New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-09-17
FAST OCEAN SERVICE.
Disadvantage Canada Labors Under
in Competipg acith Nes0- York.


St Johns. y F. Sept Il Especially THE disaster
TO the new Canadian turbine engine mail steamship
Victorian in the St Lawrence River on sep'eIhpel
2 end the equally serious misfortune TO the
steamship Virginia1 in the same waters at 'iie
game time shundantlv attest the disadvantages
fuder which Canada labors in her endeaVofs %
establish fast ocean service which can compete on
an equality with vessels from NeT-Hork
That in the summer months it is possible loI INC
ese+.et Montreal liners when favored with weather
snd seas free of ice 10 make passages wnlcn wiz
threaten the speedier delivery of mails oS ->eN
York is undeniabIe, but that Montreal can -
naanently replace New-York as the Wes'ei western -
rainal for transatlantic traffic no unbiased on
sarver will saw who studies the conditions unoeF
which these northern waters are traVerSeo' va -
STANCE on Nav of this year the Veterans Gun.
sort, the Virginian stopped hy an lSelI.o
Cape Ray. in Cabot Strait Tor twenty -loU. - ~
with sixteen hundred passengers aooaru' anu 80
August the Southwark with one Thousand pas
sensers was similarly Inconvenience near O0P9
Norman. in Belle Isle Strait while al me 80
round fogs threaten the safety OF every SHp '0-D4
70 or from Canadian ports
An impartial study of the whole subject must
ys.a RI +be conclusion that while Canada may pro
vide q service which for speed and efTlclency VIII
amply meet her requirements ana redsoliaDiS 3t
r-oach the best American liner the CaIaolaH I'U'0
can never really become the first favorlfe because
x5s4 &c All things considered the shortest ss1esI
n,5 most direct ses path IS that by NeW-4oEk.
Montreal. while favored by closer proximity IL
mere mileage is hampered by climatic dra"oaoAs
which virtually put her out OF court Loi nc -.
ravrArce River and Gulf Freeze over ct the enc Oh
z-t.- er,5 Montreal is not accessible again by
sea until the following MAY. during which nVe
months Halifax has TO be used as the Wl1Ier Ter
minus while during the first four weeks OF the
snyie and the last four Of the autumn boats run
,,irr m and from Montreal are sublecteo 10 such
s,-.irxn+ rerfl from bad weather, uncharted cur
rents dense fogs and deadly ioebergs, that any at
.ar,nt TO make speed would merely invite osdS'er
o,o4 of This is afforded by the loss Of the Allan
s4,e- Norwegian near Cape Raw, in June 1898; her
oonsort the Hibernian. in the same vlclh'E. !"
nine 1oo4: the Canadian Pacific Railroad inner
sfonterev of St Pierre. in July. 1904 ana by me
,oss of the Dominion liner Scotsman, on Belle Isle
IN October 1885, and the Donaldson liner Aarlposa
IN the same region in November, 1900. not to men
|,o1 many other wrecks in both areas in previous
seasons.
The main objection to successful Canadian fast
fine is that it necessarily involves three routes ana
certainly two if not three. terminals. FROM De
Gambler TO May at the earliest, and usually uhu
Nav * Halifax has be the port Of arrival ana
departure because the icepack in the St Lawrence
Gulf makes its navigation Impossible men rom
NAV until July 15 and sometimes unth eaflF III
August the course has to be across the VI anu
iysanLs south of Newfoundland. below cape Race
80 ca-a Raw and into the Gulf by Cabot STRAIT
SIS southern channel the northern one. BeHe Isle
strait being still closed BY the mighty Arcuc noes
5-vbich are being carried down past Laorador anu
S,y.v-forndland by the Polar current This course
=. ,,o,+ 1so miles longer than that by Belle Isle
e+-.4+ zzbich latter is $50 miles, compared with
is1sa to New-York To eGualize Tnls loss Oh io'
miles II would be necessary 70 make spring ter
'-ninsI at sydney Cape Breton. whence the inter
colonial Railway gives connection with me "Ilole
.-o,+,,.n+ Nv landing or ennbarking passengers
shsr.l the advantage of forty-ne railroad scheo-
ME is occurred against seventeen-four steam,
s,oa+ sneed but Is lost IN crossing the Gun
S~lror frnT
Scotia and the sinuosities Of the ran rou'e a.
yninish the actual gain as compared win me
straight course the steamer can lay The thlfo' OF
summer route is that by Of Belle Isle STRAIT
Montreal as the terminal. though the malls
are put of at Rimouski at the mouth OF the 81
Ts7rAnce River saving several hours over the
steamer in delivering the mails at Montreal
ANY Canadian Atlantic greyhound service worthy
of the name is impossible when compared Win
-laUYorlx for Halifax is the only available port
IN the winter Sydney is the most convenient IN
4ha sn-ing and Montreal is the natural one IN the
sumner bit in all three cases. and especially III
regard to the latter the route lies through harro"
and dangerous waters. and the percentage on m
surance premium is points as contrasted with
- o4 Nev-vor< so numerous are the
STANDINGS and wrecks the former the super
,oritv of the American metropolis Is 1oundeo not
rnlx, on the larger growth. 0enser population anu
ar,n1er progress of the United States but resu!'s
very materially from the admirable location OF 'he
mort itself which has unequalled biographies
fadvantase being easily the most accesslole VI an
elong the Atlantic Coast and forming 'he pest
western terminal for ocean greyhounds- Inc map
shows that a track laid between England ana New"
sTor. enables both the eastbound and westpouno
steamers to clear the Newfoundland Banks Win
ell their risks from fogs. ice, currents and COL
iis,ons and TO avoid the danger Of cutting oo"1l
81. Asher craft that occupy these Lodges and are
.+beru,sa IN imminent danger Of being destroyed
nv these liners il they keep on az fuI speed
.-bereas If they slow down it is hopeless Tor them
70 expect 10 make quick passages
= oonsiderins the difficulties which a Canadian
80 Inc zuould have to face, the first must be the
s-isd reriIs incident TO this danger zone across
che Grand Banks for at period Of the year can
the Canadian service avoid them In me winter
! che STEAMERS bound 10 and from Halifax have
20 make a wide detour south. as to escape con-
tact with the enormous ice fields formed along the
Newfoundland and Nova. Scotia coasts and flung
ont into the ocean by ofshore winds TO oostruct
the massage Of all sorts Of ships. In the spring
and early summer when these crystal fields have
7,esn dispersed the St. Lawrence IS accessible
~ vsv of Cabot Strait. the northern bergs and
sIets are drifting into steamship track the fogs
are heconing denser as the weather grows warmer,
and The Canadian liners, in skrting close TO Cape
Pace and Cane Ray, so to clip down the mile
ese frequently pile themselves up the rocks
The Derapster liner Assyriar with six hundred pas
sensers and hull and cargo worth 100000, did this
in June 1901, and the French LUsitania- with $50
passengers and hull and cargo valued at $4,000
followed her q month later. both becoming total
wrecks within ten miles Of each other In the late