The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-12-10
OCEAN STEAMERS.
Money Lost on speedy Boats ant
Earned on the SIow-Going Vessels.

" .#HEF
Money Lost on speedy Boats and
Earned on the S~1ow-Going Vessels.
1t has been clearly demonstrated
that fast ships do not pay, and if one
line has a fleet of g%reyhounds all lines
must follow suit. The vast cost repre-
scented by the efficiency in speed al
ready attained by the large vessels now
engaged in the transatlantic trade is
enormous. The original outlay of mon
ey in building these ships is counted as
nothing. 1t is the working expenses.
The coal consumed by the Cunard ships
alone is estimated at 500, 900 tons per
year. Comparing the performance of
a ship like the Etruria with the Britain
mic, it is apparent that the difference in
time is gained at too great cost. The
Britannia burns on an average 100 tons
of coal a day. Her average t me in MAX
ing a trip is eight and a half days. The
amount of coal thus necessary for the
voyage is $50 tons. The Etruria, on
the other hand, which occupies six and a
half days OF two days less than the Bri-
fannie, consumes 800 tons of coal per
day, or Over 1000 tons of coal on the voy-
age. To save two days requires an ex-
ira consumption to the amount of 1900
tons and more. The enormous in
crease in horse power required to put a
knot or a fraction of a knot in speed
explains the difference in the coal con-
sumption of the two ships. The addi-
tional expenses does not end here. Not
only is it true that the Britannia can
make a voyage with about one-third
the amount of coal that is necessary for
the Etruria, but she has much more
space available for CARRYING freight or
passengers. The room required for
the bunkers of a ship that has to car
ny the amount of coal necessary to feed
boilers like those of the Etruria. ic an
important item. Then again, engines
tc indicate a horse power necessary to
drive n of the big ships at a rate per-
hitting her to make the trip in six days
and a half cost infinitely more TO build
than those that can be made to do their
work with the steam that a hundred
tons of coal will generate. They also,
like the coal bunkers, encroach upon
the vessels space. As most of the
shippers and importers are engaged in
a business that VIII not suffer in conse-
quence OF a days delay. and as safety
at sea is the first consideration in mat
tiers of ocean travel it is conceded that
vessels that can make the trip in eight
days, or eight days and a few hours,
are the most profitable and therefore
the most desirable. Shippers will lot
be forced to pay excessive freights to
make good the increased cost of speed
and the decreased amount of the car
rying capacity. Passengers will be
able to secure more commodious quar-
ters and at a less cost, and the dangers
of collision and the fatal consequences
attending the same, will be diminished;
besides. which, the steamship companies
can live and make money. As an in
stance of the undesirability of the ex.
ceptionally fast steamers, the Atlantic
Express Service has been discontinued
by mutual consent. The service com
prised the City of Rome and the Amer
lea, and has been under the flag of the
Anchor Line. -NeW York Mail.