NEW STEAMERS FOX THE P. AND O. COMPANY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2379, 17 November 1881, Page 3

NEW STEAMERS FOX THE P. AND O. COMPANY.

[“ Home News,” Oxtober 6th.] Two splendid steamsfaips> the Rome and the Clyde, which have just been added to the fleet of vessels, upwards of sixty in number, belonging to the Peninsular and’ Oriental Steam Navigation Company, were J inspected on September 30th by the directors. The steamers are berthed in the new and spacious- Royal Albert Dock, which is at present the easternmost, and consequently nearest to the Channel,, of the series of great docks on the north bank of the Thames. With the sailing of one of the new ships, the Rome, on October sth next for Australia, the change of the port of embarkation for outwardbound passengers will commence, and from that day the company’s steamers will cease to go to Southampton, and'passengers will be put on board at Gravesend. Arrangements have already been made with' the London, Tilbury, and Southend Railway Company for the dispatch of a special train from the Liverpool street station of the Great Eastern Railway for the conveyance of passengers to each steamer on the day of sailing. From the Tilbury riverside terminus of’the railway passengers will bo taken to the company’s vessels in a river steamer. On the homeward voyage the company’s steamers will call at Plymonth, so as to give passengers an opportunity of saying a few hours by taking train to London. A feature in the internal arrangements of the Some which will commend itself at once to most travellers is the placing of the best state rooms, the saloon, and the music-room forward instead of aft of the engine-room. An arrangement which had its advantages in a sailing vessel, since the wind as the propelling force must, either through the stern ports or through the portholes on one side or the other, reach the saloon fresh and untainted by the often malodorous air from between decks in the forward part of the ship, is so evidently unsuitable to the conditions under which steamers frequently make their way against a head wind or during a calm, that it is rather matter for surprise that passenger carrying steamship companies have not generally adopted the plan of putting their best customers where they are least likely to be annoyed by the smell of cartro and engine oil. The Rome has accommodation for 160 first-class passengers, and it may be added that the fitting np of the parts of the ship devoted to them appears to be all that could be reasonably wished for. The great dining saloon on the main deck, 50ft long, and the full width of the ship, 44ft across, is well lighted and ventilated. The decoration of the walls with largo square panels of Italian walnut, elaborately carved by feigner C. Cambi, of Siena, is something novel in a steamship. Instead of fixed bench seats, there are chairs which tnrn on pivots, so that passengerscan take their-seats or leave them, which is perhaps to most of more importance in the early days ot the voyage, without disturbing others at the table. Over the dining saloon is a music room, an apartment forty feet long, very handsomely decorated and furnished, and, also on the upper deck, a comfortable smoking room. The state rooms are on the main deck, and near them are the bath rooms, with marble baths, and a constant supply of hot and cold water. Immediately aft of the engine rooms are saloons and cabins affording accommodation for fifty second-class passengers, for whoso comfort, indeed, the provision made in the Romo is more complete than in the first-class quarters of the older vessels on many steamship lines. The great width of the upper deck leaves room on each side of the deck houses for a broad promenade, which will bo reserved for the use of first- class passengers. The vessel has many watertight compartments, and nine separate pumps in the engine room, and there are nine boats, of which four are lifeboats and one a steam launch. Special provision, too. is made for extinguishing a fire. The principal dimensions of the Rome are—length, 430 ft; breadth, 44ft; depth, 36ft; gross tonnage, 5100 tons ; with cargo- carrying capacity of 4000 tons. She is practically a four-decker, for there is a hurricane deck. This is 300 ft long, and is connected with the full poop and forecastle by portable bridges. On the forecastle is a steam windlass for raising the anchor, and on the poop a steam warping engine, in addition to at. am winches, four powerful steam cranes, and other appliances for rapidly taking in or discharging cargo. Messrs Muir and Caldwell’s steam gear is employed for steering. A refrigerating machine on the Bell Coleman principle is carried. The ship is engined with two pairs of compound tandem engines of 1000 horse-power nominal and over 5000 horse-power indicated. There are two low pressure cylinders each measuring 82in diameter, and two high pressure cylinders of 44in diameter. The steam pressure is 001 bto the square inch. Each piston rod weighs four tons, is 13in in diameter, and has a five-foot stroke. The massive crank shaft, of Vicher’s steel, weighs 30 tons. Steam is generated in four double-ended and two singleended boilers heated by 30 furnaces. She is fitted with four masts and two funnels. The builders and makers of the engines were Messrs Caird and Co., of Greenock. The other I new ship, the Clyde, which has been ) built and engined by Messrs Denny Brothers, of Dumbarton, is in general arrangement similar to the Rome. She is, however, rather smaller, her dimensions being—length, 390 ft, breadth 42ft, depth 35ft, gross tonnage 4200 tons, and cargo capacity 3500 tons, with room for 1100 tons of coal. She is fitted with ten watertight compartments. Her engines are of 800 horse power nominal and 4900 horsepower indicated. Accommodation is provided for 120 first-class and forty-eight second-class passengers. The saloon has been decorated from designs by Mr Burgess, jun., of Glasgow. At a luncheon served in the largo saloon of the Romo, Mr T. Sutherland, chairman of the company, presiding, there were present, among others, Sir Louis Jackson, Sir George Chambers, Mr Dodds, M.P., Mr Du Plat Taylor, Mr J. P. Knight. Mr Bethune, secretary of the company, and Captain Catos, captain of the Rome and commodore of the company’s fleet. Speaking of the progress of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the chairman said that in a very short time they would have a sister ship to the Romo in the Carthage, and before long a third of the same size, to bo called the Shannon, and three ethers, the Ganges, Sutlej, and Thames, of about the dimensions of the Clyde. This would made a total addition of something like 50.000 tons to their fleet. In order to keep pace with the improvements effected in sea-going steamers, they had within the last ten or eleven years sold vessels with an aggregate tonnage of about 80,000 tons, and had constructed now ships which, including those ho had named, had an aggregate tonnage of 130,000 tons. When the new steamers were completed the total tonnage of the company’s ships would be about 170,000 tons. The Home will call at Bombay, Gallo, Adelaide, and Melbourne, on the way to Sydney.