A GREAT LINER

Hokitika Guardian, 20 August 1920, Page 3

A GREAT LINER

LONDON, July 2. When war broke out, the great steamer Aquitania had only completed three voyages between England afid America. Then she was commandeered, and all sorts of rumours were current as to thq use to which the Admiralty were putting her—sometimes sh e was a coal hulk, sometimes she had been sunk in shallow water to block the passage of enemy ships. As a. matter of fact, her first duties were those of an armed merchant cruiser. Next her role -was changed to that of a transport, hut it was during two years as a hospital ship that her vast size and admirable design were of the greatest service. She carried 25,000 wounded, but this week, after reconstruction lasting seven months and costing £400,000, she returns to civil life as a giant oil-burner, and her departure from the Tyne to Liverpool on her trial trip was made to the accompaniment of hundreds of sirens. Ope important feature with oil fuel is that mnphipery hjfk taken the place of manual labour in maintaining a high steam pressure. There is no stoking, for thp oil feeling is controlled mechanically, and tho ship can be bunkered, in six hours without coal dust or noise. In fact, should the necessity arise, the officers alone could man and run the engine-room, so complete is the elimination of the human element. It is claimed that the refitting and recon-! ditioning of the Aequitania lias mad,, her a finer vessel than, when she was first launched. The Cunard Company,

rst launched. The Canard Company, entertained about 170 guests on the boat and the luxury and comfort of the great liner were fully appreciated. As a passenger remarked: “There is so much room that you have to go and look for the sea. Three thousand men and women were employed in restoring the ship to her former glories. Every inch has been cleaned and repainted. Wooden bedsteads replace the old “bunks.” The Palladian lounge is luxurious, the Louis XVI restaurant is delightful, the Adam drawing-room and library are decorated in exquisite taste, and the CaroIdan smoking-room is most inviting. There is a garden lounge, where it is easy to forget the sea, an Elizabethan grill-room, artists’, suites, and a gymnasium and sun and swimming baths Slip is “.thp ship beautiful.”- Her commander is Captain Sir James Charles who received the K.B.E. in recognition of his war services. Sir James lias commanded many famous liners, including the Cai-pathia, Carmania, Campania, Lusitaqia, and Mauretania. Another Cunarder, the Jmperator. has completed her first post-war voyage, and has established a new phase |p the hixnrjousnpss or trans-Atlantic travelling. For the first time in the history of shipping a. ship’s gardener is carried. His duties on this occasion were to attend to the palms and plants in the ship, but the innovation is to be developed on the next trip. Freshlvcut flpwers will he served to passengers from a/ conservatory which has been placed 'at the gardener’s disposal. The garden’s opinion is that hydrangeas are the hardiest plants fop resisting the variations of temperature and water met with on an ocean voyage.