“CITY OF MANCHESTER.”
In the year 1857 the Inman Company enlarged the area of their operations by making New York one of their ports of arrival, and establishing a regular fortnightly line thither. In 1860 they increased the service of their steamers to once a week; in 1863 to three times a fortnight, and in 1866 they sent forth their steamers twice every week during the summer months.
Speed of City of Paris, and City of Brussels.
To some extent the failure of the Collins line proved the fortune of the Inman, for, when that unfortunate undertaking collapsed, Mr. Inman at once assumed their dates of sailing, and carried the United States’ mails between England and America for some time afterwards with great regularity. Nor were the vessels of the Inman line less swift than their predecessors. Indeed, their City of Paris,[229] of 3081 tons gross register, and 500 nominal horse-power, and their City of Brussels, of 3747 tons, and 600 horse-power, far surpassed the fastest steamers of the Collins Company, and they in turn were surpassed by the City of Richmond.[230]
Exertions of Mr. Inman to improve and facilitate cheap emigration to the United States.
But whatever advantages may have been derived by carrying the United States’ mails, Mr. Inman, apart from these, specially directed his attention to the conveyance of emigrant passengers (who found in his ships greater comfort, and a much more rapid means of reaching the United States than could be obtained in the fastest of the American sailing packets), and thus laid, at the outset, the foundation for the future prosperity of the company he had formed. It was he who first gave to the masses from the overcrowded cities of Europe, more economical and rapid means than they had hitherto enjoyed of reaching a country where their labour was in demand, and, by wise and judicious arrangements in his steamers, supplied what had hitherto been to a great extent wanting, the more complete separation of the sexes on the voyage to the land of their adoption. While reaping the reward to which his meritorious services were justly entitled, he conferred a boon worthy of remembrance on myriads of poor people, and I should ill perform the duty I have undertaken, were I not to specially notice his exertions on behalf of those of the industrious working classes, who felt it necessary to seek for themselves and their children, the means of obtaining honest employment in other and in distant lands.[231]
Large number of emigrants carried in the Inman steamers.
In 1856 and 1857, the Inman Company conveyed in their steamers eighty-five thousand passengers, to and from the United States of America, or about one-third of all the persons who crossed the Atlantic in steamships during these two years; and that this company long maintained the favourable prestige they had at first secured, may be seen by the official returns of emigrants landed in New York for the year 1870.[232]
City of Chester, 1873.
In 1873 this Company added two magnificent screws to their fleet, the City of Chester, of which an illustration will be found on the following page, and the City of Richmond, each of 4700 gross, or 3000 net register tonnage, and 800-horse power. These vessels were built by Messrs. Caird and Co., of Greenock, and by Messrs. Tod and MacGregor, of Glasgow, and are each 453 feet 6 inches in length over all, with a beam of 43 feet, and a depth of hold of 36 feet. They are spar-decked, have iron masts and solid iron bulwarks, and they are ship-rigged. In midships, there are long rows of centre and side houses, for a portion of the passengers and crew, and where accommodation is likewise afforded for the steering gear which is wrought by manual labour or steam power. There are also “the galley-saloons,” providing cooking apparatus sufficient for 1500 persons; while five of the side houses are devoted to the purpose of male and female hospitals. The engines of these vessels are compound with inverted cylinders and surface condensers; the large cylinder being 120 inches, and the smaller one 76 inches in diameter; the length of stroke of the piston is 5 feet; and their speed on trial was 16 knots an hour.[233]