The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-04-29

We Have None TO Match the
English Flyers
EXCEED % KNOTS AN HOUR
Some of the so.caled American Fly.
ers Are Not So Fast BY One
thlrd-Belgan and
Dutch Boats.

America has always been first in the
size and magniheance of its river and
sound boats, but always behind England
IN the speed maintained by such boats
on regular schedule An American steam
boat may have nominal speed capacity
Of twenty miles an hour but the schedule
she runs on may be only fourteen or six
teen miles an hour, and she may very sell
dom get In on schedule time. On the
other hand a corresponding English boat
would be able to make twenty-four or
twentysix miles an hour and very often
would be run to within mile or so of its
possible limit of speed ON regular sched-
ule, and everything possible would be
done to get in on time.
In the summer the New Yorker has a
choice of eighty local boat Ines thirty
five ON the sound. twenty-five up the Hud-
son and twenty down the bay. Boston
Baltimore with thirty many lines to the
eastern shore being served. however, with
small and irregular boats. Then come
Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago with
about twenty-five lines each.
The many passenger lines on the great
lakes are fully equal to the best on the
Atlantic coast. The run between Detroit
and Buffalo is the longest one-night run
in the country and the fastest.
Looking TO Great Britain for a COM
parison we see at once that the local
channel lines are somewhat smaller boats
as rule, and not so luxurious as our
best, but all faster and more power
full. For example, the great Priscilla,
largest of all our steamboats,, has total
length of 40 feet and $500 horsepower,
while the Empress Queen, the largest
paddle steamer In the Irish channel, has
1000 horse power and is only 375 feet
long.
This means that she can run twenty
five miles an hour and she makes on her
daily schedule about twenty-five miles,
while the Priscillas schedule to Fall
River is between sixteen and seventeen
miles an hour and she could be pushed
probably to twenty.
The Belgian government paddle steamer
running from Ostend to Dover. Princess
Clementlne is 351 feet long with 5000 horse
power has run twenty-seven miles an
hour and maintains a regular schedule
of more than twenty miles an hour. The
sound boat Pilgrim, 800 feet long, has
$500 horse power and makes only fifteen
miles an hour.
The Dutch line boats between Queens
boro and Flushing are fully as fast as
the Princess Clementine making the run
of 125 miles at the rate of nineteen miles
an hour. The best of these boats are 800
feet long and of 200 tons burden. and 5000
horse power each, enabling them to make
twenty-six miles an hour when necessary
to maintain the train schedule in stormy
weather.
utl fou fauk tIa- b1o nod
ule in the world is maintained on several
trips a day between Holyhead and Dub
lin. seventy-seven miles. The distance Is
made I'm an average of 30 minutes. or
more than twenty-five miles an hour. The
run of the Richard Peck to New Haven
Is the same distance, but takes 315 min
utes when on time. or at the rate of less
than fourteen miles an hour. If we had
a boat going to New Haven in one hour
and a half less than the Peck we would
have the speed of these English boats;
and yet the Peck is called a flyer and
does pass most OF the other sound boats.
The distance from Dover to Calais is
twenty-five miles and the regular boats
have been making the trip In a few
minutes over the hour and are now cut
ting this down to an even hour. The
Sandy Hook run of the boats of the
Centray Railroad of New Jersey. the one
fast run we have In New York har-
Dor takes one hour and quarter. The
distance Is twenty miles At best the
beats make less than twenty miles an
hour
The fastest excursion service by water
for pleasure or holiday travel from Glas-
gov to the many beautiful resorts of the
west of Scotland and north of Ireland.
Many very fast day excursion boats are
operated here, speed of twenty miles
an hour or more being often maintained.