Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1886-11-04
Calls aud Sketfhes.
Ocean Travel In 1886.
FAST STEAMERS, CHEAP FREIGHTs-ENG-
LANDS OCEAN MONOPOLY.
INMAN STEAMER. CITY OF RICHMOND.
ATLANTIC OCEAN, 375 MILES
FROM QUEENSTOWN. SEPT.

| ATLANTIC OCEAN, 80 MILES
FROM QUEENSTOWN, SEPT.
am writing this letter in the cabin of
big ocean steamer Ny light comes from
a little round portfolio the size of tin
wash basin, and the cabin is Of the size of
6x10 hall bedroom. Ny only furniture
is camp stool "a sofa and two beds which
run along the wall like the berths of
sleeping car. one above another. At the
back of the room theIe is stationary
washstand, and over this l2xl4 inch
looking glass in a walnut frame. The
iron ceiling Of this room is about seven
feet from the floor. 1t is studded with the
heads OF rivets as big as an old fashioned
cent, and. like the rest OF the room, is
painted white. A silk portiere swings to
and fro in the breeze from its brass rod
over the door, and the color OF this, like
that OF the curtains OF my little round
window. are crimson. piece OF brussels
carpet covers the floor, and an electric but
ton at the side of the door will bring me
a servant at the touch of my finger.
take my three full meals day in IA dining
sal BON as large as that of a good sized
hotel, and have promenade walk about
the upper deck II times of which makes
just one mile. My company is made up
of so ladies and gentlemen and boys and
girls OF all ages. compilations and sizes,
from the little 18-months- old baby, who
is going to Belfast with her grandfather,
member of the Produce Exchange of New
York, to the stiff, gray haired supreme
court Judge of Connecticut, who is abOat
to visit his son, the consular clerk at Lv-
erpool. Then there is the population Of
the second cabin. who have quarters be-
! low us in the stern of the boat, and the
hundreds IN the Storage, who are below
on the other side near the prov. Al.
classes seem to be happy. We have had
no rough weather, though we are now be-
| ginning our ninth day at sea, and the time
with reading, chatting, walking, sleeping
and eating, flies as fast as it does on shore
/ To morrow we will be at Queenstown, and
the day following the ship will lie in the
docks at Liverpool.
Ocean travel is rapidly changing, and
the steamboat is improving as fast as the
railroad train, The first ocean steamer
was built near New York in 1919. and she
made a "trip across the Atlantic one year
later She was named"the Savannah; she
was of $50 tons burden, and when she
came into Liverpool. after passage of
/
all the world. The big ocean steamship
of to day is of from 1000 to 5000 tons.
and she makes her passage from New
York to Queenstown in from six DAYS and
a few hours to twelve or thirteen DAYS.
Some shipowners now assert that the pas
sage across the Atlantic will soon be made
in four days, and the engineer of this yes
sci tell me that fast ocean travel is fully
ou 10 Il
travel. The coal consumed bv the seven
days steamers is nearly three times as
much as that consumed by the ten DAYS
steamers. and fuel is one of the largest
items in the cost of steamship travel
Some of the fast Cunard steamers burn
$40 tons OF coal day, whereas the City OF
Richmond, of about the same size. but a
ten days steamer requires only from 100
! to 10 tons per day. 1t costs about So
.on to buy this coal and put it in the fur
naces of the ships engines, so that the
difference between the seven DAYS and ten
days steamers in the cost of coal alone is
over $1,000 per day.
Can You appreciate now much 800 tons
of coal a day means2 Fifteen tons of coal
is a yearly allowance for small family
in an eight-roCm house The daily CON
| uiIptlpil VI tHt tut Ia WouIu keep twenty
such families for year and the 300 tons
which this ship carries on each trip.
would more than supply q village Of
eighty families for that time The coal
used here is slack 1t is stored in great
vaults and fifty -four men are required to
put it in the furnaces. The ship has
twenty seven furnaces, each of which is
as big around as a ton of hay on the far
I Il.
| They are away down in the bottom of the
ship, and as | crept in and out among
them yesterday, by the aid of the chief
engineer and his lantern. and saw the
blaze of their entrances, felt the consum-
ing heat of their surroundings and talked
with the sweatv. sootv men who were
kept at them all day shoveling coal,
Dante's Inferno did not seem very far off.
and Elades was personified before me.
The faster steamers have 100 men to
attend to their furnaces. They must be
| kept going night and dav and the labor is
very hard. The furnaces are so hot that
the men must drink great quantities of
water. and here they mix the water with
oatmeal and each man consumes gallons
daily. This is necrsSt nv To keep up tine
perspiraliou. IN surh heat If !, man
cam at sweat he will die.
III iu m,h>c cost # coal in 'hc rr-.,i
] oc','n steamer, has gym j. 10 AGA,
! ut cheaper >'ctpcr-. ~nirh Air N ,ny-
( lrnr. Il raii y colt u ship or "i G.,tg /,
! Tells me arr. K I.'an A. he CRAMPS" 1T the
| ca lhN ;re n'ti' y III ll- ~ # he
CARY II = rrnie 4 ttr mote, NJ n,i'e rs.
std have mad fei.ut r1'.> mst r,a
/ lpacr. Fne>c b Il are II ~ >hrIi> ntun
! li>t enough nl' hiptty auu furnishing 10
iun lh"aI. TI,y do 10; carry passengers.
aud iLcv "a 4 gr: a.uI'- ga ;b II IN.uy
I,u> Il coal d,,. Tp.v h-,c .r.~-.t
: fruu i"c,V- Z" t~tuIl ha n H. rua hem,
and ihrN Ntll -" arl watr' :" .cf .,arg.,.
and vi ! rlrN Il la a"v PLACE # ri FIR
! il. | ut Il 1" b. that cHion shipped la
! Ep-'a"i hai to b" arianE-d FIR - e, gar
{ rag. AZ. h-t.t, hn,l. NV the m,.an
stea n y will take il at an, lime lift ey
Il. - la, >h' pr has "ny IT, telegraph
! I "ic these sea irtmp>. ard he will
come a,d Sa il III him Al IL low a rate
and uli,irr ~ sc,,d Insurance as the great
lines. I t>e sea ;ramps don't care where
they ca "a they have a cargo. To dav
they NAV land at Liverpool with ship
4 l. \