New-York tribune., 1907-09-13
ET-SIT4NIA REGINA.

that distinction hy so wide a margin of Suprem-
acy as to make present rivalry seem entHei!
vain. In speed. in engine power, in size ana
in form she stands apart from all other ShlpS'
in a class of her own, to be shared in the I'M
mediate future only by her sister. the Maure-
tania now approaching completion. Ii Is true
that she differs from others in degree rather
than in kind but the degree of difference IS
so great as almost TO constitute a kind, ana 10
be in fact. really more noteworthy ana sig
nificant than many differences Of klha- she
Is not of course the first turbine steamship
having been preceded by the Victorian. OF the
Allan Line: the Carmania. of the Cunard Line
and various others: but she is the hrSt tnrhlne
liner huiIt for surprising speed. and she is
also we believe the only very large steam
shin the hull of which is modelled after the
graceful curved lines of yacht. Stxistics are
proynrhiaIIv dull but there are exceptions in
which fhCv are instinct with romance and with
an irresistible appeal to the imagination; ana
this will surely he the case with some data
concerning the Lusitania
The first eight day ship the Scotia, In
1862: seven day. the City Of Brussels in
1865: six day. the Alaska. in 1882: i've day,
the City of Paris. in 1850. The record trip
over the Queenstown route made by the
TucanIa In n little less than five and third
DAYS The only important rivalry with the
Iusitania then is that of the two great Ger
man flyers OH the Plymouth route. The
Deutschland made the run in 1900 in t1fie
less than five and third days with an
average speed Of 23.51 knots. and the hai-
sar Wilhelm II made it I'm 1904. over a longer
course in two minutes less than five and
half days with hourly average of 23.5A
knots We need not reopen the dispute between
those two vessels for supremacy. 1t was the
British aim To build in the Lusitana ship
of of fhpm How
we'll that aim will be realized can be no more
than approximately estimated from this first
rrip For the Lusitania has not done her best
this time Few ships do on their first trlpS
Thus the Deutschland's first "trip took SIX ana
tbree-ouarter hours more than her record trip
two months later. The Lusitania. moreover
had fog and bad weather to contend WITH Il
IS also to he noted that the two German shlps
made their records going eastward instead OF
westward in which they presumably had an
advantage. 1t is reasonable TO expect, there
fore that the Lusitania will In the near future
materially improve upon the record which
she has just made
In comparing the speeds of these ships it
IS desirable to recall what they made on their
trial trips Tho Dcutschlands trial speed was
% > knots which she exceeded by only OF
of a knot in the average of her record trlp- Inc
Kaiser Wilhelm II made 80 on trial. and In
creased il by only .0S In the record average,
The Insltania made 25.5 on her trial, so that
if she does no more than 10 equal that on her
record average she will beat the others by
handsome margin Nor Will her speed be as
Costly as at first appears Reckoning the speed
of tha Deutschland at % knots and that or
the Illsitania nj 25.5 knots. the latter has an
advantage of only So per cent. to gain which
she has had 10 develop 6S,o0o horsepower, an
increase Of SIS per cent over the DeutSch-
lands 900 1t might seem 10 he poor poNcy
to gain So per cent at a cost of SS.8 per cent.
or moro than ten times as much. But it must
also be remembered that the Lusitania's ton
naoa j. 5000 against the Deutschland's
% GO an increase Of COS per cent so that the
GS : per cent additional horsepower means not
merely So per cent more speed. but also 6O.o
per cent more tonnage. Taking both power and
tonnage into the proportion. the speed or the
Iusitania should be about 275 knots. so that
instead Of gaining only One-tenth as much
speed a she should have gained from her iii
creased power she has gained Just haf as
much.
The dimensions of the Lusitania's hull
colossal The Great Eastern was go feet long
and the Baltic is 726 but this new monster
measures go feet. more than the extreme
length of the Capitol at Washington, The
Campania and the Lucana used TO be called the
..bio Cunardprs" but the Lusitania exceeds
them by 100 feet Her width is 8S feet against
the ~ of the Kaiser Wilhelm II. and her depth
is COZ; feet against the others 5212- The heat
ing surface of her boilers is 15S.350 square
feet against the 1O7. .643 of the Kaiser Wilhelm
H. and her CRATE area is 4.04S square feet.
against the others :1121 These items Of COM
harrison show as we have said. that her enor
nous size and power place her in class apart
from all other ships. It is interesting 10 add
that she also differs from them in shape Of
hull Others have their sides straight and
uaralIeI for considerable distance. like those
of the humble canal boat. but the Lusitanias
sides sweep in graceful and unbroken curves
from stem to stern. a circumstance which not
only adds to the beauty of the ship from some
points Of view. hut also is believed TO mako
her sail more smoothly and easily and with
less wave-making than other vessels
Such are some of the details of the greatest
ship in the world. which comes to-day 10 the
chief port of the Western Hemisphere. There
Is no port in which she would he more welcome
or from which heartier congratulations could
he extended 10 the country which is capable
Of producing not only Dreadnought and a
Temeraire for service in time OF war. but also
q Lusitania and Mauretania for service in
time of peace Nor should we forget that
those services are in a measure Interchange
able. and that while the warike Dreadn0ucht
fosters neaceful commerce with assurances
that peace will he maintained. the peaceful
Lusitania contains within herself the prom
ise and potency Of tremendous effectiveness
in time of war as an auxiliary to the heots
of the Red. White and Blue. IF there he one
unweicome reflection in the American mind
TODAY il viii he that naval fleet has
So few worthy anxiliariee and none compar-
! able with this. We shall soon have the peer
of the Dreadnought under the Stars and Stripes.