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.