A New Leviathan.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 790, 5 April 1905, Page 3

A New Leviathan.

The London correspondent of the New Zealand Times thus describes the latest Cunarder "The new Cunard liner Caronla, which ran her trial trip Inst Saturday, is the latest word in ocean comfort and mag- , inilicence. Though not as large as the J Baltic, she is massive enough to des I | pise all hut the most inountaneou ; seas, and fast enougfi to keep up a rate of nineteen knots in any Kind ■ . 01' weather. The builders tell yoii in j their picturesque way that the Car,onia is 175 feet longer than St. Paul's Cathedral, and only 21 feet less in breadth. Placed alongside the Nelson 'Monument), her height irom keel to funnel-top would he about 25 feet less ■ and the Monti- j ment, remember, is 175 feet high. If these mental gymnastics are fatiguing, try one which requires no c a l- , dilution Was>l> 4 1_ ♦ *

cu lation. Jbadi oi her two tunnels is fcji witio that two railway trains? Cirti'.d 1)0 run through abreast. She ha.i nine decks, fitted throughout with water- tight doors—a floating city, in fact, but not " a city on t!i - inconstant billows dancing/' The | Caronia is much too dignified to ; dance. She glides through the heaving billows with .scarce a .quiver, and if she has to bow before the fury of tile gule, it will be with a Ktutely roll that will incommode nobody. Hiow different from the Atlantic liner in which Charles Dickens crossed to America ! V Five or wx times in the course of every rubtar," he wrote, "we are flung from our seats-, roll out at different doors and kfiftn nn rnllin..

ana keep on rolling until wo ar# picked up by the stewards." t The Caronia's engines, whioh aro 3 iquadruple expansion, can develop ' from 21,000 to 23,000 horse-power, and running at full speod they have a piston speod of close on 1000 ft' a minute, the length of stroke being sJft. The low-pressure cylinders are among the largest ever employed', beng llOin in diameter. The Caronia bas the further distinction of being ihs first British steamer engaged in the North Atlantic trade, to be fited with the Stone-Lloyd apparatus, by which all the doors between the various water- tight compartments cau bo simultaneously closed by ; hyd,raulic power controlled by a single handle on the bridge. Before t/his .handle can be moved a small screw must be undone, and the operation |of unscrewing!, which requires ajbout ■ half a minuto, starts dec trie bells 'ringing in every compartment -to j worn the men to keep clear of the jdoors. SibSfdiory to this arrange- ■ ment there arc numerous escape-lad-ders leading to the boat-decK from ,the stoke-holes-, tunnel, etc., so that ( the men can make their way out ( even though the doors are closed. The doors of any compartment also shut automatically should the water get in. The ship has been built in accordance with the Admiralty requirements for an armed cruiser, and is fitted for 12 large quick-fir-ing guns ; her rudder, is completely b'jlow the water-line, as also is one oI tha two steering engines'by cithier of which it can be operated. Tho passenger accommodation'—she can

iu.i;uu!iiivuuuun —snc . can carry 2650 passengers— is noteworthy not only for its spaciousness |bwt also for the air of style and distinction that marks its decora- ■ tions. A»d altogether the American | Ambassador was not unduly extrajVa'RaTit when at her launching he de|scribed the Caronia as " the largest ,and noblest ship that ever kissed ithe waters of the Clyde."