia. This vessel is only 100 feet long by 9 feet beam and of a total displacement of 44½ tons, but she is some ten knots faster than any boat afloat of the same dimensions. Although the weight of her main engines is only about 4 tons, and the total weight of machinery, screws, and shafting, tanks, etc., is only 22 tons, she develops the enormous power of 2,100 I.H.T., being almost 100 H.P. per ton of machinery.

Prof. Ewing, in April, 1895, made some trials of the Turbinia on the Tyne, the highest speed then recorded being 32·75 knots, but in June of the same year a speed of 34½ knots was obtained at Cowes.

Three turbines are used for driving the vessel—high pressure, intermediate and low pressure. Each turbine driving direct on to a separate propeller shaft. Reversing is obtained by means of one or more separate turbines connected to the same shafts as the propelling turbines and working in a vacuum when the boat is going ahead.

Several torpedo destroyers and three yachts have been fitted with Parsons’ turbine engines. The first mercantile vessel to be so fitted was the King Edward, built by Messrs. Denny Brothers, Dumbarton, in 1901.

On her trial trip she attained a speed of 20½ knots, and during her first season on the Firth of Clyde (1901) she sailed 12,116 knots in 79 days on a coal consumption of 1,429 tons, at an average speed of 18½ knots per hour. So satisfied were her owners with her, that they gave an order to the same builders and engineers for a somewhat larger vessel for the following season.

The new (1902) turbine steamer is the Queen Alexandra, a three-deck passenger steamer intended also for the Firth of Clyde passenger service. She is 270 feet long, by 32 feet beam, and depth 11 feet 6 inches. She has two funnels, but only one pole mast. Her main deck is completely covered in from the bow to aft of the engine room, and above the spar deck she carries a shade deck 100 feet in length, to which passengers have access, and under which shelter is provided in wet weather.

Like her sister vessel, the King Edward, the main engines of the Queen Alexandra consist of three separate turbines, each driving its own shaft, the centre turbine being high-pressure, and the two side turbines low-pressure. The velocity of the centre shaft is about 700, and of each of the side shafts 1,000 revolutions per minute. On account of the high velocity at which the shafts revolve it is necessary to increase the number of propellers driven, and the turbine steamers, therefore, have five small propellers each, one on the centre shaft, and two each on the outside shafts. On the builders’ trials the Queen Alexandra exceeded the speed of the King Edward by a knot and a quarter. Her actual speed was 21·63 knots, equal to about 25 miles per hour.

Two Channel steamers designed to carry passengers and mails, and to be fitted with Parsons’ marine steam turbine engines, are now (1903) being built on the Clyde by Messrs. Wm. Denny and Brothers.

Of these, one, the Queen, is to the order of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Co. She will be 310 feet long and 40 feet broad; and she is to maintain a speed of at least 21 knots. The average time occupied at present on the passage between Dover and Calais is 65 minutes, but the new vessel is expected to reduce the time to 50 or even 45 minutes.

The mode of propulsion is practically the same as that on the Queen Alexandra, namely, three shafts carrying five propellers.

The other Channel steamer referred to as being built is intended for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Co.’s service between Newhaven and Dieppe. Her dimensions are, length 280 feet, beam 34 feet, draft 22 feet; with a gross tonnage of 1,100 tons.

The Emerald, one of the three yachts referred to at the beginning of this chapter, is the first vessel fitted with turbine machinery that ever crossed the Atlantic. She arrived at New York, after encountering tempestuous weather on the passage, on the 6th May, 1903. Her qualities as a sea-boat were severely tested during the voyage, with entirely satisfactory results. She was built for Sir Christopher Furness, M.P., by Messrs. Alex. Stephen & Sons, Limited, of Linthouse, and fitted with machinery by the Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co., Limited, of Wallsend-on-Tyne, and it was found that when the yacht was steaming at the rate of 15 knots per hour, the machinery ran with an absence of vibration and noise.

The Emerald is a vessel of 756 tons, yacht measurement, and was chartered by Mr. Geo. Gould, of New York, for six months from the 15th April, 1903. Mr. Gould sent over to this country Captain Tod to navigate her across the Atlantic, with instructions to further experiment on her steaming capabilities at sea, and to carefully observe her behaviour compared with the other large steam yachts of which he has had charge. On the termination of the voyage, Captain Tod reported that the yacht behaved splendidly; that there was no racing of propellers, and no vibration; and that the coal consumption was moderate, considering the weather.

There have been several rumours to the effect that the new steamers for the Cunard Mail Service are to be fitted with turbine engines, but these rumours have not been officially confirmed. In any case these steamers could not be completed in time to take from the Allan Line the distinction of being the first Company to own a Transatlantic Mail Turbine Steamship.

Sir ALFRED L. JONES, K.C.M.G. and W. J. DAVEY, Esq.

The

History of Steam Navigation.

Part II.
HISTORICAL STEAMSHIP COMPANIES.

Chapter I.
MESSRS. ELDER, DEMPSTER & CO.

The firm of Elder, Dempster & Co. was founded in the year 1868 by Messrs. Alexander Elder and John Dempster, two gentlemen intimately acquainted with the working of the African Steamship trade. For 11 years they were the sole partners, but in 1879 they admitted Mr. (now Sir Alfred) Jones into the firm, and Mr. W. J. Davey was also taken into partnership. The original partners, Messrs. Elder and Dempster, retired from the firm in 1884. Mr. Alexander Sinclair, who became a partner in 1891, having retired in 1901, the sole partners at the present date are Sir Alfred L. Jones, K.C.M.G., and Mr. W. J. Davey.

The firm is one of the largest commercial houses in the world, and in all the various branches of commerce in which it is interested it takes a foremost position. As steamship owners it controls the largest fleet of steamers in Great Britain. The business of the firm extends so rapidly, and new steamers to meet the necessities of the several trades are so frequently being added to the fleet, that it is impossible to give a list of the vessels owned, or under the management of the firm, which will not in a short time be obsolete, but according to the official sailing list issued 28th March, 1903, the following steamers were sailing under the triple flags of Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co.:—

Abeokuta.Cameroon.Lake Megantic.Mount Royal.
Accra.Coomassie.Lake Michigan.Mount Temple.
Adansi.Congo.Lake Ontario.Nigeria.
Akaba.Dahomey.Lake Simcoe.Nyanga.
Akassa.Degama.Leon-y-Castillio.Olenda.
Albertville.Delta.Loanda.Oron.
Ancobra.Dodo.Loango.Perez Galdos.
Andoni.Egga.Lycia.Phillipeville.
Anversville.Egwanga.Llandulas.Port Antonio.
Angola.Eko.Madeira.Port Maria.
Asaba.Ekuro.Mandingo.Port Morant.
Ashanti.Elmina.Mayumba.Port Royal.
Axim.Ethiopia.Melville.Prah.
Bakana.Etolia.Memnon.Roquelle.
Banana.Fantee.Milwaukee.Sangara.
Bathurst.Forcados.Monmouth.Sansu.
Batanga.Haussa.Monrovia.Sekondi.
Benguela.Iddo.Montauk.Sherbro.
Benin.Ilaro.Monteagle.Sobo.
Biafra.Ilorin.Montezuma.Tarquah.
Bida.Jebba.Montreal.Teneriffe.
Boma.Kano.Montrose.Viera-y-Clavijo.
Bonny.Kwarra.Monarch.Volta.
Bornu.Lagoon.Montcalm.Warri.
Boulama.Lake Champlain.Montenegro.Yola.
Burutu.Lake Erie.Monterey.Yoruba.
Cabenda.Lake Manitoba.Montfort.

As proving the difficulty of stating the number of steamships under the control of this firm, and at the same time illustrating the gigantic nature of its commercial operations, it may be stated that while this volume was in preparation for the Press, it sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. an entire fleet, consisting of fifteen large ocean liners. The despatch of the last Elder-Dempster liner under the Beaver flag, on Wednesday, March 31st, 1903, was quite an historic event. She carried with her the first portion of the Rev. J. M. Barr’s colony, numbering about 2,000 souls. Thousands of spectators lined the stage, and as the liner sheered away cheer after cheer rent the air. Sir Alfred Jones, Mr. W. J. Davey, Mr. David Jones, the Revs. Canon Russell (Manchester), R. O. Greep, Dr. Lightwood, S. Gasking and H. M. Braithwaite, as well as many well-known personages in shipping and commerce, were present. The band of the 1st Liverpool Volunteers played inspiring music, including tunes reminiscent of home and friendly associations, first on the stage and afterwards on the ship.

Sir Alfred Jones expressed his regret, as he witnessed the multitude on board the Lake Manitoba, that he had consented to sell his Canadian fleet to the Canadian Pacific Railway. He said his firm had worked hard to develop Canadian colonisation, and the full fruit of their efforts was only becoming visible now when they had left the business. He commended the object of the expedition, and hoped for its success. A completely equipped colony of 2,000, with thousands more to follow in due course, was, he considered, a novelty.

Reference has been made to the three flags borne by the Elder-Dempster steamers. The Beaver flag no longer exists. The other two are (1) the white swallow-tail flag with a red St. George’s cross (gold crown in centre) of the African Steamship Co.; and the blue swallow-tail flag, with a white St. George’s cross, of the British and African Steam Navigation Co. A brief sketch of the history of both of these important companies, as well as of the Imperial Direct West India Mail Service Limited, will be found in the succeeding pages of this volume.

The management of any one of these fleets would be considered ample employment for most mercantile firms, but they are only units in the business conducted at that large hive of commerce, African House, Water Street, Liverpool, which is, by the way, shortly to be transferred to Colonial Chambers, now in course of being erected. In addition to the services mentioned, Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co. maintain a service of Mail Steamers between Antwerp and the River Congo, under the title of the Compagnie Belge Maritime du Congo, an inter-insular Mail Service at the Canary Islands, and a Coastal Service at Jamaica. They do also a large Ocean Tramp business, being prepared to carry cargo, when sufficient inducement offers, to and from any port in the world.

It is the existence of such splendidly managed mercantile fleets, such as the Elder-Dempster Line, that enabled Great Britain to astonish the world by the rapid and safe transport of troops and munitions of war during the progress of the late War in South Africa. Many years of experience in the management of steamships have enabled the company to design and construct a magnificent fleet of fast cargo liners, having lofty ’tween decks, and fitted with anti-rolling keels, electric light and every modern improvement. Several of these were chartered at an early stage of the war by the British Admiralty, and retained for voyage after voyage as transports. Nine steamers, of an aggregate gross tonnage of 52,000 tons, were requisitioned in this way. In addition to these, the firm’s steamers carried with remarkable success some 26,000 horses and 21,000 mules from New Orleans to the Cape, and some 5,000 horses and 3,000 mules from Canada, Hungary, the River Plate, &c. It may also be mentioned in this connection that the Elder-Dempster Liner Monterey conveyed “Strathcona’s Horse,” the Milwaukee the “Royal Canadians,” and the Montfort the Canadian contingent of Baden-Powell’s Police from Halifax, N.S., to the Cape. The Milwaukee was the transport selected to convey General Cronje, his family, and over 500 Boer prisoners to St. Helena. The Elder-Dempster transports had the good fortune on several occasions to be able to render material assistance to other transports which had met with mishaps. Thus they came to the assistance of the Carinthia a few days after she stranded at Aux Cayes, and, taking off her cargo of mules, carried them on to their destination. The Montrose turned up just in the nick of time to save the crew when the ill-fated Mexican foundered off the Cape, and when the Suffolk stranded it was again an Elder-Dempster liner, the Lake Erie, that came to her assistance, and did all that was possible to rescue the crew.

In the summer of 1902 Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co. commenced running the luxuriously appointed ocean liner Lake Simcoe on pleasure cruises to the Norwegian Fjords. Those persons who have had the pleasure of travelling by this vessel are most enthusiastic in their praise of the ship, her officers and her equipment, and of all who are responsible for the comfort and enjoyment of the passengers. The Lake Simcoe is probably one of the largest pleasure steamers trading to the Norwegian Coast, but her rates of passage money are by no means commensurate with her size. It is an opportunity of visiting the Land of the Midnight Sun in comfort and even luxury which ought not to be missed. The fact that a large proportion of the commanders, officers, engineers, seamen and firemen serving under the firm are Royal Naval Reservists renders the Elder-Dempster fleet additionally valuable to the nation.

R.M.S. Jebba. African Steamship Co. Limited.

Chapter II.
THE AFRICAN STEAMSHIP COMPANY.

Two years (1852) prior to the outbreak of the Crimean War, the African Steamship Company was incorporated by Royal Charter with limited liability. The initial capital was £250,000 in 12,500 shares of £20 each. The first directors of the Company were—Sir John Campbell, K.C.H. (Chairman), James Hartley, Esq. (Director of the P. and O. Co.), John Black, Esq., Henry William Schneider, Esq., Macgregor Laird, Esq., Henry William Currie, Esq., William Law Ogilby, Esq., and Charles William Gregory, Esq. Bankers, Messrs. Currie & Co., Cornhill.

The prospectus of the company, as published in the “Times,” 13th July, 1852, was as follows:—

“This Company is formed to carry out a contract with H.M. Government for the monthly conveyance of the mails to Madeira, Teneriffe, and the principal ports and places on the West Coast of Africa, viz., Goree, Bathurst, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cape Coast Castle, Accra, Whydah, Badagny, Lagos, Bonny, Old Calabar, Cameroons and Fernando Po; and to establish a line of steam communication between Sierra Leone and the British West Indies as soon as satisfactory arrangements are made with the Government.

“The contract for the mails was taken by Mr. Macgregor Laird in December last, and is for a term of ten years from the 1st September next. The annual payment by the Government commences at £23,250, and diminishes at the rate of £500 yearly during the continuance of the contract, making an average payment of £21,500 per annum.

“Five iron screw steamships for this service are in the course of construction by Mr. John Laird, of Birkenhead, with engines by Messrs. George Forrester & Co., and Fawcett, Preston & Co., of Liverpool.

“The first of these vessels is to be launched on the 3rd July, and will be ready to commence the mail service in accordance with the terms of the contract on the 1st September. Two of them have capacity for 700, two of them for 1,000, and one for 250 tons cargo, with excellent accommodation for first-class passengers. The company are also to have Mr. Laird’s services as Managing Director. A negotiation is going on with the Portuguese Government for an extension of the line from Fernando, the valuable African possession.

“Plymouth will be the first port of arrival, and the last port of departure for the company’s vessels, but the voyage will terminate at and commence from London.”

The steamers referred to were the Forerunner, Faith, Hope, Charity, and Northern Lights.

The trading operations between London and Africa not being profitable, the Board of Directors (about 1860) proposed to wind up the company.

On the solicitations of Messrs. Fletcher & Parr, of Liverpool, they were induced to try the trade from Liverpool to the West Coast of Africa. The result of the trial was extremely satisfactory, and Liverpool became the home-port of the fleet. The business of the company increased rapidly, and the shareholders received their dividends for some time with gratifying regularity, but unfortunately about ten years after the change from London to Liverpool, the relations between the Board of Directors at the former port and the managing agents at Liverpool became somewhat strained.

In spite of a great financial loss, caused by the defalcations of the Secretary; of a small and inefficient fleet; and a policy on the part of the Directors which was decidedly peculiar, the company maintained a struggling existence until 1891, when it passed into the management of the firm of “Elder, Dempster and Co.” Under the vigorous and successful management of this firm, the African Steamship Company started on a new and prosperous career. Instead of, as in 1875, possessing a fleet of seven ocean steamers and two coast vessels, the company now owns thirty-three modern, large and powerful ocean steamers, ranging from 1,000 to 5,200 tons each, and six branch steamers, four of which are 1,000 tons each.

An Express Service to the Coast has been established by means of a fleet of fast steamers of the Jebba type, which reach Sekondi, the centre of the new gold mining industry, in 15 days. They have been specially constructed for the trade in which they are engaged, and no skill has been wanting nor expense spared to make them the most perfect of their kind. The passenger accommodation has received special attention. The saloons are spacious, the staterooms lofty and well ventilated, while extensive promenade and bridge decks enable passengers to enjoy the invigorating sea breezes secure alike from sun and rain.

The company grants special facilities for visiting the beautiful islands of Madeira, Teneriffe and Grand Canary, issuing special holiday tickets, which include first-class passage out and home, and a fortnight’s board and accommodation at the Hotel Metropole, Las Palmas, for £15. Passengers have also the option of returning via Barcelona or Genoa, by the steamers of “La Veloce Navigazione Italiana a Vapore” (The Italian Express Steam Navigation Co.).

The Royal Mail Steamers of the African Steamship Co., conjointly with the steamers of the British and African Steam Navigation Co., sail from Liverpool thrice a week for the Canary Islands and the West Coast, from Hamburg and Amsterdam weekly, and from Antwerp (Cie Belge Maritime du Congo) for Teneriffe, Sierra Leone and Congo Ports every third week.

R.M.S. Tarquah. British & African Steam Navigation Co., Ltd.

Chapter III.
THE BRITISH & AFRICAN STEAM NAVIGATION
COMPANY, LIMITED (1900).

This Company was projected in 1868 by a number of gentlemen practically acquainted with the trade of the West Coast of Africa. Amongst these were Mr. Alexander Elder and Mr. John Dempster who in that year founded the firm of Elder, Dempster & Co., a firm whose ramifications during these later years, under the guidance of Sir Alfred L. Jones, K.C.M.G., and Mr. Davey, may be said to extend throughout the civilized world.

Three steamers of about 1,300 tons gross each, were specially built to the order of the new company, by Messrs. Randolph Elder & Co., of Glasgow, for the West African trade, and were named the Bonny, Roquelle, and Congo.

The Pioneer steamer, the Bonny, sailed from Liverpool in January, 1869, and thereafter a monthly service was maintained between Glasgow, Liverpool and the West Coast of Africa. After several years’ employment in this trade, the Roquelle was sold to Messrs. P. M. Tintore & Co., Barcelona, and is still sailing from the Mersey under the Spanish flag.

So successful were these steamers that in 1869 it was decided to add three more to the fleet.

The new steamers were the Liberia, Loanda and Volta, also specially built for the trade by the late Mr. John Elder, the distinguished brother of Mr. Alexander Elder, whose early death towards the end of 1869 was so much deplored by the ship-building and engineering world. The gross tonnage of these three vessels was increased to about 1,500 tons each.

It was considered desirable during the same year to register the Company as an Incorporated Company. The Registered Office of the Company was in Glasgow, but Mr. Alexander Elder and Mr. John Dempster conducted its operations in Liverpool.

With the six steamers the Company now possessed the sailings were increased to fortnightly.

In 1874 the sailings from Glasgow were abandoned, cargo to and from that port being transhipped at Liverpool.

As the trade expanded, additions were regularly made to the fleet, and in 1879 sailings between Hamburg and the West Coast of Africa were commenced. In 1883 the Company was registered as a limited company, at which time its fleet had increased to 20 steamers and 2 hulks with a gross registered tonnage of 30,753 tons.

The following year (1884) Mr. Elder and Mr. Dempster retired from the firm of Elder, Dempster & Co., which since 1879 had consisted of these gentlemen and Mr. (now Sir A. L.) Jones, and Mr. W. J. Davey. Messrs. Elder and Dempster, however, remained Managing Directors of the Company until 1900, Mr. Elder having for some years previous to this date occupied the position of Chairman.

In 1900 Messrs. Elder, Dempster & Co., purchased the entire business and assets of the British and African Steam Navigation Co., Limited, and with the addition of 9 large steamers, suitable for outside trades, formed a new company with a share capital of £1,000,000, and Debenture Stock of £800,000. The new company has a fleet of 35 steamers with a total gross registered tonnage of 107,000 tons.

While the bulk of its operations continue to be in connection with the West Coast of Africa, several of its steamers are employed in the North Atlantic and other trades.

The contrast between the first steamer, the Bonny, and the latest, the Burutu, built in 1902, will be seen by the following comparison of their respective dimensions:—

Bonny, length 261·0 feet, beam 30·2 feet, depth 23 feet. Gross 1,326 tons.

Burutu, length 360·0 feet, beam 44·2 feet, depth 26 feet. Gross 5,200 tons.

In the later steamers of the fleet, the vessels of the Burutu type, traders and other travellers reach Sekondi, the centre of the new gold mining industry, in about 13 days from Liverpool. No skill has been wanting nor expense spared to make these vessels the most perfect of their kind, and exactly suitable for tropical trade.

A special feature of the steamers is the system of overhead trunk ventilation, by which an imperceptible current of fresh air is kept continually circulating through the lofty and well lighted state rooms, making them cool and agreeable in the hottest weather.

Passengers by the Royal Mail Steamers belonging to the British and African Company, are granted special facilities for visiting the beautiful islands of Madeira, Teneriffe and Grand Canary. The Company issues a special holiday ticket for £15, which includes Saloon passage out and home, and a fortnight’s board and accommodation at the Hotel Metropole, Las Palmas. Passengers by these steamers who may wish to visit the Mediterranean, have also the option of returning from the islands via Barcelona or Genoa, by the steamers of the Italian Express Steam Navigation Co.

The Royal Mail Steamers of the British and African Steam Navigation Co., conjointly with the steamers of the African Steam Ship Co., sail from Liverpool three times a week for the Canary Islands and the West Coast of Africa, and from Hamburg and Rotterdam weekly.

R.M.S. Port Royal. Imperial Direct West India Mail Service, Ltd.

Chapter IV.
IMPERIAL DIRECT WEST INDIA MAIL
SERVICE, LIMITED.

For years the Island of Jamaica, the Pearl of the Antilles, had been decadent, its planters cast down and despairing because it was impossible, owing to the heavily subsidized continental beet sugar, to grow cane sugar at a profit. And, although physicians in the United States were sending their patients to seek renewed health and energy “from the balmy breezes laden with health giving ozone which blow over the island,” British Life Insurance offices placed a black mark against Jamaica, and demanded an additional premium from their policy holders for permission to visit its shores. But the dark commercial cloud is passing, and the island has entered upon an era of prosperity which bids fair to be greater and more permanent than even the golden days of the sugar planter. It is an open secret that for this the Jamaicans are indebted in great measure to the enterprise of Messrs. Elder, Dempster and Co., who have practically created the demand in Great Britain for Jamaica grown fruits, and who have established a service of swift steamers, specially built for the trade. This Line of steamers, which is known as the Imperial Direct West India Mail Service although only established in the first year of the present century, has already achieved a remarkable success. In addition to bringing to England over 50,000 bunches of bananas per month, as well as other West Indian fruits, tobacco, coffee, sugar, rum, and other varieties of tropical produce, the steamers carry a large and increasing number of passengers each voyage between Great Britain and the colony.

The home port of the steamers is Avonmouth, near Bristol, from which a fortnightly sailing is maintained throughout the year to Kingston (Jamaica), but it is probable that the service will soon be increased to a weekly one. In recognition of the invaluable services rendered by these steamers both to the Empire and to the colony, their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales paid a visit of inspection to the R.M.S. Port Royal, at Avonmouth, on the 5th March, 1902.

The vessels at present engaged in the direct Mail Service were all built in 1901, and are named, the Port Royal, Port Antonio, Port Morant, and Port Maria. The first two steamers named are sister ships and are identical in measurement, viz., length 382 feet, beam 46 feet 6 inches, and depth 32 feet. Each is propelled by twin screws, and fitted with triple expansion engines capable of maintaining a speed of 14 knots per hour, and carries about 5,000 tons cargo. They can each accommodate 100 first-class passengers and 50 second-class passengers. The saloons and staterooms are handsomely decorated, and are fitted so as to secure a maximum of comfort for the passengers. The cuisine and the appointments generally being those appertaining to a first-class mail and passenger steamer.

A new mail steamer of considerably larger dimensions than any of the preceding steamers of the fleet, is now in course of construction and is expected to make her first voyage early in 1904. It is proposed to call her the Port Kingston.

These steamers sail from Avonmouth Dock, Bristol, every alternate Saturday, and make the voyage as a rule in from 12 to 14 days. The rates for passengers are:—Saloon (single) £18 to £25 pounds; (return) £32 to £40, according to the position of the stateroom, and number of persons occupying same. In the second saloon the charge is £14 for the single passage, and £25 for the return.

The Delta, belonging to the same Company, makes a trip round Jamaica every week; she has first-class accommodation for passengers, and affords a splendid opportunity of seeing the coast and towns around the Island. The charge for first-class passengers is £3 for the round trip.

Arrangements have been made with the Hamburg-American Line, running between Kingston (Jamaica) and Central American Ports, to carry passengers booked by Imperial Direct West India Line of Steamers to the following Central American Ports, viz., Savanilla, Cartagena, Port Limon, and Greytown, at an inclusive first-class fare between Kingston and any of the above Ports of £6 3s. per adult. Passengers travelling on these tickets will be accommodated on special terms at the Myrtle Bank Hotel (Kingston), during the time between the arrival of the Mail Steamers and the departure of the Steamer of the Hamburg-American Line. There is also a good service from Kingston to Cuba. The Cuba steamer leaves Kingston the day after the arrival of the mail steamer from England.

Passengers can also be booked through, via the Colon and Panama Railway, to the principal ports on the Chilian Coast. The steamers of the Pacific Mail Co. and Campania Sud-Americana Co. leave Panama weekly for the South, reaching Callao in about nine days and arriving at Valparaiso in about 21 days. Seeing that for years past the climate of Jamaica has been libelled as unhealthy, it cannot be too strongly affirmed, that from a medical point of view, the wonderful air of the hilly districts is unrivalled; it being in every way equal to that of the better known European winter resorts, to which it bids fair to become a serious rival.

R.M.S. Ulster. City of Dublin Steampacket Co.

Chapter V.
THE CITY OF DUBLIN STEAMPACKET
COMPANY.

In the summer of the year 1822 Mr. C. W. Williams, of Dublin, crossed over to Liverpool with the object of inducing the merchants to take shares in a line of steampackets he proposed building for the Liverpool and Dublin trade. Except to the most sanguine, the time did not appear to be favourable for such a scheme. A large fleet of sailing smacks maintained daily communication (subject to the weather) between the two ports, carrying all kinds of goods, and even cattle. The steampackets Waterloo and Belfast sailed with passengers only every alternate day from each side. Both these vessels had already won for themselves a reputation, the former being the first steampacket to ply regularly between England and Ireland, and the latter having made a passage in the then remarkably short time of 12½ hours. Besides this, “The Original Steampacket Company,” a new company (with powerful Government influence), including amongst its shareholders Lord Blaney, Major-General Preeth, Sir John Tobin, &c., and trading under the title of the St. George Steampacket Company, had in April preceding launched two of the largest and most powerful steampackets that had yet been built, viz., the St. Patrick and the St. George. This latter vessel on the 13th September made a passage from Dublin in 11½ hours, thus making a record which she herself broke on the 23rd April, 1824, by making a passage from Liverpool to Dublin in 10 hours 40 minutes. In addition to the already established steam and sailing lines, a third local steampacket company, supported by the traders, the “Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation Company,” was in course of formation. It is not, therefore, surprising under these circumstances that Mr. Williams, a stranger in Liverpool, failed to obtain the financial support to his scheme which he desired. It is the more to his credit that, though disappointed in Liverpool, he persevered with his project in Dublin with so much success that he was enabled to return to Liverpool in February of the following year (1823) and place an order with “Frigate” Wilson for the pioneer steamer of the future famous City of Dublin Steampacket Company, the City of Dublin, a vessel of 130 h.p. It was an express stipulation with the builder that this steamer should be constructed of such materials and in such a manner as to withstand the severity of the winter navigation. The City of Dublin differed from her competitors in two respects—(1) in carrying general cargo in addition to live stock and passengers, and (2) in maintaining the service uninterruptedly throughout the twelve months.

A month later Mr. Wilson was again applied to to build a second vessel for the company, but in consequence of his having that very morning (5th March) contracted to build the Hy. Bell for the Glasgow trade, it was not till some days later the contract was made for the building of the Town of Liverpool, to be commenced as soon as the Hy. Bell was launched.

The City of Dublin made her maiden voyage on Saturday, the 20th March, 1824, and Mr. Samuel Perry, of 16, Water Street, was appointed agent to the company. She anticipated by about six months the operations of the traders’ company (the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation), whose first steamer, the Liffey, 305 tons burden, and 110 h.p., did not sail until the 13th September following. From the outset the managers of the City of Dublin Company seemingly did not regard the Original Steampacket Company as formidable opponents, but they determined either to vanquish or acquire the other two companies, the greater of which was the St. George Steampacket Company. The second company was well supported by the Liverpool merchants, and kept its sailings (with goods and passengers) throughout the year. In December of the same year (1824) the Mersey joined the Liffey, and in the July following the Commerce, one of the largest steampackets (up to that date) built in this port, was added to the fleet. This company’s packets proceeded direct to Dublin, and discharged at Custom House Quay. On Saturday, 5th February, 1825, the third vessel belonging to the City of Dublin Steampacket Company was launched from the yard of Dawson and Pearson, South Shore, and on the 22nd April succeeding the managers issued the following public notice:—

“The City of Dublin Steampacket Company announce to the public that in consequence of the many complaints hitherto made of want of storage room in Dublin for goods going and coming by their steam vessels, they have taken the lot of ground immediately opposite the Packet Station on the North Wall, and are about to erect a convenient and commodious store on the same for the accommodation of the merchants and traders of Dublin. The Company have increased their capital to £100,000, and are proceeding with every possible expedition in completing their number of vessels, by which means they will shortly be able to despatch one daily from Dublin and another from Liverpool. The trustees have reserved the remainder of the shares now unappropriated exclusively for the accommodation of shippers and importers. Their vessels, the City of Dublin and Town of Liverpool, continue to ply as usual. Their third and fourth vessels, the Hibernia and Britannia, are nearly complete, and the fifth and sixth will be ready by the end of the year.”

During the summer of 1825 the City of Dublin Company despatched their new steamer Hibernia on the same day and at the same hour as the St. George. They were careful to inform those interested that this was done “not with a view of opposition, but for the purpose of establishing her (the Hibernia’s) character for speed and seaworthiness.” They were equally careful to point out that “the Hibernia has already made six voyages in company with the St. George, and has on all occasions proved herself an extremely safe and fleet vessel, and not inferior to that well-known steampacket.” They also mentioned the inconvenience, delay and expense of landing by boats at Kingstown, all of which might be avoided by taking their magnificent steampackets direct to North Wall.

The St. George Company replied to this courteous announcement by also informing the public that the companionship of the Hibernia was unsought for and undesired by them. It was not to be expected that the Liverpool companies would permit a strange company to take a lion’s share of the trade, and not make a practical protest. Consequently, in the autumn of 1825, the fares from Liverpool to Dublin were reduced to 5s. cabin and 6d. steerage, and on Monday, September 5th, one of the steamers sailed with upwards of 700 passengers at 6d. each. Early the following year (1st February, 1826) the managers of the City of Dublin Steampacket Company purchased the Dublin and Liverpool Steam Navigation Company, and increased the capital of the company to £250,000, in shares of £100 each. Shareholders, in addition to their share of the profits of the undertaking, were offered the following advantages:—

(1) Free passage by all the company’s vessels.

(2) Free storage for a limited time in the company’s stores.

(3) Special accommodation in the payment of freights and charges.

The company having grown with a rapidity probably without a parallel, decided to extend its sailings to Belfast and Waterford, and, if desirable, to other ports. It had now a fleet (afloat or building) of fourteen new and powerful steamers, viz., City of Dublin, Town of Liverpool, Hibernia, Britannia, Liffey, Mersey, Commerce, Mona, Leeds, Gipsey, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and Nottingham. On the 29th August, 1826, the Government established a mail service between Liverpool and Kingstown, with most injurious results to the existing steampacket companies. The managers of the City of Dublin Company interviewed the Secretary to the General Post Office in order to obtain some modification of the opposition, but without being able to do so. They thereupon published the result of their negotiations, and appealed to the public for support against the unjustifiable action shown by the Government. “The Post Office having now established packets on the station, have, with a view of covering the heavy expenses incident to the same, endeavoured to engross the trade in passengers, carriages, horses, &c., to the great injury of this and other companies; while at the same time they are exempt from the payment of port dues and other charges ... which are already a tax on this company to the amount of £10,000 per annum. Under terms so unequal and disadvantageous, it is evident this opposition has none of the ingredients of fair opposition, were such even justifiable, where Government on the one hand, and private shipowners on the other, are the competitors.”

At this period (1827) there was considerable friction between the Mersey Dock Board and the company, the managers of the latter considering greater facilities ought to be given for the working of their traffic in view of the fact that they annually spent in Liverpool £100,000 in outfits and repairs. To meet the Government opposition the company purchased the sailing brig Tyne, which they loaded fortnightly with rough goods, and towed to sea by their own tug Mars. In 1828, in addition to their daily service to Dublin, the company had a twice-weekly service to Belfast, and once a week to Drogheda. A fortnightly service between Dublin and Bordeaux was commenced on the 20th June, 1827. The Ballinasloe, built in 1829, was furnished with a powerful blast cylinder to ventilate the holds, being the first steamer to be so fitted. The same year the Manchester and the Britannia were both wrecked, but fortunately without loss of life.

The steampacket City of Londonderry, built in 1827 for a local company, was sold by auction on the 8th October, 1829, and purchased by the City of Dublin Company. Her new owners took up the station vacated by the Derry Company, and maintained a weekly service between Liverpool and Londonderry for a number of years. The Clarence Dock having been opened in September, 1830, the City of Dublin Company were allotted loading and discharging berths in it on the 25th March, 1831, which berths they have used continuously to the present date (1903), a period of over seventy years, when they were transferred to the Nelson Dock.

It will be remembered that in the early history of the company their most powerful trade competitors were the St. George Steampacket Company. One of the steamers of the latter company (the Lord Blaney), while on a voyage from Liverpool to Newry, was lost with all hands. With a chivalry unusual in commerce (ignoring the fact that the vessel belonged to a rival company) the City of Dublin Company headed a list for the benefit of the relatives of the drowned seamen and others with a subscription of one hundred pounds. Civil war had been raging in Portugal for a number of years, the leaders being Don Miguel (the usurper) and Dom Pedro, on behalf of his daughter, Donna Maria (Legitimist). Two at least of the company’s steamers, the Leeds and Birmingham, were chartered as transports to Dom Pedro; and it was the latter vessel, under the command of Captain Beazley, which, on the 16th July, 1833, brought to England the news of the complete defeat and capture of the fleet of Don Miguel. On the 6th November, 1834, the Leeds struck on Furlong Rock. No lives were lost, the crew and passengers being taken off by the company’s steamer Commerce. The Leeds having got off the rock, sank inside the jetty at Holyhead, but was subsequently raised.

In 1836 the company built four steamers to compete against the Government mail steamers. They were the Queen Victoria, Duchess of Kent, Royal Adelaide, and the famous Royal William. In June of this year (1836) a bill in Parliament for increasing the capital of the company was read three times and passed.

About this time the directors of the company had under consideration the establishing of steam communication between Liverpool and New York. A meeting was held in the company’s office in Water Street, there being present, amongst others, Sir John Tobin. Sir John had on the stocks a large steamer, and it was decided that the Transatlantic service should be established, the pioneer vessel to be the Royal William, to be followed by the Liverpool (Sir John Tobin’s new steamer) as soon as she was ready for the service. In accordance with these arrangements, the Royal William sailed from the George’s Pierhead on July 5th, 1838, for New York, and the Liverpool followed her on September 20th. These steamers have the honour of being the first passenger liners between Liverpool and New York. The Royal William proved to be too small for the Transatlantic trade, and in 1839 she resumed her sailings on the Liverpool and Kingstown station.

Royal William P. S. (1836) City of Dublin Steampacket Co.

On and from the 20th June, 1839, the Government determined that a mail steamer should be despatched every morning and evening from Liverpool to Dublin, via Kingstown, on the arrival of the respective mail trains from London. The Government steam packets were appointed to sail with the morning mails, and the City of Dublin steam packets with the evening mails. The directors of the City of Dublin Company were determined that their steamers should surpass the Government boats, and in December, 1840, they contracted for two new steamers for the mail service to be superior to any seagoing steamers afloat, and to do the passage from Liverpool to Kingstown in nine hours. Three years later (15th April, 1843) the company commenced their Liverpool and North Wales service with the new iron steamer Erin-go-Bragh. The steamer Ayrshire Lassie was placed on the station the next season (May, 1844), followed in 1845 by the Prince of Wales, and later by the Prince Arthur, which two steamers maintained a daily service throughout the summer season for many years, and until the station was transferred to the present North Wales Steampacket Company.

In conjunction with the North Lancashire Railways, the City of Dublin Company instituted, in 1844, a steamship service between Dublin and Fleetwood, the first steamer employed being the Hibernia. The Company’s trade between England and Ireland had increased so rapidly that in 1845 the directors placed orders to build eight vessels, viz., five paddle steamers and three auxiliary screw schooners.

Holyhead and Kingstown Royal Mail Steamships—Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught.

The long contest between the Admiralty and the company for the carriage of the English and Irish mails came to an end in 1850, when the Lords of the Admiralty determined to withdraw their steamers from the Irish mail service. The City of Dublin Co. had now a new competitor in the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company, who had steamers in connection with their railway service. The former company, who recognised the great importance of placing vessels on the Holyhead station, put in a tender in response to the Admiralty’s invitation, which tender was actually accepted. No tender was put in by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company, who, it was believed, did not suppose anyone would compete with them and that they could obtain their own terms. Before the Admiralty’s acceptance of the City of Dublin Company’s tender was confirmed by the Government the railway company got notice of what was being arranged, and pressure was brought to bear upon the Government to prevent the City of Dublin Company’s contract from being ratified. The move was successful, with the result that tenders were again asked for. The City of Dublin Company were most unfairly treated, for the figure at which they had tendered was made public, and consequently the railway company were able to under-cut it. In anticipation of this course being adopted the managing director of the City of Dublin Company recommended a tender to be put in at a very diminished figure, the great importance of securing a footing on the Holyhead station being fully perceived by him. The City of Dublin tendered at £25,000 per annum, which was £5,000 a year less than the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company’s offer, and the result was that the City of Dublin Company obtained the contract. They purchased from the Admiralty two of the mail boats, the St. Columba and the Llewellyn, and in May, 1850, took over the mail service, running the steamers at the same hours as they were run by the Admiralty. A strong effort was made by the opponents of the company to deprive them of their contract, and a select Parliamentary Committee was appointed, which reported in favour of what had been arranged. This report made it clear that the company’s first offer was a reasonable one, and subsequent events proved the wisdom of the company’s directors determining to hold the contract at all hazards. The contest, it will be seen, was between the City of Dublin Company and the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company rather than with the Lords of the Admiralty—indeed, so strong was the feeling some time afterwards that the railway company refused to book passengers by the mail steamers, or advertise their sailings in the railway time tables, which only showed the sailings of the railway company’s steamers.

But if the City of Dublin Company was thus happily relieved from rivalry on the Holyhead mail station, it speedily found itself involved in the most serious struggle which probably ever occurred in the steamship coasting trade. Yielding to the solicitations of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company, the directors of the City of Dublin Company agreed to place a steamer on the Liverpool and Waterford station. The Waterford Company and the Cork Company immediately began a daily service to and from Liverpool and Dublin, and despatched a steamer twice a week to Belfast. Entering into an alliance with the British and Irish Steampacket Co., the City of Dublin Company and its ally responded by opposing the Cork Company on the Liverpool and Cork station, sailing the Duchess Of Kent, Emerald, Rose, &c., every Tuesday and Friday from Liverpool and from Cork. After a keen contest, lasting over twelve months, a conference took place between Mr. Malcomson, representing the Waterford and Cork Steamship Companies, and one of the directors of the City of Dublin Company. No reference was made at this conference as to the cause of the contest, nor to the conduct of any of the parties during its continuance, the sole object being to suggest the most speedy mode of restoring peace, and the following arrangement was finally decided upon:—The City of Dublin Steampacket Company agreed to sell their claims on the London line to the British and Irish Steampacket Company, this line to be worked by the vessels of the latter company and of Messrs. Malcomson; the City of Dublin to transfer their Liverpool and Belfast service to the Cork Steamship Company; the entire sea traffic between Holyhead and Dublin to be assigned to the City of Dublin Company. This agreement has been honourably adhered to by all the companies concerned, amongst whom a most friendly feeling exists, but time has wrought its changes on the various lines. Malcomson’s steamers have long since ceased to run between Dublin and London, the Cork Company’s steamers were withdrawn in 1854 from the Liverpool and Belfast service, and the London and North Western Railway Company have a large fleet of passenger and cargo steamers plying daily between Dublin and Holyhead.

At the close of the year 1854 a better feeling prevailed, and the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company, together with the London and North Western Railway Company, entered into negotiations with the City of Dublin Company, and, with the approval of the Government, an Act of Parliament was obtained in order to bring about an improved passenger and mail service between London and Dublin, via Holyhead and Kingstown. Considerable delay took place in the subsequent negotiations. However, at the end of 1858 matters were settled, and in January of the following year the Postmaster-General entered into a contract with the two railway companies and the City of Dublin Steampacket Company, who jointly undertook the sea service, and with the two railway companies, who undertook the land transit. By private agreement, however, with the railway companies, the City of Dublin Company became solely responsible for the sea service, and provided the four steamers. This service gave the greatest satisfaction to the travelling public; the contract was for fourteen years certain, and then from year to year, terminable by twelve months’ notice, the subsidy being £85,900 per annum for the sea service, and £50,000 per annum for the land.

Twelve years after this service had been commenced, the London and North Western Railway Company, who had by that time absorbed the Chester and Holyhead Railway, commenced a rail connection between the harbour of Dublin and three of the principal Irish railway companies, which connection was completed in 1876, and the London and North Western Company began to run a service of steamers in direct opposition to the mail route. Under the terms of their agreement with the City of Dublin Company, the railway company had the power of fixing the fares by the mail route, which it exercised by maintaining the high fares by the mail and charging low fares by the railway steamers. The competition increased in intensity every year, with the result of largely diverting the passenger traffic from the mail route, the ultimate object of the railway being to bring about the abandonment of the Kingstown service, and to secure all the traffic for the railway boats to Dublin. In 1881 the City of Dublin Company brought the London and North Western Railway Company before the Railway Commissioners, who ordered a reduction of the mail fares. Immediately after this order was made, the Post Office authorities intimated their intention of terminating the existing mail contract, and of asking for fresh tenders for the service between Holyhead and Kingstown. In 1882 the City of Dublin Company put in a tender. Months were allowed to pass, and in January, 1883, it was announced that the Government had accepted a tender of the London and North Western Railway Company. It then transpired that the railway company, as well as the City of Dublin Company, had tendered for the Holyhead and Kingstown service, and that the latter company’s tender was the lower of the two, but the Government, instead of accepting it, had negotiated a contract for the throughout service with the railway company, which would have enabled them to convey the mails and passengers in the railway steamers to Dublin instead of to Kingstown.

William Watson, Esq. (late Chairman City of Dublin Steampacket Co.).

It can well be understood that the public, who were well pleased to have the two lines of steamers, had no intention of being deprived of the Kingstown route, and a storm of indignation arose over the country. The Government professed that in making the new arrangement they were acting with economy, but this was shown to be a mere subterfuge, for they had agreed to pay the railway company £106,000 a year—only a trifling amount less than they would have paid if the steampacket company’s offer had been accepted and the railway payment continued as before. To quote the words of a prominent member of Parliament: “The Government were giving an opulent railway company not only a monopoly of the passenger traffic, but a large subsidy besides, for merely carrying the mail bags on their established line of passenger steamers.” So powerful was the agitation that arose, that the Government discovered they would not be able to get the contract confirmed by the House of Commons, the Irish members to a man being determined to vote against it. The result was the contract was not brought forward for confirmation, and new tenders were asked for the Holyhead and Kingstown sea service, special provision being made for the passenger traffic, which the Government had ignored on the previous occasion. Greater speed being desired, the City of Dublin Company tendered for improved steamers; but the railway company, who had no intention of going to Kingstown, did not compete, and the City of Dublin Company were successful in obtaining a contract for twelve years certain, the subsidy being £84,000 per annum. The four mail packets—the Ulster, Leinster, Munster, and Connaught—were provided with new boilers and improved machinery, and their passenger accommodation was remodelled and greatly enlarged.

The new service began on the 1st October, 1885, with this most remarkable result, that vessels after twenty-five years’ service had their speed increased by an average of 2½ knots per hour. A new steamer was added to the fleet—the Ireland, a vessel capable of steaming 20 knots an hour, being the fastest paddle steamer ever built for cross-Channel service. The new service gave much satisfaction to the public, and the passenger receipts steadily increased. In 1893 the company decided to build a new type of passenger and cargo vessel, and in the following year the Louth, a screw steamer of large tonnage and great power, was put on the station; she was found so satisfactory, her performance being so regular, and her sea-worthy qualities so good, that she dispelled the great prejudice which up to that time had existed against screw steamers for cross-Channel trade (especially the cattle trade), and the company decided to replace their fleet with steamers of this class. While this re-construction was going on an attempt was made to deprive the company of their position on the Holyhead station. Owing largely to the efforts of the company, Kingstown had been put in direct communication with all the Irish railway companies, and the one blot on the Kingstown service removed. It was stated, however, that the boats were not fast enough, and the Government were urged to terminate the mail contract and seek for new tenders.

Most extravagant ideas seemed to prevail as to what could be done; accelerations were suggested by land and sea which could not have been accomplished except at very great expense. However, the City of Dublin Company were not behindhand, and they put in a variety of tenders, and offered to build boats of the very largest class. No other company tendered in accordance with the advertisement. The Post Office, however, did not accept any of the tenders, and subsequently entered into negotiations with the company, and settled the existing contract. The company undertook to build four twin-screw steamers, which, although not so large as those originally proposed, are superior to anything up to the present time attempted for cross-Channel purposes, and being twin-screws, their accommodation is far greater than had they been paddle steamers of the same size. They all realised a speed of 24 knots on their trial trips, which up to the present time has not been surpassed by any passenger steamer.

The new service commenced on the 1st April, 1897, and passengers are conveyed between all parts of England and Ireland at a very high rate of speed, and perform the journey with a degree of comfort that would have been thought incredible a few years since.

The fleet of the company now consists of the following high-class powerful screw steamers, replete with everything necessary for the comfort of passengers, as well as being equipped with the most modern appliances for the safe carriage of cattle and the rapid handling of cargo:—The Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connaught, sailing twice each day from Holyhead and from Kingstown with the mails and passengers. The Carlow, Kerry, Wicklow, Louth, and Cork, sailing every evening to and from Liverpool and Dublin, with goods and passengers, as well as a morning service from both ports, with passengers and fast traffic. In the present year (1903) the Company has placed the Kilkenny on the station, a vessel of an entirely new design, one of the finest passenger and cargo steamers which has ever been built for the Irish cross-Channel trade. A service is also maintained three times a week between Dublin and Belfast by the company’s steamers.

For upwards of three-quarters of a century this grand old company has faithfully served the public, with an immunity from loss of life as remarkable as it is gratifying to those chiefly concerned.

Chapter VI.
THE BRITISH AND IRISH STEAM PACKET
COMPANY, LIMITED.

The oldest deep-sea steamship passenger trade in Europe is that between Dublin and London. The distinction of having been the first persons (other than the crew) to cross the Irish Sea by steam vessel is shared by Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Weld. Mr. Weld, who was the Secretary—or brother to the Secretary—of the Royal Society of Dublin, embarked with his wife on board the steampacket Thames, Captain Dodd, which vessel sailed from Dublin at noon on the 28th May, 1815, bound for London.

The sailing of this, the first, steamer between Dublin and London, was an event of the greatest interest to the citizens of the former city, who assembled in thousands to witness her departure. It was not intended that the Thames should ply between the two ports, and, as a matter of fact, it was not until after an interval of eleven years (1826) that a regular steampacket service was established between the Metropolis of England and that of Ireland. In the latter year, two of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Co.’s steamers, the Thames (not the Thames of 1815) and the Shannon commenced to trade regularly between Dublin and London.

Amongst other famous steamers, employed on this station, may be mentioned the William Fawcett, which traded between London and Dublin during the summer of 1829. This steamer afterwards became the property of the Peninsular Steam Navigation Co., and is stated in Whitaker’s Almanac (and elsewhere) to have been the pioneer steamer of the “P. & O. Co.” In August, 1830, the steampacket City of Londonderry, built in 1827 for the Liverpool and Londonderry trade, and purchased in October, 1829, by the City of Dublin Co., was placed by her new owners on the London station. These three steamers, the Thames, Shannon and City of Londonderry, were described in the Company’s advertisement of the period as being amongst the largest steamers afloat, and all of the same capacity and power, viz., 513 tons burthen, and 160 h.p. each. These steamers maintained a regular weekly service (one of them sailing from London every Sunday, calling at Plymouth), and were due at Dublin in ordinary weather, in 80 hours after leaving London.

Lady Roberts. 1464 Tons. Speed 13 Knots.

Travelling at that period was expensive, as shown by the rates charged by these small wooden steamers, compared with those now charged by the magnificent modern steamships of the B. and I. Co. of 1,400 to 1,500 tons each.

Cabin.Steerage.
Thames, Shannon, &c.2 16 01 14 0
Lady Roberts, Lady Wolseley, &c.1 5 00 11 0

The present British and Irish Steampacket Company was established in 1836. The list of the earliest Directors contained the names of several of the best known citizens of Dublin, the following being the names of the Directors for the year 1838, viz.:—Messrs. James Ferrier, John MacDonnell, William Williams, Francis Carleton, Joseph Boyce, John Jameson, and John Ennis. The Company’s first fleet consisted of three wooden paddle steamers, named respectively, City of Limerick, Devonshire, and Shannon.

A very ingenious robbery from the Company took place at the St. Katherine’s Docks. Two boxes of gold dust, of a gross value of £5,245, were landed at Falmouth, ex H.M. Packet Seagull, from the Brazils. From Falmouth they were shipped per B. and I. steamer City of Limerick to the Company’s Wharf, London, consigned to the Brazilian Mining Co. At noon on Monday, 29th April, 1839, a person claimed the two boxes, and presented an order for them, apparently in the same handwriting as the letter of advice received with the two boxes from Falmouth. The advice stated that the boxes were only to be delivered to a gentleman who would call on Monday with a letter in the same handwriting. The “gentleman” accurately described the marks, and took away the boxes; but two hours afterwards, another person, connected with the Brazilian Mining Co., came for the boxes, and the fraud was then discovered, for the genuine documents and letter addressed to the Company by the Falmouth Agent were produced.

Two months later, the whole of the criminals concerned were in custody, and charged with their offence at the Central Criminal Court. Two of them, Moss and Solomons, turned Queen’s evidence. Lewin Caspar (who had been for eighteen months in the service of the B. and I. Co. as General Superintendent), was detained in custody until sentence was pronounced, 3rd February, 1840, and was then acquitted, owing to a flaw in the indictment. His father, Ellis Caspar, and Emmanuel Moses, were each sentenced to be transported for 14 years, and sailed for Sydney on the 20th October, 1840, on the convict transport, Lord Lynedoch. Alice Abrahams (daughter of Emmanuel Moses) was also convicted of being an accomplice, and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. Mr. James Hartley (founder of the firm of James Hartley & Co., London) rendered very valuable service to the proprietors by his energy and skill in tracing and successfully prosecuting the thieves. Mr. James Hartley was elected a Director in 1838, and for his services in connection with the prosecution of the gold dust thieves, he was presented with a valuable piece of plate.

In 1842, the steamship Duke of Cornwall was built, and added to the fleet in order to meet the increased demands of the trade. Like her sister ships, she was a wooden paddle steamer, and the last of this type of craft employed in the service.

The British and Irish Steam Packet Co. were amongst the first steamship owners to recognise the advantage (now universally admitted) of the screw propeller over the paddle wheel as a means for propelling steamships, and in 1845 they introduced into the London and Dublin trade two schooner-rigged auxiliary screw steamers, one of which was called the Rose, and the other the Shamrock. Three years later the B. and I. Co. had to encounter a fierce and powerful opposition, engineered by the Messrs. Malcomson, of Waterford, but which involved nearly all the leading Steamship Companies on the East Coast of Ireland; the B. and I.; Belfast (Langtry’s); City of Dublin; Cork; and Waterford Steamship Companies all taking part in the contest. The Waterford Steamship Company placed steamers on the London and Dublin station, and the Directors of the British and Irish Steam Packet Company retaliated by placing steamers on the Waterford and London, Waterford and Liverpool, and London and St. Petersburg lines. The opposition lasted until April, 1851, when an arrangement was come to, whereby the Dublin and London traffic was divided between Messrs. Malcomson (Waterford Co.) and the B. and I., and at the same time the City of Dublin Co. withdrew from their official connection with the latter Company. In the meantime, several steamers had been built of iron (notably the Great Britain), and had proved by the severest tests the great merits of that metal as a material for shipbuilding. So convinced were the Directors of the B. and I. of the advantages to be gained by the substitution of iron for wood, that they purchased in 1850 the first iron paddle steamer of the fleet. This steamer was named the Foyle, and was one of the finest vessels afloat in her time.

The following year witnessed an extension of the Company’s operations, a regular service being established between Liverpool, South of England ports, and London; and also between Limerick and London. The latter was maintained by the auxiliary screw steamer Rose, and when this vessel was sold in 1852, the service was discontinued.

To meet the increased requirements of the trade, two large screw steamers, the Lady Eglinton and the Nile, were added to the fleet in 1852.

On the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, two of the B. and I. steamers, one of which was the new steamer Lady Eglinton, and the other the Foyle, were chartered by the Government for the conveyance of troops and stores. In consequence of the withdrawal of these two steamers from the Company’s service, and of the loss of the Nile off the Cornish Coast, the Liverpool to London sailings were abandoned.

In addition to her Government service in the Black Sea, the Lady Eglinton, in 1858, was employed for a short time as a Trans-Atlantic liner, making, in this capacity, two trips from Galway to Quebec and Montreal. In 1865, this famous steamer was placed in the hands of Messrs. Walpole, Webb & Bewley, shipbuilders, Dublin, by whom she was lengthened thirty feet.

Prior to the declaration of War between the Northern and Southern States of America, in 1861, the B. and I. Co. had maintained a regular service between Dublin and Wexford. The vessel employed in this service was a small paddle steamer named the Mars. In 1863 the Mars was sold, crossed the Atlantic, and began the exciting career of a blockade runner.

Two years later (1865) the Lady Wodehouse was built in Dublin, for the Company, by Messrs. Walpole, Webb and Bewley, and in 1869 the same builders launched another B. and I. liner, the Countess of Dublin. The year 1870 saw an important and advantageous change in the fortunes of the Company, who purchased the interest and steamers of Messrs. Malcomson’s London-Dublin line, since which time the sea trade between Dublin and London has been entirely in the hands of the British and Irish Company. The vessels purchased from Messrs. Malcomson were the Avoca and Cymba. In 1879, the B. and I. Company was registered as a Limited Company, and a new steamer, the Lady Olive, 1,096 tons, was added to the fleet. The Lady Olive was the last iron vessel built for the Company, and the last of the compound engine type of steamer. All her successors—the present vessels of the fleet—are built of steel, and fitted with triple-expansion engines. The first ship of the new type was the Lady Martin, of 1,356 tons gross register, built in 1887 by Messrs. Workman & Clark, of Belfast. Her carrying capacity is much greater than that of any of her predecessors, and further increase of tonnage has marked all the vessels added to the fleet since. Her principal dimensions are—Length 269 feet 6 inches, beam 34 feet 2 inches, and depth of hold 16 feet 4 inches.

S.S. Lady Wolseley leaving Falmouth.

She was followed in quick succession by the Lady Hudson-Kinahan, built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, in 1891; the Lady Wolseley, built by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company, Barrow, in 1894; and the Lady Roberts, built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon, in 1897. The last-named four steamers now carry on the trade between the two capitals, the Lady Olive acting as stand-by ship. In their main features, all the vessels are very similar, and vary only slightly in size and power, from the Lady Martin, of 1,365 tons, to the Lady Roberts, of 1,462 tons. It will be seen from the particulars given, that the steamers of the B. and I. Co. are amongst the largest coasting vessels in the United Kingdom. The average berthing accommodation of each vessel is—120 saloon and 50 second cabin, in addition to steerage passengers. Each vessel is fitted up on the most approved plan, and electrically lighted throughout. Deck cabins and state rooms can be secured at a small extra charge. Smoking rooms are also provided, as well as bathrooms. In the summer season pianos are put on board, and a full complement of stewards and stewardesses is carried. Under ordinary circumstances the vessels average 13 knots per hour, which is quite fast enough for the requirements of the trade; and it may be mentioned that they are well able to hold their own with the majority of channel steamers. Any person travelling by these steamers will find that very few vessels will pass them, and those which do are probably some crack mail packets running short passages.

The ships of the British and Irish Steam Packet Company are as well-known at Falmouth, Plymouth, Southampton, and Portsmouth as they are at the terminal ports of London and Dublin. Being so well-found, roomy, comfortable, and up-to-date, and calling in at all the principal southern ports, it is but natural that they should be favourites with the holiday-making and touring public. So favourably are they held in this respect that during the “fine weather” months they seldom leave port without having a full complement of passengers, of whom (as has been stated) they are designed to carry a large number.

Chapter VII.
THE BIBBY LINE.

Reference has been made, in a previous chapter of this work, to this old-established firm. It was engaged in shipping in 1807, five years before the first British steamboat was launched. At that early date the fleet consisted of small sailing vessels, but in 1821 a regular line of ships to the East Indies was established. Of the old Liverpool shipowning firms which had their flag signal posts on Bidston Hill, only three now remain, viz., Messrs. Bibby, Brocklebank, and Sandbach Tinne.

In 1851 the firm, then under the guidance of the late Mr. James J. Bibby, went into the steam trade, their first boats, the Tiber and Arno, being built on the Clyde by John Reid and Co.

Mr. Bibby, in 1859, commenced entrusting the building of the steamers of the line to Messrs. Harland and Wolff, and from that date every succeeding vessel has been constructed by the same firm. It may be interesting to recall that the late Sir Edward Harland, who was the son of a personal friend of Mr. Bibby, commenced operations at Belfast with the order for the Sicilian, Venetian and Syrian.

Mr. Bibby adopted the system of building his boats on commission, a system which ensures the greatest co-operation between builder and owner, and by which he secured the greatest advantage wherever his interests were concerned.

The three boats last named were followed by the Egyptian in 1861. All of these vessels carried clipper bows with figure heads and bowsprits, but the succeeding ships were built with straight stems, an innovation, the credit of which (and of many other improvements now generally adopted) is due to Mr. Bibby. The Iberian, Illyrian and Istrian, all built in 1867, were the first of the fleet to carry the new type of bow, and they were followed by a long succession of well-known names, leading up to the present steamers on the Colombo and Rangoon and Southern Indian route.

Modern Bibby Liner.

This service, which was established in 1891, quickly became prominent among the fast passenger services, and, as such, was early recognised by the Government and placed on the list of the special lines available for officers, etc., returning at the expiration of their leave.

The pioneer vessel of the new service was the Yorkshire, and her sister ship the Lancashire (though both somewhat smaller than the later boats), still holds the blue ribbon of the route, having steamed from Liverpool to Rangoon in the fastest time yet on record. The Cheshire and Shropshire, which were the next steamers added to the fleet were each about 1,500 tons larger than their immediate predecessors. They were provided with two entirely distinct and separate sets of engines and propellers, a fact which at once arrested attention in the East, and greatly added to the popularity which their other arrangements justified. Intending passengers will be interested to know that with only one propeller in use, they are capable of making as good progress as an ordinary trading steamer.

After an interval of two years (1893) the twin-screw steamer Staffordshire was built, and in her was embodied every improvement which experience and money could provide. She was at once generally acknowledged to be the most comfortable and the best ventilated type of steamer placed on the Eastern route.

In October, 1897, the twin-screw steamer Derbyshire was added to the fleet. She is designed on the same lines as the Staffordshire but being 7 feet longer and 3 feet broader, her staterooms are somewhat larger. An important addition was made to the fleet in 1902, when the twin-screw steamer Warwickshire was built. Her advent on the line was looked forward to with much interest, and she has amply fulfilled all anticipations, and has secured a preference over any other steamer for first-class passengers between Ceylon and Europe. Her large size admits of 200 berths being fitted, and the Main Saloon, Drawing room, Smoke room, Bath room, etc., are all increased in their proportions.

By an ingenious arrangement (which is quite novel) every stateroom has a port opening to the outside of the ship, and all the rooms are equally light and airy, while many of the rooms provided are fitted up for the accommodation of one or two passengers only. The Warwickshire has marked a new era in the equipment of large passenger steamers, and the above mentioned Bibby Patent Stateroom is now being adopted by the principal Mail Lines in the construction of new boats. A twin-screw steamer, to be named the Worcestershire, is now under construction at Belfast. She is designed closely on the lines of the Warwickshire, and is expected to be completed in good time to enable her to take her place in the Autumn sailings of 1904.

The steamers of the Bibby Line sail on alternate Thursdays from Liverpool, calling at Marseilles to embark the overland passengers on the following Thursday. Circular tickets in connection with these sailings are issued for £15, which are available for a passage both ways by any steamer of the fleet, or if passengers prefer it, they will receive, free of additional cost, a first-class Railway ticket, via Paris, for the journey one way overland to or from London.

Travellers to and from Egypt, Palestine, etc., whether journeying round Spain or using the Marseilles route will find these steamers a convenient and luxurious means of conveyance.

The public will be glad to know that passages can be secured for £3 3s. for the fortnightly runs round from London to Liverpool. The steamers usually leave Tilbury on Friday, and arrive in Liverpool on the following Monday morning, thus affording a very pleasant week end trip.

The present fleet consists of the following modern fast Mail Steamships:—

Lancashire4244 Tons.Staffordshire6005 Tons.
Yorkshire4261 ”Derbyshire6636 ”
Cheshire5775 ”Warwickshire7966 ”
Shropshire5785 ”Worcestershire (Building)7966 ”

Chapter VIII.
THE CORK STEAMSHIP COMPANY, LIMITED.

The Cork Steamship Company, as successors to the St. George Steam Packet Co., may justly be considered to be one of the oldest existing steamship companies in the world. The original company (the St. George), was formed in the Autumn of the year 1821, its headquarters being in Liverpool. An announcement concerning it appeared in the Liverpool “Mercury,” of the 12th October, 1821, stating:—

“A company has been formed here (Liverpool) for establishing steam packets.... Two vessels of large dimensions are already contracted for, and are now building by two experienced ship-builders in this town, the machinery for both to be fitted by an engineer of eminence; and the proprietors, we learn, are determined to spare no expense in the equipment of the vessels to contribute to the safety and comfort of the passengers.”

In accordance with this announcement the pioneer steam packet of the Company, the St. Patrick, was launched from the yard of Mr. Thomas Wilson, Liverpool, at 10-30 a.m. on the 21st April following.

This event created quite a sensation in the town, as she was, if not the first steamer ever built in the port, certainly the finest specimen of ship-building craft up to that date constructed there. So great was the interest displayed that every wall and pier from which a view of the launch could be obtained was crowded with spectators. This steamer ran for about two years between various ports in England and Ireland, and having in that time established a reputation for speed and seaworthiness, she was purchased by a London Company to trade between London and Lisbon. She was replaced by a second St. Patrick, a vessel of 300 tons burthen and 120 h.p., built by Clarke and Nickson, Liverpool, and launched from their yard on the 19th August, 1825. In the interim between the dates of the launch of the first and second St. Patrick, the Company had built or purchased quite a number of steamers. They had also established themselves in Cork, and had built the premises situated on Penrose Quay, where to-day is carried on the business of the City of Cork Steam Packet Co., Limited.

The first three steamers employed by the St. George Co. in trading to and from Cork, were the Lee and Severn, both built in Liverpool in 1825 (the former for the Liverpool trade and the latter for the Bristol trade), and the Superb, built by Mr. William Evans, London.

The St. George Co. extended its operations with marvellous rapidity, until its steamers were to be found in almost every port in the United Kingdom, and in the chief ports of Holland, Denmark, and Russia. It owned several famous steamers, one of which, on the authority of Jeffry in “A Century of our Sea Story,” made the first steam voyage between Great Britain and Australia. This was the Sophia Jane, a vessel of 256 tons and 50 h.p., built by William Evans, London, and first employed between London Bridge and Gravesend. When first placed on this station, her owners were involved in an action at law to prove their right to navigate the river. They won their action from the Watermen’s Company, and soon the first Gravesend Steam Ferry was started. The Sophia Jane plied on the Thames until 1828, when she began to make longer voyages, running for some months between Portsmouth and Plymouth, afterwards under the St. George flag, between Liverpool and Douglas (Isle of Man), later between London and Calais, and finally made her great voyage from England to Australia. She arrived at Port Jackson Heads in May, 1831, three months after leaving the Thames, thus making the first steam voyage between Great Britain and Australia, and the longest voyage under steam down almost to the fifties.

Unfortunately the management of the St. George Co. was not all that could be desired, and the late Mr. Ebenezer Pike, of Bessborough, Blackrock, County Cork, convened a meeting of the shareholders which was held at Cork on the 17th February, 1843. Prior to the meeting, Mr. Pike had forwarded to each shareholder a copy of a circular in which he proposed (a) to form a Company with a capital of £50,000 in 1,000 shares of £50 each; and (b) to build a new steamer of 500 to 600 tons burthen and 300 h.p.

The circular was discussed at the meeting, but no definite decision was arrived at. Mr. Pike, however, did not allow the matter to rest. In October following, so far as Cork was concerned, the title “St. George” was dropped, and the title “City of Cork Steamship Co.” (afterwards shortened to “Cork Steamship Co.”) was adopted in its stead. Mr. William Wilson, the founder of the firm of Wilson, Son & Co., was the first general manager at Cork, and Mr. McTear the Liverpool agent. Nor did Mr. Pike abandon the idea of the new steamer, for on the 26th September, 1843, Messrs. Thomas Vernon & Son built to his order the steamship Nimrod.

The following year the Company was virtually re-constructed, and the Cork Steamship Co. was formed with a capital of £170,000, in 1,700 shares of £100 each. The first Directors were, Messrs. Ebenezer Pike, John Gould, James Connell, Joseph Hayes, and William Lane, all merchants belonging to Cork.

At the date of the re-construction of the Company, the St. George Steam Packet Co. owned about 20 steamers. Most of them were disposed of to various buyers, the new management retaining seven, viz., the Lee, Severn, Tiger, Jupiter, Victory, Ocean, and Sirius.

The Lee and Severn have already been referred to. The Tiger was a steamer of 389 tons, built at Hull in 1838. She was 156 feet long, by 26 feet beam, and 18 feet deep. She was rigged as a two-masted schooner and had a tiger figurehead. Originally she was intended for the St. George Hull and Hamburg service; was taken over by the Cork Steamship Co. in 1844, and sold by them in 1851 to London buyers.

The Jupiter was a vessel of 360 tons, built at Greenock in 1835. Transferred to the Cork Steamship Co. in 1844, and sold by them to London buyers in 1847.

The Victory was a Liverpool built steamer of 256 tons, built in 1832. The Cork Steamship Co. did not retain possession of her long, but sold her in 1846 to the Malcomsons of Waterford, who employed her in their Limerick and London service.

Mr. Ebenezer Pike, J.P. (late Chairman Cork Steamship Co.).

The Ocean was a steamer of 300 tons, her principal dimensions being 154 by 22 by 15. She was built on the Mersey in 1836, and in 1838 made a record passage from Liverpool to Cork in 23 hours. She was intended for the general Coasting Service of the St. George Co., and had the honour of acting as tender to her more famous sister-ship the Sirius, on the occasion of the latter’s historic voyage to New York. Six years later when she had become the property of the Cork Steamship Co., she rendered valuable service to the Steampacket Vanguard, belonging to the Dublin and Glasgow Steam Packet Co. During a gale on the 14th December, 1844, the Vanguard, inward bound with a valuable cargo and a number of passengers, was forced on to the rocks about a quarter of a mile inside of Roche’s Point Lighthouse. This occurred about 4 a.m., and soon afterwards the Ocean, inwards from Bristol to Cork, passed the spot. The Vanguard’s signals of distress were noticed, and the Captain of the Ocean (Caldbeck), in spite of the heavy sea that was running, at once launched his boats, and succeeded in rescuing the Vanguard’s passengers. The steamer was afterwards towed off the rocks and taken to Passage for repairs. The Ocean continued in the service of the Cork Steamship Co. until 1853, when she was purchased by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Co. The remaining steamer transferred from the St. George Co., was the famous Sirius. The Sirius was built in 1837 by Menzies & Co., Perth, and engined by J. Wingate & Co., Glasgow; and cost £27,000. Her length was 208 feet, her breadth 25 feet, and her depth 18 feet. She had two masts and one funnel, and a dog figure-head, holding between the fore-paws a star, representing the dog-star Sirius, after which the vessel was named. On the occasion of her memorable voyage to New York, she sailed from London on the 28th March, 1838, under the command of Lieut. Richard Roberts, R.N., and called at Cork Harbour to coal and to embark the mails and passengers. The Ocean arrived from Liverpool on the 3rd April with mails and passengers to be transferred to the Sirius. Next morning at 10 o’clock the Sirius got under way, being accompanied as far as the entrance to the harbour by the Ocean. There, a brief stoppage was made while the Ocean went alongside the Sirius to bring off a number of ladies and gentlemen who had been permitted to accompany their friends thus far, the steamers exchanged salutes, and then the Sirius continued her course, being watched with keen interest until she disappeared beneath the horizon. She arrived at New York at 10 p.m. on the 22nd April, and thus brought to a successful termination the first voyage ever made by a passenger steamer from Europe to America. She made two Trans-Atlantic voyages, and afterwards returned to the Home and Continental Services. When she became the property of the Cork Steamship Co. she was employed in the Glasgow, Dublin and Cork Service, in which she continued until 1847. On the evening of the 15th June of that year, she sailed from Dublin to Cork with a general cargo, and forty passengers. All went well until 4 a.m. on the 16th, when she encountered a dense fog, and went on the rocks in Ballycotton Bay. Twelve passengers and two seamen were unfortunately drowned by the capsizing of a boat which had been launched, but the rest of the passengers and crew were saved by means of a rope which was passed from the ship to the shore. The vessel itself went to pieces on the 22nd June.

Sirius P. S. Cork Steamship Co.

Nearly all the steamers retained by the new management were sold to various owners within a few years from the reconstruction of the Company, and new and more powerful vessels substituted for them. The first of these, the Nimrod, was the first iron steamship owned in Cork. She was built by Thomas Vernon & Son, Liverpool, to Mr. Pike’s order in 1843, and was 177 feet long, 25 feet beam, and 16 feet deep. Her tonnage was 583 tons, and she had two masts, a clipper bow, and a huntsman (Nimrod) figurehead.

The Ajax, a vessel of about 600 tons, was added in 1845, and the Preussischer Adler, of 563 tons, also built in 1845, was purchased by the Company. The latter steamer was designed as an armed yacht for the late King of Prussia. She was built at Liverpool, and cost £32,000. She was a broad-beamed paddle-boat, having a beam of 28 feet, her length being 185 feet, and her depth 17 feet. She was rigged as a two masted schooner, with a cutwater, an eagle figurehead. The Company, after purchase, added to her length, and for this purpose placed her in the Rushbrook Dry Dock, Cork, belonging to the Channel Dry Docks and Engineering Co.; the Preussischer Adler being the first steamer to enter this dock. As originally designed her paddle-boxes were so constructed as to be capable of being turned down over her sides, in order that two large swivel guns which she carried on deck, might have a free range all round.

She remained in the service of the Company until 1884, when she was broken up in London.

In 1846 Messrs. R. and J. Lecky, of Cork, built a small screw steamer to the order of the Cork Steamship Co. She was named the Blarney, and was only 118 feet long, 19 feet broad, and 11 feet deep. Notwithstanding her diminutive size, she ran for a number of years between Liverpool and Havre, and was eventually sold to a Liverpool firm in 1854. It is noteworthy that the Blarney was the first cross-channel steamer built in Cork by R. & J. Lecky, and was the first screw steamer built for the Cork Steamship Co.

The year 1850 saw the Cork Steamship Co. involved in the most serious struggle which probably ever occurred in the coasting steamship trade. It began by the City of Dublin Co., at the solicitation of the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Co., running opposition steamers to Waterford. The City of Dublin Co., in addition to their Liverpool and Dublin Service, had maintained for many years a regular service of steamers between Liverpool and Belfast. Mr. Joseph Malcomson (Waterford Steamship Co.) was a Director of the Cork Steamship Co., and his firm had a large financial interest in that Company. It was, therefore, to be expected that these two Companies would form staunch allies in any struggle, the more so, when the City of Dublin Co., in conjunction with the British and Irish Steampacket Co., extended the opposition to Cork. The Cork and Waterford Steamship Companies carried the war into their opponents’ territory. They put a steamer on the station between London and the South and East of Ireland once a week, between Liverpool and Belfast twice a week, and between Liverpool and Dublin, daily. The City of Dublin Co. offered to make contracts with merchants in Cork and Waterford, undertaking to carry their traffic freight free for three months, in response to which the Waterford Co. threatened to place two steamers on the Holyhead and Dublin station in conjunction with the Chester and Holyhead Railway Co.

The struggle between the various companies was fiercely maintained for over twelve months, until in April, 1851, upon the suggestion of Mr. Malcomson, an interview took place between a Director of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Co. and himself (as representing the Cork and Waterford Companies), at which meeting the companies concerned arrived at an amicable basis of settlement.

In this settlement the City of Dublin Co. agreed to transfer their Liverpool and Belfast service to the Cork Steamship Co. This arrangement held good until 1854. On the 14th January of the year named a deputation from the Cork and Belfast Companies met in Dublin. There were present, Mr. Pike (Managing Director) and Mr. Glover (Secretary), of the Cork Steamship Co.; Mr. W. R. S. Lepper (Chairman) and Mr. Valentine, of the Belfast Co. The meeting was conducted in a most friendly manner, and it was arranged that the Telegraph (Belfast Co.’s steamer) should be at once withdrawn from the Liverpool and Cork service, and the Minerva (Cork Co.’s steamer) from the Liverpool and Belfast service. The year 1854 witnessed a great stream of emigrants from Cork. According to a paragraph in the “Cork Constitution” of that date:—

“On Saturday, 1st April, the Minerva left with 467 adult emigrants, 79 children, and 8 infants, besides other passengers. The vessel was so crowded she had to leave 200 passengers behind. The Nimrod leaves every Wednesday, and is freighted with emigrants to a similar extent. This continual stream of emigrants has been going on for a considerable time.”

While the war cloud was gathering over Europe, which in bursting produced the Crimean War, the Cork Steamship Co. had on the stocks a steamer, afterwards named the Cormorant. In the equipment of this steamer a novel feature had been introduced, viz., iron masts. These masts, of which she carried three, were exceptionally tall and graceful, and so well buckled that not a joint was visible. The whole appearance of the vessel was so smart that she excited general admiration, and was selected by the Government as a transport. While she was lying at Portsmouth, after the embarkation of the 13th Lancers for the seat of war, Her (late) Majesty Queen Victoria, accompanied by the Prince Consort, came on board to inspect her before sailing. After inspecting the troopers’ quarters, and admiring some of their horses, Her Majesty discovered that the ship’s masts were not wood but iron. She was so impressed with their graceful appearance that she gave instructions for full particulars of them to be taken by the Dockyard officials.

Two other steamers of the Company—the Dodo (nicknamed the rolling Dodo) and the Albatross—were also engaged by the Government as transports. At the Crimea, as well as at home, the Cormorant’s masts excited great interest. One day a Turkish Admiral came on board, and a quartermaster was told off to show the distinguished visitor round the ship. The Admiral came to the mainmast, examined it, tapped it, and turning to his attendant, said:—

“I-ron?”

“Yes, your Excellency.”

“Sō-lid?”

“No, you blithering fool; it’s hollow,” was the reply, except that the adjective used was more forcible than the one we have given.

Amongst the vessels which were at the Crimea at this time was an American schooner, the captain of which was very proud of his craft, and was continually boasting of her beauty and of the lofty masts she carried. He “challenged creation to find her ditto.” One day when he was boasting in his usual strain, Captain Byrne, who was present, said quietly, “What might the height of your masts be, captain?” “Every inch of 90 feet, I guess,” replied the American. “Well,” said Captain Byrne, “I can show you a ship with taller masts than that.” “Where?” “In this harbour, on my ship.”

To settle the dispute the two captains proceeded to the Cormorant. Now it must be confessed that the Cormorant’s masts had not been scraped for some time, and were so streaked with paint and grease that they might easily be mistaken for pine. The American captain came to the foot of the mainmast and looked up. “Great Cæsar! What height do you call that?”

“120 feet,” replied Captain Byrne.

“Is it all one piece?” asked the other.

“There’s not a splice in it from heel to truck,” was the reply.

“I calculate that timber was raised in Oregon,” said the American.

“No, it was not.”

“Well, do tell, where did it grow?”

“That, sir,” quoth Captain Byrne, “was raised in Cork.”

A collision occurred on the 10th July, 1866, resulting in the total loss of H.M.S. Amazon and the Cork steamship Osprey, with a number of passengers, chiefly ladies. The Osprey was outward bound from Liverpool to Antwerp, with a general cargo. She was under the command of the late Captain Bertridge, and carried a crew of 14 hands. When off Portland, at 1 o’clock in the morning, the look-out reported a steamer approaching, which proved to be H.M.S. Amazon. By a fatal error of judgment (for which he was dismissed the service) on the part of the officer in command, the Amazon crashed into the Osprey. While the vessels were locked together the crew of the Cork steamer scrambled over the bows of the man-of-war, leaving to Captain Bertridge the task of saving his family (who were on board) and passengers. These he placed in one of the boats belonging to the Osprey, cut the lashings, and had barely done so when his steamer sank, dragging the boat into the whirlpool as it sank, and drowning all in it, except the captain and one passenger. The captain’s wife had previously jumped into the sea from the boat, and was rescued and taken on board the Amazon. The latter vessel was so injured by the collision that she also sank about four hours later, but all on board took to the boats and were landed at Torquay.

About this period the question of the Company’s house-flag began to be agitated. The Cormorant, under Captain Croft, was lying at Penrose Quay, with her house-flag floating from the masthead. A section of the Channel Fleet happened to be in port at the time, and Captain Croft was surprised to receive a message from the Admiral commanding, asking why the Cormorant was flying his (the Admiral’s) flag. Captain Croft replied that the flag he carried had been his Company’s house-flag for the last twenty years, and of his Company’s predecessor for over twenty years before that. To this the Admiral very courteously replied that he personally would not interfere with the use of the flag, but that as the Government had adopted it as an Admiral’s flag, it was possible that some difficulties might arise later.

Rissa S.S. Cork Steamship Company.

The question of the flag was next raised at Bussorah, in the Persian Gulf, on the 7th November, 1882. The Dotterel had finished loading, and was getting ready for sea, when a message came from H.M.S. Dryad, which was in the roadstead, asking why the Dotterel dared to carry the Admiral’s flag, and stating it must be pulled down at once.

“Tell your commander,” said Captain Dobson, “that that flag is my Company’s house-flag, and that I will not lower it without instructions from my owners.”

The boat went back with this message, and Captain Dobson immediately sent a man aloft to grease the backstays and the masthead, having first nailed the flag to it.

In a short time the boat returned with a petty officer, whose instructions were, if the master of the Dotterel did not lower the flag, he was to send one of his men aloft to do so. “All right,” said Captain Dobson. “I shan’t pull my flag down; you can do what you please.” The officer turned to his men and gave his orders. One tar after another tried to shin up the mast without success, and after several attempts the officer had to return and report the failure of his mission, and the Dotterel proceeded to sea.[24]

The commander of the man-of-war having reported to the Admiralty, a correspondence ensued between that Department of the Government and the Cork Steamship Co., resulting in the Company placing a blue star in the centre of the St. George’s Cross on a white ensign, which now constitutes the distinguishing house-flag of that Company.

In 1871 the business of the Cork Steamship Co. had increased to such an extent, it was considered desirable to separate the coasting from the foreign services, and to form two distinct companies. This was accordingly done, the former being registered under the title of the City of Cork Steam Packet Co., Ltd., and the latter under the style of the Cork Steamship Co., Ltd. Mr. Ebenezer Pike died in the year 1883, and was succeeded by his son, Mr. Joseph Pike, of Dunsland, co. Cork, as Chairman and Managing Director of the Company.

When the Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894, one of the first foreign trading steamers to pass through the canal was the Ibis, belonging to the Cork Steamship Co. The Cork Steamship Co.’s steamer Lestris was the first steamer to enter Flushing Docks on the 8th September, 1873, being locked in with the King of Holland’s yacht.

Mr. Joseph Pike, J.P., D.L., Chairman Cork Steamship Co.

The later years of the Company have been unproductive of historical incidents, perhaps not altogether to the regret of the shareholders. The older steamers have been disposed of from time to time, and replaced by modern steamers of larger tonnage and greater power. Instead of steamers of 500 to 600 tons, the fleet at the present time (1903) consists of 16 powerful vessels, varying from 1,000 to 2,400 tons.

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Another account which bears the stamp of authority states that Captain Dobson did not carry off his flag in the manner stated. He lowered it under protest, and it was carried on board the man-of-war, but afterwards returned to the Company, and is now retained at the Head Office, Cork.

Chapter IX.
THE CUNARD STEAMSHIP COMPANY,
LIMITED.

It seems incredible that less than three-quarters of a century ago steamers were unknown on the Atlantic. The mail-boats of that date were wretched old Government 10-gun “coffin brigs,” slow and uncertain in their passages. But there were men, even in those days, who dreamed of a time to come when steamers should cross the ocean with the regularity, though not with the speed, of railway trains. Amongst these enthusiasts was Mr. Samuel Cunard, a shipowner of Halifax, Nova Scotia. For years he had striven to realise his idea, but not having sufficient capital of his own, and not being able to induce his friends to invest in his enterprise, he had to wait his opportunity. At last the long-waited-for opportunity came, and he seized it. The British Admiralty issued a circular stating that the mails would be transferred to a steam packet service, if a satisfactory tender were sent in. When this circular came into the hands of Mr. Cunard he again appealed to the merchants of Halifax and others for assistance; and being unsuccessful in his application he came to Britain and fortunately became acquainted with Mr. R. Napier. Mr. Napier introduced him to Mr. George Burns who, in his turn, introduced him to Mr. David MacIver, of Liverpool. In the course of a few days, chiefly through the influence of Mr. Burns, the requisite capital, £270,000, was obtained, and soon afterwards a contract for seven years between the Government and Samuel Cunard, George Burns and David MacIver was signed, and the Cunard Steamship Co. was launched. Before their arrangements were finally adjusted, the Admiralty re-modelled the agreement, requiring that the service should be performed by four suitable steamers (instead of three, as originally stated), and that fixed dates of sailing should be adhered to, but in consideration of the increased services the subsidy was raised from £60,000 to £81,000.

R.M.S. Campania (Cunard Steamship Company) at Liverpool Landing Stage.

The official title of the Company was “The British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.,” but this unwieldy title soon gave place to one of world-wide reputation, “The Cunard Line.”

The first steamer despatched by the co-partnery was one of Messrs. Burns’ Liverpool and Glasgow steamers, the Unicorn. She sailed from Liverpool for Halifax and Boston, under the command of Captain Douglas, on Saturday morning, 16th May, 1840. She carried the mails and a limited number of saloon passengers, the passage rates being—to Halifax £30, to Boston £33 each. The Britannia, the pioneer steamer of the British and North American Steam Packet Co., was despatched on the 4th July, 1840, being the first of four wooden paddle-wheel steamships, the others being the Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia. These vessels were uniform in size and power, being 207 feet long, 34 feet 4 inches broad, and 22 feet 6 inches deep. Their gross tonnage was 1,154 tons, and their engines of 740 I.H.P. drove them at an average speed of 8½ knots per hour. The reception given to the Britannia on the termination of her maiden voyage by the citizens of Boston was most enthusiastic. Nor was the goodwill of the merchants confined to banquets and complimentary speeches for, when the Britannia was ice-bound in Boston Harbour, in February, 1844, they liberated her by cutting a canal through the ice, seven miles long and 100 feet wide.

Europa and America. Cunard Steamship Co.

In 1843 the Company added to their fleet the Hibernia, and in 1845 the Cambria, each of 1,040 I.H.P. and of 1,422 tons gross, with an average speed of 9¼ knots. On the expiration of the Postal Contract the Government stipulated that the existing mail service should be doubled, that the steamers of the Company should be capable of carrying guns of the largest calibre, and that a steamer should leave Liverpool every Saturday (calling at Holyhead if required) for New York and Boston alternately; the Boston steamer to call at Halifax, and the New York steamer to do so also, if required by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. In consideration of these augmented services the annual subsidy was increased to £173,340, at which figure it remained for twenty years (1847 to 1867). To meet the new requirements, the America, Niagara, Canada and Europa, of 1,825 tons, and 2,000 I.H.P., with an average speed of ten and a quarter knots, were built and added to the fleet. A few years later the Collins Line, heavily subsidised, was started with the avowed object of “sweeping the Cunarders off the Atlantic.” This opposition lasted until 1858, when, having lost two ships, and being refused any further subsidy by the United States Government, the Collins Company collapsed, and the remaining ships were withdrawn. During the continuance of this opposition the Cunard Company added steadily to their fleet larger and more powerful steamers. The Asia and Africa were built in 1850, and were each 266 feet by 40 feet by 27·2 feet, of 2,226 tons gross, with engines of 2,400 I.H.P., and of an average speed of 12·5 knots. These were followed in 1852 by the Arabia, the last of the wooden paddle steamers. She was 285 feet long, 40 feet 8 inches broad, and 29 feet deep. Her engines indicated 3,250 H.P., and her average speed was 13 knots per hour. Three years later, 1855, the first iron mail steamship was built for the Cunard Company. She was named the Persia, and was nearly one hundred feet longer than the largest of her predecessors. Her principal dimensions were—Length 376 feet, breadth 45 feet 3 inches, depth 31 feet 6 inches. Her gross tonnage was 4,000 tons, and her engines indicated 4,000 H.P., giving a speed of 13·8 knots per hour. In 1853 the Company established (primarily as auxiliaries to their Atlantic service) branch lines between Liverpool and Havre, and Liverpool and the principal ports in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Levant, Bosphorus, and Black Sea. For these branch lines the screw steamers Sydney, Australian, Andes and Alps were built in 1852, followed by the Jura in 1854 and the Etna in 1855. War having been declared against Russia the four last-named steamers, in addition to the Cambria, Niagara, Europa and Arabia, were engaged by the Government as troopships. The Cunard Company had in 1854 purchased the steamer Emeu, and she was immediately chartered to the Government. The Emeu was the first troopship to arrive out at the commencement of the Crimean War, and in the seventeen months following she conveyed upwards of 17,000 troops to the Crimea. A few years later (1862) the famous Scotia (the last of the paddle-wheel steamers) was built. In 1878 she was sold to the Telegraph Construction Company, who converted her into a screw steamer. The same year (1862) the Cunard Company ordered their first screw steamer for the Atlantic trade. This was the China S.S., now converted into a four-masted barque and named the Theodor. She was followed in 1864 by the Cuba, in 1865 by the Java, and in 1867 by the Russia, of 2,960 tons gross and 3,100 I.H.P. After sailing for many years under the Cunard Flag, the Russia was sold to the “American Line.” Her new owners lengthened her, gave her a fourth mast, and altered her name to the Waesland. She finally sank off Holyhead, after colliding with the S.S. Harmonides, on the 5th March, 1902.

Scotia. Cunard Steamship Co.

The Company’s Postal Contract having expired on the 31st December, 1867, a new contract was entered into with the Postmaster-General for one year, whereby the Cunard Company undertook to despatch a steamer from Liverpool to New York, calling at Queenstown, returning from New York every Wednesday, also calling at Queenstown. The payment for this service was £80,000, which sum was further reduced the following year to £70,000 per annum for several years. Under the last contract, which was for the period named, the Company guaranteed to sail a steamer from Liverpool (calling at Queenstown) to Boston every Tuesday, in addition to the mail service from Liverpool to New York every Saturday. The last-mentioned contract expired on the 31st December, 1876, on which date a new system of postal remuneration came into operation based on the amount of correspondence carried per voyage, under which system the Cunard Company has carried the mails to the present time. It will thus be seen that the continuity of their mail service has continued unbroken for upwards of sixty years. The invention of compound engines was the latest evolution of marine engineering engaging attention in 1869-70. The Directors of the Cunard Company quickly realised that the saving effected by the use of compound engines was so considerable, without reduction of speed, that their adoption was an imperative necessity. This decision was arrived at too late to furnish with the new style of engines the Abyssinia and Algeria, each of about 3,300 tons and 2,480 I.H.P., just completed by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson, and placed on the New York station; but the Batavia, then on the stocks to the order of another company, was purchased and supplied with machinery on the new principle; and an order was given to the same builders (Messrs. Denny, Dumbarton) for a similar vessel of rather larger tonnage to be named the Parthia. A further extension of the Company’s business took place in 1872, by the establishment of a direct line of steamers between the Clyde and the West Indies. The Trinidad and the Demerara, two sister ships of about 2,000 tons each, were built that year, and placed on the station, but after about twelve months’ trading they were withdrawn, and sent to supplement the Company’s service in the Mediterranean. During the succeeding six years the fleet was increased by the addition of seven large steamers, all fitted with compound engines, the last and largest of which was the Gallia, of 4,809 tons and 5,300 I.H.P.

Russia. Cunard Steamship Co.

In 1878 it was considered expedient to consolidate the interests of the partners by registering the Company under the Limited Liability Acts, and a Joint Stock Company was formed with a capital of £2,000,000, of which £1,200,000 was issued and taken up by the families of Cunard, Burns and MacIver. No shares were offered to the public until 1880, when a prospectus was issued intimating that “it was now proposed to issue the balance of the capital.” The available shares were rapidly subscribed for, the representatives of the three founders retaining a large financial interest in the Company. About this period steel was engaging the attention of shipbuilders as a substitute for iron. The Cunard Directors were so convinced of the superiority of the former, especially where speed was a desideratum, that they ordered a steel steamship from Messrs. J. & G. Thomson, to be larger and more powerful than any steamer previously built, the Great Eastern alone excepted. This monster vessel, which was named the Servia, was completed in 1881. Her dimensions were—Length 515 feet, breadth 521/10 feet, depth 37 feet. Her gross tonnage was 7,392. Her engines were compound—with seven steel boilers—and developed 10,000 I.H.P., producing a speed of 17 knots per hour. She was fitted in the most substantial and beautiful manner for the accommodation of 480 cabin and 750 steerage passengers, and embodied all the most modern appliances conducive to comfort and safety. She was the first of the Cunard Fleet to be equipped with incandescent electric lamps. The same year, the Catalonia, 4,841 tons and 3,200 I.H.P., was built for the Boston service, and two more for the same service in the following year. These were the Pavonia, of 5,587 tons and 4,000 I.H.P., built by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson; and the Cephalonia, 5,517 tons and 4,000 I.H.P., by Messrs. Laird Brothers, Birkenhead.

A second steel steamship was built in 1883 for the New York Mail Service. This was the Aurania, built by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson, and her dimensions are 470 feet by 572/10 feet by 372/10 feet. Her tonnage is 7,269, and she is fitted with compound engines of 9,500 I.H.P., and attaining a speed of 17½ knots per hour. She was taken up by the Government as a transport in October, 1899, and so valuable did she prove for this service that she was retained until the early part of 1903. In 1884 the Directors purchased the celebrated iron steamship Oregon, built by Messrs. John Elder & Co. She was 501 feet by 542/10 feet by 38 feet, and of 7,375 tons and 13,500 I.H.P.; speed 18 knots per hour. On her first and second voyage she did not distinguish herself, but on her third voyage she made the passage from Queenstown to New York in 6 days 10 hours 9 minutes, thereby excelling all previous records, and earning for herself the title of “The Greyhound of the Atlantic.” Towards the close of 1884 the Umbria—the first of two steel steamships ordered from Messrs. Elder—was delivered, and she was followed early in 1885 by her sister ship the Etruria. The following description of the Etruria applies also to the Umbria: Length 5016/10 feet by 572/10 feet by 382/10 feet; gross tonnage 7,718 tons. The promenade deck, which extends over the full breadth of the ship for nearly 300 feet amidships, is reserved for the sole use of the first-class passengers. The vessel easily accommodates 550 first-class passengers and 800 third-class. The state rooms are replete with all the fittings usual in first-class vessels of the most modern type, and a number of them are arranged en suite for family use. The hull is divided into ten watertight compartments, and most of the bulkheads are carried to the upper deck, while they are fitted with waterproof and fireproof doors, which afford access to all parts of the ship. The engines indicate 14,500 H.P., and are compound, having three inverted cylinders—one high-pressure 71 in. in diameter and two low-pressure, each 105 in. in diameter. The average speed of both steamers may be set down at 18½ knots per hour. The fastest passage of the Etruria was when she established a new record by making the passage from Queenstown to New York in 5 days 20 hours 55 minutes, the Umbria’s best record being 5 days 22 hours 7 minutes. The next important addition to the fleet was the Campania, launched from the yard of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Co., Govan, on the 8th September, 1892. Five months later—February, 1893—there was launched from the same yard her sister ship the Lucania. From the official description of the Campania, it appears that her length over all is 620 feet, extreme breadth 65 feet 3 inches, depth from upper deck 43 feet, gross tonnage 12,950 tons. The bulkheads are sixteen in number, and they will enable the vessel to float with any two, or in some cases three, of the compartments open to the sea. Although fitted with twin screws, there is an aperture in the stern frame similar to that in a single screw steamer. This is provided that the propellers may work freely, though they are fitted close to the centre line of the ship, in order to prevent damage to or from the quay walls. In the accommodation for passengers all the latest improvements are to be found, and everything calculated to render ocean travelling more comfortable and enjoyable is introduced. The grand saloon, drawing room, library and smoking rooms are noble in their proportions, and suggest the stately chambers of a palace rather than accommodation within the steel walls of a ship. It is worthy of special notice that comfort has been studied in every detail, and perhaps nothing exemplifies this more than the fact that in all the principal rooms there are coal fire-grates, the first that have ever been used on board ship. There are four sets of generating plant, capable of supplying throughout the ship 1,350 16-candle power incandescent electric light, and in addition a powerful searchlight, for facilitating the navigation into port, &c. Wire to the length of 40 miles runs through the ship. The grand saloon is a magnificent hall in the modified Italian style, 100 feet long by 63 feet broad, with seats at table for 430 passengers. In the centre, a great crystal dome rises through the two decks above to a height of 33 feet.

R.M.S. Etruria. Cunard Steamship Company.

Three classes of passengers are carried by the Campania, viz., first, second and third class; and roughly speaking there is accommodation for about 1,400 passengers and 400 crew. While the hulls of both vessels are almost unrivalled in size and in the accommodation they afford, the machinery by which they are propelled is almost unique in magnitude and skill in construction. The two sets of triple-expansion engines in each ship develop the enormous amount of 30,000 I.H.P. The funnels of the Campania and Lucania from their lowest section are 120 feet high, or about the height of the Eddystone Lighthouse, and their diameter 20 feet.

The Campania has maintained an average speed for twelve months, on her eastward runs, of 21·88 knots per hour, while the Lucania for the same period shows an average speed of 22·01 knots. The Mediterranean service has within the last few years been greatly improved by the addition of four new steel steamships, each of about 3,000 tons burthen. These are the Pavia (1897), Tyria (1897), Cypria (1898) and Veria (1899). The Boston service also comprises the following modern steel twin-screw steamships:—Ivernia and Saxonia, built in 1900, the Ultonia in 1898, and the Sylvania in 1895. The Ivernia and Saxonia are practically alike, and call for some special notice. They are the largest ships carrying passengers and cargo to Boston. The principal dimensions of the ships are—Length 600 feet, beam 64 feet 3 inches and depth 41 feet 6 inches. The gross tonnage is 14,027 tons, measurement capacity 20,000 tons, while the displacement is no less than 25,000 tons. In their ordinary work across the Atlantic they carry 200 first, 220 second, and about 1,900 third-class passengers. If engaged in trooping, each ship could carry 200 officers and 3,500 men, together with 10,000 tons of stores. The features of the ships, next to their huge size, are the spaciousness and comfort of their passenger accommodation and their steadiness, which is most remarkable, and which makes sea sickness almost impossible. Aerial telegraphy is in regular operation on board these two vessels. The Cunard was the first steamship company to systematically adopt this latest development of electrical science. It was in the Lucania that Mr. Marconi’s system was first set up, and so pleased were the Directors with the results that they at once decided to adopt the invention in their other steamers, the Campania, Lucania, Etruria, Umbria, Carpathia, Aurania, Ivernia and Saxonia all being now thus equipped.

R.M.S. Lucania. Cunard Steamship Co.

In October, 1903, the Lucania was the medium selected by the inventor for further experiments in wireless telegraphy, and on the voyage from New York to Liverpool completed on October 10th, Signor Marconi successfully accomplished a wonderful feat, and a newspaper with real news fresh from the Marconi stations at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Poldhu, Cornwall, was published every day. Messages were transmitted over a distance of 2,000 miles as accurately as over the same number of feet or yards, so that passengers on board the Lucania had their printed newspaper, the “Cunard Bulletin,” every day of the voyage, containing the most interesting events on both continents. Just before arrival in Liverpool a larger edition of the “Cunard Bulletin,” a weekly issue, was printed giving an epitome of the news recorded in the six daily publications during the voyage, and marking a fresh era in oceanic journalism.

The Carpathia, the latest addition to the Cunard fleet, represents a new departure in Atlantic trade, being designed exclusively for second and third-class passengers, all of whom are accommodated in rooms containing two and four berths. The dimensions of the Carpathia are—Length 560 feet, breadth 64 feet 3 inches, depth 40 feet 6 inches, and the gross tonnage is 13,555 tons. She started on her maiden voyage May 5th, 1903, and being built on similar lines to the Ivernia and Saxonia shares their reputation for remarkable steadiness at sea even in the stormiest weather.

A recent item of interest in connection with this famous company is the agreement made in August, 1903, with the British Government, by which the Cunard Company are to build two new steamers of an average speed of not less than 24½ knots, which, along with all other Cunard ships, are to be at the disposal of the Admiralty for hire or purchase whenever they may be required. To help them in this undertaking, such fast ships being unprofitable for commercial purposes, the Government lend the Company £2,600,000 to build the ships, and grant them a subsidy of £150,000 a year.

In October, 1903, the Cunard Company started a new Winter Passenger Service from New York to the Mediterranean ports, calling at Gibraltar, Algiers, Naples, Palermo, Venice, Trieste and Fiume. The Aurania and Carpathia, carrying only two classes of passengers, were chosen for this new service, which opens up a round of most interesting travel to the great travelling public of moderate means. Passengers by these steamers may land at any of the ports named and visit at leisure places of interest in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Sicily, Austria or Hungary, continuing their journey overland to England to return to New York by Cunard steamer from Liverpool; or, if they prefer to do so, they may remain in the ship all the time and return in her to New York; or, as a third course, they may make a stay in any of the countries named and rejoin a subsequent Cunard Mediterranean ship at any of her calling ports.

Chapter X.
HOUSTON LINE.

This well-known line of steamers was established about a quarter of a century ago by the present senior partner of the firm, Mr. R. P. Houston, Member of Parliament for the Toxteth Division of Liverpool. Like many other undertakings which have grown to gigantic dimensions from small beginnings, this firm started in a modest manner with one small steamer. This was the steamer Athlete, followed in the year 1881 by a larger steamer, the Hercules, built by the Whitehaven Ship Building Co., and engined by Messrs. J. Jones & Sons, of Liverpool. She was a vessel of 742 tons net register, and 1,155 tons gross register, her principal dimensions being, length 212 feet, beam 34 feet and depth 16 feet 6 inches. Her engines, which were of 150 nominal horse-power, were compound. These two vessels were not engaged in any regular trade, but ran wherever profitable freights could be obtained, and chiefly to Java and Eastern ports. Becoming too small for Messrs. Houston’s requirements, they were sold. All the succeeding vessels of the fleet, of which there have been a great many, have been named after Greek mythological deities or Roman celebrities, each name beginning with the letter “H.”

Although already very busily engaged with large contracts for the conveyance of material to the Panama Canal Co., and the West African Co., Mr. Houston, believing there was ample room for a new line of steamers to the River Plate from Liverpool, decided to enter upon that trade in the year 1884. New steamers were designed and built specially for this trade, and so energetically and successfully was the trade worked that, although severe opposition was encountered at first from the existing lines, in a short time not only were Messrs. Houston’s steamers fully occupied, but many steamers had to be chartered to meet the rapidly increasing traffic, since which time the Houston Line has assumed very large proportions.

Hydaspes s.s. Houston Line.

The first steamer engaged in this trade was the Hermes, built on the Clyde in 1882, and engined by Messrs. J. Jones and Son, Liverpool. She was a much larger vessel than the Hercules, her gross register being 2,175 tons, and her principal dimensions 290 feet in length by 40 feet beam and 22 feet depth.

After a short interval more steamers, each of about 2,000 tons gross, were added to the fleet in 1884. These were the Hellenes, built by Richardson, Duck & Co., and engined by G. Clark, of Sunderland—length 270 feet, beam 40 feet, and depth 18 feet 7 inches; and the Hesperides, built by R. & J. Evans & Co., and engined by George Forrester & Co., Liverpool—length 286 feet, beam 38 feet, and depth 24 feet. The following year (1885) a larger boat than any yet built for the firm was added to the fleet. This was the Heliades, built by Richardson, Duck & Co., Stockton. She was 320 feet long, and of proportionate beam and depth. Her gross register was about 3,000 tons, and she was fitted with triple-expansion engines by T. Richardson & Co., of West Hartlepool, with which class of engines all the succeeding steamers have been fitted. A sister ship, but having more powerful engines, the Heraclides was launched for the firm in July, 1886. She was followed in 1889 by the Hippomenes, built at Belfast by Workman, Clark & Co., and the Hydarnes and the Hellopes, built at Port Glasgow by J. Reid & Co. These steamers, like their immediate predecessors, were each of about 3,000 tons gross register, and were all practically of the same dimensions. The whole of these four steamers are fitted with refrigerators for the carriage of frozen meat from the River Plate.

Mr. Alfred S. Collard, a gentleman with a large and varied experience in the River Plate trade, and one thoroughly conversant with the working and requirements of an important steamship line, joined Mr. Houston as partner in 1893.

During the closing years of the last and beginning of the present century the quantity of railway rolling stock and plant for shipment to the River Plate was so great that it was not an uncommon event for the Brunswick Station of the Cheshire Lines Railway to be almost entirely blocked with wagons of railway material consigned for shipment by the Houston Line. So large were some of these packages, they could only be brought through from the manufacturers on Sunday, it being impossible to convey them on the railway while the ordinary traffic was being carried on. In 1898 Messrs. Russell & Co., of Port Glasgow, built two sister ships of over 3,500 tons gross register for Messrs. Houston. These were the Herminius and the Horatius.

The year 1899 was an important one in the firm’s history. In that year the trade between New York and the River Plate was entered, and since that time a regular service has been maintained, the pioneer steamer being the Hermes (the second of that name). She was a steel built steamer of 3,400 tons gross, driven by triple expansion engines of about 2,500 horse-power effective. She was launched at Sunderland in January, 1899, and is of the following dimensions:—Length 350 feet 2 inches, beam 47 feet, depth 17 feet. She was the first of a fleet of seven similar vessels which were launched to the order of the firm during the course of that year, the others being the Honorius, Hortensius, Hyades, Hydaspes, Hylas, and the Hyanthes.

The following year, the last of the 19th century, saw one more steamer, the Hostilius, added to the Line.

Frequent as were the additions to the Houston Fleet, they were not sufficient to keep pace with the expanding trade, which increased so rapidly that many outside steamers had to be chartered. When ex-President Kruger sent his fateful ultimatum to the British Government, which resulted in the South African War, Messrs. Houston & Co. were amongst the first to offer their steamers to the Admiralty for the conveyance of troops, horses, mules, fodder, &c. It was of the greatest importance that ships should be fitted up for the transit of troops and animals for transport purposes as quickly as possible, and this was carried out by the Houston Line with eminent satisfaction to H.M. Government. The principals and the staff worked night and day, and spared no efforts in despatching quickly the men, horses and stores so urgently required at the seat of war. Large numbers of horses, mules and stores were carried by the Houston steamers from the United Kingdom, the Continent and the United States to the various South African ports with a gratifying immunity from loss.

It may be stated here that the senior partner of the firm is an expert engineer, and that all the steamers built for his firm, and which have been so remarkably successful, have been built from specifications and designs drawn up by him.

As has been stated, many of the steamers are fitted with refrigerating machinery for the conveyance of frozen meat, and are regularly employed in this trade. These steamers are favourably known for the excellent condition in which they deliver their cargoes, and in order that the live stock should be landed in the very best possible condition, the steamers were fitted up with permanent cattle fittings, and made in every way suitable for successfully carrying live stock.

The Houston Line River Plate steamers take cargo from Glasgow, Liverpool and New York for Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, Rosario, &c., without transhipment, which is a very important matter in the opinion of shippers.

It is a matter of common knowledge that a very serious fight is being waged (1903) in the South African shipping trade, owing to the entrance therein of the Houston Line. In July, 1902, sailings from Glasgow, Middlesbrough, Bristol, Liverpool and London (as well as from New York) to Cape Town, Algoa Bay, East London, Durban and Delagoa Bay were announced by the Messrs. Houston. The Steamship Lines then engaged in the trade had formed a Conference or “ring.” The members of this “ring” are the Union-Castle Line, the Clan Line, the Bucknall Line, the Harrison-Ellerman Line, J. T. Rennie & Co., and Bullard, King & Co., forming the strongest shipping ring ever known. It is this shipping “ring” that the Houston Line is opposing.

Great public interest in the struggle has been excited by the many angry and strongly worded letters from shippers which have been published from time to time in the current Press regarding the modus operandi of the “ring.” Tactics of such a character have been adopted by the “ring” as will, we understand, form a subject of an action in the Courts of Law, as they have already provoked discussion and protest in various Chambers of Commerce, and have even been discussed in the House of Commons.

From present appearances the Houston Line is growing steadily in favour of shippers to the Cape ports, and having now been in the trade for over twelve months it must have secured a firm foothold. Certainly shippers and merchants generally welcome and support this “Line” as having a beneficial influence upon the trade between this country and our South African Colonies.

The latest built and largest steamers of the fleet are engaged in the Cape service. Amongst them are Hyacinthus, Halizones, Hydaspes and Hypatia, with an average dead weight carrying capacity of about 9,000 tons each.

We understand several large carrying steamers are in course of construction for the firm.

As showing the great increase in the size of the firm’s vessels, it may be interesting to compare the dimensions of one of the earliest and of one of the latest built ships.

The Hercules was 212 feet long, 34 feet broad and 16 feet 6 inches deep.

The Hypatia is 452 feet long, 52 feet 2 inches broad, and 28 feet 3 inches deep.

The gross registered tonnage of the former was 1,155 tons, while that of the latter is over 5,600 tons.

The growth of the Houston Line has been a remarkably rapid one, and shows what ability and energy combined can do.

The fleet now consists of 25 steamers of a gross registered tonnage of over 90,000 tons, and with a dead weight carrying capacity of over 130,000 tons.

Houston Line Steamers.
Halizones.Heraclides.Hippomenes.Hyades.
Harmodius.Herminius.Honorius.Hyanthes.
Harmonides.Hermione.Horatius.Hydaspes.
Heliades.Hesione.Hortensius.Hylas.
Helios.Hesperides.Hostilius.Hypatia.
Hellenes.Hilarius.Hyacinthus.Hyperia.
Hellopes.

Oswestry Grange. Houlder Bros. & Co.

Chapter XI.
HOULDER LINE.

The Company was founded by the late Mr. Edwin Savory Houlder in London in 1849, and he was subsequently joined by his brothers Messrs. Alfred and Augustus Houlder. At first the business was confined to sailing-ships, a fleet of Clipper Packets sailing under the firm’s flag between the home ports and Australia being established. As the business increased, the firm became in turn interested in the South African and South American Trades, the development of their steam fleet receiving a large amount of attention, until, at the present time, it includes some of the largest and most successful frozen meat carriers afloat.

The principal services now maintained are between the United Kingdom and South America, between South America and the Cape ports, between Australia and New Zealand and the Cape ports, and from New York to Australia and New Zealand, although many other trades of the world claim the Company’s attention and for these trades a large amount of tonnage is chartered annually.

The Headquarters are in London, with Branches at Liverpool, Glasgow, Sydney, N.S.W., Cape Town and Buenos Aires; also sub-offices at Rosario and La Plata.

With one exception, the steamers of the Fleet are distinguished by the affix Grange. The first were the Hornby Grange (3,750 tons burthen) and Ovingdean Grange (3,520 tons burthen), launched in the opening months of 1890, both vessels being insulated throughout for carrying frozen meat, as are all the other steamers of the Line. They were followed in 1894 by the Urmston Grange, designed to carry 5,420 tons. In 1896 two important additions were made in the shape of the steamers Langton Grange and Denton Grange, each having a deadweight capacity of 9,200 tons, and like the earlier steamers insulated in the most efficient manner for carrying frozen meat. In the meantime two more steamers were acquired, the Elstree Grange and the Southern Cross, the latter being placed in the Australian trade in company with the Langton Grange and Denton Grange, whilst the former was taken into the River Plate service which had grown to such an extent as to justify the addition of two further vessels, larger and faster than any of the earlier ships in the trade. These were the Royston Grange and Beacon Grange, each 6,400 tons burthen, and capable of making the passage between England and the River Plate in twenty-two or twenty-three days.

Beacon Grange. Houlder Bros. & Co.

For the Australian trade the Rippingham Grange, a sister ship to the Langton Grange, was added in 1898.

At this juncture, the various steamers comprising the fleet were amalgamated into one Company under the name of the Houlder Line, Limited, this step being taken in order to consolidate the business generally, and to ensure more systematic and economical working.

Previous to this, however, the firm of Houlder Bros. & Co. was converted into a Limited Company, the partners in the old firm becoming Managing Directors of the new Company, Mr. Edwin Savory Houlder acting as Chairman until his death in 1901.

To return to our description of the fleet. To replace the Denton Grange (unfortunately lost at Las Palmas) the Company contracted for the Drayton Grange, a fine four-masted, twin-screw steamer of 10,000 tons burthen, launched in December, 1901, and also for a sister ship, the Oswestry Grange, launched a few months later. Both of these steamers, and, in fact, the other large vessels of the fleet, did excellent service during the South African War.

Hornby Grange. Houlder Bros. & Co.

The fleet, at the present time, consists of fourteen steamers, three boats having been added since the launch of the Oswestry Grange, as the following list will show:—

Tons Burthen.Tons Burthen.
Hornby Grange3,750 Beacon Grange6,400
Ovingdean Grange3,520 Rippingham Grange9,200
Urmston Grange5,420*Oswestry Grange10,000
Langton Grange9,200 Thorpe Grange6,350
*Drayton Grange10,000 Haversham Grange11,200
Elstree Grange6,000*Everton Grange11,000
Royston Grange6,400 Southern Cross7,300
* Twin screw.

giving a total of 105,740 tons.

It is interesting to compare the smallest vessel, the Ovingdean Grange, with the largest and most recent, the Everton Grange, the difference being not only in the increased size but also in the great improvements in the propelling machinery, refrigerating machinery, passenger accommodation, appliances for handling cargo and other points too numerous to mention in detail:—

Length.Beam.Depth.Tons.
Ovingdean Grange309 ft.40 ft.21 ft. 4 in.3,520
Everton Grange490 ft.56 ft.35 ft. 6 in.11,000

Special provision has been made for the Company’s passenger service, the boats being provided with every requisite to make a long sea voyage as comfortable as possible.

Rose s.s. 1363 Tons. Messrs. Alex. A. Laird & Co.

Chapter XII.
LAIRD LINE.
THE GLASGOW, DUBLIN, AND LONDONDERRY
STEAM PACKET CO., LTD.

This important company, which claims (on very strong evidence) to be the oldest steamship company in the world, was originated in 1814—two years after the launch of Bell’s Comet—by Mr. Lewis MacLellan and others. Its history is a most varied one, the several firms of Alex. A. Laird & Sons, Thos. Cameron & Co., and MacConnell & Laird, having become unified during its existence of nearly a century into the one large concern known throughout the kingdom as the “Laird Line.”

It has been the great pioneer of the steamship trade of the Clyde, not merely by reason of its long standing, but also because of the varied and extensive sphere of its operations.

The first steamer owned by the founder of the company was the Britannia, a small paddle-wheel steampacket, built, like all the vessels of her time, of wood.

The second steampacket was the Waterloo, built in 1816. A reference is made to both these steamers in the sixth chapter of the first part of this volume. They plied between the Bromielaw (Glasgow) and Greenock, Gourock, Rothesay, Tarbert, Lochgilphead, and Inverary. Even in these early days of steam navigation, it was the avowed policy of the manager of these steampackets to make all things subordinate to safety, and, in accordance with this policy, the masters of the steamers were instructed “not to contend with other boats so as to endanger the vessels, or alarm the passengers,” This sound policy, which has been continued by Mr. MacLellan’s successors to the present day, has, in large measure, contributed to the popularity and success of the firm.

It is interesting to note that over eighty years ago passenger season tickets were in force on the steampackets of this company. Those who are desirous of verifying this statement can do so by referring to the “Glasgow Chronicle” of the 23rd May, 1816, in which they will find the following advertisement:—

“The steampackets, Britannia and Waterloo, sail regularly from the Bromielaw to all the watering-places on both sides of the Clyde. Families wishing to agree for the season will learn the terms by applying to the masters on board, or to Mr. Lewis MacLellan, Gallowgate.”

The Britannia, in the year referred to, opened up for the first time, steam communication between Glasgow and Campbeltown, and in the early summer of 1820, she made her first trip from Glasgow to the Giant’s Causeway.

She was commanded on that voyage by Captain Wyse, whose death in 1851 was the occasion of the following paragraph, which appeared in the “Glasgow Chronicle”:—

“Captain Wyse (whose decease we announce) was the first to carry his steamer, the Britannia, on a pleasure trip from the Clyde to the Giant’s Causeway, with an illustrious and distinguished party. The astonished inhabitants in thousands crowded the hills and promontories, all along the shores of Antrim, to see a ship with a smoking funnel, and a band of music on board, sailing against wind and tide. Out of this pleasure trip sprung up the present lucrative trade between the ports of the Clyde and the North of Ireland, from which great advantages have unquestionably arisen to the inhabitants of both kingdoms.”

As time advanced, the river traffic was discontinued by the Company, and the cross-channel trade developed. After running excursions to the Giant’s Causeway for two seasons, the Britannia was placed on the Glasgow and Londonderry station, sailing from each port once a week.

Mr. Alex. A. Laird (after whom the line is named) was a well-known shipbroker in Greenock at the beginning of the last century, and when the famous St. George Steam Packet Company commenced operations in 1822, the first steamship service it established was between Liverpool and Greenock, and Mr. Laird was appointed agent for the Company at the latter port.

The St. George Company did not continue for any length of time its direct service between the Clyde and the Mersey, but in the following year (1823) a new steam packet company was formed, to trade only between Liverpool, Greenock and Glasgow, calling at Douglas (Isle of Man) and Portpatrick. Mr. Laird was the manager of the new company, and opened a branch office at 25, York Street, Glasgow, under the style of Alex. Laird & Co.

The pioneer steamer of the new service was the Henry Bell, built by Mr. Thomas Wilson, a celebrated Liverpool shipbuilder, in 1823. She was considered a very smart craft in those days, was fitted with two engines of 30 horse power each, and carried about 120 tons all told, on a draft of about 8 feet. She continued on the Glasgow and Liverpool station until 1831, when she was purchased by Messrs. James Little & Co., for their Glasgow and Newry trade.

The original intention of the proprietors was that the Henry Bell should sail to and from Glasgow, but it was found there was not sufficient water in the Clyde to enable this to be done with regularity, and Greenock was, consequently, made the port of arrival and departure. The deck fare by this steamer was 6s. per passenger, the steerage fare by the mail packets (Majestic and City of Glasgow) being 21s.

The late Mr. Alex. A. Laird commenced his apprenticeship under his father in 1824, and the same year a second vessel, the James Watt, was placed on the Glasgow and Liverpool station. She was slightly larger, and had engines of greater power than the Henry Bell.

The following year Messrs. Laird established a fortnightly service between Glasgow and Inverness; the steampacket employed was the Stirling, which made her first voyage on the 11th May, 1825, and continued to sail thereafter on alternate Wednesdays from Glasgow and Inverness. Fortnightly sailings proving insufficient for the traffic, the sailings were increased to weekly on and from the 20th September, 1826.

During this year the William Huskisson was added to the Liverpool and Glasgow service, and sailings were maintained three times per week from each port.

The William Huskisson was a very much larger vessel than either of her predecessors, her deadweight capacity being 350 tons, and her engines 120 horse power.

The late Mr. Alex. A. Laird.

For the Campbeltown and Londonderry trade the steampackets Clydesdale and Londonderry were built, and were advertised to sail from Glasgow to both ports, with goods and passengers, every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. In addition to these sailings, the Maid of Islay was despatched every Tuesday morning from the Bromielaw to Stranraer and Islay. Messrs. Laird’s connection with Dublin dates also from this year, the pioneer steamer being the Town of Drogheda, which sailed on her first voyage from Greenock to Dublin on Monday, 7th June, 1826. The new steampacket Solway was added to the Liverpool and Greenock fleet in 1828, and the sailings increased to four per week from each port. The steampacket Clarence acted as tender, and sailed from the Bromielaw at noon on the sailing dates of the Liverpool steampackets from Greenock.

In 1834 the firm extended its operations to Newry, the steamers employed being the Erin and St. David. Mr. James Bruce was admitted a partner in the Glasgow house this year, and the office was removed to 69, Oswald Street, where the business was conducted under the style of Laird & Bruce. This partnership was dissolved on the 14th February, 1835; Mr. Bruce retaining the Stranraer trade. The title of Mr. Laird’s firm was changed to Alex. Laird & Sons, and the Glasgow office removed to Ewing Place, corner of York Street.

One of the steamers, for which Mr. Laird was agent, was named the Cumberland. This vessel took an active part in the Spanish Expedition of 1835, as a transport, making three voyages to Spain during this year, with recruits from the West of Scotland for the service of Donna Isabella. Some of these recruits enlisted in the course of drunken frolics, or after quarrels with their friends or masters, and their military ardour speedily cooled. The period during which they had to wait on the receiving ship at Greenock until the transport was ready to receive them afforded frequent opportunities of deserting, of which they did not fail to avail themselves. Scarcely a day passed but some of them succeeded in escaping by means of the boats which visited the receiving ships in the evenings. One youth from Glasgow, failing to get away in this manner, determined to drop into the sea and swim ashore, a distance of about two miles, to a spit where female friends would be waiting to assist him. He had nearly reached the shore when he was discovered, and pursued by the guard boat. Making a final effort, he succeeded in landing, and, though fatigued with his long swim, continued his flight.

When the guard boat’s crew landed, the women got round them, and so hampered them in their movements that the fugitive got out of sight, when, of course, it was useless to attempt to follow him.

The Cumberland, after performing the three voyages referred to, returned to her station between Glasgow and Dublin.

In 1844 Messrs. Laird & Sons (then at 101, Union Street) were appointed agents at Glasgow for the Dundalk Steam Packet Co., the first steamer from Glasgow, the Finn Maccoul, sailing on the 30th November, 1844.

For a period of forty years, from 1827 to 1867, Messrs. T. Cameron & Co. had maintained steamship services between Glasgow and Greenock, and ports on the North and West coasts of Ireland, and from 1843 until 1867 a weekly service between Liverpool and Sligo. In 1867 the Glasgow services were conducted by the joint firms of Messrs. T. Cameron & Co. and Alex. A. Laird & Co., but the following year, owing to the decease of Mr. Cameron, the business was entirely taken over by Messrs. Laird.

Messrs. Cameron’s steamers were named after flowers and plants (with two exceptions, referred to later), the first steamer of this class being the Shamrock, built in 1847, followed by the Thistle in 1848, Rose in 1851, Myrtle in 1854, and the Garland in 1857.

At the time of the change of firm, Messrs. Cameron & Co. had been opposed on the Glasgow and Sligo and Liverpool and Sligo stations, for ten years, by a local company, the Sligo Steam Navigation Co. This was subsequently settled amicably, Messrs. Alex. A. Laird & Co. retired from the Liverpool and Sligo trade, and the Sligo Steam Navigation Co. withdrew from the Glasgow trade, and having purchased the opposition steamer Garland, renamed her the Glasgow.

The two exceptions in class of name, to which reference has been made, were the Northman and Irishman, trading as the Glasgow and Dublin Screw Steam Packet Co. They were amongst the earliest iron screw steamers built, the former having been launched in 1847 and the latter in 1854. These two steamers retained the colour of the old St. George Co. on the funnel, viz., a white funnel with a black top. The Irishman was the last steamer so distinguished, all succeeding steamers carrying what is now the recognised “Laird” funnel—white and red in equal proportions, with a black top.

In 1869, to meet the requirements of the West Coast of Ireland trade, the Company purchased the steamer Scotia, and renamed her the Laurel. Two steamers were added to the fleet in 1878. These were the steamships Azalea and Cedar. These ships are identical in measurement and capacity, each being 217 feet long, 30 feet broad, and 15 feet deep, with a gross register of 750 tons, and with excellent saloon accommodation for seventy passengers.

An important addition was made to the fleet in 1879, when the magnificent and fast steamship Shamrock was built. She was considerably in advance in point of capacity, speed, and accommodation of any steamer previously built for the firm. She measures 231 feet 2 inches in length, 31 feet 3 inches in breadth, and 15 feet 5 inches in depth; and her gross register is 864 tons. She is certified to carry eighty saloon passengers, and is equipped with every modern convenience for their comfort.

After an interval of three years (1882) the Brier was built, a somewhat similar vessel, but slightly smaller than the preceding steamer, her dimensions being 209 feet by 30 feet by 15 feet. Her gross register is 728 tons, and she has berthing and saloon accommodation for sixty passengers. She was quickly followed by the Thistle and Elm, both built in 1884, and the Gardenia in 1885. They are all beautiful specimens of marine architecture, the first a large steamer of 822 tons gross register, and the latter considerably smaller.

In 1893 a further advance was made in the size of the Company’s ships by the construction of the splendid screw steamer Olive, 1,141 tons gross register, one of the fastest and finest steamers crossing the channel. She is 260 feet long, with a beam of 33 feet 1 inch, and a depth of 15 feet 8 inches. She has always been a particular favourite with passengers, of whom she carries a large number, being certified to carry one hundred saloon passengers, in addition to 1,000 steerage.

Olive s.s. 1141 Tons. Messrs. Alex. A. Laird & Co.

The Daisy and the Lily were the next steamers built, the former in 1895, and the latter in 1896; and in the closing year of the nineteenth century the Fern (second of the name) was launched.

The latest addition to the fleet is a magnificent vessel constructed after the most modern type of passenger steamships. She is named the Rose, was launched in June, 1902, is built of steel, and is 250 feet long, 36 feet 2 inches broad, and 15 feet deep. She is fitted with electric light in the saloon, staterooms and holds. Her saloon, which is a handsomely furnished and spacious apartment, is situated amidships forward of the engine room. The great breadth of the vessel makes her a remarkably steady sea boat, while her engines, which are triple-expansion and of great power, are capable of propelling her at the rate of 15½ knots per hour. She is nearly 1,400 tons gross, and carries 140 saloon passengers, in addition to those in the steerage.

In 1885 it was considered desirable to consolidate the several interests concerned, by forming this old-established business into a limited company, the title of the Company being The Glasgow, Dublin and Londonderry Steam Packet Co., Limited; but it is much better known by the short name of the “Laird Line.” Mr. William MacConnell, son of the late Mr. MacConnell, of the firm of Thomson & MacConnell, is the Managing Director.

The company’s steamship services are not confined to those to and from Glasgow, although we have shown that they have a very large share of the Clyde traffic, maintaining regular and frequent sailings between Glasgow and Greenock and Dublin, Londonderry, Coleraine, Sligo, Ballina and Westport; also during the tourist season a daily daylight service between Ardrossan and Portrush.

In connection with the Midland Railway Company of England a service of powerful steamers is maintained between Morecambe and Dublin, the steamers sailing from the respective ports on alternate days, and making the passage in about 10 hours.

Early next year, it is proposed to transfer the service from Morecambe to Heysham, and to maintain daily sailings to and from the latter port and Dublin.

The “Laird” steamers also sail in connection with the same railway company from Morecambe to Londonderry every Tuesday and Saturday, returning from Londonderry every Monday and Thursday.

From Fleetwood, in connection with the Lancashire and Yorkshire, and London and North-Western Railway Companies, a weekly service had been maintained for many years by the company’s steamers between Fleetwood and Londonderry, but in September, 1903, Messrs. Laird & Co. retired from this service.

From Liverpool also, steam communication is maintained with Larne, Coleraine and Westport. The fixed sailings are once a week from each port, but extra steamers are despatched according to the requirements of the trade.

The company’s fleet at the present date (1903) consists of 12 first-class powerful steamships, having an aggregate gross tonnage of 9,164 tons, and named as follows:—

Gross Tonnage.Gross Tonnage.Gross Tonnage.
Azalea748Elm521Olive1141
Brier728Fern503Rose1363
Cedar750Gardenia491Shamrock864
Daisy565Lily668Thistle822

Chapter XIII.
LANGLANDS’ LINE.
Glasgow and Liverpool Royal Steampacket Company.

Prior to the year 1839 all the steampackets plying between Liverpool and Glasgow were built of wood, and these wooden steamers had established for themselves a reputation for speed and luxurious travelling not surpassed nearly three-quarters of a century later. It was, therefore, a bold thing to do on the part of the proprietors of the Glasgow and Liverpool Royal Steampacket Company to enter into competition with these famous and tried vessels, and to introduce into the trade steamers constructed not of wood but of iron. The pioneer steamer of this company, the Royal Sovereign, sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool on Monday, 18th March, 1839. The company despatched their steamer twice a week from each port, and continued to do so until the end of August of the same year, when the second steamer, the Royal George, was placed on the station, and the sailings were increased to four times per week each way. The established lines were naturally indisposed to share the trade with an outsider, and to discourage the new enterprise they reduced the rates of freight on fine goods to 1d. per foot, and on steerage passengers to 1s. each. The Royal Steampacket Company maintained, in spite of this endeavour to drive them out of the trade, their advertised sailings, and grew in popularity with the travelling public. They decided in 1841 to increase their fleet by the addition of a third steamer, and it being evident that they had come to stay, their competitors, Messrs. MacIver and Messrs. Burns, entered into a friendly and honourable alliance with them, and uniform rates were adopted by the three lines to Glasgow.

Princess Maud. M. Langlands & Sons.

A tradition exists in the Royal Company that when their third steamer was on the stocks the first birth in her late Majesty’s family was anticipated, and the proprietors proposed to call their new steamer the Prince of Wales. The event, however, proved the name to be inappropriate, and Princess Royal was substituted, a name which has been perpetuated by different steamships to the present day. The following paragraph respecting this steamer, which appeared in the “Glasgow Chronicle” of the 1st June, 1842, will be read with interest:—“The Princess Royal. We feel much indebted to the agent (Mr. M. Langlands) of this splendid steamer for putting us in possession of the ‘Morning Chronicle’ of yesterday morning three hours before the arrival of the ‘London Mail’ containing the details of the attempted assassination of Her Majesty. Copies of the ‘Chronicle,’ ‘Times,’ and other London journals were, the moment the train arrived from Greenock, forwarded to the different public reading rooms in town, and altogether the public are much indebted to the proprietors and agents of the vessel at Liverpool and Glasgow for their public spirit and enterprise. The passage from Liverpool to Greenock was made in the astonishing space of 16½ hours.”

The Princess Royal referred to was built by the eminent firm of Tod and M’Gregor, who in 1849 projected a line of steamers to run between Glasgow and New York. Accordingly they built and equipped the barque-rigged screw steamer City of Glasgow, and appointed Mr. M. Langlands agent. She was a vessel of 1,087 tons register, with engines of 350 horse-power, and was manned by about 70 of a crew. In the Art Palace at Kelvingrove, Glasgow, there is a watercolour drawing (No. 2,018, by S. Bough) representing the departure of this the first steamship for New York from Glasgow harbour, in April, 1850. After making several very successful voyages, Tod and M’Gregor sold her to Richardson Bros., of Belfast, who ran her in the Liverpool and Philadelphia trade, and this vessel and the steamship City of Manchester were the nucleus of what became afterwards the well-known Inman line.

Paddle Steampacket Princess Royal. M. Langlands & Sons.

In view of the high reputation the Princess Royal had earned, it is not surprising that she was selected for experimental purposes by a Committee of the House of Commons (appointed in 1842) for the purpose of inquiring into the conveyance of the mails between England and Ireland. From the “Liverpool Mercury” of that date we learn that “The fine new iron steamboat called Princess Royal, at present on the station between this port and Glasgow, started from Clarence Dock on Sunday morning last (19th June) for Dublin. She arrived there in 9 hours 5 minutes, beating H.M. mail steampacket Medusa by 1 hour 45 minutes. On Monday morning she left Dublin for Holyhead, and arrived there in 4 hours 45 minutes, returning to Dublin the same day in 4 hours 28 minutes. In the evening she started for Liverpool, which she reached in 9 hours 35 minutes. The vessel had a head wind nearly all the way.”

The Princess had now established beyond dispute her claim to be one of the fastest Channel steamers leaving the port. The ensuing winter she proved herself to be also one of the best sea-boats. The terrible gale of January 20th to 22nd, 1843, was one of the most severe that ever visited these coasts. The Mona’s Isle, from Liverpool to Douglas, was 24 hours on the passage. At Cork the posts on the quays were carried away. The Princess was at sea during this storm, and fully proved her excellent qualities as a sea-boat. She left Greenock at 11-30 p.m. on Friday, and arrived at Liverpool at 5 p.m. on Saturday without the slightest damage. This celebrated steamer was replaced in 1856 by a second Princess Royal, also a paddle steamer. After running in the Liverpool and Glasgow service for about four years, Princess No. 2 was sold to the General Steam Navigation Company, of London.

The third Princess Royal, built in 1861, was a screw steamer, the first screw owned by the Glasgow and Liverpool Royal Steampacket Company. In 1861, civil war broke out in the United States. The Federals (Northerners) established a strict blockade of all the Southern ports on the Atlantic seaboard. A cotton famine ensued, and fast steamers were in great demand for blockade running. Amongst other Liverpool steamers purchased for this purpose was the new Princess. She was sold in 1862, and her new owners changed her name. We are informed that she was captured on her first trip as a Confederate blockade runner, and converted by her captors into a Federal cruiser. Her immediate successor, the fourth Princess Royal, after running for a number of years between Liverpool and Glasgow, was sold to a firm to trade in the West Indies. For the present the Royal Steampacket Company is without a Princess Royal, the fifth steamer of that name having been sold in 1901 to foreign buyers. The service is meantime maintained by the Princess Louise, or other steamer of the fleet.

About the year 1870, the Royal Company opened up a new steamship service from Liverpool to the West Highlands, North of Scotland, and east coast ports. Owing, in large measure, to the natural attractions of the route, and the excellence of the accommodation and cuisine provided on the steamers, this is every year becoming a more popular and favourite trip. The first steamer employed on the West Highland and east coast route was a small cargo steamer, but in a very short time it was found necessary to place the Princess Alice, a much larger steamer, carrying passengers as well as cargo, on the route. The earlier vessels on this service were steamers of 300 to 400 tons, with limited accommodation for about 20 passengers, but now the steamers employed have accommodation for 100 to 140 saloon passengers, and an average cargo-carrying capacity of nearly 1,000 tons each. Some idea may be gained of the growth of the passenger and cargo traffic, by comparing the earlier vessels with the new Princess Maud, built in 1901. This steamer is of steel, and her dimensions are:—Length, 256 feet 6 inches; breadth, 36 feet 6 inches; depth, 17 feet 1½ inches. Gross tonnage, 1,450 tons. The vessel is handsomely fitted up for passengers, the large dining saloon being furnished in solid oak, artistically carved. One hundred first-class passengers can dine at one sitting, and there is sleeping accommodation in deck rooms and state cabins for 140 passengers. The steamer is fitted throughout with electric light, patent berths, sea-water baths, ample lavatories, and every modern convenience that can contribute to the comfort of passengers. The Princess Maud was placed on the service early in 1902, and will no doubt enhance the reputation in which this line is held by tourists. In addition to the bi-weekly service between Liverpool and Aberdeen, Leith, and Dundee, the Royal Steampacket Company run a regular service of steamers between Aberdeen, Newcastle, Hull, and other east coast ports, and Bristol, Cardiff, and Swansea, calling also at Southampton and Plymouth. During the summer months this service embraces a fortnightly trip round the United Kingdom with one of the larger passenger steamers, and this has now become a favourite cruise for summer holiday seekers, occupying as it does about twelve days.

When the Manchester Ship Canal was opened in 1894, the Royal Company began at once to despatch their steamers from Manchester to Glasgow, as well as to the west, north, and east coasts of Scotland. In addition to having the management of the various services mentioned, Messrs. Langlands have, for a great many years, been the agents of Messrs. Alex. A. Laird and Co. as regards the steamers trading between Liverpool, Larne, and Westport.

The agency of the company’s steamers at Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Leith, Dundee and Hull, is in the hands of Messrs. M. Langlands and Sons, who have been closely identified with the development of the company’s business, and are largely interested in its success.

Chapter XIV.
Messrs. James Little & Co.

Towards the end of July, 1819, Messrs. James Little & Co., who had commenced business seven years previously, despatched from Greenock, on her maiden voyage to Liverpool, the first passenger steamer that ever sailed from the Clyde to the Mersey. Her name was the Robert Bruce, and she was described in her advertisements as being “an elegant new Steam Packet, having most excellent accommodation for passengers.” As a matter of fact, she was a small wooden paddle steamer, 98 feet long, or about twelve feet longer than the Cluthas that ply up and down Glasgow Harbour, but with twice their beam. She called at Portpatrick and Douglas (I. of M.) on her voyages to and from the Clyde, and occupied about thirty hours on the run from Greenock to Liverpool. The following letter from the Captain (Patterson) to Messrs. Little, written on the 1st September, 1819, indicates how different are the conditions under which passengers travel by steamers at the present date and those which existed in the early stages of steam navigation. Captain Patterson dated his letter from Troon, and stated:—

“I have to inform you that we were taken with a heavy gale of wind from the N.W. yesterday about two o’clock, just as we had got outside the Cumbraes, with a heavy sea; about six o’clock the sea came more to the westward, and, from the very heavy sea on our beam, we made so much lee-way that we could not stand out-channel nor fetch Lamlash. I, therefore thought it best to bear up for this port, and got in safe last night with the loss of our bowsprit, but no other damage. Our engines worked very well, only the wheels had little effect owing to the heavy sea. It has continued to blow a gale all night, and still looks very bad. The ship Nereus got here an hour before us, dismasted. I will get another bowsprit as soon as possible, and will proceed when it moderates. The passengers were all sick, but are now well.

“I am, &c.,
“John Patterson.

“P.S.—The Robert Bruce behaved under her sails, double reefed, as well as any ship I was ever in.”

The rates of passage money were:—Cabin, 40s.; steerage, 21s. A second steamer, the Superb, was placed on the station during the same season, and in 1820 a larger steamer, the Majestic, was added to the service.

An interesting and valuable painting of the latter steamer in 1820 is in the possession of Messrs. Little & Co., at their office, 46, Leadenhall Street, London.

A curious intimation appears in the Glasgow papers of the 19th July, 1822, with reference to the same vessel. It appears that on a recent trip the Duke of Athol and suite had embarked on board the Majestic at Greenock, for conveyance to Douglas (I. of M.), where his Grace had a seat (Mona Castle). As well as being accompanied by the members of his suite, His Grace had with him several carriages and a quantity of luggage, all of which took some time to land. Some of the Liverpool passengers complained of the detention of the steampacket for this purpose, and, on the complaint being submitted to the managers of the steamer, they not only expressed their regret for the delay, but they also donated the amount of freight they received from the Duke of Athol to the fund for the relief of the starving Irish.

A fourth steamer, the City of Glasgow, was added to the fleet on the 21st June, 1822. The Robert Bruce having become too small for the Greenock and Liverpool service was transferred to the Liverpool and Douglas station, and the three larger steamers were appointed to carry H.M. mails to and from Greenock and Liverpool. The wretched condition of the destitute poor in Ireland was not the only charity that appealed to the managers of these steamers. Finding that the Committee of the Greenock Hospital and Infirmary were in urgent need of funds, they placed the R.M.S. City of Glasgow at the Committee’s disposal for one day, for the benefit of the Institution named. The Committee of Management of the Hospital accordingly arranged a cruise per that steamer around Ailsa Craig, on Saturday, 19th July, 1823, tickets for which were 7s. 6d. each. The City of Glasgow continued to trade between Greenock and Liverpool until 1831, when she was purchased by the late David MacIver, who was then forming the City of Glasgow Steam Packet Co. Although Messrs. Little’s connection with Belfast is not of such long standing as with Liverpool, yet it is approaching three-quarters of a century. In January, 1828, the new steamer Frolic began to trade between Glasgow, Greenock and Belfast. She differed from the steamers of the Liverpool route in carrying cargo as well as passengers. The previous year, Messrs. Little had obtained the agency in Greenock of the Glasgow and Dublin Shipping Company. The pioneer steamer of this line was the Erin, which sailed from the Clyde on her first voyage in March, 1827. A second steamer, the Scotia, a vessel of 300 tons burden, was added to the service in January, 1828. The steamer Water Witch, built for this trade by Messrs. James Little & Co., and contracted for with Messrs. Denny & Co., of Dumbarton, was the first screw steamer built on the Clyde.

In addition to their several channel steamers, Messrs. Little owned, in 1850, the steamers Dunoon and Helensburgh. These two steamers plied with passengers between Greenock and coast towns, connecting with the Glasgow and Greenock Railway (now the Caledonian Railway), and they were the first steamers on the Clyde to run in connection with a Railway Company.

In 1872 this firm purchased from the owners of the Anchor Line steamers the steamer Dom Pedro, a screw steamer engaged in the Glasgow and Peninsular service. The Dom Pedro was the first screw steamer with compound engines, built by the famous Clyde shipbuilding firm, Randolph and Elder, now known as the Fairfield Shipbuilding Co. Subsequently, Messrs. James Little & Co. owned a fleet of steamers bearing Greek classical names, e.g., Apollo, Achilles, &c., and to be in accordance with these the name of the Dom Pedro was changed to the Ariadne in the year 1875. She has now for a number of years been running on the Barrow and Liverpool station. In the year 1866, Messrs. Little ran the paddle steamer Herald between Glasgow and Campbeltown. The Herald proved herself when on the Campbeltown route to be one of the fastest, if not the fastest, steamer on the Clyde. She was withdrawn the following summer (1867) from the Glasgow and Campbeltown station, to open the Barrow and Isle of Man trade. The latter traffic is now maintained during the summer months by the magnificent steamers, Manx Queen, Duchess of Devonshire, or Duchess of Buccleuch. The Manx Queen is a large steel paddle steamer, with a gross register tonnage of about 1,000 tons, built and engined on the Clyde by Messrs. J. and G. Thompson. Her principal dimensions are—length, 278 feet 9 inches; beam, 29 feet 7 inches; depth, 14 feet, and her speed is about 16 knots per hour.

The Duchess of Devonshire is a steel twin-screw steamer, built and engined in 1897 by the Naval Construction and Armaments Co., Barrow. Her gross register tonnage is 1,265 tons; her length is 300 feet; beam, 35 feet 1 inch; and depth, 15 feet 7 inches. Her engines are capable of driving her considerably over 18 knots per hour, and she is, therefore, one of the fastest steamers in the cross-channel trade.

The Duchess of Buccleuch is a steel paddle steamer, with a gross register tonnage of 804 tons, built and engined in 1888 by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co., Ltd., Glasgow. Her length is 256 feet 1 inch; beam, 29 feet 1 inch; and depth 14 feet, and her speed is about 18 knots per hour.

The route via Barrow to Douglas gives the shortest sea passage from England to the Isle of Man, the average passage being about three hours. In consequence of this, and of the first-class accommodation provided in these splendid steamers, the Barrow route is a favourite one to the Island, and each year sees an increase in the number of passengers carried.

Messrs. James Little & Co., in conjunction with the Midland and Furness Railways, established, in 1867, a service of mail, passengers and cargo steamers between Barrow and Belfast.

For the conduct of the business connected with this service, Messrs. Little opened a branch office in Belfast, and, as they had also started the Barrow to Douglas trade that same year, they opened an office in Barrow. The first steamers employed on the Barrow and Belfast station were the paddle-steamers Roe, Talbot, and Shelburne. In 1870 a larger and faster paddle-steamer, the Antrim, was added to the fleet.

The service is now maintained by the swift and powerful Royal Mail Steamships City of Belfast, Duchess of Devonshire, Manx Queen or Londonderry. The Duchess of Devonshire has already been briefly described. Her sister vessel in the service, the City of Belfast, is slightly smaller. Her gross register tonnage is 1,055 tons.

These powerful steamers leave Belfast every evening at 8-30, Irish time, and arrive in Barrow about 6 o’clock on the following morning, in time to connect with the early morning Midland trains to all parts of England and Scotland. The steamers leave Barrow daily (Sundays excepted) on arrival of the through trains from London, Bristol, Leeds, &c., that is about 8-30 p.m., and arrive in Belfast about 5-30 the following morning (Irish time).

In 1873 Messrs. Little opened a branch office in Glasgow, and in 1883 one in Liverpool. In addition to the mail and other steamship services on the West Coast of Britain, Messrs. James Little & Co. have a regular service of steamers from London to Terneuzen, in Holland, and for the efficient working of this service they, in conjunction with Mr. J. W. Johnston, opened an office in London in 1886, the name and address of the London firm being Little & Johnston, 46, Leadenhall Street, who also have a sub-office in Terneuzen.

They have also several ocean steamers, not built for any special trade, but of large carrying capacity, under the management of their Glasgow house.

The fleet of this firm at the present date (1903) consists of fourteen full-powered steamships, having a gross registered tonnage of 25,279 tons, and named as follows:—

Ann Webster792tons gross.
Ariadne292”
Borderer2983”
Border Knight3730”
City of Belfast1055”
Duchess of Devonshire1265”
Duchess of Buccleuch804”
Halling777”
Hermiston4383”
Indianapolis2464”
Londonderry736”
Manx Queen989”
Riverdale4206”
River Lagan803”
25,279

Duchess of Buccleuch. James Little & Co.

R.M.S. Claymore. David MacBrayne.

Chapter XV.
MR. DAVID MACBRAYNE’S WEST HIGHLAND
STEAMERS.

In the early part of last century Messrs. Thomson and MacConnell, of Glasgow, held a large financial interest in several of the steampackets then plying on the River and Firth of Clyde. One of the earliest of these steamers in which they were interested was the Britannia, built about two years after Bell’s Comet. The citizens of Glasgow were quick to avail themselves of the advantages of steam navigation: thus, while in 1812 the limit of steam navigation was Dunoon, in 1815 it was extended to Inverary, and in 1822 Fortwilliam, Tobermory and Skye were included in the ports of call of the steampacket Highlander.

Passengers were also carried by the same steamer to the Island of Staffa, the fare for the return passage being £3 3s.

Steam communication between Glasgow and Inverness via the Crinan and Caledonian Canals was established in the spring of 1824, the pioneer vessel being a small steamer named the Ben Nevis.

About 1830 Messrs. J. Martin and J. & G. Burns advertised the steamers Inverness, Rob Roy and Helen McGregor to sail regularly between the Clyde and Inverness, Skye and Stornoway. The Helen McGregor was described as having “a splendid cabin, panelled with landscapes descriptive of the scenery through which she passes.” She had upwards of 30 sleeping berths for cabin passengers, and an excellent steerage.

In 1841 the Shandon, described as “an elegant vessel,” was placed, by the same firm, on the route now taken by the R.M.S. Columba. Her passengers were carried through the Crinan Canal on track boats drawn by horses ridden by postillions in brilliant scarlet uniforms, and at Crinan were transferred to the steampacket Brenda, which conveyed them to Oban. The latter steamer belonged to Messrs. Thomson and MacConnell, as did also the Toward Castle, Morven and Staffa, and later (1846) the Edinburgh Castle and Maid of Islay. The two firms had been engaged in friendly competition both on the Glasgow and Liverpool trade and the Glasgow and West Highland service from the year 1831, but in 1841 an arrangement was arrived at, by which the West Highland traffic was managed conjointly.

Her late Majesty Queen Victoria visited the Highlands in 1847, and in “Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands,” Her Majesty wrote:—

“The light on the hills was beautiful as we steamed down Loch Fyne. At five we reached Lochgilp, and all landed at Lochgilphead (Ardrishaig). We and our people drove through the village to the Crinan Canal, where we entered a most magnificently decorated barge, drawn by three horses ridden by postillions in scarlet. We glided along very smoothly, and the views of the hills—the range of Cruachan—were very fine indeed.”

To meet the requirements of an ever-increasing traffic, the elegant saloon steamer Linnet was built, which is capable of comfortably accommodating double the number of passengers that the old track boat could.

The Messrs. Burns, who prior to that date had controlled a large portion of the River Clyde and West Highland traffic, in 1851 decided to confine their energies to “deep sea” steamers, and accordingly sold off their smaller craft, and Messrs. Thomson and MacConnell parted with their steamers of the same type. These vessels were acquired, and the West Highland trade taken over, by Messrs. David Hutcheson & Co. (the company including Mr. David MacBrayne, the head of the present firm), whose address at that date was 14, Jamaica Street, Glasgow.

Messrs. Hutcheson had, previous to the purchase of the steamers referred to, five steampackets named Cygnet, Lapwing, Duntroon Castle, Pioneer and Dolphin, so that in 1851 they controlled a fleet of about a dozen steamers. These steamers maintained a bi-weekly service (in addition to other sailings) between Glasgow and Inverness, sailing from Glasgow every Monday and Thursday, a service which has been maintained uninterruptedly for upwards of half a century. The Cygnet and Lapwing were built with their paddle boxes flush with their hulls, to enable them to pass through the Crinan Canal.

Two new steamers, the Chevalier and Mountaineer, were added to the fleet in 1854. The following year (1855) the Clansman was built for the firm. The same year the Iona (the first of the name) was built, and maintained her reputation as a “crack” Clyde steamer until 1863, when she was purchased by an agent of the Confederate States, to run the blockade during the American War. She, however, never crossed the Atlantic, being sunk, as the result of a collision, before she got clear of the upper firth.

She was promptly replaced by Iona (second of the name), launched the same year, which, after running for one season only, was also sold to run the blockade, but is supposed to have been lost with all hands off Lundy Island. The second Iona differed from her predecessors in having a saloon on deck.

Prior to her starting on her Atlantic voyage, this saloon was removed and placed on Iona the third. This steamer for many years bore the reputation of being the swiftest, as well as the most luxuriously appointed, steamer on the Firth of Clyde. The engines, which work with almost incredible smoothness, are of 1,625 horse-power, and are capable of propelling her at the rate of 18 knots per hour.

In connection with this vessel, the writer remembers a very amusing incident. Many years ago he was travelling by steamer from Liverpool to Glasgow, and in conversation a fellow-passenger stated that he had in the early part of the same summer sailed in the famous Iona from Glasgow to Ardrishaig.

“What do you think of the Kyles of Bute?” I asked.

“The Kyles of Bute,” he replied; “I never saw them.”

The subject was dropped, until a little later he again spoke of his trip to Ardrishaig.

“And what do you think of the Kyles of Bute?” I again queried.

“The Kyles of Bute; you asked me that before. I never saw them.”

“But you say you sailed to Ardrishaig in the Iona?”

“Yes.”

“Then you must have seen the Kyles—you could not possibly have gone to Ardrishaig without seeing them.”

He seemed astonished, but after a moment’s thought a bright idea struck him, and he exclaimed—

“Ah! yes, I remember now, I saw a red board with gilt letters ‘Kyles of Bute’ on it; but I didn’t go ashore—I never saw them.”

Fortunately all men are not so unobservant; and so we find tourists from Great Britain and Ireland; from Canada and the United States; from South Africa and the Antipodes, journeying to enjoy not alone the beauties of the Kyles of Bute, but also the grand and beautiful scenery of the Western Highlands, now so easy of access by the splendid steamers of the MacBrayne fleet.

In 1862 was built the first of the trio of handsome screw steamers which sail regularly round the Mull of Cantyre to Stornoway and the far North. She is named the Clydesdale. A larger steamer, the Clansman (second of the name), was built in 1870, and one still larger, the Claymore, in 1881.

Mr. David Hutcheson retired in 1876, leaving his partner, Mr. David MacBrayne, sole control of the business, which has since grown steadily, necessitating from time to time the addition of new steamers.

In 1878 the Royal Mail steamer Columba was built by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson (now John Brown & Co.), of Clydebank, who were also the builders of the Iona. She is the largest passenger steamer on the Firth of Clyde, and few, if any, cross-channel steamers exceed her in length. According to the official description of her, she is 316 feet in length, 50 feet in breadth (inclusive of paddle boxes), and 9 feet in depth. She is built entirely of steel, and is fitted with two oscillating engines of 220 nominal horse-power, but capable of working up to 3,000 indicated horse-power.

Two years previously the R.M.S. Columba was refitted by Messrs. Hutson & Sons, Limited, with two large tubulous boilers of the haystack type, made entirely of steel, and with twelve furnaces. When working at full pressure, she attains a speed of 22 miles per hour, and she is certified to carry over 2,000 passengers. The Columba is steered by a steam steering engine, has the novelty of a set of steam bits at bow and stern by which the vessel is warped into piers, and has all the modern improvements introduced on board.

The upper saloon is very luxuriously fitted up, and in the interior are reading table, writing desk and lounges. The large square windows are carried round the sides and stern, affording a fine view of the scenery through which the steamer passes.

The breakfast and dining saloon, which is 8 feet high and well ventilated, has a series of separate circular tables, and meals are served at any time. The dining saloon (forward) for steerage or fore-cabin passengers is light and airy.

The ladies’ and gentlemen’s cabins are elegantly fitted up with the usual hand-basins and other conveniences.

There is a shampooing and hairdressing establishment, with a supply of every toilet requisite; a splendid bathroom, affording passengers who have travelled during the night the luxury of a salt-water bath, and a cloak room where they can leave hand-bags and other small articles. There are in addition a book stall and a fruit stall for cabin passengers, and for steerage passengers, a ladies’ cabin forward and several stalls (fruit stalls, &c.) are provided.

The only floating post office in the kingdom is to be found on board the Columba, and in it is transacted a larger amount of business than is transacted in many a provincial town. In it letters, telegrams and parcels are received, stamped, sorted and distributed at every calling place, for transmission to all parts, and it is of immense convenience to tourists and the inhabitants along the route. Upwards of 100,000 letters pass through this office in a month, of which a large proportion are local letters passing between the coast towns and villages at which the steamer calls. Over 450 telegrams were handed in, and upward of £70 received for postage and telegraph stamps in one month. The most sanguine expectations of the Post Office Department being more than realised, has induced the Postmaster-General to add to the staff. Three post office officials travel with the Columba. Postal orders can be purchased, and those issued at other offices in the kingdom cashed on board this steamer.

R.M.S. Columba. David MacBrayne.

In 1902 Mr. David MacBrayne assumed as partners his two sons, Mr. David Hope, and Mr. Laurence MacBrayne, the name of the firm remaining unchanged.

Messrs. MacBrayne’s steamers navigate every sound and loch between Port Ellen in the Island of Islay, off the South-west coast of Scotland, and Thurso in the extreme North, and visit almost every island between those two points.

The new steamer Lapwing, built in the early part of the year 1903, proved very successful, and the firm have in course of construction another fine steamer, which is expected to be ready for the service early next year (1904). The fleet at present consists of thirty-one screw and paddle steamships, named as follows:—

HorseSpeed.HorseSpeed.
Power.Knots.Power.Knots.
Columba300019Claymore145015
Iona162518Clansman125014
Fusilier90015Clydesdale100013
Grenadier105016Cavalier120012
Chevalier120016Flowerdale120013
Gondolier60012Glendale140015
Carabinier40012Staffa35012
Mountaineer50015Handa25011
Gael150016Ethel37511
Glengarry35012Fingal32511
Glencoe70012Lochiel41012
Gairlochy50012Linnet4510
Lovedale120014Mabel3510
Lochawe9512Texa25010
Lochness42012Countess958
Lapwing50012

Chapter XVI.
MESSRS. DAVID MACIVER & CO.

The firm of Messrs. David MacIver & Co. was originally founded by the late Mr. David MacIver and his brother Charles, in 1835. Mr. David MacIver had some four years prior to this date formed a steamship company to trade between Liverpool and Glasgow, which he called the City of Glasgow Steampacket Co. The pioneer steamer was named the City of Glasgow, and sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool on the 25th April, 1831. Three other steamers were quickly added to the fleet, viz., the Solway, Vulcan and John Wood, the latter steamer being named after a celebrated shipbuilder of Port Glasgow. In 1835 the City of Glasgow (second) was added to the fleet, and the same year Mr. Charles MacIver joined his brother, and the style of the firm was altered to Messrs. David MacIver & Co., from that of the City of Glasgow Steampacket Co. On the 1st of June, 1837, the celebrated steamer Commodore was launched by Mr. John Wood, and made her first voyage, sailing from the Prince’s Pierhead, Liverpool, on the 6th March, 1838. The Commodore was at that time considered to be the most powerful, most comfortable, and fastest sea-going steamer afloat. The sister ship of this splendid steamer, the Admiral, was launched in the beginning of the year 1840, and proved a faster vessel than her consort. On her trial trip on the 2nd April, 1840, with a full deadweight cargo, she ran 16 miles in 56½ minutes, being five minutes less time than it was ever done by any other steamer.

In 1840 a Mail Steamship Service between Liverpool, Canada and the United States was established, the respective agents being Mr. Samuel Cunard, Halifax; Messrs. J. & G. Burns, Glasgow; and Messrs. David and Charles MacIver, Liverpool, the latter being the practical managers of the company. This service, which afterwards acquired a worldwide reputation as the “Cunard Line,” was modestly inaugurated by the despatch of the Liverpool and Glasgow steamer Unicorn (Captain Douglas), which sailed from Liverpool for Halifax and Boston on Saturday morning, 16th May, 1840. After she completed her outward voyage, she continued to ply between Pictou and Quebec, in connection with the British and North American Royal Mail Steamers.

In 1850 was instituted the steamship service between Liverpool and Havre, the pioneer steamer being the Commodore, the well-known and favourite Liverpool and Glasgow steampacket. The coasting services were then carried on in the name of Charles MacIver & Co. About the same date, steamship services to the Mediterranean were begun. The Havre and the Mediterranean business was conducted in the name of Burns and MacIver.

The elder of the two brothers (the founders of the “MacIver” steamship business), Mr. David MacIver, died unmarried in 1845. His brother, the late Mr. Charles MacIver, of Calderstones, then became the head of the firm, which position he held until his decease in 1885. In 1863 Mr. Charles MacIver admitted his eldest son, Mr. David MacIver, the present M.P. for the Kirkdale Division of Liverpool, into partnership. Mr. David MacIver remained a partner in the firms of D. & C. MacIver, Charles MacIver & Co. and Burns & MacIver for eleven years, when he retired from all three firms, and established an entirely separate steamship business, resuscitating the old title of David MacIver & Co. The first steamer built under the new regime was the Tuscany. She was built in 1876 by Messrs. J. & G. Thomson, Glasgow, and engined by the same eminent firm. After running in Messrs. David MacIver & Co.’s service for a number of years, she was purchased by Portuguese owners, and she is believed to have again changed owners and to be now sailing under the Spanish flag as the Margarita.

The Sicily, the second steamer of the fleet, was built and engined by Messrs. Laird, Birkenhead, in 1876, and was sold to the Cullum Steam Shipping Co., of London.

The following year (1877) the Thessaly and Barbary were built for the firm by the builders of the Sicily. The latter steamer was sold, first to Messrs. Booth & Co., who changed her name to the Clement, and subsequently to the Cia de Cabotagem do Grão Para, by whom she was named the Marajo, and placed under the Brazilian flag.

After an interval of five years, the Albany was contracted for, also with the Messrs. Laird, of Birkenhead. Mr. David MacIver’s connection with Birkenhead is one of very long standing, and he has always laboured to promote its welfare and prosperity. In recognition of his services, he was the elected representative of the Borough from 1874 to 1885. The Albany was considerably larger than any of her predecessors, her principal dimensions being—Length 300 feet 7 inches, breadth 39 feet 2 inches, and depth 26 feet 4 inches; with a deadweight capacity of about 3,500 tons. She was purchased by Messrs. T. W. Lunn & Co., of Newcastle-on-Tyne, by whom she was re-named the Willowdene.

A reference to the list of steamers built for Messrs. David MacIver & Co. will show the distinguishing characteristic of the names to be the terminal letter Y. An amusing incident occurred in this connection during the building of the steamer Albany. A firm of north country shipowners, whose steamers were named after British dukes (omitting the prefix “Duke of”), had selected “Albany” for a vessel then under construction, and they made the cool request to Messrs. David MacIver & Co. to change the name of their steamer. It is needless to say they were unable to comply with this request.

For the first few years, the steamers named were not employed in any regular trade, though originally designed for the Mediterranean—hence the names Tuscany, Sicily, Barbary, Thessaly, &c.—but traded, as inducement offered, to the Mediterranean, the Danube, the Black Sea, and elsewhere. They have formed part of the Anchor Line to Bombay, and of the Hall Line to the same port; and they have operated in the North Atlantic in the service of Messrs. Richardson, Spence and Co., between Liverpool and Philadelphia.

In 1883 Messrs. David MacIver & Co. despatched their first steamer to the River Plate, and two years later they established a regular service between Liverpool and Buenos Ayres, Montevideo and Rosario.

In 1893, Mr. Charles Livingston, who had been associated with Mr. MacIver for two years previously, became a partner in the firm. Mr. Livingston takes a very active part in the management of the steamers, and he has devoted himself with great energy and success to the development of the River Plate trade with Great Britain. The five steamers named having become too small for the requirements of the service in which they were engaged, were disposed of, as stated, to various buyers and replaced by modern steamers of greater capacity and higher speed. These later steamers have all been designed specially for the River Plate trade, and although large carriers, are of remarkably light draught, thus enabling them to ascend to Rosario, without putting consignees and shippers to the risk and expense of transhipping cargo.

In 1894 contracts were placed with Sir Raylton Dixon & Co., Middlesbrough, for three steamers of exactly similar dimensions and engine power. The first of these was the Saxony, launched December, 1894. She is a steel screw steamer of 3,500 tons deadweight, and fitted with triple-expansion engines (constructed by Blair & Co., Ltd., Stockton) working up to about 1,500 horse-power effective. The following month (January, 1895) her sister ship, the Normandy, was delivered, and February of the same year witnessed the completion of the third vessel, the Lombardy.

The steamer which succeeded these was 1,000 tons larger. She is named the Brittany, and was built in 1898 by Messrs. Richardson, Duck & Co., Stockton. She is a steel screw steamer, 330 feet long, by 43 feet beam and 16 feet 6 inches depth, with a deadweight carrying capacity of 4,500 tons. She is, like all her sister ships, propelled by triple-expansion engines constructed by Blair & Co., Ltd., Stockton.

The opening of the 20th century was marked by a further and an important advance in the carrying capacity of the firm’s steamers. Contracts were placed with Messrs. Richardson, Duck & Co. for three steamers, two of which are each of about 6,500 tons, and the third of about 5,500 tons deadweight. The first of the trio, the Barbary (second of that name) was delivered in May, 1901, and the Tartary in July following. Both these vessels are practically identical as regards size and power. They are each 370 feet long, with a beam of 48 feet 1 inch, and a depth of 19 feet and a half. Their engines (triple-expansion) develop 3,000 horse-power. In November of the same year the Burgundy, a vessel of somewhat smaller dimensions, was completed.

The fleet of Messrs. David MacIver & Co.’s line to the River Plate at present consists of seven full-powered steamers, but before the close of the present year an eighth steamer, the Araby, now in course of construction, and of about the same dimensions as the Burgundy, will be placed on the service. Formerly the steamers were each registered as a single ship company, but in 1900 they were all incorporated in David MacIver, Sons and Co., Ltd.

The Directors of the Limited Company are David MacIver, Esq., M.P., his son Charles MacIver, Esq., and Charles Livingston, Esq. The steamers of Messrs. David MacIver and Co.’s line are deservedly popular with shippers and consignees in the River Plate trade, who are able to depend upon them for regularity of service and careful handling of their goods, and with underwriters for their freedom from serious accidents. All the steamers are comparatively new, and are fitted with the most modern and perfect appliances for the rapid and effective loading and discharging of general cargo.

Special attention has been given by the Company to the transit of cattle to and from the River Plate, and each of the steamers is fitted with permanent fittings for the conveyance of live stock. The headquarters of Messrs. David MacIver and Co.’s line are, and have always been situated in Liverpool, from which port it maintains a regular fortnightly service to and from Buenos Ayres, Montevideo and Rosario, throughout the year.

Chapter XVII.
MACIVER’S LIVERPOOL AND GLASGOW
STEAMERS.

In the autumn of 1826 the New Clyde Shipping Company advertised that their steampacket Enterprise (Captain M’Farlane) would sail weekly between Liverpool and Glasgow. She was a very small steamer, being only 210 tons burthen, and the owners announced that, in consequence of her light draft, she would proceed direct to Glasgow, and not transfer her passengers to river steamers at Greenock, as the larger steamers had to do. The first agents of the company were Messrs. M’Nair and Brebner, 33, Water Street, but in January, 1829, the agency was transferred to Mr. David MacIver, 18, Water Street. A few months later the Glasgow and Liverpool Shipping Company was formed, and in 1831 that company acquired the Mersey and Clyde Steam Navigation Company’s steampackets Henry Bell, James Watt, and Wm. Huskisson, as well as the Enterprise. The New Clyde Shipping Company having ceased operations, Mr. MacIver formed a new steamship line of his own, which he called the City of Glasgow Steampacket Company. The pioneer steamer was named the City of Glasgow and sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool on the 25th April, 1831. Three other steamers were quickly added to the fleet, viz., the Solway, Vulcan, and John Wood, the latter steamer being named after a celebrated shipbuilder at Port Glasgow. In 1835 the City of Glasgow (second) was put on the station, and the sailings were increased to three per week from each port. Mr. Charles MacIver joined his brother this year, and the style of the firm was changed to D. MacIver & Co.

In 1837 the celebrated steamship Commodore was built, followed in 1840 by her equally famous sister ship, Admiral.

All the steamers engaged in the Liverpool and Glasgow trade prior to 1839 were built of wood, but in that year a new steamship company entered into competition with the existing companies, and placed the Royal Sovereign, an iron steamer, on the station., The immediate result was a heavy drop in passenger and freight rates. Steerage passengers were carried for 1s. each, and boxes and bale goods for 1d. per foot measurement. The following year (1840) a mail steamship service between Liverpool, Canada, and U.S.A. was established, the respective agents of the company being D. and C. MacIver, Liverpool; J. and G. Burns, Glasgow; and Samuel Cunard, Halifax. This service, which afterwards acquired a world-wide reputation as the “Cunard line,” was modestly inaugurated by the despatch of the Liverpool and Glasgow steampacket Unicorn (Captain Douglas). This vessel (the real pioneer of the Cunard line) sailed from Liverpool for Halifax and Boston on Saturday morning, 16th May, 1840. After she completed her outward voyage, she continued to ply between Pictou and Quebec in connection between the British and N.A. Royal mail steamers. Although there were three perfectly distinct steamship companies trading between Liverpool and Glasgow, yet so friendly were the respective owners towards each other that in 1846 they issued a joint sailing bill, which included the whole of the sailings for all the companies. This arrangement continued unchanged for seven years (1853), at the end of which period the Princess Royal was advertised separately. At this date the quickest, cheapest (although the fares were double what they now are), and most comfortable mode of travelling between Liverpool and Glasgow was by steamer. The steamers were large, swift, and luxuriously furnished, and so numerous were the passengers that the joint companies maintained a daily service. From the year 1853 the two services, the MacIver and the Burns, were amalgamated, the joint line being represented in Liverpool by Chas. MacIver & Co., and in Glasgow by G. and J. Burns. In 1850 Messrs. Chas. MacIver & Co. instituted the steamship service between Liverpool and Havre, the pioneer steamer being the Commodore, the well-known Liverpool and Glasgow steampacket. About the same date the steamship services to the Mediterranean were begun by Messrs. MacIver, under the style of Messrs. Burns and MacIver. Until the year 1853 no distinctive class of name had been adopted for the coasting steamers of the MacIver line, but in that year the Elk and Stag were built, followed by the Lynx and Stork. These were the last of the paddle-steamers built to run between Liverpool and Glasgow. In 1855 the owners decided to place screw-steamers on this station, and accordingly built the screw-steamers Otter, Beaver, and Zebra. The Zebra was a large and powerful vessel, and was amongst the earliest of the steamers taken up by Government for transport duty during the Crimean war. All the succeeding steamers have been of the same type, and have been named after animals or birds. The joint service remained in force for nearly half a century, until (in 1895) Messrs. G. and J. Burns opened an office in Liverpool, and placed the steamers Mastiff, Pointer and Spaniel on the station. The elder of the two brothers (the founders of the “MacIver” steamship business), Mr. David MacIver, died unmarried in 1845. His brother, the late Mr. Charles MacIver, of Calderstone, then became the head of the firm, which position he held until his death in 1885. The long connection of the “MacIvers” with the Cunard Company was terminated in 1883, and they retired from the management. Messrs. Charles and Henry MacIver (the younger sons of the late Mr. Charles MacIver) retain the old styles of D. and C. MacIver (for their foreign trades) and Chas. MacIver & Co. for the steamers trading between Liverpool and Glasgow.

Chapter XVIII.
SLIGO STEAM NAVIGATION CO., LTD.

During the first half of the last century Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, of Sligo, owned a large fleet of sailing vessels. Some of these vessels were barques which traded to foreign ports, but others were swift, staunch schooners which traded regularly between Sligo and Liverpool, and Sligo and Bristol Channel and Glasgow. But the schooners laboured under one serious disadvantage—the uncertainty of the duration of the passage. With favourable weather it might be accomplished in a few days, but with adverse gales or fogs it might occupy as many weeks. It is self-evident that, in competition with steamers, schooners have no chance of success, so in 1856 Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen decided to employ steam in their Sligo and Liverpool trade, and for this purpose built a small steamer, which they named the Sligo. The following year (1857) they put the Sligo on the Sligo and Glasgow station in opposition to Messrs. Cameron and Co. Five years later (1862) a company was formed with the title of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, Limited, which took over the steamship business of Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, and which has continued to flourish, financially and otherwise. The company in 1865 built a larger steamer than the Sligo, and named her Liverpool. The opposition in the Sligo services began under the regime of Messrs. Middleton and Pollexfen, continued for some years after the formation of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, but was finally settled amicably. Messrs. Alexander A. Laird and Co. (successors to Messrs. Cameron and Co.) retired from the Sligo and Liverpool trade, and the Sligo Company withdrew from the Glasgow trade, purchasing the Garland, which they renamed the Glasgow. Having disposed of the Sligo, the company purchased a swift Clyde-built cargo and passenger steamer, to which they transferred the name. The Liverpool was sold in 1892 to Preston buyers, but has been for several years, and is now, employed by the Cunard Company to maintain their Liverpool and Havre service. The same year the largest steamer yet built by the company was placed on the Liverpool and Sligo station. The new vessel (the Liverpool) was constructed by Messrs. John Jones and Sons, of Liverpool, and was built to the specifications and under the supervision of Mr. H. H. West, the naval architect for the Sligo Steam Navigation Company. She is a smart-looking boat of the following dimensions:—Length between perpendiculars, 206 feet; breadth, moulded, 29 feet; and depth, 15 feet 3½ inches. Her gross register is 700 tons, and net 332 tons. The carriage of cattle being a very important feature of the trade, careful consideration has been given to the cattle fittings. Being a larger vessel than any of her predecessors, increased accommodation is also provided for saloon and deck passengers, as the trade is increasing in this direction very considerably. The saloon and cabins are fitted up in a substantial and comfortable manner. The engines (triple expansion), also constructed by Messrs. Jones and Sons, are of 1,000 indicated h.p. On her trial trip the Liverpool attained a speed of 13 knots, being a knot in excess of contract speed. The ship is lighted throughout by electricity. The loading berth for the company’s steamers was, originally, in the Trafalgar Dock, but is now on the east side of the Clarence Basin, a berth they have occupied since about 1867. The company despatches the Liverpool or Sligo once a week between the two ports, sailing from Liverpool every Tuesday, and from Sligo every Saturday. In addition to this, its main service, the company has a Government contract, on which the steamer Tartar is employed. This steamer sails twice a week in winter, and three times per week in summer, from Sligo to Belmullet, calling at Rosses Point, Ballycastle, and Belderrig, to land and embark passengers. It is a favourite tourist route in summer, affording a splendid view of the wild coast scenery of the West of Ireland. The distance run is about 70 miles, and the time occupied about six hours. The steamers of the Sligo Steam Navigation Company, sailing between Liverpool and Sligo, are exposed to all the force and fury of the Atlantic gales, as they steam along the north and north-west coasts of Ireland. It is, therefore, an eloquent testimonial to the strength of their construction, as well as to the ability with which they are managed, and navigated, that they sail with unfailing regularity in winter as in summer, and with a most gratifying freedom from accidents.

Chapter XIX.
WATERFORD STEAMSHIP COMPANY.

Early in the year 1836 several Waterford merchants determined to run steamers between Waterford and Liverpool in opposition to the steamers owned by the Messrs. Pope, of the former port. Accordingly, on the 11th January, 1837, there was launched from Mr. John Laird’s yard, Birkenhead, the Duncannon, a small iron paddle-steamer of 200 tons burthen, to the order of the Waterford Commercial Steam Navigation Company, represented in Liverpool by Archer, Daly & Co., of 2, Cook Street. Three years later (1840) a second steamer, the Wm. Penn, was added to the service. The new company was so successful in its venture that in a short time the Messrs. Pope either abandoned the trade, or were absorbed by their rivals, who thereupon appear to have adopted the title of the Waterford Steamship Company. There had been for years keen rivalry between the St. George Steampacket Company and the City of Dublin Steampacket Company, and when the business of the former was transferred to the Cork Steamship Company, the directors of the City of Dublin Company were by no means favourably disposed to the new management. This unfriendly feeling was extended to the Waterford Steamship Company, because Mr. Joseph Malcomson (chairman of the latter company) was offered, and accepted, a seat on the board of the Cork Steamship Company, and his firm (Messrs. Malcomson Brothers) invested largely in the Cork Company’s shares. The following year the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway was opened from Waterford to Thomastown. The directors asked the Waterford Steamship Company to change their loading berth from the south side of the River Suir to the north side, adjacent to the railway company’s terminus. This the steamship company refused to do. In consequence of this refusal, the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway Company induced the City of Dublin Company to put on steamers between Waterford and Liverpool. But, as the City of Dublin Company had no steamers of their own available, they chartered steamers from the British and Irish Steampacket Company, which they placed on the Liverpool and Waterford station. Meantime, the Waterford Steamship Company had not been idle. The late Liverpool agent of the company (Mr. George K. Payne) was detailed to organise an opposition to the railway company, with emphatic instructions not to permit a single passenger to be carried by the railway company between Waterford and Thomastown, or vice versa. The distance was only twelve miles, and an efficient car service was at once established between the two towns. Not only was the service an efficient one, but, rather than permit passengers to travel by the railway company, the drivers of the cars would take them for nothing. Of course, there were not wanting those who prophesied that the Waterford Company and the Messrs. Malcomson (who had acquired the whole of the steamship company’s shares) would be ruined by the opposition. Malcomson Brothers, however, referred inquirers as to their stability to Messrs. Overend, Gurney & Co., then at the zenith of their power, whose reply was:—“We guarantee Messrs. Malcomson Brothers to the extent of two million pounds sterling.”

Clodagh s.s. (new 1903). Waterford Steamship Co., Ltd.

Equally fierce was the opposition in the cross-channel service. Passengers were frequently carried without charge between Liverpool and Waterford, as well as between Liverpool and Dublin. A story is told of a passenger going into the Dublin Company’s office in Waterford, and asking what the cabin fare was to Liverpool. He was told he would be taken for nothing, to which he replied, “That is not good enough; you must feed me as well.” A similar tradition exists with regard to the Liverpool and Dublin service, namely, that when one of the rival companies advertised its willingness to carry passengers for nothing, and to give them a loaf of bread, the other company capped the offer by the addition of a bottle of Guinness’ stout. Not content with carrying the war into the enemy’s country by running horsecars between Waterford and Thomastown, the Waterford Steamship Company placed their steamer Lion on the Liverpool and Dublin station, and chartered a steamer from the Cork Steamship Company to run in opposition to the British and Irish Company between Dublin and London. Thereupon, the British and Irish Company chartered a steamer from Langtry’s Belfast Steamship Company to run between Liverpool and Cork, and the Cork Company, as a counter move, placed their steamer Minerva on the Liverpool and Belfast station. The opposition was maintained with unabated fierceness for about three years, at the end of which time the City of Dublin Company and the Waterford Company arrived at an amicable settlement, each company agreeing to cease opposing the other. The Belfast Steamship Company and the British and Irish Company having now to bear the brunt of the opposition, without the support of the City of Dublin Company, deemed it wise to make the best terms they could with their opponents. Accordingly, the Belfast Company divided the Liverpool and Belfast trade with the Cork Company, and the British and Irish Steampacket Company shared their London and Dublin trade with the Waterford Steamship Company. The Cork Company continued to run steamers between Liverpool and Belfast for several years, but were eventually bought off by the Belfast Steamship Company. The Waterford Company ran two steamers regularly between London and Dublin until the year 1870, when they also were bought off by the British and Irish Steampacket Company. Prior to the City of Dublin Company’s opposition, the Bristol Steam Navigation Company and the Waterford Steamship Company had maintained a joint service between Waterford and Bristol. The Bristol Company’s boat left Waterford on Tuesday to catch the Bristol cattle market, and the Waterford Company’s boat left Waterford on Friday. As a consequence of the low rates which were in force during the opposition, a great deal of traffic was diverted from the Bristol route to the Liverpool route, and the Bristol Company suspended their sailings to and from Waterford. The Waterford Company thereupon took up the Tuesday sailings to Bristol. When the Liverpool opposition ceased, the Bristol Company wished to resume their Tuesday sailings from Waterford. The Waterford Company, however, refused to withdraw their Tuesday steamer, but agreed to let the Bristol Company have the Friday sailing. The close and friendly relationship which had formerly existed between these two companies became somewhat strained, and ultimately ended in so wide a breach that the Waterford Company purchased the paddle steamer Victory from the Cork Steamship Company, and placed her on the station between Bristol and Dublin, in opposition to the Bristol Steam Navigation Company. This opposition was withdrawn upon the Bristol Company undertaking to pay the Waterford Company an annual sum of £1,000, which sum they continued to pay for a great many years. About the year 1847, Malcomson Brothers (the owners of the Waterford Steamship Company) purchased the steamer Dublin, for employment in one of their London trades. She was the first screw steamer owned by any Irish company or firm, and she proved so successful that her new owners had all their subsequent steamers fitted with screws, except one boat for a special trade. Being shareholders in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Malcomson Brothers induced the directors of that company to introduce screw steamers into their fleet. It was also by the advice of Messrs. Malcomson that Richardson Brothers, the promoters and first managers of the Inman line, built screw steamers for the Atlantic. The Messrs. Malcomson were no mere theorists in steamship construction; they decided to build the steamers they owned. For this reason they established (in 1847) an iron shipbuilding and engineering works at Waterford, under the style of the Neptune Iron Works. They were fortunate in securing for their manager a talented shipbuilder, the late Mr. John Horn, who was succeeded by his son, Mr. Andrew Horn, an engineer of very exceptional abilities, and who is the present superintendent engineer of the company. About 40 steamers were built at the Neptune Iron Works before they were closed, several of which became famous, and all of which were noted for their strength of hull and engines.

In 1849 the Waterford Steamship Company (Malcomson Brothers) built at their Neptune Iron Works, Waterford, the steamer Mars. Her original plans, which were for a paddle-boat, were altered while she was on the stocks, and she was launched a screw steamer. She was the first screw steamer placed on the Liverpool and Waterford station, and at first the cattle shippers did not like the idea of shipping by her, especially as on one of her early voyages she heeled over on leaving Waterford Quay, and killed a large number of cattle; but the late Captain Burns was put in command, and she proved herself to be a safe carrier, and speedily became a favourite boat in the trade. Two years prior to this date (1847) Malcomson Brothers built at the same yard the steamer Neptune—this was the first steamer built at the Neptune Iron Works, and she was also the first steamer to run to St. Petersburg. It happened in this way. The Russian Government were very anxious to get a line of steamers established between England and St. Petersburg, and made overtures on the subject to Malcomson Brothers. As a result, the latter agreed to start a line from London, of which the pioneer steamer was wrecked in the Baltic on her first outward voyage. The Neptune was then despatched. When she arrived at Cronstadt the Mayor of St. Petersburg came on board in state, and as she steamed up the Neva, H.I.M. the Czar Nicholas met her in his state barge; the forts and warships fired salutes of honour, and all the merchant ships were covered with flags. To commemorate this important event, his Majesty the Czar commanded that whenever the Neptune came to St. Petersburg she was to be free of port and pilotage dues.

At the time of which I write, it was impossible to over-estimate the influence of Malcomson Brothers in the commercial steamship world. We have seen how they were consulted by the directors of the P. and O., and by the promoters of the Inman line. In addition to their coasting fleets they had steamers in the Eastern trade, one of which—the Una—was one of the first steamers to pass through the Suez Canal. They were also the pioneers of the Liverpool and River Plate trade, and were, I believe, the predecessors of Lamport and Holt. Amongst the large fleet of steamers built for the Waterford Steamship Company at their own shipbuilding and engineering works was a screw steamer, the William Penn. This steamer was sold by the Waterford Steamship Company, and her new owners, having lengthened her and given her a fourth mast, renamed her the European. As the European she ran for a number of years in H. N. Hughes and Nephew’s line between Liverpool and Bombay. She afterwards was transferred to, or chartered by, Geo. Warren and Co., and while in their Boston and Liverpool service, in the early seventies, she had the proud distinction of being the first steamer to bring to Liverpool an importation of American live cattle, consigned to Geo. Roddick and Co., Chapel Walks. Since the withdrawal of the Malcomsons from the active control of the company, the management of the Waterford Steamship Company has been vested in Mr. C. Morley, under whose able management the steamers have been maintained in a state of thorough efficiency and up-to-dateness. The fleet of the company at the present date consists of the following powerful steamers, which make their passages to and from Liverpool and Waterford with unfailing regularity in about 18 hours, summer and winter, viz.:—Lara, Comeragh, Reginald, Dunbrody and Menapia.

The Dunbrody has a complete installation of electric light, including the holds, and her lower holds for the entire length form a refrigerator. A further and larger addition, the Clodagh, now building, will shortly be added to the fleet, embracing all the above improvements, with an increased speed, and increased first-class passenger accommodation.

The Waterford Steamship Company were amongst the first steamship owners to discard the bowsprit and figure-head, and to adopt the straight stem. They were also amongst the first owners to build steamers with saloons amidships, and it is their proud boast that in the Liverpool and Waterford service, extending over sixty years, they never lost a ship or a human life.

The late T. H. Ismay, Esq.

Chapter XX.
WHITE STAR LINE.

The White Star Line was founded about the middle of the last century by the owners of a line of smart clippers sailing between England and Australia. The great rush of adventurers to the Australian gold diggings in the “fifties” gave a great impetus to the trade between Great Britain and the Colonies. In the course of seven years the White Star, Black Ball and other lines carried about half a million passengers to the Antipodes. The “White Star” boats, even in those days, were the largest of their class, and amongst them were the famous wooden clippers Golden Era, Champion of the Seas, Blue Jacket, and White Star, vessels of from 3,000 to 4,500 tons gross. An important change took place in the destinies of the line in 1867, when the managing owner retired, and the late Thomas Henry Ismay took over the flag. Two years later came the great event in the history of the White Star Line, when Mr. Ismay induced some friends to join him in the formation of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company. It was an enterprise boldly conceived, and carried out with great judgment. Boldly conceived, for there were already four companies each maintaining a regular weekly service between Liverpool and New York. Nor were these small companies, or of indifferent reputation. There was the Cunard Company, established about thirty years previously; the Inman Line, with a fine fleet of clipper passenger steamers; the Guion Line, with its large American connections; and the National Line, with its fleet of huge cargo carriers. In spite of this, Mr. Ismay was confident that there was room for a high-class Trans-Atlantic passenger service, and the shares in the new company (£1,000 each fully paid) were at once privately taken up by the firm of T. H. Ismay & Co. and their friends, amongst whom were some of the most substantial names in England. The following year Mr. Imrie (of the late firm of Imrie, Tomlinson & Co.) joined Mr. Ismay, and the style of the firm was altered to Ismay, Imrie & Co.

The first step taken by the managers of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company was to arrange with the celebrated shipbuilders, Messrs. Harland and Wolff, Belfast, for the construction of a fleet of high-class steamships, expressly for the American passenger trade. The pioneer vessel of the line (the Oceanic) was launched on the 27th August, 1870, and started on her maiden voyage under the White Star flag on the 2nd March, 1871. After running for several years between Liverpool and New York, this steamer (Oceanic, the first), along with her sister ships, Gaelic and Belgic, were chartered to the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, of San Francisco, to maintain a mail service between that port and the Orient. The Oceanic was quickly followed on the Liverpool-New York service by the Baltic, Republic, Adriatic and Celtic, and weekly sailings from both ports were instituted. These steamers were all of the one type, straight stems, four masts, single funnel, and saloon amidships. They proved themselves to be equal in speed and superior in accommodation to any ships then afloat. Four more steamers were added to the fleet in 1873, viz., the Asiatic, Tropic, Gaelic and Belgic. A great advance on the earlier steamships was made in 1874, when the Britannic was launched, followed by her sister ship, the Germanic, in 1875. Prior to the formation of the White Star Atlantic Fleet, the passage between Liverpool and New York had averaged 9½ or 10 days, the Oceanic and her consorts reduced it to about 8½ days, whilst the Britannic and Germanic brought the time down to about 7½ days.

These vessels, with the exception of the two last named which were larger and faster, were almost uniform in size and speed. These, and the later vessels of the fleet, were designed and built to attain the three-fold purpose of safety, speed and comfort, and their performances have certainly realised the expectations of their owners. Speed has been an important, but a secondary, consideration, as is shewn by the following extract from the “Book of Regulations” of the White Star Line of steamers:—

“The commanders must distinctly understand that the issue of the following instructions does not, in any way, relieve them from entire responsibility for the safe and efficient navigation of their respective vessels; and they are also enjoined to remember that, whilst they are expected to use every diligence to secure a speedy voyage, they must run no risk which might by any possibility result in accident to their ships. It is to be hoped that they will ever bear in mind that the safety of the lives and property entrusted to their care is the ruling principle that should govern them in the navigation of their ships, and no supposed gain in expedition or saving of time on the voyage is to be purchased at the risk of accident. The company desires to establish and maintain for its vessels a reputation for safety, and only looks for such speed on the various voyages as is consistent with safe and prudent navigation.”

Not content with giving this general regulation, the managers have issued to the commanders of the respective ships of the fleet a special autograph letter, laying special emphasis on the supreme importance of extreme and unvarying caution and prudence in the navigation of the company’s vessels. The concluding paragraph of this letter is as follows:—

“Under all these circumstances of paramount and engrossing interest to the company, whose property is under your charge, we invite you to dismiss from your mind all idea of competitive passages with other vessels, the advantage of success in which is merely transient, concentrating your whole attention upon a cautious, prudent, and ever-watchful system of navigation which shall lose time, or suffer any other temporary inconvenience, rather than run the slightest risk which can be avoided.”

The Britannic when she first came out was fitted with a novelty in the shape of a “lifting propeller.” This propeller was a patent of the late Sir Edward Harland, senior partner of the firm by whom the Britannic was built. In long ships the pitching in a heavy sea, and the vertical motion of the waves, tend to expose the upper portion of the propeller, the evil effects arising from this being the “racing” of the engines and its attendant dangers, together with a diminished speed. Sir Edward Harland believed that a propeller which could be worked at any depth, and which did not require the stoppage of the vessel whilst it was being raised or lowered, would reduce these risks to a minimum, if it did not entirely remove them. In actual practice, however, it was found that the advantages of the new principle did not compensate for its disadvantages, and, after a fair trial had been given to it, it was abandoned in favour of the old style of screw. In a letter, dated 3rd December, 1874, addressed to the late Mr. W. S. Lindsay, Messrs. Ismay, Imrie & Co. state:—“The average speed of the Britannic is fifteen knots per hour on a consumption of 75 to 80 tons of coal per day, and her approximate cost, built without contract, is £200,000.”

From 1873 until 1884 the White Star Line maintained its position as the fastest fleet on the Atlantic, a result to which the Britannic and Germanic contributed in no small degree. In September, 1890, the Britannic eclipsed her own previous record of 7 days 9½ hours, by crossing from New York to Queenstown in 7 days 6 hours 55 minutes, at an average speed of 16·80 knots. The following year (September, 1891) she surpassed even this rapid passage, by making the run from New York to Queenstown in 7 days 6 hours 52 minutes. While employed by H.M. Government to convey troops during the late war in South Africa, she made the run from Queenstown to the Cape in 19 days, a speed surpassed by few of the transports engaged. In August, 1891, the Germanic following in the track of her sister ship, travelled from New York to Queenstown in 7 days 7 hours 37 minutes, at an average speed of 16·10 knots per hour. When it is remembered that this high speed (nearly nineteen statute miles per hour) was attained by vessels over 20 years old, with their original compound engines and boilers, it will be acknowledged that, having regard to their small coal consumption and large carrying capacity, the Britannic and Germanic have given results unattainable with the fastest ships of the present day.

The Germanic in 1895 received new engines and boilers, and had her passenger quarters entirely remodelled on the plan of the Majestic and Teutonic. In July of that year she crossed from Queenstown to New York in 6 days 23 hours 45 minutes, and in August of the year following in 6 days 21 hours and 38 minutes, thus showing a substantial increase of speed.

After the launch of these two famous steamers, there was an interval of six years during which no new vessels were added to the fleet. The next additions were the Arabic and Coptic, for the Trans-Pacific trade, in 1881. In the same year Mr. W. S. Graves, son of a well-known former M.P. for Liverpool, became a partner.

Oceanic (1870). White Star Line.

In 1883 the Ionic and Doric were built for the New Zealand trade—the Shaw, Savill and Albion Line from London. In 1885 the Gaelic and Belgic—replacing the two older ships of the same names—were built for the Trans-Pacific trade. A new type of steamer for the cargo and cattle trade between Liverpool and New York was introduced in 1888, the two first steamers of the new type being the Cufic and Runic. These vessels were the last single screw ships ordered for the White Star Line, all the succeeding vessels being of the twin-screw type. The Cufic and Runic proved successful enough to warrant the company in forming a complete service of cargo and cattle steamers. After doing very efficient service as cattle carriers, the Cufic was sold to a Liverpool firm, who changed her name to the Manxman, and the Runic, also sold to a Liverpool firm, is engaged in the West Indian trade under the name of the Tampican.

In January, 1889, was launched the Teutonic, the first of the celebrated pair of twin-screw mercantile armed cruisers (Teutonic and Majestic), each 10,000 tons, which have since made for themselves a great reputation in the New York mail and passenger service. The keel of the Teutonic was laid in March, 1887. The vessel was launched 22 months later, and she left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York on the 7th August, 1889. Prior to going on to her regular station, she was present, armed with eight quick-firing guns, at the naval inspection by the German Emperor at Spithead in the beginning of August, 1889. On that occasion she astonished nautical critics with her splendid proportions, and was honoured by a special visit from H.I.M. the Kaiser, and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales (now H.M. King Edward VII.). She was again present with a large party of guests at the Diamond Jubilee Naval Review in June, 1897, when she carried an armament of 16 guns. Her sister ship, the Majestic, was launched on the 29th June, 1889, but did not start on her first voyage until the 2nd April, 1890.

The length of time occupied in the building of these great ships is sufficient evidence, if any were needed, of the great care bestowed on their construction, and the builders, Messrs. Harland & Wolff, have their reward in witnessing the successful work which is being performed by two of the finest vessels the world has ever seen. These two beautiful vessels quickly lowered the record on the Atlantic. In July, 1891, the Majestic steamed from Queenstown to New York in 5 days 18 hours and 8 minutes, the fastest passage then on record, but even this was eclipsed by the Teutonic the succeeding month by a passage of 5 days 16½ hours duration.

R.M.S. Teutonic. White Star Line.

On January 1st, 1891, Mr. Ismay’s two elder sons, Mr. J. Bruce Ismay (previously the company’s agent in New York) and Mr. James H. Ismay, were admitted members of the firm. After 40 years’ business life Mr. T. H. Ismay, on the 31st December, 1891, retired from the firm of Ismay, Imrie & Co., but he continued to fill the position of chairman of the White Star Line until his decease in November, 1899.

A large and handsome twin-screw passenger and mail steamer, the Gothic, of 7,755 tons, was added to the company’s New Zealand fleet in 1893, and four years later (1897) the Delphic, 8,273 tons, a twin-screw cargo steamer, with accommodation for one class of passengers only, was placed in the New Zealand service.

Recognising that very considerable numbers of passengers are willing to sacrifice speed to comfort and safety, the managers of the White Star Line determined to make an innovation by building a twin-screw cargo steamer of exceptional size and power, fitted with accommodation for a limited number of saloon and third-class passengers. The new steamer which was called the Cymric, commenced work in the Liverpool and New York trade in 1898. Her tonnage is 13,096 tons gross. Her passenger accommodation in both classes is excellent, and she has proved a very attractive ship.

The autumn of 1899 was the most eventful period in the history of the White Star Line. The Company, having sold all its sailing ships formerly employed between England and Australia, determined upon replacing them by a line of high-class steamships, and the first steamer of the new line—the Medic, 11,984 tons—sailed from Liverpool for Australian ports on the 3rd August. She was followed by the Afric, Persic, Runic and Suevic. All these five vessels are approximately of the same size, propelled by twin screws, and maintain a regular monthly service between Liverpool and Australia, via the Cape. The first return voyage of the Medic was taken advantage of by the Australian Government for the conveyance of the first contingent of Colonial troops and horses to the Cape. Intense public interest was excited by the arrival, in the Mersey from Belfast of the Oceanic, the second, on Saturday, 27th August, 1899, but almost at the moment of their greatest triumph the White Star Line suffered the irreparable loss of the founder of the Company. Mr. T. H. Ismay passed away, after a severe illness lasting three months, on the 23rd November, 1899. The extent of the loss caused by his death to the community at large, was very feelingly expressed by the “Times,” in its issue of the following day.

The second Oceanic sailed on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on the 6th September, 1899. The following description of her appeared in the “Liverpool Daily Post” of 31st August, 1899:—

“Big as she is, the Oceanic appeared nothing remarkable as she lay yesterday in the Canada Dock, while coal was being poured into her bunkers from eight grimy barges lying alongside. This was because the Liverpool docks are themselves gigantic. It was only when, from the bridge of the Oceanic, 66 feet above the water-line, one looked down upon the whole length of the vessel and upon the expanse of docks and sheds, that her size was realised. On the opposite side of the dock was the Cymric, from the depths of which a horde of labourers were discharging cargo. Now the Cymric is the largest cargo steamer in the world, 2,500 tons larger than either the Majestic or Teutonic. But from the Oceanic’s bridge she looked positively like a coaster. One looked down upon her busy decks as one might look from the roof of a house into a street. Why the bulk of the Oceanic is not the first thing that strikes the attention, is because her lines are graceful. She is huge, but she is not elephantine. Her masts, even at the point where they enter the top mast or spar deck, are nearly three feet in diameter, that is, they are as high and as thick as patriarchal oak; but from a near distance they look slim and tapering. The same may be said of the ship’s boats which are as big as barges. The fact is, that everything about this latest creation of shipping enterprise is proportioned so beautifully that the mere hugeness of it all is only apprehended by remembering such facts as, that her rudder and stern frame weigh 150 tons; that 100 tons of cable lie coiled on her foc’sle deck; that she is composed of 17,000 steel plates, many weighing from two to three and a quarter tons; that her promenade deck is 400 feet long; and that her monster engines can move with the power of 28,000 horses. To look down into the engine room from the big sky-light on the top deck is to have a glimpse into a world that to people not used to shipping is one of strange activity; a world where diminutive human ants are moving in a tropical atmosphere across narrow bridges, busy preparing this Brobdignagian apparatus for its first struggle with the forces of the wide Atlantic, which the Oceanic is to cross with the speed and certainty of an express train—the conquest of the mighty force of matter by the mighty force of mind....

“But much has been written already of the ship as a triumph of science; the more immediate purpose here is to speak of her as a triumph of art, as the last thing, so far, in the way of floating hotels.... State rooms in scores to the right and to the left; now mahogany, now oak; now satinwood; now a mixture of any two or three of them, until the lavishness of everything became surfeiting, notwithstanding that the Louis Quinze style succeeded the Queen Anne, and the Queen Anne gave place to something ‘too utter’ in decadent sumptuousness. Three decks of these apartments, with lavatories of costly marble, suites of baths, and every other appurtenance of physical comfort placed conveniently here and there. It is the literal truth to say that the Oceanic is a Hotel Cecil afloat.”

It would serve no purpose to weary the reader with a decorator’s specification, but the following are the dimensions of the Oceanic, and of the principal apartments on board:—

The library, on the promenade deck, has a length of 53 feet and a width of 40 feet.

The saloon is 80 feet by 64 feet. The central glass dome is 21 feet square, and is divided up by golden ribs and filled in with white ground glass of a pearly appearance.

R.M.S. Oceanic (1899). White Star Line.

The length of the ship over all is 705½ feet; the length between perpendiculars, 685 feet; breadth, 68 feet; depth, 44 feet; gross tonnage, 17,274 tons; load displacement, 28,000 tons; engines, 28,000 I.H.P.

R.M.S. Celtic. White Star Line.

Mr. Harold Arthur Sanderson, who had occupied the position of general manager to Ismay, Imrie & Co. for five years, was admitted a partner on the 1st January, 1900. The Celtic, a monster steamer of 20,904 tons gross, was added to the fleet in 1901. A sister ship to the Celtic was launched at Belfast on the 21st August, 1902. The new vessel is named the Cedric, and has the distinction of exceeding in size anything afloat, British or foreign. Like the Celtic, she is classed as an intermediate ship, not so fast as the Oceanic, but yet speedy. Her length is 700 feet and her beam 75 feet, with a gross tonnage of 21,000 tons. She sailed on her first voyage from Liverpool on the 11th February, 1903.

R.M.S. Cymric. White Star Line.

In 1902 Mr. J. P. Morgan succeeded in welding into one huge commercial undertaking, with a capital of £32,000,000, several of the principal Transatlantic steamship companies, including the famous White Star Line. The purchase money for the latter alone exceeded ten millions sterling, three millions of which was payable in cash on the 31st December, 1902, and, as a matter of fact, was actually paid at the offices of Messrs. J. P. Morgan & Co., in London, on the 1st December, 1902.

It was a sincere satisfaction to the British public when it was officially intimated that the White Star flag was still to be retained, and that Mr. J. Bruce Ismay and Mr. Pirrie (the senior partner of the celebrated Belfast shipbuilding firm) were to be on the directorate.

The latest addition to the New York service of the White Star Line is the Arabic, 15,800 tons gross register, which sailed on her maiden voyage, June 26th, 1903, and in the autumn of 1903 the four latest steamers built for the Dominion Line, the Columbus, Commonwealth, New England and Mayflower, were transferred to the White Star flag, and renamed the Republic, Canopic, Romanic and Cretic. With the addition of these vessels, a new service has been announced of sailings between Boston and the principal ports in the Mediterranean, and, in conjunction with the other steamships, the Cymric is intended to maintain a Liverpool-Boston service.

A monster steamer of no less than 24,000 tons (an increase of 3,000 tons upon the Cedric’s tonnage) is approaching completion at the yard of Harland & Wolff. She is to be named the Baltic, and will probably be ready early in the summer of 1904.