The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, the ships of which line sail from Southampton to the West Indies, Central America, North and South Pacific, Brazil and River Plate, was founded in 1839, and has a large fleet of powerful steamers. The Danube, Nile, Clyde, Thames, Magdalena and Atrato are all over 5,000 tons, with engines of from 6,773 to 7,500 indicated horse-power. Among the smaller ships is the Trent, a namesake of the historic vessel which was boarded by the United States cruiser, San Jacinto, in 1861, when the seizure of Slidell and Mason nearly provoked a war with Great Britain. The West India and Pacific Steamship Company, with a fleet of seventeen steamers, keeps up a good line of communication between Liverpool, the West Indies, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean seas. The American and European are each 7,730 tons; the Barbadian, Cuban, Jamaican, Mexican and Tampican are from 4,020 to 4,500 tons.
The Pacific Steam Navigation Company, incorporated in 1840, conducts a line of mail steamers from Liverpool to Brazil and River Plate, continuing the voyage to the west coast of America via the Straits of Magellan. This company are the pioneers of steam navigation along the southern shores of the Pacific, and between Europe and the West Coast. They have also running in the Orient Line, from London to Australia, four of their largest steamers, viz., Orizaba, Oroya, Oruba and Orotava, all over 6,000 tons. They have a large fleet of other ships, such as the Orissa, Orcana, Potosi, Liguria, Iberia, ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 tons each, and they are building others of large dimensions.
Messrs. Lamport and Holt have a fine fleet, consisting of over sixty steamers, running from Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Antwerp and New York, to Brazil, River Plate, and the west coast of South America. A large percentage of their steamers are capable of carrying between 5,000 and 6,000 tons of cargo, and have a speed of from 10½ to 12 knots at sea. They also carry a limited number of passengers. The largest of their steamers are the Canova, 5,000 tons; Cavour, 5,500 tons; Cervantes, 5,000 tons, and the Horace, 4,000 tons. The Wilson Line—Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co. (Limited), Hull—in addition to their North American lines of steamers, have a fortnightly service to Bombay and Kurrachee, a monthly service to Australia, and a line of steamers running to River Plate ports, to suit the trade.
The fare from Southampton to the West India Islands runs from £25 to £35; from New York, by the Atlas Line, $50; and to Bermuda, by the Quebec Steamship Company, sailing from New York every Thursday, $25.
The Canadian Trans-Pacific Steamships.
The idea of connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean by a railway through British territory had long been a cherished vision of British and Canadian statesmen, railway engineers, and travellers in the far West; but owing to the vastness of such an enterprise for a people of four millions, a “baseless vision” it continued to be until after the confederation of the provinces in 1867. Twenty years before that time, Major Carmichael Smyth, writing to “Sam Slick,” advocated the construction, by convict labour, of a trans-continental railway through British territory, and prepared a map on which the possible route of such a railway was marked—almost identical with that of the Canadian Pacific Railway.[29] Hon. Joseph Howe, in course of a speech made at Halifax in 1851, said he believed that many of his auditors would live to hear the whistle of the steam-engine in the passes of the Rockies, and to make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific in five or six days. Hon. Alexander Morris, in his lecture, “Nova Britannia,” delivered in 1855, predicted the accomplishment of such an enterprise in the near future. Judge Haliburton, Sir Edward Bulwer, Sir George Simpson and other savans had all prophesied after the same manner. Sure enough, it was one of the earliest measures that came to be discussed in the first Parliament of the new Dominion. Preliminary surveys were commenced in 1871 by Sandford Fleming, chief engineer, and the work of construction by the Government followed soon after. But it early became apparent that Government machinery was ill adapted for successfully dealing with a work of such magnitude, and one unavoidably leading to political complications. It was therefore resolved to have the road built by contract. Finally, in 1881, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was organized, the prime movers of the enterprise being Messrs. George Stephen and Donald A. Smith, of Montreal. At this time the Government had under construction 425 miles between Lake Superior and Winnipeg, and 213 miles in British Columbia. This company undertook to complete the railway from Quebec to Vancouver, a distance of 3,078 miles, within ten years, for which they were to receive $25,000,000 in money, and twenty-five million acres of land, together with the sections of railway already under construction by the Government, the entire railway when completed to remain the property of the company. Such was the energy of the contractors and the skill of their engineers, the railway was completed in one-half of the time stipulated; for on the 7th of November, 1885, the last rail was laid on the main line, and by next midsummer the whole of the vast system was fully equipped and in running order. The opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway was followed by an immense development of traffic.
The natural outcome of this was the inauguration of a line of steamships from the western terminus of the road to Japan and China, as well as to Australia. Sooner than might have been expected, three very fine twin-screw steel ships were built at Barrow-on-Furness for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, under contract with the Imperial and Dominion Governments for carrying the mails to Japan and China. The ships are named the Empress of India, Empress of China and Empress of Japan.
The inauguration of the “Empress Line” was of the nature of a magnificent ovation. The maiden trips of the three sisters were largely advertised in connection with an all-the-way-around-the-world trip, via Gibraltar, Suez, Colombo, Hong Kong, Yokohama and Vancouver, and thence by the Canadian Pacific Railway across the continent and home again by any of the Atlantic liners, all for the modest sum of $600. The proposal took readily, with the result that the three ships had a full complement of cabin passengers, all of whom expressed themselves as delighted with the arrangements which had been made for their comfort. The first steamer, the Empress of India, with 141 saloon passengers, reached Hong Kong on the 23rd of March, 1891, under easy steam, in forty-three days from Liverpool; leaving Hong Kong on April 7th, she reached Yokohama on the 16th. She left on the 17th, and, although encountering a very heavy gale, reached Victoria, B. C., in 10 days, 14 hours, 34 minutes, an average speed of 406 miles a day, or just 17 knots an hour. The regular monthly service from Vancouver to Japan and China commenced in the autumn of the same year. For this service the company receives an annual subsidy of $300,000, and an additional subvention of about $35,585 to secure their services to the British Government whenever the vessels may be required as transports or cruisers. The three ships are all just alike. They are painted white and are beautiful models, with raking masts and funnels, and graceful overhanging bows. They are each 485 feet in length, 51 feet moulded breadth, and 36 feet in depth; gross tonnage about 6,000 tons each. They have triple expansion engines of 10,000 indicated horse-power, which with 89 revolutions per minute, and a consumption of only 170 tons of coal a day, drive the ships at an average speed of 17 knots an hour. The arrangements and fittings for passengers are of the most complete and even luxurious description. The saloons and staterooms are tastefully decorated, handsomely furnished, and brilliantly lighted by electricity. They have ample accommodation for 180 first-class, 32 second-class, and 600 steerage passengers, with capacity for about 4,000 tons of cargo. They cost about $1,000,000 each.
