The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1910-11-17

covered with Administer carpets.
Just under this music saloon and on
the upper deck is the magnificent
dining-room for the first cabin.
This room extends the full width of
the ship and is furnished with four
long mahogany tables in the center
and several smaller tables on each
! for the convenience of families and
small parties. At the head of each
of these long tables an officer Of the
ship presideS during the meal, these
officers being the captain, the first
officer, the chief-engineer and the
doctor. 1t is difficult to describe
the elegance and convenience and
comforts of this room, the floor of
which is covered with magnificent
carpet and the walls and pantry of
which are of carved and polished oak
4 I'd mahogany.
Promptly on the minute adver-
tised for the departure from New
York, and while the ships band was
playing on the upper deck and the
band from sister ship of the same
company, then in port, played on
the pier to enliven the spirits of the
departing passengers, the engines
were started and the big ship
backed slowly from her dock out
into the river. On account of the
traffic in the river between New
York and the Jersey coast, these
big liners have not sufficient space
within which to make the sharp
turn for the bay after leaving the
dock. but with the assistance of two
tugs. one pushing at the bow and
another on the opposite side pushing
at the stern, we were soon straight
ened out in the river and headed
for the bay. Naturally we proceed
ed slowly at first until we had
passed the course of the freight
and passenger boats that swarm
like bees to and fro across the river,
but it was not long before we had
sailed into the open waters and
could put on a little more steam.
About twenty miles from our dock,
we made the usual stop to let the
pilot off, and the engines started
at full speed with the nose of our
ship pointing towards the other side.
One after another the larger objects
about New York faded from view
and when the darkness came on,
only an occasional flash could be
seen from the light houses along
the coast. The weather was ideal
with sunshine almost every day eX-
cept when we passed the Newfound-
land Banks, where we encountered
the usual fogs, but after a couple
of days in the fog region we were
again under clear skies with nothing
in sight save the limitless stretches
of the Atlantic. On account of the
exceedingly quiet weather \our boat
rolled very little, but however
smooth the water may appear, one
is always conscious of the monoton-
Gus swell and roll of the restless sea.
Our first sight of land after leaving
New York was on the ninth day out
when we passed through the narrow
straits between the northern coast
of Scotland and the Orkney Islands.
We passed through this fairway'
as it is called, about daylight, and
by having the night steward call US
at five clocn we were up and on
deck in time to enjoy the sight of
the wild and rugged coast of North
ern Scotland.
The scenery is simply indeScriba-
bic. Huge mountains of solid rock
rising abruptly from the water with
no visible signs of human life except
an occasional lighthouse built on the
barren rock gave us feeling of awe
as we steamed slowly through the
narrow straits in the twilight of