The morning call., 1891-09-06
SHORT ROUTES OF TRAVEL.

1t has lately been announced. with con-
siderable flourish of trumpe.s, that by
special arrangement between the Canadian
Pacific and the British Postoffice Depart
Inent the mails which left Yokohama,
Japan, on August 18th will be delivered in
Liverpool next Wednesday,, making the trip
OF 10, 500 miles in twenty days. a steamer
of the Empress line carried them in ten
days from Yokohama to Vancouver. By an
arrsn cement with the New Y York Central
special train on the Canadian Pucitic car
ried them from Vancouver to New York in
little over three days and half. At New
York they caught White Star steamer
which is expected TO reach Liverpool in
about six days and a half. The moral
which is drawn from the incident is that
the shorter route on high meridians of lati-
tude will be preferred to more sOutherly
routes for the transmission of mails, be-
cause of the saving in time which it offers,
and that passengers and traffic will follow
the mails.
That is not as sure as some people sup
pose. In the first place the southerly routes
are quite capable of covering the distance
as quickly as their northern connections.
The steamers which now ply between San
Francisco and Yokohama do not make as
good time as the steamers of the Empress
line. The Gaelic, which sailed from Japan
on August Goth, took thirteen days to cross
the ocean, while her Canadian competitor
only took ten; but, in the absence OF any
pressing call for speed, the Gaelic was not
run to the full capacity of her engines,
while the Canadian ship did her very best.
1t would be quite possible to get speed
enough cut OF the Gaelic to knock two days
off the present schedule time, If c0mpeti-
tiOn warranted an increased consumption of
coal, and the Gaelic and her sister ships
were built not for speed but for cargo car
Tying. The crack steamers which now ply
between New York and Liverpool cover
their mile in three minutes, at which rate OF
speed they would cross from Yokohama 10
San Francisco in about eight days and
half. 1t goes without saying that If ever
the intercourse between Asia and the
United States becomes active enough to
warrant first-class steamship service it
will be had.
AS to the tranScontinental DO ortlOn of the
journey the Canadian linecannot avail itself
OF the whole OF its geographical advantage,
because at some point or other mails and
passengers must leave 1t TO take an Ameri-
can railroad TO New York. Competition by
way of Quebec or Montreal is out of tie
question, and if it ever comes to sustained
rivalry Of speed our railroads can cross the
continent as fast as the Canadian Pacific.
1t is simply question of the pace at which
a train can be hauled. As matters stand
the overland train from San Francisco
reaches New York in FIVE days. Mr.. 0el-
richs made the trip in a little over four days
and a half by running specials over parts OF
Il, ,,-+h Il 10
age speed of forty-fve miles an hour could
be kept up on the level portions of the jour
ney, which would cut the time down to less
than four days. No such speed could be
maintained as regular thing on the Cana
dian Pacific, The road is not banasted suf-
fciently and the equipment is not heavy
enough for the work. An attempt to run SO
fast would lead to accidents.
Improvements in travel are the growth of
necessity. 1t does not pay to anticipate the
wants of the world. To place such ships as
the Teutonic and the City Of Paris on the
berth between here and Japan would be un-
wise, for there is no business TO sustain
such vessels, and they would bankrupt their
owners AS trade grows the present ships
will make way for larger and swifter ves-
sels but the improvement will be gradual.
When the Canadian Pacific Company con-
tracted for the building of the Empress line
Of steamers il was predicted that IL would
break down the lines running from San
Francisco, as it had the shorter route in
miles. But, in fact, our lines are carrying
more freight than ever, the business being
taken from the lines which traverse the SueZ
Canal. AS for the Canadian steamers they
have to come to Oregon to get freight in
der not to sail ont in ballast Ii does not
pay to hug the north pole.