MOTOR LINES IN LONDON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 249, 20 April 1912, Page 10

MOTOR LINES IN LONDON.

XIOW lOl'Oril IX OCEAN TRAVEL London was visited on the morning of March 1 by the first large ocean-going vessel driven by oil engines. Except that she is withount funnels, there, m nothing in her outward appearance to distinguish her from steam-driven liners. As s'lie sailed gracefully up the Thame* on her way to the West India dock the only remark offered by river men was, "There goes some poor captain who has had bad weather in the Channel and has lost his funnel!" Yet the advent of the first motor liner —but a recently materialised dream of the marine inventor, marks a now epoch in the history of ocean travel. The Solandia, tihe name of the newcomer, is as notable a pioneer as was the first paddlewheeled steamer that left the Clyde, or the, first Cunarder that crossed the Atlantic. A vessel of 7400 dead weight, she was built for the -Danish East Asiatic Company, and she is making her maiden voyage from Copenhagen to Bangkok. S'lie is the first of twelve big motor liners that are building ore are about to be built in this country and in Germany. Her estimated speed with full cargo is twelve knots, but during her trials she attained a speed of thirteen knots through loose ice. She is driven by two main Diesel motors, each of 1250-h.p., and two auxiliary motors, each of 250h.p. (Many famous engineers visited the Selandia as she lay berthed at the dock. No coal strike can prevent her from putting to sea. She carries no coal, she has no 'boilers, and no coal bunkers, and her clean, smooth decks and white' hull are free from soot and ashes. Thousands of tons of petroleum, her fuel, are stored in tanks at the bottom of the ship, and she has suffilcien't, on 'board to carry- her to Hangkok and back. The exhaust fumes escape through pipes fitted to the mast at a height of neai;ly <SO feet from t'lie deck.

"She can be managed as easily as a penny steamer." was a remark heard in the engine-room, and her engineers explained that by means of compressed air her intricate machinery may be reversed tiom full speed ahead to full speed astern in twenty seconds. Those who undertook the voyage from Copenhagen said that, from the passenger's point of view, the vessel's most noticeable feature was an entire absence of vibration. Another enormous advantage of the motor liner is that she can put to sea almost immediately, instead of having to spend, as is the case with steam-driven vessels, a whole day in getting up steam. 'Passengers' accommodation, which is amidships, resembles that of a millionaire's yacht. Electrical devices add to the comfort of the dining and smokin or saloons. Each cabin is fitted with a mechanical settee, which may be converted into a bed, a washstand, a writing table and a chair. °

With the remarkable success of the Selandia, a new shipbuilding contest may be said to have begun. The Jutlandia, a sister vessel, is jiearing completion on the Clyde, and a motor liner, which will be the largest afloat, with 8000 tonnage, is being constructed in Germany. But the Danish East Atlantic Company has now ordered two motor liners, each of 10,000 tons, and other companies are beginning to realise that the motor-driven liner may soon become a serious rival to the steam-propelled vessel.