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.
