New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-02
THE NORTH ATLANTIC.
THE STORY OF THE LANE ROUTES AND
WHY THEY ARE NO LONGER
FOLLOWED.
At Sea. SIS. Gcrmanic, February 10.

navigation are continually occurring. Some Oh
these changes attract attention, and others 90
not. The public likes to hear about raclh9' loI
example. while its anxiety touching matters more
vital than speed, and its knowledge of then' Is
often less Yet there was, perhaps, never any
thing in which the public took hveler interest
or ever found more comfort than IN the steam
Lane Routes across the Atlantic They are not
often mentioned in these days, but there Is
reason for referring 10 them, which VIII appear
in a moment. The collision between the Arctic
and the Vesta, in 1854, set people thinking ABOUT
the matter to some purpose, and lnclted some
practical persons to inquire whether the dahser
of collision might not be lessencd. 1t was Mr.
r. b. Forbes of Boston, who first proposed one
track for vessels going to and another for those
coming from America. Captain Maury adopted
this idea. and worked it out practically, and
drew those lines and courses from Cape Clear
70 Sandy Hook which became known as MauryS
Lane Routes. Foroes's name has slipped from
the general memory, but Maury was hailed, ana
is still sometimes remembered, as beneiactor
TO mankind.
Those were the DAYS when scafarers set store
by safety, and they were made happy in the be-
lief that By means of these fixed tracks across the
ocean collisions were avodable. 1t is twenty
of Them adopted these routes, or some APP
Proclamation to them. The Cunard Company ad-
vertised in all the papers day by day that us
ships would take one course westward ana an
other eastward In the official and nautical IAN
Cuage of these soothing announcements, their
outward bound ships to cross nothing TO
the north of AZ degrees north latitude In 90
degrees west longitude; their homeward-bouno
ships nothing to tie north OF az degrees horIh
latitude in so degrees west longitude III Ihey
did not follow accurately the lanes or run IN the
grooves which Maury drew, the effect, neverthe-
less, that ships going westward kept course
of their own; those going eastward did the same
and a belt Of water divided them. The width
of this belt varied in Maury's lane from sixty to
over 200 miles: the Cunard belt sixty miles
at its widest point Some of the other lines
followed the same policy / don't know which
was the first to adopt it, nor does 1t much matter.
What | wish to ask is whether the public are
aware that the CunaId Company and all the
other transatlantic companies, with one eXcep-
ton, have abandoned the Lane Routes' Such
is the fact The soothing advertisements have
been withdrawn. The Cunard Company now
contents itself with a statement that the steamers
of this line take specific courses according TO the
seasons of the year, which may mean anything
their advertisements am quoting all these from
o Liverpool papcr-with a notice about letters al
Queenstown, interesting, but not to the point.
The White Star like the Cunard, announces thao
its steamers take specified routes, according to
the seasons of the year; adding, however. which
include the Lane Routes recommended by Lieu
tenant Maury.'
In these altered conditions the Cunard ships
Y <lo,x. illuSfraflOn-rO1m
over the Atlantic at the will of their commanders.
Or perhaps not exactly at the will of their com
manders That solicitude for the safety of their
ships and passengers which was once supposed
to distinguish this ancient company, has gwen
place--not entirely but in part-to an eagerness
for quick passages, matter they long neglected.
and despised Their sailing orders to their cap
tains are not communicated to the pubic; they
can only be inferred from the courses they iol-
low But whether it be in obedience to orders
or in consequence of the present mania for speed,
the fact is that the company have altered their
policy and their ships have altered their courses
across the Atlantic. 1t is easy to fix the date
of the change 1t was when they first got their
fast ships-or perhaps when the fast ship proved
less fast than was expected-that they deserted
their long-used track and their time.honored ira
ditionS
The distance is less, and that is now reason
enough for running the additional risk, or rather
risks for there are more than one. From Queens
town to Sandy Hook. by the shortest northern
route, is about 2,sjO miles it is nearly 1900 by
the more southerly road, and it is to save this
difference of 80 miles, some part of it. that the
Cunarders have deliberately accepted the increased
chances of collision. The gain in time is rather
less than eight hours, but records across the
.Io do IN in min nd pi0ht
hours to racing steamship captain etcr-
nifty. BY the old plan there was double track
across the ocean. We have gone back to the sin.
gle track, and it is not necessary TO be either
railway expert or an abe-bodied seaman TO under
stand that track for bodies moving in opposite
directions is more dangerous than two. The fast
ships of to-day are twenty-knot steamers Nov
ing in opposite directions they approach each
other at the rate of forty-sX miles an hOur-the
speed Of railroad express. This speed is main
tanned at all hours and in almost all weathers.
Day and night, all day and all night long, and
every day Of the year, these huge vessels are
rushing upon each other from east and west. In
sunshine and through a dense fog with fair
wind and in the teeth of cyclone that piles
the seas on their decks, they 90 tearing along at
pace which sometimes makes the boldest hold
his breath: and sometimes, if he happens to be
on the deck or bridge takes 1t out OF him alto
gether. While they followed the lane routes.
these Atlantic monsters kept from 60 TO 200 miles
asunder To-day they may pass each other. and
do pass each other, within the toss of biscuit;
and sometimes they do not pass each other
The French and German lines are perhaps moro
prone than the English TO close shaves. The
Frcnchmcn have established a reputation for
quick passages. which they somehow accomplish
with ships that knot or knot and half
slower than the best English steamers. They
make Cape Race every time. In other words,
they follow the shortest road across the Atlantic
every voyage, whether outward or homeward
and this shortest road takes them close past that
stormy promontory of Newfoundland TO which
more prudent or less daring sailors give q wider
berth The ,xestxard hound Erenchman my