OCEAN STEAMERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1585, 15 June 1887, Page 3

OCEAN STEAMERS

Whether or not ocean steamers have reached their limit aa to size and speed would seem to be stlU an open question. .According to a Scotch ship-builder, ooean steamers 800 feet m length, and havlug a speed cf from 25 to 39 knots an hour, may bo expected m the near future. This certainly 1b a very bold prediction. It h«B been long nurroicad that the target steamers of the preßont time not only did not make any profitable return* 1 , but that they vf are even a burden to thoirjownera. This may be a mistake, but the annual statements of the various oompanies to which they belong would seem to support this view. The proposition to build larger and higher speod ocean steamers would, for that reaßen, appear to be unwlso unless some more economical method m the consumption of fuel by them Is dlf covered, for the coßt of fuel is one of the chief obstacles In the way of these steamers becoming profitable.

Competition, however, among tbo regular lines as to running fast steamers has not abated m splto of these facts. Each of them now owns one or more of these vessels, and they feel a justifiable pride m them. They aro Indeed grand specimens of what can be accomplished by human skill m this direction. And whether it has been jadioious or not they Trill continue to be run to meet the demand of the tr&v&lling public, Were they to be discontinued it might work an injury to the passenger traffic which is now attracted by them, and competition among the regular lines is now so great that even now steamers of greater speed than any yet afloat have already been contracted for, for oae m the Transatlantic service. If only pooaengero and their requirements and the bnnker spaoe were to be conBidered, it is possible that these steamers might at least pay their way. But m fast steamers, as at prevent constructed, so much room is devoted to cargo, that the cost of building is very great, without any compensation In the way of freight. Seldom is It that cna of these vessels carries a full cargo. There is m consequence a great deal of spaoe that earns no money for the ship. These remarks pertain particularly to the Transatlantic service. Between Great Britain nncl her colonies tbes9 conditions are of course somewhat difl/arent But even m this respect the. presgnt low iftteq of freight would not appear to warrant any great increase m the b-'ks of steamers of engaged In that carrying trade. In view of all this, to talk of running ste»mers the size and speed mentioned above would seem to be purely chimerical Yet who will be willing to say positively that it will not be done m the near future. One might almost oay that the experiment co far an sJz3 Ja concerned, wbb already about to be begun by the Great Eastern, wbigb, It is said, will again be put into the merchant eeryioe. And if the sfzj of a vpasol is also one of the pro-requisites of high-speed, perhaps that great "hip may yet embpdy the Idefls of the Spotoh shipbuilder of whom we speak. • Rivalry will of course lead to some fractional differences as to both ntaa and spaed. But the coat of running these vessel* and the little return to be got from them, particularly m respeot of the cargo,- will without doubt retard flny movement m the direotlon of a radical departure from the existing conditions. Time, to be sure, Is an object with most travellers. And n both time is saved and comparative eafety insured by fasf> steamers, this ought for the present to auffioe. If any Improvement; la oontem r plated, It should be m the direction of even greater safety, particularly from mishaps to naachjnery. Tbja oould be accomplished at comparatively small expense, and it would greatly increase the popularity of ocean travel. With this advance toward a more perfeot vessel we could afford to wait the time when steamers of the regular lines will either assume much greater proportions, or be built for the passenger service only.— "New York Maritime Register . " '