In the last column it is observable how rapidly the speed enhances the cost price of transporting cargo. At 13 miles per hour the cost would be about six pounds sterling per ton, and at 14 knots speed it would be higher than was ever paid a steamer in the most flush periods of even the best qualities of freights. Freights were about £8 per ton on the Cunard line before the establishment of the Collins; but they soon came down, and are not now £3, or $15, on an average. So with passage. The "Great Western" charged £45, the "British Queen" £50; the Cunarders, until the Collins competition, £40, 19s. The Collins steamers put the price down to £35, and have since reduced it to £30 homeward, and £24 outward. This is but little above half the fare of the Great Western, and something over two thirds of that formerly charged by the Cunard line. The Report to the House of Commons "on Steam Communications with India," No. 372 of 1851, second volume, page 395, says, that the average speed of the Cunard line was 10.443 knots, of the Collins line 11 knots, and of the Havre and Bremen lines 9.875 knots per hour. The Collins line had then just started, and has since made the average passages one and a half days quicker than those of the Cunard line. This being the case, it is easy to estimate the gains of a steamer at such rates, when this column shows us that at 12 miles speed per hour and an average trip of 11 days, the actual prime cost of moving the freight is much above that which is received for it. It is therefore taken in small quantities only to assist in paying the running expenses of the steamer.
This table shows another thing very conclusively, that large ships running the same number of miles per hour, run cheaper and transport freight more cheaply than smaller vessels. It presupposes, however, that they go full both ways. The engine power and general outlay do not increase as rapidly as the tonnage of the vessel and her capacity for carrying. While a ship 2,500 tons at 12 miles per hour on a passage of 3,250 miles would make the cost per ton for the transportation of freight $22.75, one of 20,000 tons, under the same conditions would reduce it to $9 per ton. Yet it is hardly probable that we shall ever profitably employ steamers of over 10,000 tons tonnage in the passenger, mail, and freight business.
Again, a ship of 2,500 at 12 miles, running 6,500 miles could not transport cargo at less than $115; one of 5,000 tons would transport it at $52; one of 10,000 tons would transport it at $33 per ton; and one of 20,000 tons burthen, as for instance the "Leviathan," would transport it at $24 per ton. And while none of the three first named sizes of vessels would transport it 12,500 miles, the one of 20,000 tons, running 12 miles per hour, would transport it at $80 per ton; and running 14 miles per hours, at $430 per ton. Two things must, however, not be forgotten in this; that the ship to do this must always run entirely full and have no waste room; and that these prices are comparisons between different steamers, and not with sailing vessels, which, running much more slowly and with but little expense, transport the freight far more cheaply.
The following table will set forth very clearly in a summary view, the Time, Horse-power, Coal, and Cargo for a steamer of good average quality running on passages of 1,000 miles, 2,000 miles, and 3,000 miles, and at a speed varying from 6 to 18 miles per hour. It will be observed that a steamer of 3,000 tons can not take power and coal enough to run on a 2,000 miles passage above 17 knots per hour, and that one of 3,000 tons also can not run on a 3,000 miles passage at a speed above 16 knots per hour. Observe the small quantity of cargo and the large quantity of coal for a steamer of 3,000 tons on a 3,000 miles passage at 16 miles per hour.
COAL AND CARGO TABLE: No. IV.
Calculated for the mean Displacement of 3,000 Tons.
| SPEED—per hour. | Horse-power. | Weight of Hull and Engines. | PASSAGE 1,000 Nautical Miles. | PASSAGE 2,000 Nautical Miles. | PASSAGE 3,000 Nautical Miles. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time. | Coal. | Cargo. | Time. | Coal. | Cargo. | Time. | Coal. | Cargo. | |||
| N. M. | H. P. | TONS. | D. H. | TONS | TONS | D. H. | TONS | TONS | D. H. | TONS | TONS |
| 6 | 52 | 1252 | 6.23 | 72 | 1711 | 13.21 | 144 | 1675 | 20.20 | 216 | 1639 |
| 7 | 83 | 1283 | 5.23 | 98 | 1667 | 11.22 | 197 | 1617 | 17.21 | 296 | 1568 |
| 8 | 123 | 1323 | 5. 5 | 128 | 1612 | 10.10 | 256 | 1548 | 15.15 | 384 | 1484 |
| 9 | 175 | 1375 | 4.15 | 162 | 1543 | 9. 6 | 324 | 1462 | 13.21 | 486 | 1381 |
| 10 | 241 | 1441 | 4. 4 | 200 | 1458 | 8. 8 | 401 | 1358 | 12.12 | 602 | 1257 |
| 11 | 320 | 1520 | 3.19 | 242 | 1358 | 7.14 | 484 | 1237 | 11. 9 | 727 | 1116 |
| 12 | 416 | 1616 | 3.11 | 288 | 1239 | 6.23 | 577 | 1095 | 10.10 | 866 | 950 |
| 13 | 529 | 1729 | 3. 5 | 339 | 1100 | 6.10 | 678 | 931 | 9.15 | 1017 | 761 |
| 14 | 661 | 1861 | 2.23 | 393 | 942 | 5.23 | 786 | 745 | 8.22 | 1180 | 548 |
| 15 | 813 | 2013 | 2.19 | 451 | 761 | 5.13 | 903 | 535 | 8. 8 | 1355 | 309 |
| 16 | 987 | 2187 | 2.14 | 514 | 555 | 5. 5 | 1028 | 298 | 7.19 | 1542 | 41 |
| 17 | 1183 | 2383 | 2.11 | 580 | 327 | 4.22 | 1160 | 37 | |||
| 18 | 1405 | 2605 | 2. 8 | 650 | 69 | ||||||
| 19 | 1652 | 2852 | |||||||||
| 20 | 1927 | 3127 | |||||||||
I will close this long chapter, in which I have endeavored to give a clear, comprehensible, and faithful idea of the cost of running ocean mail, freight, and passenger steamers, by an extract from that very able and faithful work, "Steamship Capability." As a summing up of the various laws and facts concerning the consumption of fuel, weight and power of engines, speed of ships, and their capacity to do business, Mr. Atherton says, page 55: "Now suppose, for example, that the passage be 1,000 miles, and that, for brevity, we confine our remarks to the engine department only; which, indeed, will be the department of expense, chiefly affected by variations in the rate of speed. It appears that the vessel of 5,000 tons' mean displacement, if fitted to run at the speed of EIGHT NAUTICAL MILES per hour, will require 172 H.P., and a cargo of 2,738 tons will be conveyed 1,000 miles in five days five hours; being equivalent to one day's employment of 33/100 H.P. per ton of goods.
"If fitted to run at TEN NAUTICAL MILES an hour, the vessel will require 336 H.P., the cargo will be reduced to 2,524 tons, and the time to four days four hours; being equivalent to one day's employment of 55/100 H.P. per ton of goods nearly.