The Daily Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, 1882-06-20
The Queen of the Pacific.

THE feet that plies between AS
toria and San Francisco is justly |
famed for the elegance Of its ap-
pointments, the courtesy of its
officers and the regularity of ITS
arrivals and departures. The new
steamship THE Queen of the Pa
cifc," now en- route from Phiiadel-
phia is pronounced by those who
have seen her 10 be even superior
in finish to the Columbia, or State
of California. The new vessel has
been built to obtain the highest
class in the Bureau Veritas for
transatlantic service, and holds
certificate to that effect. She is
1856 feet long, 1856 feet beam, 22.6
feet hold, and 80 feet to awning
deck. She is 2727.S0 tons custom
house measurement. She has l 200
tons dead weight cargo capacity,
400 tons bunker capacity on Is
feet draft. She is half-brig rugged
with iron masts all one piece, and
is well canvassed.
She has an inverted direct-act-
ing compound engine, with As and
90-inch cylinders and 4S-iuch
stroke OF piston.
She has valve pistons, the first
ever applied in this country, SINH
lar to those on the Alaska, and is
expected to develop 5000 horse
power, and u minimum speed of
engine of so turns per minute,
which, with 100 pounds Of steam,
will give her speed of 16. knots
an hour. She has eight boilers, l l
feet in diameter and II feet long;
with shells one inch thick, and $40
feet Of CRATE surface, and will
burn about so tons of coal per day,
working up to its full speed. The
propeller wheel Is Ii feet in
diameter and % fee pitch. the
blades, and a spare set on board,
having been made in England OF
Manganese bronze, costing with
duty added 40 per cent? about
$4,000. E
One of the features Of the
Queen of the Pacific is the dome
which covers the main staircase.
This is a true circle IA feet IL
diameter and six feet high frou
the base, and from the main saloon
deck to the apex Of the dome in.
side is % #. The dome is made
in twenty-two segments and the
filling is of figured stained glass
and from the center hangs an ex.
gu sitely jeweled electric chande-
lier. This dome is enclosed in g
safety cover on the promenade
deck. and between If and the dome
proper there are placed six clec
trio lights which at night give {
most charming effectto the dome
and the social bali. The CRANE
saloon proper is 81 feet long By
81 feet wide, and Z feet o inches
in height, and is lighted from the
sides by twelve l5-inch side ports,
and contains seven tables capable
Of seating 200 persons at one time,
giving to each person a seating
width of 25 inches, which is great
er than usually allowel.
She is lighted throughout by the
Edison electric light system, which
has been put in under the personal
superintendent Of Mr.. Wilson s.
Howell, and she is the Liost per.
fectly lighted of any vessel in the
world, there being 250 electric
lights distributed through the ship
with connections for placing lights
on wharves at her loading and dis
charging ports on her route. This
system uses the incandescent light
which is small, soft and steady
and neither tiresome or -hurtful tt
the eyes. The lamp consists o
pear shaped globe about 4!
inches in height, exhausted of air
into which is sealed a filament o
carbonized bamboo, slightly thick
er than horse hair. The steameI
Columbia of this line was fitted
with the Edison lights in 1879
and the success Of the sytem ha'
been very marked. She had II;
lamps in circuit in February last
and they have been run over Al;