The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-06
THE FUTURE STEAMSHIP.
WHAT MUST DE DONE TO MAKE a
FOUR.DAY GREYHOUND.
The Sulject Considered In n tJcientine and
frsotieai Way by Prof u. ~. Biies of
Glasgow, che Designer OF the Paris.
Prom the Youth's Companion.

tell the readers OF the Youths Companion
what kind Of Atlantic greyhound" as tn,
modern Atlantic liner Is called thine is likely
TO bring ur, bat ] cannot see far enough into
the future tn discern the greyhound which II
c~onceAls. / can only draw on q limited imngi'
nation for Information on this subject, md
try to conceive q future steamer with such IN,
provements as seeL. not impossible from con,
sideratlon Of the existing art OF building.
Let us look back a little and see tho road
upon which we have come. Many human
beings arc living who were nlivo long before
steamships first regularly crossed the atlantic.
These vesse,s Mt FIRST travelled at a speed OF
eight or nine knots" or nautical miles of
$3.50 feet per hour. At the beginning of the
ten years, 10000, the Cunard co.. pany had a
ship with n speed OF eleven and.one.half knots
nm hour. At the end OF these ton years they had
. thirteen.knot ship.
At the end OF the next ten years, 1S60-70.
the greyhound of the Atlantic was the City Of
Brussels. and she had n speed OF l4N knotS
an hour. In 1880 the Arizona, n 16-knot ves-
eel. had made the shortest time on record ~
and the next ten years Is within the memory
Of most Of the readers of the Companion.
At the end of 1889 the City of Parie. now Of
the well-known American line, broke the record
with u 20-knot speed. which she subsequently,
Improved TO nearly II knots, d.,
Later the record WAS held by tho Cunard
steamships Campania and Lucsnia. with a
record, OF 2lsl knots per hour, aud the st.
Louis has since made 2alt knots.
Thus we have In the succe ssive decades adj
vances OF 3Le. III. 1}p, lle, and / knots rcspec-
lively. We arc matt way though another dec.
than two knots In advance OF that of its ear
Now. on the basis of these facts, we may
prophesy OF the future greyhound speed nc-
cordinc to our fears or hopes, our whims, or
our wishes; The advance In speed between
1910 and 1890 was about 2t knots por ten
years, We have already not an advance of 2I5
knot, for the present decade in the st. Louis,
20 that. judging by the past, we have rot
much advance to look for before the century
ends.
But. of course a continuous gain Of speed is
not TO be looked for. if new steamers run ~
knots an hour faster every ten years, they would
some time cross the ocean In next 10 no time.
Moreover. increase OF speed generally means an
Increased price OF the ship, and It also means
Increased cost OF running the ship, and these
are things which are likely to stop develop
The sea raises great objections to increase of
speed. rs may be understood from the IN.
that in the eiRht-kpot ships the power was
less than one-fortieth of that required to drive
The Campania and Lucania. or course, the
ships which have go much more power have
to be bigger than the SLOW ones, but not so
much. bigger as they would have had to be
had there not been q constant improvement
in engines ard boilers.
The Improvement has enabled engineers 10
60 much more horse power in the same space
md for the same. weight than they were for
Z kci.tul4iStlsp " I lnls ubTSp
pnwer for much less weight of coal. For in
stance. the first Cunard steamship completed
one-half the power OF that of the Paris, which
was completed In 1889. II we say the weight
of the machinery of the earlier steamer was
about 1000 tons, that OF the Paris would have
been 1000 tons unless some improvement had
been made. but, II is only about $500 tons.
Then as to coal burned. For every four pounds
burned on the older ship. only three are re-
9uired in the p ris 10 pr ,duce the same DO wer.
The Paris burns about 2.4o0 tons in crossing
thA Atlantic Sna yrnnld n IA - a httrpaI q ON tAn.
unless improvements had been made.
Thus we see that to, produce q ship Of the
yearr ago would have involved 200 tons more
Tor machinery. add 500 tons more tor coal than
the actual Paris, requires. This weight is
much more than the weight OF the whole cargo
OF the Paris.
These matters greatly. affect the money
making capahtli.y OF a ship, and 1t mus, never
be forgotten that there eau be no real future
for q commercial ship that Is not constructed
80 s lns, II 70 Sat ar se sSn a. IS 3 o pr BRINE ,n,or,nncs.
We know how TO subdivide a shin into compare
ments so that she cannot sink by a blow from
practicable. and some of the boys OF to-day.
who will De the men OF the next generation.
will insist that ships which carry many valu-
able lives shall be made so they will not sink
II a hole be Knocked out of their sides or bottom
so much for keeping ahoat with a hole
knocked through the ships side. What about
running her ashorei There are two chances
mistaken his position. No suip Is free from
this danger. nor Will be as long as IL is human TO
err. There may In tie future be some means OF
designating a fog at sea, but Tho chance Of such
q discovery being made is not great. Still IL
10 con teivable that our inventors, when they
fully understand what condition of the atmOs-
phere really causes fog. may ~contrive cleo
trtcal power to dispel ita short distance
around u ship.
The other chance OF going ashore is by a
breakdown OF machinery when near the land.
This chance becomes smaller every day. Every
accident that takes place TO Ii achlnery is a
lesson which teaches something, and as the
years go on.the accidents.tend to decrease.
htted with two screws and two sets of machin.
cry. which makes total brsakdowns still more
unlikely. A great American shipbuilder says
that the 0reyhoundI of the future will have
three screws. and the United states three
screw cruiser Columbia Is most efficiently pro-
screws the chance of total breakdown will DO
reduced to very small one.
and fonnderInG. The former is very u small nre
and will BIO smaller when the greyhound is
built in many compartments. Liability to
aoapS or Is me smallest OF dangers. even in the
Having provided for safety. In the future
and separate sets OF machinery, the question OF
rowling comfort Tor her passensers comes up.
hound with that OF a dwelling on land. Take
the Paris. for example.
The Paris has four decks, or. say. ''stories" or
mats TWO OF these hats extend the whole
length OF the ship, and two extend only outside
o. the machinery space. which is nifty yards
IouR. VIC nave, tnen. TWO mats 40 yards
long. and two l25 yards long, or in ali 900
yards OF nat, varying In width from sixty-threo
feet to nothing.
Now is vessel carries about 1000 peorlc.
90 that there are from two to three passengers
per yard of length of the fiat, or deck. occu-
pied The most crowded ten, ment house Is
not 80 lacking in space Tor its Inhabitants.
In u ship this space must So rvo for ell pur-
poses OF the human beinRs aboard her. There
Is no Goins out OF tho ship for a walk or ride. or
the pleasure ground of the ship, ard on the
upper deck Is the street where the STORAGE
passengers and crew may air thnmselves.
All this Is included in the space we have al
reauy, measured. yet a trip In one of these grey
hounds Is very enjoyable TO those not seasicl:.
But none would object 10 more space In their
private cabins, ana In the future greyhound
more will DO found. Some one may ask, How
san cabins b. enlarged II the greyhound Is to De
more subdividedI Inasmuch as inc subdi.
vision IL wanted more below the water than
above, We can have large spaces IN the
passenger quarters, some distance above the
water. and small ones IN the spaces below.
With this enlarged space for accom-
VIC shall have room for shops, 30 that passen-
gers may buy many things on board which
they may have forgotten TO bring with them.
They may be able 10 get news from the shore
by some means of communication. so thar on
n UnvADa fhAy will nnf he rpf nF alfn,AtIn.