The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1899-09-28
AMARINEWOr
The Oceanic Is No ore Remarkable for Her Size Than
for the Comforts Afforded Her Passengers.

saloon where you dined served as sitting
room, wine room. parlor and library.
The passengers had one common room,
the saloon, in which they ate. The de. d.
was considered good enough for smoking
room, and coil of rope was the precursor
Of the luxurious cushioned chair Of, today
II the wind was q little stiff, the. smokers
sought the friendly shelter Of the masts
and the deck houses There were no IL
brary no drawing room and no music room.
The saloon was the one apartment for pas
sengers. They ate. talked and convinced
themselves they were having the happiest
time of their lives.
One Of the Cunard steamers came to this
port In the early '40s with a new record
and smoking room. The smoking room
attracted more notice than the diminution
of the running time from Liverpool to New
York. The innovation was followed. The
first smoking room resembled one of those
abandoned horse cars which are frequently
used as waiting stations by the railroad
company. Into this small apartment the
men would pack themselves like sardines
In the center Of the smoking room was
small table.
The smokers were seated upon leather
cushioned sofas or benches running along
get up he stumbled across the legs of the
others. Grog was served by the stewards
and the glasses were solemnly passed down
the line until they reached their proper
destination. In some instances the grog
never got to the man for whom it was in
tended. Frequently lurch of the vessel
caused it to be spilled upon coat sleeves
and trousers. In any case. there was
good natured laugh, and the steward was
told to bring more grog..
In most OF the liners of the early period
the staterooms opened out from the saloon.
In each room were four hard hunks. The
furnishings were very primitive. Oil
lamps were so arranged in the partitions
that one lamp served to light two apart
ments At certain hour in the evening
steward passed along and notified the pa
sengers that it was time to put out their
lights.
The staterooms had towels, a basin and
pitcher of water. In these days the state
rooms all have running cold water and the
suites have bath, hot and cold water. There
were no elaborate bathrooms when transat-
lantic traffic was in it's infancy. There were
rooms in which there was grating. They
contained tin tubs, for which a steward
brought water in pals.
There were no suites, no chambers de
luxe The staterooms were about all alike.
1t seemed to have been decided that q
stateroom could never be changed, and that
1t must always contain four hunks. Rooms
with real beds in them and fitted up with
chairs and sofas would have caused the
steamer travellers of those days to open
their eyes with establishment. It was
earnestly believed that bed could never
be placed on board steamer, and sofa
There were always deck chairs Of some
kind or other but it has only benin re-
cent years that the steamship companies
provided the chairs at a fixed rental, and
saved the passengers the trouble of taking
a So steamer chair around the world with
them. There were not so many passen-
gers, and disagreements with regard to
chairs and their position on deck were Of
rare occurrence.
Steamers were built of wood in 1910. One
of the first iron screw steamers was the
Oceanic, the prototype Of the present giant
ess which appeared in these waters in 1871.
She had low freeboard and high
superstructure. The Oceanic had gas tanks
and the brilliant light which superseded
the oil lamps. The Oceanic was the first
steamer built by the White Star line, which
had previously been running line Of sail
ing packets to Australia. There was the
Arizona, the first greyhound, the record
breaker, the praises of which were sung
everywhere. Then there was the City of
Paris, the first steel twin screw vessel,
and last the Oceanic, which stands for the
latest advance in naval architecture.
The Oceanic has frequently been likened
to the Great Eastern-that majestic fail
ure of half century ago. The two re-
semble the similarity ends The 40 odd
years that stretch between the date of
the Great Eastern's inception and this
year of grace in which the Oceanic makes
her appearance have been years of mar
velous progress in marine construction ard
engine building. Fifteen to Is pounds per
square inch was the steam pressure when
the Great Eastern went overheard from
the yards of her builders. The working
gauges Of the Oceanic show 1872
The Great Eastern was fitted with five
masts, square rugged, and with her clumsy
hand steering gear it almost "cost watch
to steer her and a week to shorten SAIL"
The Oceanic has two pole masts, carries
no sail, and the wheel by which the great
vessel is guided on her course can be
revolved with ones little finger. The Great
Eastern was side wheeler, with awkward
looking paddle boxes projecting from her
. oiuco. ne OCcduIC IWIu QFOQollcTS are
SO deeply submerged that when she sets
them ahead there is but little commotion in
the surface water. The Great Easterns
steam radius was limited to a transatlantic
voyage The Oceanic can steam around the
world without recoaling.
In mere bulk there is resemblance be-
tween the two, the Great Eastern, with her
$50 feet of length, falling "a feet short of
the Oceanic'S great length of 7O4 feet The
Oceanic also has the advantage in displace-
ment, registering 2S50O tons, to the Great
Eastern's $1,000. The beam of the latter
vessel was greater than is the Oceanics,
the one measuring SO feet, the other So feet.
The machinery of this remarkable vessel
is in proportion to her Titanic hull The
engines are of the triple compound, in
verified, direct acting type, driving twin
screws, % feet in diameter The boilers
are of the return tube type, double ended,
with opposite pairs of furnaces, delivering
into common combustion chamber. The
stoke holes are not closed and there is a
system of ventilation by which the heat
of those compartments can be kept at a
temperature that is not excessive to the
stOkers.
The Oceanic has accommodations for 40
first class, 80 second class and 1000 steer
number 1874, bringing the total carrying ca
pacity up to 2,104. The main dining saloon
measures 80 feet in one direction and ga
in another. 1t has a seating capacity for
$50. The smoking room is arranged like