Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-04-08
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.

is of more intrinsic Importance than that of the
future policy of the Government of the United
States with reference to ocean navigation by
American steamships. II involves many con-
siderations of great interest, and will, doubt.
less, be thoroughly discussed and elucidated
in both chambers. In the meantime, il be-
comes rs to spread before the public, from time
to time, substantial information bearing on the
subject, such as will be found in the annexed
article we copy from a late number Of the Lon
don San:
The ATLANTIC STEAM PACKETS - The an
nouncement of the Postmaster General a dly or
two since that the United States packets collins
llne) bad ceased running, is an event in the his
tory Of steam navigation. For ten years the
American mails Were carried by British steamers
(Cunard's The Americans then thong ht they
could build mail packets rs well as Englishmen;
they accordingly started Sands line between
New York and Southampton. These vessels
were soon surpassed in speed and size by new
ships built by Cunard. In 1850. Collins started
his line between New York and Liverpool, in
direct opposition to CunaTd. He has built in the
of these-the Arctic and Pacifc-worth Goo 600
Were lost. Soon after 1850. Livingstone started
another American line between New York and
Southampton. His first two ships-the Humboldt
and Franklin-were lost. Cunard established
weekly mail communication, thus making the
arrival and departure of a mail between Eng lard
and America semi weekly; Sands Collins's and
Llvlngstone's packets were heavily subsidized
by the American Government Collins reduced
the passage between New York and LIVER O Il 10
less than ten days. Cunard has built Gig ht ships
since 1850, only one of which-the Pefsia-bas
beaten those of his great rivals in speed and this
superiority is only on the eastern passage Horses
1t is said, run faster in returning to than going
from their stable, and something like this would
appear to be the case with Steamships The
English mail pac kets run fastest from II CIV York
to Liverpool, and the Yankee steamers beat the
Britishers from Liverpool to New York.
sand line ran ten years, aud last wear the sul-
| sidy was Withdrawn; the ships were found tn
| be- worn out for ocean steamimg and they ceased
running They earned IA five per cent dividend
nothing previously. COllins's line has never
| paid simple interest to the stockholders The
| only line now properly subsidized by the Ameri-
| can Government is Livingstone,s and the sinh
sidy to this will shortly be discontinued When
| II was first started it paid seven per cent dvi.
| dend, but this was soon reduced to nil The
SHIPS by this line only form a monthly communi-
| cation with England Vanderbilt's ships carry
| the American mails for portion OF the postage
| on the letters which such mails contain The
failure OF the American lines is attributed to va
| rlous causes. The steam mach nery of American
| steamers Is inferior to that OF English vessels
| and the hulls are not so strongly built. Hence
| the former ships break down oftener than the
latter, and this causes irregularities in the mail
| service. Again, American lines work with fewer
| steamers than English lines when there is a
| breakdown, therefore, with the former the mail
| not at hand to be substituted for the disabled
| ones There is less certainty, also, about the
| continuance of the American subsidies than
| about the English ones and there il consequent
| iy difficulty i'm raising sutc ient capital to do
vide an adequate feet for the American lines
| Most of the ocean lines would pay we'll with
| out mail contracts If they ran at a moderate
| speed AS il was the pace which used 10 kin
| horses in mail coaches, so it is the pace which
wears out steamers and ruin. the owners. When
| line Of packets obtain a mail contract the pack
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| secures the most profitable traffic, and the non
subsidized lines on the same route il they do not
run as fast. are ruined The wide difference in
| cost OF working steamers at high and low speed
is easily proved. Colins's ships were Obliged
| TO run Ia miles hour by contract; but to do
this each ship burned l2s tons of coal daily
| Now, that same ship could run IL miles an hour
| and only consume 50 tons of coal daily; and 81
tons day only would actually drive her IL miles
| per hour. Thus it took more than double the
quantity of fuel to increase the speed by three
| miles an hour. The truth is that the power of
coal necessary to produce speed must be in
creased in the ratio Of the cube of the velocity
But not only Is the cost Of fuel enormous in fast
steamers, but the wear and tear Of such ships
must be very great They must first be built
with great strength, at an extra pense, ofcourse
| After running six years, Collins's ships cost in
| repairs more than the original outly In building
them, and yet, notwithstanding those repairs,
| the ships would not last above twelve Years
| Eve tip of one OF COllins's steamers to Eng
| lznd and back again cost over f10, 600. Every
| six yeas the boilers have to be renewed at an
expense OF t22 700. Collns's last ship, the
| AdTiaiic, cost in building fl1O 900 Her speed
| has not yet been properly tested Next TO the
| Leviathan she is tte finest ship in the world
| notwithstanding that all Collins's steamers were
| really very fast and splendid ones they never
| supplanted Cunard's in public favor not even
with the Americans themselves. Collins is a
| true patIiOt. He has spent an immense fortune
to establish a reputation for his countrymen for
| skill in ocean steam navigate Some of his
family persisted in the great calamities which
have overtaken his own SHIPS, and he has expe-
rio nE1 q h.. Ill,
his own country while undertaking 10: its benc-
ut one OF the most spirited enterprises ever sus-
tanned by single individual
| What will the British Government do now the
formidable rivals to CunaTd's ships have been
fairly driven OF the Liverpool and New York
line, ana America has acknowledged the su-
prenacy OF England in steam navigation, For
some years there has been I semi-wpekly mail
communication between this country and the
United States, and the two countries can SCARCELY
do without such frequent communication, for
| the American mails Of great magnitude
Nolc as the time for English capital and enter
PRISE 10 grasp at the tchOls Of the mail traffic
and all the fHeratire trade that accompanies 1t
tH the North Atlantic, Jut OF ersTy Shilling post
age on letter 10 or from the United States The
Brush Gorsynment, according to the Iast postal
c0nrsntion, nets lOhd-, If The letter IS cOnreysd
dfT0SS the Atlantic IN an English packet The
American Government has not vet finally decided
on the non subsidy policy, and Collins, with
| true Saxon pluck, having been driven from the
| Mersey, is contemplating running his mappit :
| nell where they would be sure to monopoIize the
tratilc Of the whole Continent Of Europe with
| America.
"A CAPITAL REAPPoIYTNENT.-Weh hear that
Marshal Selden has formally notified the prin-
cipal Deputy of his Office that he is to retain
that position under him Col. Selden.) We
know we'll that knowledge of this fact will re-
joice those of this community, without distinc-
ton of party, who have bona 6ae interest in
prompt, infeSible and intelligent admins.
tration Of the details OF the duties and func-
tions of The L. S. Marshaship of the District Of
Columbia. No other man ever held office in
this District who gave so general satisfaction,
nor did any man ever make more legitimate
character and reputation anywhere by the dis
charge of official duties, than has Mr. Phillips
in the position of the principal deputy of the
Marshal of the United States for the District Of
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