The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-01-27
Steam Navigation.
From the New York Tribune.


The remarkable performances of the two
great Cunard steamships, Lucania and
Campania, recall some interesting memo
ries of the early history and subsequent
development of transoceanic steam naviga-
ton. The whole story is not long one
There are men still living who remember
how one of the most illustrious scientists
of the age mathematically demonstrated
as he thought the absolute impossibility of
sending vessel across the Atlantic by
steam power. No ship could carry enough
fuel 10 supply her engines on such voy-
age. 1t was as much out of the question
as it was for him to lift himself by his .
boot-straps. And he declared himself
ready to eat the first ship that ever made
such voyage Such was advanced scien-
tiic opinion within the memory of men
now living.
Without reviewing the whole history of
steam navigation the record of the one
line whose double triumph is now cele-
brated shows forth srikingly the develop
ment of this important art. Other own.
ers sent the first steamships across the At
lantic, and other lines have rivalled this in
progress and the various elements of ex-
cellence. But the Cunard Line was one
of the earliest founded, and has ever since
been one of the best known and deserv-
edly most popular, and it may for the pres
ent purpose fairly be taken as typical of all
the transatlantic fleets Its first ship was
the Britannia, in 1910, one of four built
on the same model She was 207 feet
long, or one-third the length of the Luca-
MIA; of 1,154 tons burden, or one-tenth
the Lucanias, and was, of course, propelled
| by side paddle-wheels. Her first voyage
was accomplished in Il days and hours.
And she was Just as much wonder of the
world then as the Lucania is to-day. She
and her fellows served all purposes for fif-
teen years. and then great change was
wrought in the building of the Persia.
This was an iron ship 3,300 tons, the first
iron Cunarder. Seven years later still
greater change came in the China, sin
gle-screw propeller, 326 feet long, and OF
2697 tons. One of the first of the great
modern ships with compound engines was
the Gallia, in 1879 The Umbria, in 1884,
marked a still further advance, and this
year the twin-screw racers, the Campania
and the Lucenia, 62O feet long, and of r.
$50 tons, mark the latest achievements of
shipbuilding skill
The latest, but doubtless not the last.
Some of the later steps forward are longer
than the earlier The first twin-screw Gu
harder, the Campania, for example, is a
greater improvement on the first single
screw, the China, than the latter was on
the first paddle-wheel, the Britannia, in
length, in tonnage, in horse power, in speed,
in all respects. To prophecy what further
/ advances will be made would be rash, but
so would it be rash, as the example of the
famous scientist already mentioned shows,
to decry the possibility of further advance
ment, even as great as that of the past.
1t is an impressive thought that the Gu
nard ships alone have already traversed
distances which would extend more than
one-quarter way from the earth to the sun.
How great part they and their fellow
voyagers have played in promoting human
progress and universal brotherhood no fig
ures can express.