The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-09-27
FASTEST OF MAIDEN TRIPS.
THE KAISER WILHELM DER CROSSE
MARINE MARVEL.

est TOT Nuht SouFao-hu Auuttlon Bho Heat
the Lucania's Beet Day's Run. ana Made
an Average Never EsuaIied on q Maiden Trip
Builders Expect Her to Average M Knots.
The ~giantess Of liners, the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Crosse, Of tho North German Lloyd feet, has
fulfilled the prophecy Of her builders, the vul-
can Shipbuilding Company OF Stettin, by boat
Ing the record from Southampton. which was
Q days and 81 minutes. and was held by the st.
Paul OF the American line.
The time of the great German scorcher is 8
days 20 hours and as minutes. She not only
creates a new record on the Southampton route,
but she smashes all maiden records on any
route, and imperils the supremacy OF the Gu
narders Lucania and Campania as mistresses
OF the peaceful seas Of
A look at her marvellous days runs indicates
what may be expected of her In the future when
her machinery has limbered up. At noon on her
first day from the Needles she had covered 2Os
knots. She distinguished herself on her first
full days run by ~eclipsing the record Of the best
ship on the southampton route. She reeled Off
1871 knots. On tho succeeding days her runs
were. respectively. 49o. 512. 554, 584, and to
Sandy Hook 1856 knots.
Her run OF 564 knots, completed on the nauti-
cal day ending at noon on Saturday, exceeds by
two knots the best westward daily run Of tho
Cunarder Lucania. This clearly indicates that
1t will not DO long before the Lucania will be a
back number.
The Kaiser covered $3.50 knots at an average
hourly speed Of 81. 80 knots. There are bigger
averages than that. as 10 shown in another part
OF this story. but this 10 only n maiden trip.
Gustav II. Schwab, agent hero of the North
German Lloyd line. was not altogether sure that
the makers of the big ship were right
in their confident prediction. which al
most amounted to a guarantee. The tone
OF his voice, when THE sun gave him the
nrst news Of the Kaiser crossing the bar last
night indicated his surprise and pleasure. He
said. of hand. like a man who had been lying
awake nights figuring on the subject: In that
case her time is i've days and about twenty-three
hours"
He added that he would not send a tug down
to meet the triumphant ocean crosser, and that
she would not come up to her pier until this
morning. 1t may DO seen by tho figures that
MIR. Schwab's guess was pretty nearly right.
Naturally the Kaiser passed many liners that
used to DO considered swift. There was an un-
identified Cunarder, maybe the Aurania, from
Liverpool and Southampton for this port, whose
passengers were probably dazzled by the way
the four-funnelled steamer flashed by them;
. Red Star steamship going west, comparative
ly, like an antediluvian craft; the twin-screw
Stuttgart of her own line, bound hither; the
Aller. which Is due here to-day, and the Taurlc,
Q White Star twin-screw freighter. also due to-
day. She passed the Tauric Of Nantucket light
ship early yesterday morning.
The observer at Fire Island did not get a
glimpse of the new space annihilator. Perhaps
her commander. Capt. H. Engelbart. wanted to
surprise the world ashore by being first seen at
. point that would leave no doub. that
the Kaiser had knocked records to smithereens.
Besides. 1t takes time to run in toward Fire
Island shore and signal your appearance, and
the Kaiser did not want to lose a minute. 1t
was somewhat misty off the Hook, and the
observer there did not notice the ship until she
had crossed the bar, a few minutes after 0
o'clock.
On her magnificent run Of 564 knots on Satur.
day the Kaiser made an average Of nearly %
knots an hour. which 10 what her builders think
she can sustain for a whole voyage. This means
that she will beat the Lucanis by about Q knot
an hour on q voyage, and that she will reduce the
time from Southampton to five days and a half.
She developed 10000 horse power on the trip
sho inishod abeam of the Sandy Hook lightship
last night, and her average daily consumption
Of coal was 500 tons.
Her steam pressure to the square inch waa
1856 pounds, and the average revolutions of her
screws was II to the minute. At certain hours
on the trip the steam pressure was q trife
higher and the revolutions of her propellera
faster. That was notably 80 during the last eight
hours, when her average speed was twenty
three and o quarter knots. She was bounding
for home base then. and the engineer represent
ing her builders. who was bossing the trip down
In the business part Of the ship. knew what was
expected of him.
Five years ago the Hamburg-American line
had the record from Southampton. The British.
built steamship Paris of the American line cut II
down to 8 days 8 hours and 81 minutes in July,
1893. and the now American liners st. Paul and
81. Louis reduced 1t last year to the figures that
the Kaiser has just eclipsed.
The best hourly average Of the Campania fol
avoyage 10 22.Ol knots. which she made in q
run to the eastward in May. 1895. The Cam
pania's best hourly average. also made on an
ea,tward voyage. is 21.s2 knots.
The best hourly average of the st. Paul, from
southampton to Sandy Hook, made In August
last year. 10 21.Os knots. The best single days
run Of the Lucania 10 b62 knots; Campania. $50
knots; st. Paul and st. Louis. each $40 knots
all made going west In nautical days of twenty
four hours and about nifty minutes.
Among tho passengers who arrived on the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse were Director
B~remermann, Dr.. James p. Boyd. his High
ness Prince Brancaocio. Prince Marco An
tonic Brancaccio. Consul-General Feigel. DR.
o. Gushing, the Rev. John Farelll
Prot. A. Gudmann, Theodore H.. Havemyer. Jr.
Maitland Kersey. L. Lorillard. Jr.. Prof. Lousch
ner. DR.. A. Z. Macdonald. DR.. John A. Robson
Nine. de Navarro, Director Herman Schumm
DR.. Carl Sch wickerath. Prof. John J. Stevenson
and +. ID. Cravath.
.Adolph Billhardt. late United States Consul al
Moscow. Russia, with Mrs. Billhardt and theiI
Two daughters, were also on the new liner.
The kaiser will sail from this port at y O'Clock
on Thursday morning for Southampton ant
Bremen, Sho will doubtless smash another rec
ora, made on Sept. 3 by the American liner BIT
That record will probably not be a very hare
one for her. as II Is elk days ten hours and four
knots.
The Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse is tho largest
cteomship that has been iaunched since n,
64s feet long. or thirty.one feet shorter thar
the Great Eastern. and she measures 14.O0(
tons gross. The Great Eastern was only q sinRl,
screw and che made q froighter's time OF abou'
Twelve knots. Nobody can tell yet the posi-
oilities Of the great German flyer, which hai
already travelled at the rate. Of more thar
twenty-five knots. But that she will do some
what better than the Campania and Lucanit
There 10 little doubt In tho minds OF her owners