The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-10-16 00:00:00

steam-ship

[t the Govern

nt has at various

times afforded, by its contracts for carrying the mail.
Out of the 4t3 steamers, but 12 are of kmerican construe-
tion. It is, however, to be considered that but nine years

have elapsed since our operations commenced, ,vhile
fore;gn companies have been eighteen years engaged in
ocean steam navigation, or exactly twice as long as our.
selves, and that Ihe period of their monopoly gave them
advantages against which it was difficult for us to con-
tend. A series of untoward events have no doubt
contributed to this result. Not only have our steamers
been run at enormous expense—in several instances
absorbing the entire profits—but disasters has swept off
a number of our best ships, following close on the heels of
enterprise, with waving hand. Four of our most valu-
able steamers have been entirely lost—two having been
driven ignominiously ashore and broken up ; a third was
sunk by a collision, with nearly all on beard ; and a
fourth, the noblest of the fleet, has never been heard
from, but is supposed to have struck an iceberg. Foreign
companies, especially when the greater extent of their
operations is considered, appear to have been more
fortunate. They have lost, in all, four ships from their
American lines. The President was lost in the year 1841 ;
no one knows how or where. The Columbia, in nautical
phrase, " broke her back " on some rocks on the American
shore of the Atlantic. The City of Philadelphia went to
pieces on the rocks near Cape Race. The City of Glasgow
sailed from Liverpool on the Ist of March, 1854, and has
not since been heard of. The Great Britain had a
narrow escape in Dundrum Bay, coast of Ireland, but has
since been restored to service. The disasters to steam-
ships may be summed up as follows :

Name. Fate.
President......
Columbia .
Humboldt
City of Glasgow Never heard of.
Ci y of Phil tdelphia All hands saved,
Franklin AU hands saved.
Are, c A few saved ...,
Pacific . Never heard of,

Valuatio,.
dols 350.000
.....300,01 0
507 000
.... 20 ) 0 0

300 000
480,000
,720 000
680.000

Total, exclusive of cargo..... 3.537,000
If cargo was included these figures would ba nearly
trebled. Considering the entire number of steamers afloat,
disasters have not been remarkably frequent; but for-
tune's smiles have been bestowed most freely on our
competitors, notwithstanding the acknowledged superi-
ority of many of our ships an I the excellence of their
personal equipment. Even our domestic lines this fact
holds true, as we have lost seven fine steamers, mostly on
the Pacific coast, viz., the Independence, which sunk in
the Pacific, with 120 lives, and the Tennessee and St. Louis
—total wrecks. The San Francisco, valued at 300,000
dole, was lost in the Atlantic in the same year, with many

valuable lives, the Yankee Blade in the year following,
besides the ill fated Rhode Island, and the North Carolina,
in the year 1355. It is estimated that 1,420 lives and
7,930,000 dols. in property have been lost in steam-ships
since the year 1853. Steam-;hips, as a whole, have not
been a dividend paying property to such as have invested
in them. The Ocean Steam Navigation Company, which
was the pioneer American line, has been running nine years
without any serious accident, and though at one time
threatened with extinction under a heavy load of debt,
has been paying regular semi-annual dividends of 5 per
cent. for the last three years. Their boats are not calcu-
lated for great speed, but are good 12-day steamers. The
Havre line, next established, paid a dividend of 7 per cent.
about two years ago, but disaster early checked its pro-
mised careerof prosperity. These comprise all the pecu-
niary successes we have as yet to chronicle out of the
domestic trade. Some of the Chagres and California
lines have paid very handsomely. The Collins' line,
established in 1850, has not paid even simple interest to
the stockholders. The original estimated cost of this line
was 2,500.000 dollars, but a renewed effort on the part of
their English antagonists made it neecessary to enlarge
the size of their proposed steamers from 2,000 tons, as
stipulated in the contract, to 3,000 tons. The sum of
1,130 000 dollars was subscribed for their construction,
and after the increased pay allowed by Congress an effirt
was made to fill up the stock to the required amount, but
without success, and the line has since :been maintained
by private enterprise, aided by government patronage.
When Mr. Collins and his associates proposed to build
a line of steam-ships the Cunard line was regarded as the
first in the world, having run 11 years and reduced the
i v 1 e3ri ntooo 1
Nae nwd
poorskt
.o n
Into o u
nadbeorut
at k
12
ing
the days—equalpassagene lv(1 )nett:r.tepoerni ssayeli n competition with the resources of
established British capitalists there were great obstacles
to be surmounted, the chief of which was inadequate
financial ability ; but a naturalised citizen of more than
50 years' residence volunteered alone to furnish more than
2,000,000 dollars, and thus assured the success of an
enterprise in which the character and commercial power
of the country was largely involved. It was then said to
Mr. Collins, "You may sink the whole of the capital
invested, but must not make a failure." What has since
been achieved is matter of history. The first year the Col-
lins' line was started the passage to New York was made
in less than ten days. The Cunardors have since made
eight ships, all designed to beat that time, and one ship
(the Persia) has succeeded , on the eastern passage only.
On western passages the performances of the Collins'
line are still unequalled. Of the Philadelphia and Liver-
pool line it is stated that a loss of 15,000 dols was incurred
on the first voyage of the City of Baltimore, on the second
about 10,000 dols, and that the last voyage barely paid
expenses; so that the enterprise has thus tar not proved
remunerative. Passing now from a financial view of the
subject to observe what progress has been made in this
department of naval architecture, we have strongly
markediresults. Fulton's steamer Claremont left New
York for Albany on the 7th day of August, 1807, di'pelling
all rational doubt as to the successful application of steam
to navigation. It is instructive to notice subsequent
conquests of science and art in this direction, giving
fleeter wings to commerce, contracting the space of oceans,
and:accelerating the strides of communication between
distant continents. The following table, giving the
relative sizes of the largest steam ships that have been
built, affords some idea of what has been accomplished

Length

Atlantic (Collins').... Carp. Meas.
Great 3,000
Great Britain
Vanderbilt. • . . , 5 100
Niagara, U.S. steam•frigate. 345.
Himalaya • . .350 .... 3,800
Adriatic (Col iL5')...... ....... .... 354 5 588
Persia. 390 . . 5 600
Great Eastern
The completion of the Adriatic and Great Eastern will
be looked to as to events of great interest. A gentleman
just returned from Europe, and who visited the great
steamer building near London, says the hull is as yet not
more than half built, and none of the machinery is yet
put into her. The number of men at work on her is now
reduced to 300, so that the work is not proceeding so fast
as formerly. April is spoken of as the time when the
launch will probably take place. The gentleman above
referred to, who is a president of one of our steam-ship
companies and a connoisseur in naval architecture, says
the ship is of a beautiful model, and there appears to be
little doubt as to her success, particularly as regards
speed; but how she will pay her enormous running ex-
penses is a problem which yet remains to be solved. The
hull is 700 feet in length by 60 in breadth, made of a
double thickness of iron plates, which are laid on either
side of a longitudinal framework, combining the strongest
method of construction with the least weight of material.
The vessel is divided into 10 water-tight compartments,
with sub-compartments, so that each portion would be
self-sustaining in case of wreck. Both screw and side
wheels will be used. The latter will have six boilers,
and the former four engines and the same number of
boilers. The shaft of the screw is 160 feet long and weighs
60 tons. The diameter of the screw is 24 feet.; of the
wheels, 56 feet. The speed of the ship
average 16 knots per hour, under steam. The masts will
be seven in number, spreading 6,500 square yards. A
semaphore, coloured lights, and the electric telegraph will
be employed in conveying orders between the officers,
shetain
according as their use may be found necessary. Her first
is expected to
voyage will probably be to Portland, Maine. The Adriatic
from our own workshops, is very near completion, and,
from the impreved machinery with which she is fitted, and
alcsuhleatwiennisnaos
doubt
oouthbet
bs
the excellence of her model, many are disposed to enter_
for our:mechanics, and will in all probability excel, not
only in workmanship, but in all the. qualities which con-
stitute a first-class steam-ship. She is, without exception,
the largest ship in the world yet launched, whether of
timber or iron. The Persia (iron) is longer,
but she has
5 feet less beam, and 14 inches less depth of hold ; so that
her actual size is not equal to
willalm bosetsiunsecreepdtiibblleec.
that of the Adriaticby
something like 300 tons, Com
Eastern she is a pigmy,
but
she is
with: the t Great
s as lare ar. will be
required to meet the demands of tradel to
come, and quite as large as can t:4, r
withfor some
advantage
years
to her owners. The un.any
eAdriatic
principal d. imensions of h
are as follows,
a r"3 i—Lenoth, 354 feet breadth of beam, 50 ;
;
depth of hold feet" She will
; diameter of wheel, 45.
have oscillati • •ng engines of 2.ooo.horse power, with cylin-
ders,loo inches in diameter and 12 feet stroke. Her
boilers will be eight in number. The whole ship will be