Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1884-09-10
Racing Across the Ocean.

w naJ Causcu tne race
There is a great rivalry between
the Cunard and Guion lines, induced,
perhaps, by bill now pending before
the British Parliament, relating to the
Royal Mail Service. Heretofore the
Cunarders have been noted rather
for their caution and safety-they
never lost q life-than for speed.
The report is that the Oregon was
built for speed, with view of selling
her to the Guion people, who own the
Alaska and which, until now, was the
greyhound of the seas For some
reason or other the Guion company
didn't take the Oregon-some say they
couldn't afford the outlay-and she
became the property of the Cunard
Company"
"Were these facts the subject Of
common conversation ?"
ooh, yes, we heard it everywhere,
and on the day for our departure the
docks were crowded with people to see
us off. Bets were frequently heard
and il was reported that great deal
Of heavy betting had been done in
the London clubs on the two boats.
We knew that the Oregon had been
in the dry-dock to have her hull
scraped, that she had on an extra
large supply of coal and that she had
shipped twenty-four extra stokers to
handle the fuel. The Alaska left
Liverpool three-quarters of an hour
ahead of us, and in making the run
to Queenstown we got there two hours
ahead of her. Our advertised time
was known as the a o'clock mall but
Leonard Sweet, of Chicago, John r.
Rogers and several other gentlemen
with whom l was acquainted timed
the boat as we passed the fort and it
was exactly $3.50 o'clock, so you see
we were a little ahead of time. When
we dropped our tender shortly after,
the Oregon was blowing off steam
to show you the pressure she carried
and so far as could find out by in
quiring among the passengers and by
personal observation she didn't stop
blowing off steam once during the
whole passage for a space of over one
quarter of a minute at any one time.
1t is said we burned $50 tons of coal
a day. 1t was a constant column of
dense black smoke from each smoke
stack all the time
What was the time made !"
"rhe time, as several passengers
myself among the number-took it,
between Fastnet Light and Sandy
Hook light ship-the usual points for
reckoning-was six days, nine hours
and fifty-two minutes. But the cap
tain of the Oregon waived the eight
minutes, calling it six days and ten
hours"
THAT beat the Alaska ?"
"Oh, yes, and the fastest time OH
record, too. / am confident the Ore
gon can do even better than that.
You sec we didn't have favorable
winds-having what the sailors call
fresh wind dead ahead Then,
too, we got lost in fog, and when
we made a dead reckoning, we found
that the Oregon was some forty miles
nearer the cod-fsheries than the usual
course"
"That was pleasant"
Not bit of it. We knew we
were right in the midst of the fishing
fleet, and the fog was so dense you
couldn't see a third of the distance
the length of the boat"
"Did she slacken down her speed ?"
"Not much And when one Of the
passengers went to the captain and
asked if it was true that there was
large wager depending on the trip,
and that he-the captain--was heavi-
ly interested-the only answer vouch.
safed was. IF the Oregon wants to
beat the Alaska, why should I hinder
her?' No, sir, we kept right on at
twenty miles an hour just as though
there was no fog"
"Then how did the fog hinder you,
or lessen your record -
by getting us forty miles out Of
our course. We certainly lost thirty
miles in that way"
"And no accidents occurred ?"
"Not one although we once pass
ed schooner so closely that our swell
the displacement at the bow of the
Oregon--just threw that schooner
around, bow towards us, as though she
had been q feather"
"a sort of heavy swell, that ?"
Indeed, it was. That was a very
disagreeable feature of the race. We
shipped SO much water, and all the
time. You will understand when
tell you that the water, at one time,
came through the lee-port Of the
smoking saloon with such force and
volume as to cover the floor to depth
of three feet. TO do this there must
baya haen nj lcast seven feet of water |