Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-24
STEAMERS 1000 FEET LONG.
What a Shipping Merchant
Thinks Of the Increase In
Size aud Speed TO be
Developed.
His Recollections Of the Ortiz
cisms on Each New Depart
ure in Ocean Vessels
Since the Dramatic
Line.

cf building larger vessels to be ran at
high speed and, of course, at great In
Gre sse of coat A gentleman for
many years connected with shipping
said yesterday: "Thls question is a
very old one. My father very many
years ago commanded a ship called
the Washington, which on account Of
her great size Was called the big
Washington and I have often heard
him tell that the boys In the Liver
pool streets used to point at him as he
passed them by and say:
'Taere goes the captain OF
the big Yankee. ship She was
just 700 tons register, but
doubtless there were men in those days
who we're quite sure that ships as large
"a she could never be made profitable.
When John Collins built what was
known % the Dramatic line Ct Liver
pool packets, from their names, the
Rosclus, Siddons, Garrick, Sheridan
and Shakespeare, 1t was an increase
from 600 to l 200 tons. I was q boy
ut thar time, and my father boarded
In s.. Paul's square In Liverpool, and
/ remember hearing the captains Of
that day talk of this experiment, Of
new departure In size. John Col
lins, they said, had been Q very
shrewd man, but success had crezed
him. Now, II he could only make
men bigger there might be some sense
In building such big ships, but that he
cant do, and the men we've got now
have all they are able to do to handle
the canvas on a biggest ships, and
what will they do with vessels of dou.
BILE this s'zel' Then they said: who
will ever ship cargo in ships of that
size2 Why, If his goods happen
TO be Htowed at the bottom
Of them they need never expect
to see them out again Wall, In q
few years ships Of 1000 tons were
accounted small, and to-day we have
sohooners of that size. When ocean
steamers were first proposed soma of
the best informed men on both sides
of the Atlantic said, frat, that ships
could not be run across the ocean by
steam; and second, II they could they
could never be run protitsbly. l have
ell along said that ships as large as the
Great Eastern would be quite common
In time, but at the advance In size
that ID going IN from year to year 1t
will not be long before her sizs is at
tanned in the SHIPS of tho regular lines.
She was only u little ahead of her
time. Had tho compound engine and
the twin screw been discovered and
applied to her she would have been a
success. 1t wal not her sizs that
caused her TO fail, but 1t was the ap.
pllcation to her size of inadequate
power. Mark my words, ships 1000
feet long will DO built ere long, and O
ship of that length, 70 feet in width,
would draw too much water to come
In over the Sandy Hook bar.
I am Of the impression, there.
fore, that the majority di.
r~eotors of the Cunsrd company are
right and that the Mowers are mis-.
taken. Their mistake is one OF the
most natural In the world. They
have grown up In the belief that the
Cunard line was the best In the world
and that this was the proof Of the
superiority of the Canard methods.
: They pointed to the fact that under
the old systems Of the company al
the cream Of the passenger business
was theirs, and attributed the falling
of In that business to tho change In
the old methods. This, In my opin'
; lon, IL . mistakes; the falling of hal
been because they did not change soor
enough. They held to the old side
/. wheel boat until long after any one
else knew that the screw was the best.
They refused to carry steerage passen'
gers and 10 fostered the establish,
ment Of other lines that would carry
them and which soon became
dangerous rivals for the cabir
passengers, and the Cunarderl
in self defence have had to take the
despised but very profitable steeragt
. passengers, and are now glad to gel
> them. Wiser policy would have do
tated the multiplying of their OWE
ships and rendering improbable the
establishment of rival lines. But the
policy all along has been the Cunard
line Is superior to all others and W.
fear no competition How incorrect
! that Is may be judged by the fact tina,
last year the Ounard line transported
1880 cabin passengers, the Guion line
7,423, and OF steerage passengers the
Guion line carried 90, 1856 and the
Cunard but IL, 915. In the early days
of the Cunard line 1t carried all Of
what may be called the aristocracy OF
both oountries-the dukes, the lord.
I and the acknowledgements the
establishment of the White Star line,
which soon began to attract the most
distinguished passengers by the rapid.
ity Of their passages. The White Star
people were the first to introduce the
long, narrow and deep type of vessel,
and. my stars! how the scientists did
60 for them. Why, / have q volume
at home In which the author, one Of
the most scientific men of his day,
proves iuoontrovertibly that It Is Inn
possible that these long and narrow
ships should succeed; that they must
inevitably roll over and over and come
up on the other side; that sufficient
longitudinal strength could not by any
possibility be given them, and tina
their backs must inevitably break. i
Ia laughable, at this day, to think o
II, and while the old line was com
~placently quoting the scientists. tn,
White Star people were building long
or and narrower ships and entiolng tn,
Cunard dukes and lords to come owe
and go back In them. yt.,,,
"Ths Inman line was the first h
bring steerage passengers trade 10
more pro6table than the cabin paspep