Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-02-22
By. DOUGLAS WHITE.

z(pou0las WHITE VINO has written TOR
the Star-8ulietin, something about the
Great Northern's trip and the steamer,
10 known to many people In Honolulu
He was out here in chose days Of go
with the Hearst neMspapers."' "Now I
have deoenerated into railroad OFF,
ciai," he says. He 10 now general in!
dustriai agent Of the salt Lake Route,
and holds other railroad positions.
To the. Great Northern must be
awarded the broom of all broonls for
she has, performed a work .ofasweep-
ing Funequaled in American steamship
history. d j. 49,. ~.
3 When James ]. Hill gave orders to
the Cramps that they build for him
two ships, capable Of ,equaling the
speed of the. fastest Pacific ! Coast
railway trains he hardly realized how
well his orders were to be filled, or
that the first of these sister ships
would become an important factor of
Americas shipping history for 1875
+ It was only during the first week of
December, 1914. that the Great, Nor
thern steamed forth from the ship
yards at Philadelphia for her several
trial trips. She had. been guaranteed
to make speed of 90 knots under all
ordinary sea conditions. and the first
surprise she passed out to her build
ers. was Q record of "a "a knots But
the real wonder was the way she de-
livered the goods. When she swung.
around the. Delaware breakwater upon
her most gruelfng trial every other
kind and class of craft were budding
close ia the snuggest anchorage to be
found. in the teeth, OF an Atlantic,
gale this new creation in maritime
construction drove her way up thu At
lantic coast as far as Rockland, MAINE,
to- the tune Of nearly two knots an
hour sbetter than the guarantee, made
by her confident builders. And she
did these paees without a rack on her:
tables at meal times and her action in
the various heavy seaways fulfilled
those yarns of the ancient sea dog
who pictured the quiet joys of go.
ing to sea in a church" Thus. there
was a wonderful stability in a seaway
added to her record for. marvellous
speed and it was clearly shown that
nothing of comfort for her passengers
had been sacrinced when her builders
made her the speediest passenger ship
under the American flag.
j. Then came weeks of rush and skill
full maIeuyering in order that this new
Queen of the Seas" might be ready to
make history by carrying through tho
Panama canal not only. the first but
ho OF I'M 1fch osfv Of
sionists that ever visited the Pacific
coast. The Great Northern was to be
the pioneer of all excursion steam
ships through the great ditch and her
schedule was so timed as to bring her
to San Francisco just ahead of the
opening Of the great exposition.
Beats the Schedule.
Not,a moment had been left for lee
lway2in her schedule. yet the great
made reserve of time for
herself by tying up at the docks in
San Diego one and one-half days
ahead Of time after having made, by
long ways, the fastest run, ever re-
corded between the western entrance
to the canal and California's first port
of :caH.
Even her six hundred and four pas
sengers were amazed at the Great
Northern's steaming ability and the
amazement was only excelled by won
der at the magnificence of the fittings
that had been embodied in the ships
construction and equipment.
The greetings extended to a newly
added ship when joining popular
feet was ever equal to the welcome ac!
corded this new coastwise passenger
ship by the people of California. Her
arrival. at each port was an ovation,
the docks where she landed being
strewn with California's choicest flow
ers and her passengers received as
only western hospitality can receive.
Another Stunt.
While all this was going into the
record of the Pacific:s most modern
carrier, her traffic manager,
Mr.. Cal. Stone, had figured out an.
other STUNT for her before she took up
her regular service between Portland,
Ore. and San Francisco. This was
No IaSc than m oSpurc;oD trim IN 10