New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-08-16
A CHANNEL CRUISE.
TIE WHITE STAR STEAMSHIP TEuToXfc
AND HER GUESTS.
FROM TIE REGULAR coRREspoxDrSr ov 'rng rerprvr.i

"
Il Naval Inspecton-and Her Mdestys Fleet
should be seen in the foreground. But IL Is of
no avail 10 liter the perspective Of things nor can
they really be altered aud there is a practical
reason for not trying in the fact that did not see
the Review. II served however. rs the preext
for our voyage from LIVERPOOL, and gave " four
or five very charming days and is to be men,
toned respectfully. We slw-those Of us who
were on board this ship-the most impressive spec
tacle of ALL the arrival Of the German Emperor,
and, if we did not inspect the feet in his com.
| pany. were ourselves inspected by HIM in circum
stances Of much splendOr and the whole % thar
admirable scene at Spithcad lay spread out he.
| fore us for two days and more while were az
anchor first between the forts and afterward Of
Osborne However, / have no otner object in
view in this and following letter than TO write
about what interested me as il caTe along, and
| ! will begin with the ship herself All ships are
interesting; and by the time this reaches you the
! IeutOnic will, / imagine, be tie most interest
! ing visitor You ever had. No snip ever acquired
so early in her existence the celebrity which IL
ready belongs 10 the new White Star liner
The Teutonic is the latest expression of that
spirit OF restless improvement which has char
acterized the White Star Line from the start
IT. is not TOO much 10 say of them ;hat they have
Itd me WAY III q III ~ everything. llffN cut uOWn
the leugth Of the Ahutc passage, ard forced their
rivals to build faster ships and al length 10 beat
them. They certainly were the fist to grasp the
tact that an Atlantic liner j. both ship and a
hotel, and that the average passenger like, not
only 10 get to his port. bat 10 g"t there com.
fortably. Al least one OF their predecessors chung
for some time TO the belief that passenger was
only parcel TO he siely delivered ~ labelled, and
to the old sea-dog notion that meantime he WAS
n nuisance on board ship and TO DE treated ac-
cordngY. That day is perhaps past. bat ira
ditiOn in this country dies hard. and it descended
from the captain 10 the steward and its influence
j. still felt am ted, in the cabins OF that
sentative company. II never had place in those
Of the White Star, and that Is one at the reasons
why the ships Of this line earned at the beginning
and have kept ever since, reputation FOR CON-
tort and clylli;y.
The comfort has become luxury on the leu.
tonic No ship that floats can he compared with
her in the spendor OF her fittings, none in the
facilities She offers the yoyager for the thorough
enjoyment of his Atlantic journey \
single fact will indicate to the eX-
rerienced traveller the idea that Is upper
most in the minds OF those responsible foI her.
She carries no more frst-caSs passengers thar
she can dine all at once in her dazzling white and
gold aoon II You have crossed on one OF
those ships whose passengers are so numerous
that they have to lunch and dine in relays you
viii appreciate the difference. Again, great mum
bers of the staterooms are two-berthed only; many
OF them with but single berth, and solitude in
your own cabin-the greatest OF all ocean lux.
rreS-may be had at Il reasonable rate. II YOU
do not care about mere cost. you may have
single stateroom deck for 5000, or u
suite OF rooms, paror included, for three four
times that modest sum- You will have at any
rate the use OF the delightful library. There j.
greater novelty or more useful one than this;
a room perhaps 4ON3O feet Oh the promenade deck,
with windows on four sides, elegantly fitted with
tables and wrtingde>ks and lounges and book
eases The decoration Of this, Of the great
saloon below, is rs elaborate as it is tasteful.
Taste GINS everywhere, and is stamped the
carvings of oak which panel the ship. the
leather which lines the smoking rOom-another
innovation in point of size and splendor-on all
the cabins and statcrooms, whether simple or gor-
pous. Ivory and gold mouldings and tracery OF
the Renaissance, enamelS, figures in relief, deli.
cate tints in stulfs and carpets stained glass, are
used as freely and effectively rs if for a country
house in the heart of Buckinghamshire or Kent.
The promenade decks-?JO feet long and some
20 feet wide either side Of the deck houses
are unbgollen by any of those marine obstacles
which spoil walking. They rooted for part
of their length. and lighted by electricity; and So
at one blow two of your chief enemies at sea
wet and darlSneSs-are vanquished. lou may be
on deck at I'll times and in almost all weathers.
/ touch only on what most struck me as wandered
over this magnificent vessel and l say nothing of
her purely marine technical merits, except that
she is the largest ship ahoat-if that be a merit
that her tonnage is expressed in five figures thas
she is built Of steel, that she is driven by two
sets Of triple expansion engines and twin screws.
and that in design, as well a. in decoration, she
Is the last word that the naval architect has
uttered. And she is an armed merchant cruiser.
built under Admiralty Inspections the first of her
kind, and an object Of much naval interest.
The company is hardly less remarkable than
the ship. There are, or will be when we arrive
at Portsmouth, nearly 300 passengers; all guests
of the White Star Company. 1t is what the
dramatic writers on first nights call represent
alive assembly, and in a wider sense than theirs
The ship is full of celebrities and they arr not
only celebrities Of society and Of the professions.
Here some of the foremost of those EnaSh-
men who make England what she is today the
men who create and organize her commerce and
business. Mr. lsmay, OF course, is here the
soul and the brain of the White Star Company.
There is company and there are directors but,
as one OF them Sild, hatcNer lsmay says we
all say-he does il ALL That man with the
broad shoulders and quiet rcsolute manner, and
keen eyes that everything on deck at once,
ana strong, brown-bearded face, bronzed like
one of his captains-that is " Ismay7- incarna-
ton of energetic, wide-reachng ability. To
run this company would b, enough for most
men, but MIR. Ismay is a director of the London
and Northwestern Railway Company, and will
some day be chairman OF it, and manage all its
10000 men and its five hundred millions of capital.
Two or three other directors of that great COM
pany are here Mr.. stephen, MIR Fletcher, per-
haps others, and with tham lis Generll Manager,