The daily sentinel., 1909-09-23
THE TRANSATLANTIC RECORD.

1t has been stated. and with much |
truth. that the degree of perfection
OF eountry's transportation faci1-
ties may be taken as fair measure
of its industrial and commercial de
velopment; and from the very first
il has been realized that the value
of any system of transportation is
dependent very largely. and in some
cases primarily. upon its speed
Hence. there has been a constant eff
fort to obtain the highest possible
speed compatible with consideration
of safety and reasonable economy
Because of the old-time dangers and
the. TO many people, present-day in
conveniences and discomfort OF ocean
travel. the attainment of high speed
has been nowhere so eagerly striyen
after as on the great oceans which di-
vide continent from continent. and
particularly on that 3,0OO-mile
stretch of water which lies between
the old world and the new.
The contest for what has popular
Is come to be known as the blue rib
bon" of the Atlantic has always pos
sessed "a certain fascination for the
public. both for those who frequently
make the crossing and those who new
er go at all The interest dates from
the days, in the early '40s of the last
century, when the "fliers' of that
time We're fighting it out between
themselves at speed of 10 knots,
down to the present day of turbine
driven liners that can reel off their
$50 knots day at speeds of % to %
knots.
When the first line of steamships
to cross the Atlantic on a regular
schedule of sailing was established.
now some 30 years ago, ii took about
l 4 days to make the trip from Liver
pool to Boston. The first vessel to
cross in less than 10 days was an
American boat, the Pacific of the fa
nous Collins line. which performed
the feat in May, 1851. 1t took an
other ? years to reduce the passage
below . days, the Scotia making the
passage in s days and hours in
1868. To the Inman (now the Amer
lean lineD is due the credit of bring
ing the passage below days. feat
accomplished in 1869 by the City of
BRUSSELS. in I days % hours 3 min
utes. The 7-day limit was first
passed by the Alaska of the Guion
| line. which made the trip in 1852 in
days % hours; and I years later.
in 1889. the City of Paris of the In
man line, now the Paris of the Amer
| lean line, brought the record below
6 days by making the crossing in ;
! days 10 hours s minutes.
II was not until the advent of the
steam turbine that the record was
brought below days. the Lusitania
accomplishing this feat in 1907 by
crossing to the westward in 4 days
| 10 hours so minutes. In the two
years that have intervened since then
changes have been made in the pro-
| pellers of both boats which have con
siderably increased the speed, and on
her last trip, concluded on September
.. the last-named vessel. crossing at
an average speed of 1855 knots. COW
cred the Atlantic course in days / /
hours AZ minutes, thus bringing the
record for the first time below 4 u
! days.
The question has been raised as to
whether this high speed Is not gBinet
| at too great cost. for 1t is a fact that
both the Lusitania and Mauretania
/ burn on an average about 900 tons
of coal per day. The answer is that,
although the aggregate consumption
is large, the amount of coal burned
/ in proportion to the size of the yes
/ sci is no larger and indeed not as
| large as that burned by the other
fast Atlantic liners of less total dis
! placement. Thus the Deutschland, of
! %. 500 tons displacement. when
steaming 23.5 knots, burns about $40
tons per day, which is over one half
! the consumption of the Lusitania,
| whose displacement is nearly double
| that of the Deutschland. and whose
sustained sea speed is about 2H
knots greater Moreover. there is a
large and ever-increasing number of
| people who, either for business rea-
| sons or because of dislike of ocean
travelling, are perfectly willing to pay
1 the higher rates which are necessary
to make these high-speed vessels pay
| Furthermore, the advantage in the|
acceleration of mail service, alone, is
probably in itself. sufficient justifica-
tion for cutting down the time OF
transit between New York and Lon
don by 20 hours, as compared with
other routes. For the adoption of
/ Fishguard, on the coast of Wales as
a port of call, and the installation o!
! a service of fast steamer trains be-
! tween that port and London made Il
| possible for the mails and passengers,
on the last trip of the Mauretania, to
| leave New York at ! 0 am on We'd
nesday and reach London at 90 min
utes past Z on the following Wednes-
day evening.
As to the possibilities of the future,
1t can safely be predicted that the
question of bringing the transatlan-
tie record below 4 days, is one of find
ing some new form of motive power.
/ 1t will never be accomplished by the
turbine-driven ship Whether the
I producer-gas engine can be developed
to point of compactness and efiicien-
cy that will enable it to perform the
feat is a question which the future
must Scientific American.
WHAT RAIIIMCEp GAIN