Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-25
MODERN FLOATING HOTEL
Development Of Carrying Capacity Of
Ocean-Going Vessels.
MILLIONS OF MONEY INVESTED
White Star Olympic to Make Maiden
Voyage to United States
Next June.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

ship line have announced that the Olym-
pic, the leviathan which has been build
ing at Belfast for four years and is the
largest vessel that was ever floated. will
sail on her maiden voyage to the United
States the 18th Of June, and will be fol-
lowed. q few months later. by her sis
ter ship, the Titanic. which is Of similar
size and carrying capacity. 1t was sup
posed by laymen that the limit had been
reached when the keels Of these monsters
had been laid, but now comes the Ham
burg-American Company with the an
nounced that the Vulcan shipyard at
Stettin has laid the keel Of a ship for
that company to be called the Europa,
which Is twenty-one feet longer, four
feet wider. has q larger tonnage by 5000
tons, horsepower greater by 10000 than
the Olympic and Titanic and will be cap
able of carrying LOO passengers more
than either Of them or anything that
noats.
The expansion of the steamship. both of
the mercantile marine and Of the fighting
class, Is as remarkable as the develop
ment Of any other science or trade, and
the rivalry for the supremacy Of the
sea between the merchant lines is as
keen as between the navies of the great
powers, notwithstanding the fact that the
government of the United States IL about
to prosecute them for being too friendly.
Trust Phase Considered.
1t requires q moral microscope of
greater power than sensible men can
procure to discover where the harm to
mankind lies in q combination between
the steamship companies which the gov
eminent trust busters are trying to de-
stroy.
The rates for freight and passengers
across the Atlantic both ways Of all
classes are lower and the accOmmoda-
lions are better under the present pool
Ing arrangements than they ever were
before, and the Attorney General OF the
United States will not improve them by
trying to dissolve the pool II he should
succeed in doing SO he would simply
deneFaliEe the trafac.
The third-class passengers, Who are
chiefly immigrants. have accommodations
and food equal to those furnished first
class passengers within the life OF the
present generation, and the modern lux
uries comforts and cOnveniences which
instead Of a hardship do not cost any
more, or SO much, as the old-fashioned
comfortless ships used to furnish. VI
course, a passenger may pay tnou-
sand dollars or twenty-five hundred dol
lars just as he pleases, according to the
for 500 first-ciass passenger can cross
the Atlantic in the finest ship that was
ever built and have every advantage
that the man who pays thousand dol
lars enjoys, except In the size ana ioca-
ton of the cabin in which he sleeps.
The Storage passenger can cross Tor
40 and the ssecond-class passenger Tor
$50. and the latter has accommodations.
food and conveniences which would nave
been highly appreciated by nrst-ciass
passengers on the finest OF ships only
few years ago.
Cause Of Dread Removed.
Furthermore, the application of science
and ingenuity to the construction Of pas
senger vessels has removed any cause
for dread regarding danger or discom-
fort in the voyage, and in the ne"
steamer which the Hamburg-American
Company is constructing an entirely new
device will be adopted to prevent the
rolling Of the hull as it passes through
the troughs OF the sea In stormy
weather.
This device invented by Herr Frahm
OF Hamburg, consists OF row or enor-
NOUS tanks shaped like the letter IL, ex-
tending from port to starboard the en-
tire length of the hold. The water In
these tanks rises and falls as the ship
rolls, counteracting the motion or the yes
sci, which Is almost entirely neutrahzeo
Experiments made with the steamers
JiranEa and Corcovada. sailing between
Hamburg and the Argentine Republic for
two years have demonstrated the effective
ness of the invention. Their log DOCKS
show that the average maximum radius
described by these vessels In rolling be-
fore the tanks were placed in their hulis
was eleven degrees on each beam. Since
the tanks were introduced the maximum
has been reduced to two degrees, and 1t
is asserted that even when running In
the trough Of the sea the Corcovada and
the Jiranga have been so steady that
the rolling was scarcely perceptible
The effectiveness of this device is said
to be much greater than the bilge keel
or any other that was ever tried. and
the Hamburg-American Company has
determined to introduce it In the con-
struction Of the Europa.
Use of Petroleum as Fuel.
Another interesting and even more i'm
portant innovation in marine architecture
will be made upon a vessel Of 5000 tons
now being constructed by the Biohm &
Voss Shipbuilding Company at Hamburg
for the Hamburg-American line. 1t will
be the substitution of explosive engines
for steam engines and the use Of petro-
leum instead of coal for fuel. While
neither Of these ideas is now, as the
use OF OIL dlu cApiOSISG cuSlHcS Is COHl-
mon upon small boats and yachts. they
have never been tried In the development
of great power in large ships for the
transportation of freight and passengers.
Engineers predict that the new steamer
in which these methods are to be intro
duced will mark an epoch in marine con-
struction. There will be no boilers: there
will be no steam. no chimneys, and the
economy in passenger and cargo space
will amount to an increase of 30 per
cent in the capacity Of a vessel of 5000
tons
The use Of oil and explosive engines in
small and swift boats is now so common
that 1t attracts no comment, but steam
ship companies and shipbuiders have
hesitated to apply the system to ships re-
quiring more than 1000 horsepower until
now. The Hamburg-American Company
is the first to show its confidence and is
undertaking a demonstration that will
cost more than a million dollars.
Fifteen Under Construction.
Including the Europa, the Hamburg
American Company has fifteen new ves-
sells under construction, total Of 167.1OO
tons. This will bring the total tonnage
of the company up to 1912, 49, tons. which
is 1913 $40 tons more than all Of the Amer
lean ships engaged in the foreign trade
combined.
The fifteen new vessels under construc-
ton consist of the Europa Of $1,000 tons,
four freightefs Of 1900 tons each, two
OF which have already been launched, the
other two will be launched within few
weeks; fve passenger steamers OF 5000