The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-04-30
Fiftv years Of Steam Navieetion.

Fifty years ago last Monday regular
ocean steamship navigation was established
between Europe and America. On April
%, 1888, the Sirius aud the Great Western
arrived in New York harbor, the Sirius
having left Cork harbor April 4, and
the Great Western having left the Severn
four days later.
These steamers, however, were not the
first to cross the Atlantic. The Savannah,
which was built at Corlears Hook, in 1918,
made the voyage from Savannah to Liver
pool in 1919 in twenty-one days She went
to Copenhagen and st. Petersburg before
returning to Savannah, but she was not
profitable, and was sold at auction in Wash
| ingtOn and converted into sailing packet.
The London Times of Jan. II, 1919, copied
from Mar,0ade'S Commercial Report of
that week, the following, concerning her ar
rival in London:
Among the arrivals yesterday at this
| port we were particularly gratlfied and
astonished by the novel sight of a fine
steamship, which came round at 1880 p IN.
without the assistance of single Sheet in
style which displayed the power and adj
vantage of the application of steam to ves-
sells OF the largest size, being $50 tons bur-
| den. She is called the Savannah, Capt
| Rogers, and sailed from Savannah Georgia,
! United States the 26th of May, and arrived
| in the channel five days since During her
| passage she worked the engine eighteen
days Her model is beautiful, and the &C
commodation for passengers elegant and
complete. She is the first ship on this con-
struction that has undertaken voyage
across the Atlantic.
1t further appears that during her trip
the Savannah was chased whole day off
the coast of Ireland by the Kite, which
mistook her for ship on fire
The Curacao and the Royal William
crossed the Atlantic in 1928 and 1888 re-
spectively. While these three steamships
demonstrated the possibility of ocean navi-
cation, each of them proved a financial
failure, and when, year or two later,
Junus Smith, an American residing in
| London, laid before the business men and
bankers of that city scheme for establish
ing steam communication between Liver
pool and New York, he received little or no
encouragement. His scheme was declared
to be visionary, and an eminent English
scientist said i'll public lecture that it was
as sensible to talk of opening such COM
muncation with the moon as between the
points named. Smith possessed a good deal
of American vim and perseverance, how
ever, and persisted in his attempts until he
succeeded in organizing the British and
American Steam Navigation Company,
with a capital of 81 ,0O0,0OO, and the Sirius
was the first vessel dispatched by this COM
pany.
The world has moved since that time
Now the Atlantic is daily plowed between
European and American ports by more than
800 steamships, and the time consumed in
crossing has been reduced from fifteen days
to six days and five hours and two vessels,
which are being bui t for the Inman Line,
are expected to reduce the time several
hours, besides carrying more passengers
Fifty years ago the imports and exports of
this country amounted to about S20O, 600, goo
a year; now they amount to more than
1900, 900, 900 year, while the number of
Immigrants annually landing in America
has been increased from $1,000 in 1858 to
half a million in 1855