Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-09-14

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scccnd-class matter.l
LARGEST AND sWIFTEsT OCEAN STEAMER
When the new Cunard steamer Etruria
left her dock at Liverpool, England, recent,
ly, the captain notified the passengers and
officers that the passage was to be made in
the shortest possible time. The Etruria
was going to try to beat all the records, just
shake herself out and fly. Great interest
was aroused and towards the close of the
voyage excitement ran high. Only those
| initiated into the mysteries of q ships smok-
ing room know how much money changed
hands among the gentlemen betting on each
days run. The smoking room is the neat
est of all euphemisms for that luxuriously
| furnished apartment which is sacred to the
lounging hours of men alone. They are
supposed to smoke there, and they do. But
they gamble awfully besides. Apart from
the betting in the smoking room it is by no
means unlikely that the weaker sex, who
must stay outside, did not do their share
of the betting too on this memorable voy-
age.
Each day the ships log was reported 70
the eager betters. The first day out from
Queenstown she made 424 miles. The next
day the record was 464 miles, from noon TO
noon. The highest notch was 465 in one
! day.
The Etruria cost 50 600, ,000 and the otli-
GERS say she will never pay for herself. The
staterooms on the steamer are models of
comfort. The wash basins are let down and
shut up by patent arrangement that con-
ceals them from view and keeps them out of
the way when not in use. These wash
basins are in pairs, one for each occupant of
room. The Etruria is lighted throughout
by electricity. She IS sumptuously fitted
out The beds are made upon wire mat
| tresses The curtains about the berths are
decorated in the style of the Italian renais'
sance-the style of Raphael. The woods
throughout are of the hardest and finest
kinds-satin wood, mahogany, rosewood,
walnut, etc.
The tableware is likewise altogether
"nobby" In the pantry the ceiling is hung
| full it, Here are teapots, dear to the
British heart, water pitchers and cream and
syrup Jugs, all of silver. On shipboard
everything must be suspended that can be,
on account of the motion ofthe vessel. It's
not desirable to have several crates Of crock
cry sliding off shelves and going to smash
every duy. In this pantry are steam tables
all around, on which food aud dishes may
be heated. Here are great vessels Of cop
per, FURNISHED to the last degree of bright
ness. They are coffee tanks. Steam and
hot water circulate in plenty through this
model pantry.
The tanks need to be large to supply the
Etruria's American passage. The Etrurla
is able to carry 720 saloon passengers. This
fast trip she carried more than a. thousand
travellers, saloon and steerage together, and
their passage tickets cost at least $50, 900.
And yet it is said, no doubt with truth, that
the vessel is not paying expenses. You can
hardly form an idea of the immensity Of
this steamer. A square of a street is 250
feet long. But the length of the Etruria is
500 feet. Walk two and three-ffths squares
of city street and you will have travelled
the length Of this floating town.
The captain had said, on leaving Queens.
town, that he expected to reach Sandy Hook
in six days The time from Queenstown to
Sandy Hook was 6 days, 5 hours and A
minutes. The distance run shows that the
Etruria averaged 214 miles an hour right
through This is unheard of speed. Many
American railway trains do not do so we'll
as that.
The dining saloon is, of course, below.
You see it in glance down through the
circular opening in the music room above.
The music room is sumptuously furnished.
Beautiful, light satin-wood alternates with
q darker colored one in the finish. The
piano is of the same wood. The furnishings
are bronze and old gold. The curtains are
especially rich.
There are four rows of stateroOms. Bath
Il - /, -
wash in either hot or cold water, salt or
fresh. If you wish, you can turn on stream
of sparkling sea water from mid-ocean
Streams of phosphorescent animalcules
drop into q bath.tub in the fresh sea water
at night.
The Etruria is furnished with a pair OF
|lifeboats different from those of any other
shin. They are built somewhat on the plan
of catamaran. Imagine two boats nailed
together, or rather nailed apart, by planks
fastened across the top. They are separated
some three feet or more, with blank space
of water between. The double arrangement
of boat would be nearly as hard to upset as
raft That, in Thorough, is the plan OF
the Etruria's new-fangled lifeboat. Instead
] of being two boats, however, it is one boat
; split in two in the middle, and built around
solid again at the bow and stern. The water
is supposed to wash all over it. But instead
of filling it and causing it to go down the
mass of water tails through the middle, and
washes out into the sea again. A rope
grating covers the hole in the centre, SO that
oeople shall not also wash through.
: The upstairs cabin for women in the
Etruria is sumptuously fitted. 1t is al
aesthetic place, with plush and silken hang
ings, thick carpets and dreamlike lounginG
corners It is sacred to the weaker sex
They may smoke cigarettes, play oackgam