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STEAMSHIP LINES . The See also:shipping See also:company is the outcome of the development of the steamship. In former days, when the packet See also:ship was the mode of See also:conveyance, there were combinations, such as the well-known Dramatic and See also:Black See also:Ball lines, but the See also:ships which were run in them were not necessarily owned by those who organized the services. The See also:advent of the steamship changed all that. It was in the See also:year 1815 that the first steamship began to ply between the See also:British ports of See also:Liverpool and See also:Glasgow. In 1826 the " See also:United See also:Kingdom," a " See also:leviathan steamship," as she was considered at the See also:time of her construction, was built for the See also:London and See also:Edinburgh See also:trade, steamship facilities in the See also:coasting trade being naturally of much greater relative importance in the days before See also:railways. In the year 1823 the See also:City of See also:Dublin See also:Steam Packet Company was inaugurated, though it was not incorporated till ten years later. The year 1824 saw the See also:incorporation of the See also:General Steam See also:Navigation Company, which was intended not only to provide services in British See also:waters, but also to develop trade with the See also:continent. The St See also:George Steam Navigation Company and the British & Irish Steam Packet Company soon followed. The former of these was crushed in the keen competition which ensued, but it did a See also:great See also:work in the development of ocean travelling. Isolated voyages by vessels fitted with steam engines had been made by the " See also:Savannah " from the United States in 1819, and by the first " Royal See also: Each company set to work to build a wooden See also:paddle steamer in its own See also:port. The first to be launched was the " Great Western," which took the See also:water in the See also:Avon on the 19th of See also:July 1837. On the 14th of See also:October following the " Liverpool " was launched by Messrs Humble, Milcrest & Co., in the port from which she was named, and in May 1838 the Thames-built " British See also:Queen " was successfully floated. The ",Great Western " was the first to be made ready for See also:sea.
But the See also:rival ports were determined not to be deterred by delays in getting delivery of their specially built ships. The London company chartered the " Sirius," a See also:loo-ton steamship, from the St George Steam Packet Company, and despatched her from London on the 28th of See also: See also:Captain See also: The " Virginian " and the " Victorian," built for the Allan Line in 1905, were the first transatlantic liners propelled by turbines. The principal ports served by the Allan Line are (in the United Kingdom) Glasgow, See also:Londonderry, See also:Belfast, Liverpool and London; from these their vessels ply to many places in North and See also:South America, including See also:Quebec, Montreal, St Johns (See also:Newfoundland), See also:Halifax, St See also: In 1867 the Inman liner " City of See also:Paris " (the first bearing the name) held the westward See also:record with 8 days 4 hours, and in 1869 the " City of See also:Brussels " came See also:home in 7 days 22 hours 3 minutes. Tilt 1872 these records held See also:good. The " City of Brussels " also"had the distinction of being the first Atlantic mail steamer to be fitted with steam steering-See also:gear. About 1875 Mr William Inman turned the concern into a limited company, and in 1886 the business was amalgamated with the See also:International Company, and the vessels, though still flying the red See also:ensign, became the See also:property of a See also:group of United States capitalists, who also acquired the old American Line which had been started in 1873 with four Philadelphia-built steamers. This company had been conducted under the auspices of the See also:Pennsylvania Railroad. It plied between Liverpool and Philadelphia. A third constituent in the Inman and International Steamship Company was the Red Star Line, as the Societe Anonyme Belge-Americaine was familiarly called. Its service was from See also:Antwerp to New York. The whole was placed under the management of Messrs Richardson, Spence & Co., who thus after See also:thirty-two years reassumed the direction of the old company. In 1887 the two ships " City of New York " and " City of Paris" were built on the Clyde for the company. At the time of their construction they were the largest vessels ever built, always excepting the" Great Eastern." The " City of Paris " was the first vessel (1889) to See also:cross the Atlantic in less than six days. The year 1893 was an important one in the history of the company, and indeed of the United States. The two vessels above mentioned were admitted to American registry by See also:Congress, a stipulation being made that two new ships of at least equal See also:tonnage and See also:speed to the pair should be ordered by the company from American firms, and that they should. be capable of being employed by the United States government as See also:auxiliary cruisers in See also:case. of war. The American See also:flag was hoisted over the " New York " in 1893 by See also:President See also:Harrison, and in the same year the British headquarters of the company were transferred from Liverpool to See also:Southampton. In 1894 the first American-built ocean liner of the new fleet was launched, and was named the " St See also: There is also a monthly See also:ordinary service between Trieste, Bombay, See also:China and See also:japan, and a monthly See also:branch in connexion with it between See also:Colombo, See also:Madras and See also:Calcutta. Bibby Line.—The name of Bibby has See also:long been known and respected in the shipping See also:world. The first undertaking of the family was the institution of a service from Liverpool to Mediterranean ports about the See also:middle of last See also:century. When Mr (subsequently Sir See also:Edward) See also:Harland took over the ship-See also:building See also:works at Belfast, which he afterwards made famous, Mr Bibby was one of his earliest customers. It was he who gave him practically See also:carte See also:blanche in the way of proportion for the new ships built for his service, and it was from the experience acquired and the success achieved with them that the " long ships," with which the White Star Line made its' name, were first brought into the region of the See also:practical. In this. connexion it may be stated that Sir Edward Harland was See also:born at See also:Scarborough in 1831, his See also:father being a medical practitioner. He learnt the See also:science of ship-building in the yards of Messrs R. See also:Stephenson & Co. of See also:Newcastle, . and became first a See also:draughts. See also:man with Messrs J. & G. See also:Thomson, and then manager in a New-See also:castle yard. In 1854 he went to Belfast, first as manager to Messrs See also:Robert Hickson & Co. Then in • 1858 he took over their yard. In 1859 he launched the " Venetian " for Mr Bibby, and in 1860 he took Mr G. W. See also:Wolff into See also:partnership. After a time Mr Bibby retired from the active pursuit of his business, and the, line passed into the hands of one of his confidential managers—Mr Leyland (see Leyland Line). But the Bibby family, though large shareholders in the White Star Line, could not remain without some active See also:interest in seafaring matters. Hence a new Bibby Line was started. Its first vessel was the " See also:Lancashire," a single-screw steamer of 4?44 tons gross register, built—as have been all this fleet-by Messrs Harland & Wolff. She came out in 1889. Her See also:sister was a similar vessel. Subsequent additions to the fleet were all of the twin-screw type; thus the Bibby Line can boast that it was the first to maintain its service, which is now fortnightly, exclusively with• twin-screw vessels. In the trade between Liverpool and See also:Rangoon they soon made a name. The See also:Booth Line is essentially a Liverpool company. It was founded in the year 1866 by Messrs See also:Alfred Booth & Co., who in that year instituted a service to north Brazil. Three years later from the same port was started the Red Cross Line of Messrs R. Singlehurst & Co. to carry on a similar service. In 1901 the two lines were amalgamated under the See also:title of the Booth Steamship Company Limited. Since the year 188a there has been a connexion by the Booth steamers between north Brazil and New York. See also:Para, See also:Mar.aos, Maranham, Paranahyba and See also:Ceara are the See also:chief Brazilian ports served by the company, whilst the steamers make calls on the eastern aide of the Atlantic at See also:Cardiff and See also:Havre as well as at See also:Spanish and Portuguese ports. The company carries the British mails to Para and See also:Manaos, whilst it also takes the United States mails between New York and north Brazil. In addition to its transatlantic passenger traffic the Booth Line is largely developing a tourist trade to See also:Vigo, See also:Oporto and Lisbon in the See also:Peninsula as well as to See also:Madeira. The Yquitos Steamship Company, which is under its management, carries its trade a couple of thousand See also:miles up the River See also:Amazon; a further development will extend to River Plate ports. British See also:India Steam Navigation Company.—This line maintains, perhaps, a larger network of communications and serves a greater number of ports difficult of See also:access than any in the world. The See also:Persian Gulf, See also:Burma, the Straits of Malacca, and the entire littoral of the See also:East Indies, to say nothing of the east coast of See also:Africa, are among the scenes of its enterprise. Though its ramifications now extend to the ports of See also:northern See also:Australia, the company had its origin in the See also:Indian coasting trade. Its See also:present designation is of comparatively See also:recent origin, but its first operations date from 1855. A project for a mail service between Calcutta and Burma was then first set on See also:foot by the East India Company. See also:Early in the following year a company was formed, under the title of the Calcutta and Burma Steam Navigation Company. Two small steamers of 600 tons each were brought and despatched to India See also:round the Cape in 1857, for a service between Calcutta, See also:Akyab, Rangoon and See also:Moulmein, under a contract with the government of India. At the outbreak of the See also:Mutiny in 1857 the company rendered important service by bringing up from See also:Ceylon to Calcutta the first detachment of See also:European troops which came to the assistance of India from outside. In 1862 an agreement was made between the company and the government, by which the former agreed to convey troops and stores and to perform other services. Under this arrangement steamers were to be despatched regularly from Calcutta to Ran-goon, Moulmein, Akyab and See also:Singapore, and from Rangoon to the Andaman Islands. A service was also set on foot to the Persian Gulf, between Bombay and See also:Karachi and Madras and Rangoon. This gave a great impulse to the business of the company. During the Abyssinian See also:campaign of 1867 it proved of the greatest assistance to the government. The opening of the See also:Suez See also:Canal in 1869 produced an entire revolution in the shipping trade of India, and led to a great development of the company's fleet. The s.s. " India " with See also:cargo was waiting at Suez when the canal was opened to traffic, and was the first steamer to arrive in London through the canal with an Indian cargo. In 1872 the company extended its operations to the east coast of Africa, and by an arrangement with the British government began to run a service every four See also:weeks between See also:Aden and See also:Zanzibar. Upwards of one See also:hundred ports are visited by the company's steamers. In all there are twenty-one lines with additional services. They may be classed roughly as those See also:running to ports in (i.) India, Burma and Straits Settlements; (ii.) Straits Settlements and Philippines; (iii.) East Coast of Africa; (iv.) Persian Gulf ; (v.) Dutch East Indies and See also:Queensland. The Canadian Pacific Railway is now one of the big shipping companies of the world, owning, as it does, just under 200,000 tons of steam shipping. Its services See also:divide themselves into several sections. There are those in home waters, such as the Great Lakes, where it employs a fleet of vessels of quite considerable tonnage. Under this See also:head, too, come the See also:local services on the coasts and See also:rivers of the Pacific. Then there are the ocean lines on the Pacific and the Atlantic. The first of these is run from See also:Vancouver via See also:Yokohama and other See also:Japanese ports to Hong-See also:Kong. Sailings are made at about three-weekly intervals. This service is maintained by the three Empresses, the " Empress of India," the " Empress of China " and the ' Empress of Japan," sister ships of about 6000 tons and 10,000 i.h.p., specially built with a view to serve as auxiliary cruisers to the British navy in time of war. The great development of the Canadian Pacific, as far as regards ship-owning, took place in 1903, when it took over from Messrs See also:Elder, See also:Dempster & Co. their transatlantic services to Canada. The " See also:deal " affected four twin-screw passenger and cargo steamers, and some ten vessels of a purely cargo type. These steamers ranged in See also:size from the " See also:Monmouth," of just over 4000 tons gross register, to the " See also:Lake See also:Manitoba " of not far See also:short of io,000 tons. Since their entry into the Atlantic trade the company has added two important mail steamers—the " Empress of Britain " and " Empress of See also:Ireland "—to that See also:side of its fleet. Castle Line (see also See also:Union Line and Union-Castle Line).—The Castle Line began its career in 1872 with the " See also:Iceland " and the " Gothland," both vessels of about 1400 tons. At that time the See also:charge for carrying letters to the Cape was about 1s. per See also:half oz., and the contract time between See also:England and the Cape thirty-seven days. The mail contracts were then in the hands of the Union Line exclusively, but in 1873 the See also:House of See also:Commons refused to ratify the See also:extension of the contract signed with them by the See also:chancellor of the See also:exchequer, and their rights thus expired in 1876. Up to 1876 the Cape See also:parliament made an See also:allowance to the Castle Line for the conveyance of letters, and when the postal contract was renewed in that year it was divided between the Union and the Castle lines, an arrangement which was adhered to down to the time when the two lines united their fortunes. The See also:scope of the company's energies has now been extended to all parts of South Africa. The line did great See also:national service in carrying troops and stores to South Africa during the 18991902 and previous See also:campaigns. By a See also:resolution passedat a See also:meeting of shareholders held on the 13th of February 1900 this company was amalgamated with the Union Line. The fleet had grown from two ships in 1876 to twenty ships in 1900, and from a See also:total tonnage of 2800 to one of about 110,000 gross register.
City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.—Among the steamship services in the narrow seas round Great Britain a See also:special interest attaches to this company, which vies with the General Steam Navigation Company in the claim for seniority. The General Steam was undoubtedly the first to receive incorporation in the year 1824, but the undertakings from which the City of Dublin Company sprang were at work in the years immediately See also:prior to these See also:dates. As far as appears, the See also:firm of See also:Bourne & Co.—who fulfilled in Ireland functions for which the Messageries Imperiales in See also:France were first formed—were large shareholders in two undertakings which made history in regard to the development of steam navigation. One of these companies was the Dublin & London Steam Packet Company, from which Messrs Wilcox & See also: It is needless to follow the vicissitudes of the mail service, wavering as it did from the admiralty to the Chester & Holyhead railway, and then to the City of Dublin Company. Suffice it to say that in 1859 an arrangement was entered into whereby the City of Dublin Company undertook the conveyance of both day and night mails via Holyhead, and built four ships, called after the four Irish provinces, for the service. The performances of these four paddle-ships, three of which were built by Messrs Laird, were remarkable indeed. The " See also:Connaught " was the first vessel to do her 18 knots. The" See also:Ulster" made the best passage of them all—doing the See also:journey from Holyhead and See also:Kingston in 3 hours 18 minutes. But the " See also:Leinster" was only two minutes behind her, and the" See also:Munster " only six minutes worse than the " Leinster." Taking the performances of the whole four vessels over the first fourteen years of their existence, and considering the mean of 20,440 passages made as well in See also:winter as in summer, the See also:average time of passage was only 3 hours 56.1 minutes. The contract was renewed from time to time, that coming into operation on the 1st of October 1883 being for an accelerated service. To enable this to be adequately performed, the last paddle-ship of the fleet, the " Ire-See also:land, " was built by Messrs Laird, who also overhauled and improved the machinery of the older vessels, giving them new boilers adapted for the use of forced See also:draught. In 1895 it was See also:felt that the mode of carrying these important mails again needed revision, and in that year the House of Commons approved of a new contract, under which four new twin-screw vessels were to be built for the service. The work of See also:design and construction was again undertaken by Messrs Laird, and in 1897 the new fleet assumed the duties, and indeed the names, of the vessels which had done such remarkable service during a See also:period of about thirty-eight years. The contract time was now decreased by half an See also:hour, and this meant naturally a very great increase in the speed of the vessels employed. The present ships, capable of a speed of about 24 knots, maintain however with regularity and ease the 20 to 21 knots which are required. Besides the night and day services with the mails the company also maintains its old line between Liverpool and Dublin. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique.—A See also:French undertaking known as the Compagnie Generale Maritime was founded in 1855. It owed its inception to the See also:brothers Emile and See also:Isaac Pereire. Services were first organized from See also:Rouen to See also:Algeria, between Havre and See also:Hamburg, and between See also:Marseilles and Antwerp, with calls at Spanish and Portuguese ports. In 1861 the company was allowed to See also:change its title to the more comprehensive one under which it is now known, and it then undertook its first contracts for the See also:carriage of the French mails to the United States, the See also:Antilles and See also:Mexico. Some of the earlier vessels employed in the New York service were very See also:fine specimens of the See also:naval See also:architecture of their day. Among them may be instanced the great iron paddle-steamer " See also:Napoleon III., ' built in the year 1864 by Messrs See also:Scott & Co. of Greenock, who at that time constructed most of the more important vessels for this service. This vessel with her imperially titled sisters suffered a change of name in the early 'seventies, when several of them were lengthened and altered to screws. In the year 1881, again, there was a great See also:movement towards the See also:acceleration and improvement of the New York service, and a new fleet was begun with the single-screw steamship " La Normandie," launched at See also:Barrow-in-See also:Furness in 1883. Four larger vessels of much the same class followed, three of them being constructed in the owners' own yard at Penhoet. In 1890 the first twin-screw steamer of the line appeared in " l,a See also:Touraine," and proving a success, the British-built " L'See also:Aquitaine " was See also:purchased. A new postal contract was arranged in 1898, and under its terms it became necessary for the company to build still larger and faster vessels. Eventually four such ships were to be provided. These vessels are of 22 knots speed on trial, and are among the fastest on the Atlantic. The company maintains a weekly service to New York, as well as the lines to the Antilles and Mexico in the Atlantic. There are also communications with British and Algerian ports. See also:Cunard Line.—This company derives its name from See also:Samuel Cunard of Halifax, Nova See also:Scotia, an owner of sailing vessels trading from Boston and Newfoundland to Bermuda. He first conceived the See also:idea of a regular despatch of royal mail steamships across the Atlantic, to take the place of the government brigs, which often took six or seven weeks in the transport of mails. This idea he realized with the help of Mr George See also:Burns of Glasgow and Mr See also:David MacIver of Liverpool. On the 4th of July 1840 the first Cunarder, the " Britannia," started on her voyage across the Atlantic with sixty-three passengers, landing them at Boston in a fortnight. The experiment of using the screw for the Atlantic service was made with several cargo steamers in the early 'fifties, and the first Cunard screw steamer for the mail line made her debut in 1862. This was the " China," the gross tonnage of which was 2539, her i.h.p. 2250, and her average speed 13.9 knots. In 187o the Cunard Company first fitted See also:compound engines to their steamship " See also:Batavia," and in 1881 the " See also:Servia," the first steel vessel in the service, was the See also:pioneer of the larger type which constitutes the present express fleet. Since 184o the Cunard Company has been under contract with the British government for a mail service. At the present time the contract is for a weekly mail to the United States, via Liverpool and New York. The British See also:post See also:office, however, only pays its contractors for the See also:weight of mails actually carried, and reserves the right to send specially addressed letters by See also:foreign ships. The company's services also include a passenger line to Boston, and frequent despatches to Mediterranean and Levant ports as well as a weekly steamer to Havre, and a passenger service from the Mediterranean to New York. In October 1902, as a result of the formation of the See also:Morgan Shipping See also:Trust, the British government made a new arrangement with the Cunard Line, involving the See also:loan at 21% of the See also:capital for building two new fast steamers, besides a yearly See also:subsidy of £150,000 for twenty years. The company showed its confidence in the See also:turbine See also:system—then in its See also:infancy—by adopting this principle for these two vessels, the largest and fastest at that time contemplated. The advance in size and See also:power of Atlantic steamships is evidenced by the following comparison:
Speed. Tonnage. H.P.
1884 " See also:Umbria " and
" See also:Etruria " 19 8,127 14,500
1893 "See also:Campania" and
" Lucania " 22 12,952 30,000
1907 "Lusitania" and
" Mauritania " 25 30,830 68,000
Elder, Dempster & Co.—The remarkable progress of this company, and of the undertakings connected with it, was largely due to the activity of the See also:late Sir Alfred See also: These were at first, however, equal to all the traffic which the trade could offer them. As time went on the number and size of the vessels employed was increased. In 1869 such progress had been made that it appeared See also:worth while to start an opposition line under the name of the British and African Steam Navigation Company. This was at first a Glasgow venture, much in the same way as the old concern had made its headquarters in London. But Liverpool has long been the centre of the West African trade, and both companies practically transferred their business thither. In the year 1883 the British & African Company, which was the first of the two to fall under the management of Messrs Elder, Dempster & Company, became a limited company, and not long afterwards the two rivals arrived at a working arrangement whereby their sailings—at that time about three times a fortnight—were worked into one another. The See also:Canary Islands, where the West African steamers called on their voyages, were then becoming known as a resort for tourists and invalids, and the issue of tickets available by either line was commenced for their convenience. The development of the cultivation of the See also:banana for the See also:English See also:market was also begun to be encouraged by the two steamship companies. But it was in the See also:month of See also:August 1891 that the great movement by the Elder-Dempster Company was made public. It was then announced that the firm had assumed the management of the African Company. The two concerns were, and are, continued as distinct organizations, but they naturally work very closely together. The African Company soon began to break fresh ground, building pot only See also:superior vessels for the improving West African service, but also constructing large cargo vessels for the general Atlantic trade. These were soon engaged in the trade between the See also:Mersey and the St See also:Lawrence on the one See also:hand, and between Liverpool and the See also:southern ports of the United States on the other. Mean-while the development of the possibilities of West Africa and of the Canary Islands was not neglected. Various undertakings, not usually considered part of a shipowner's work, were inaugurated. These included a See also:bank, founded in 1894, for the See also:accommodation of West African traders, oil-See also:mills in Liverpool, where the See also:palm kernels so largely consigned from the coast might be dealt with, and a hotel at See also:Grand Canary for the convenience of the tourist; while, to ensure the disposal of the bananas which their companies brought to England, a See also:fruit brokerage business was opened in Covent See also:Garden. Having already, as has been seen, a footing in the Canadian trade, they began the restoration of the Atlantic trade to Bristol, by giving it a service of steamships to the St Lawrence, employing for the purpose vessels of as great size as their docks could accommodate. At the beginning of 1899 they further strengthened their connexion with the nearest British See also:colony by the See also:purchase, from the liquidator of the insolvent Canada Shipping Company, of the name, house-flag and remains of the old See also:Beaver Line. A new fleet for this service was at once put in hand, a See also:fair representative of the ships being the twin-screw " Lake See also:Erie," a vessel of 7550 tons gross register, built in 1900 by Messrs See also:Barclay, See also:Curie & Co. of Glasgow, which did good work—with many other Elder-Dempster steamers—in the transport service during the See also:Boer War. The Canadian steamers were however in 1903 transferred to the Canadian Pacific railway. At the beginning of the 20th century the firm began trading with the West Indies. By arrangement with the colonial office, for an See also:annual subsidy of £40,000, the " See also:Direct " service of fortnightly steamships was started with the sailing from Avonmouth of the then newly built " Port Morant " in February 1901. The steamships of the new line have good passenger accommodation and hotels were acquired in See also:Jamaica to provide accommodation for those who wished to visit the West Indies under the new management. This See also:provision for tourists was a novel feature. The increase, at once See also:absolute and See also:comparative, in the tonnage of the Elder-Dempster fleet has been very remarkable. On the See also:death of Sir Alfred Jones a limited company was established under the direction of See also:Lord Pirrie, of the great ship-building firm of Harland & Wolff, and of Sir See also:Owen Philipps, chairman of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, to carry on the Elder-Dempster Company and take over the various interests concerned. The vessels of the West African lines ply as well from Hamburg and other North Sea See also:continental ports as from Liverpool, while closely connected with the firm, though sailing its vessels under the Belgian flag, is the Compagnie Beige Maritime du See also:Congo, which runs a service from Antwerp to West African ports.
Ellerman Line.—" Lloyd's Register of Shipping " in its issue for 1901–1902 contains no reference to the Ellerman Line. For unlike most other shipping companies it sprang into being in a moment. It was started when Mr (afterwards Sir) John Ellerman, chairman of the Leyland Line, severed his connexion with that company and went his own way, taking with him some nineteen vessels of the fleet, and the Peninsula and Mediterranean connexions of the old company. Forthwith he added to the See also:tale of his ships by taking over the management of the seven steamers of the Papayanni Line—which has also long maintained a service to Mediterranean ports. Nine steamers previously managed by Messrs See also:Westcott & Laurence also came into the See also:fold. But this was not all; the direction of two old-established lines to Indian ports was also acquired. These were the fleet of the City Line, which at that time comprised some fifteen vessels, many of them fitted for the passenger trade. This line had been founded by Messrs George See also: It consisted of some eleven steamships of about 4000 tons gross apiece. The various sailings of these different companies have all been maintained and extended, and in 1910, in See also:conjunction with the Harrison and See also:Clan lines, a new development up the East Coast of Africa towards Zanzibar and See also:Mombasa was organized.
The Leyland Line may be said to date from the year 1851, when the first Mr Bibby founded his steamship line with the small vessels " See also:Arno " and " See also:Tiber " for service to the Mediterranean (see Bibby Line above). The company extended its business to the North Atlantic and in the early 'seventies changed its name, Mr F. R. Leyland, one of its managers, assuming the See also:control. On his death in 1892 the concern became a limited company. In 1900 it purchased the fleet and connexions of the West India & Pacific Steam-ship Company—a business which had been founded nearly forty years previously in Liverpool and which served, beside many West
India Islands, the See also:cotton ports of See also:Galveston and New See also: General Steam Navigation Company.—This is the oldest existing line. Its first See also:prospectus was issued in 1824, and in 1831 it received its charter of incorporation. It commenced with the passenger trade from London to See also:Margate, and its operations gradually extended to the British coastwise ports and the home trade ports on the Continent. In time the company introduced a regular steam service between Edinburgh and other east coast ports and London, See also:Ham-See also:burg, See also:Rotterdam, Antwerp and Havre in the north of See also:Europe. It gradually obtained a strong hold upon the passenger and fine goods trade to the Continent, holding the mail contracts between London and Hamburg, and London and Rotterdam. In the early 'seventies the pressure of foreign competition made itself severely felt, and in 1876 the increase of the American cattle trade told on the profits of the company; but the difficulty was met by obtaining See also:parliamentary leave for an increase of capital, and the company had displayed new enterprise, especially in regard to its passenger facilities. It may claim to have been the pioneer in the promotion of steamship traffic between British home ports and the nearer ones of the Continent. The steamship " See also:Giraffe," built in 1836, brought over the first cargo of live cattle from Rotterdam to Blackwall in 1846. The company runs steamers from London to Edinburgh, See also:Hull and See also:Yarmouth, and from London to Antwerp, See also:Amsterdam, See also:Bordeaux, Havre, Hamburg, Oporto, See also:Ostend, Rotterdam, See also:Charente and the Mediterranean port- Vessels are also run to some of the ports above-named from Hull and Southampton. There is also a passenger service between See also:Harwich and Hamburg, and excursion services in summer to the watering-places at the mouth of the Thames and on the Kentish coast. Hamburg-American Line.—The extraordinary progress of Ham-burg as a seaport during the last thirty years of the 19th century may be held due in no small measure to the enterprise of this line, which now carries passengers not only to the two American continents, but also to the east of See also:Asia and Africa. It was founded in May 1847. At that time, owing to the See also:political disturbances throughout See also:Germany, there was an enormous See also:exodus of emigrants to the new world; of this the founders took See also:advantage, and they started a regular service of sailing ships between Hamburg and New York. The first ship they owned was the " Deutschland," of 700 tons, built on the See also:Elbe. It is interesting to See also:note that the present " Deutschland " is of 16,502 tons gross register, and is of twenty-three times the capacity of her predecessor. The first sailing took place in October 1848. In 1851 the company's fleet consisted of six vessels, with an aggregate of 4000 tons. In 1856 the first screw steamer in the company's service left Hamburg; this was the " Borussia," a vessel constructed, as were her sisters for many years, on the Clyde. From this time, when the company abandoned sailing ships and took to steam, its prosperity may be said to have dated. It is See also:strange to note that the two first steamships owned by it were chartered by the British and French governments to convey troops to the See also:Crimea. By 1867 the company had ceased to own any sailing ships. The enormous increase of the traffic is indicated by the fact that whilst in 1856 the sailings to New York took place every fortnight, in 1881 there were two a See also:week, and later on three. The company had also by this time considerably extended its operations from the See also:original passage between Hamburg and New York. After the war between France and Germany it started a line to the West Indies, and later to Baltimore, Boston, Montreal and other ports in North America. In 1875 it absorbed the old See also:Eagle Company of Hamburg, which had previously been its rival, and then began to run steamers to Central and South America, and later to China, Japan and the Straits Settlements. To-day the Hamburg-American Line may claim to be the largest steamship company in the world. For its services to New York run by twin-screw steamers it has the " Deutschland," built at See also:Stettin by the See also:Vulcan Company. Her engines develop about 33,000 See also:horse-power, and she was the first Atlantic liner to exceed a speed of 23 knots at sea. Other large steamers built for its Hamburg-Southampton-New York service are the " Kaiserin See also:Augusta See also:Victoria " and the " Amerika," which, though larger, has not the " Deutschland's" speed. A service from Hamburg to New York direct for third-class passengers only is also maintained. The Hamburg Company has extended its See also:influence and enlarged its fleet by purchases from and absorptions of other fleets. Thus it has acquired vessels from the Carr Line and the Hansa Line of Hamburg, the Rickmers Line of See also:Bremen, as well as from the Hamburg South America and the Hamburg-Calcutta companies. In conjunction with the Lloyd Line it took over the fleet of the Kinsing Line. In 1901, with a view to the feeding of its main lines, it acquired the See also:Atlas Line of Liverpool—a company which had See also:developed the trade between New York and the West Indies. Starting from Hamburg, its vessels See also:rust to New York. Portland, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia, Galveston and New Orleans, and to Canadian ports. In Central and Southern America, there are lines to Mexico, See also:Venezuela, Brazil, See also:Uruguay and See also:Argentina. Amongst the West Indian Islands See also:Cuba receives special See also:attention from this line. There is a service to Eastern Asia, China and Japan. From Stettin its steamers run to New York, and from New York to the Mediterranean, Brazil and Eastern Asia. From See also:Genoa they run to La See also:Plata direct. Japan Mail Steamship Company, Limited (Nippon Yusen Kaisha). —From an early period their insular frontiers made the Japanese a seafaring folk, but imperial policy for a long period shut them away from all intercourse with the See also:rest of the world. It was not until about the year 186o that the See also:life of the West really touched Japan: In 1868 steamship communication was opened between See also:Tokyo and See also:Osaka; in 1871 the Yubin Kisen Kaisha Steamship Company came into existence under the control of the Imperial See also:Bureau of Communication; and in the same year a private company, called the Mitsubishi Kaisha, was founded. This may be said to have been the beginning of all modern maritime enterprises in Japan. 4n 1876 the government company gave up the contest, and its fleet passed into the hands of the private company. In 1873 the capacities of this company had been tested in the military expedition to See also:Formosa, when its organization had been found excellent, but its fleet insufficient. The See also:treasury now invited the company to buy up the Yokohama-See also:Shanghai service of the Pacific Mail Steam-ship Company. In 1876 the company had a fleet of forty-two vessels, including sailing ships. In 1882 the government set on foot another rival line, the Kyodo Unyu Kaisha, but it did not See also:answer, and in 1885 the two were amalgamated into the present " Nippon Yusen Kaisha," or " Japan Mail Steamship Company." In the nine years which passed between this union and the outbreak of the war with China in 1894, the services between Japan and neighbouring countries were extended, and the development of the cotton trade induced the government to inaugurate a service between Japan and Bombay. During the war the vessels of the line were used for the transport of troops, and many additional ships had to be acquired. The result of the war gave an enormous impulse to trade and navigation. The company determined to run vessels to America, Europe and Australia. The capital was greatly increased, and orders were given for the construction of twelve twin-screw steamers of over 6000 tons each for the European line, and three of 3800 tons each for the Australian line. In 1899 the Japanese See also:Diet resolved to See also: The government believed that the institution of a line carrying the mails regularly to British possessions in the West Indies was likely to prove of benefit to the See also:empire, and granted it a large subsidy. The first contract with the government was entered into in March 1841. No less than fourteen large paddle-steamers capable of carrying the largest guns then used by the Royal Navy were at once ordered, and the service was opened with the ` Thames on the 3rd of See also:January 1842, followed by other vessels in fortnightly See also:succession. These steamers started from See also:Falmouth and returned to Southampton, which was the company's headquarters, though it had no See also:dock accommodation in those days. In 1846 the company began to carry the,mails for places on the western coast of South America, the Pacific Steam Navigation Company receiving them at See also:Panama. In January 1851, the company by contract with the government inaugurated a monthly service to Brazil and the river Plate, and new steamers were built which greatly increased the rapidity of transit, This company was therefore the first to See also:institute direct mail communication by steamer between Europe and the countries of South America, as it had also been with the West Indies. The ,company's vessels were employed continuously during the See also:Crimean War in the transport of troops. It is interesting to note that it was from one of the company's ships, the " See also:Trent," that See also:Slidell and See also:Mason, the commissioners of the Confederate states, were taken on their way to Europe by a United States man-of-war. In 1872 the service to Brazil and the River Plate was doubled. At the beginning of the 20th century the company seemed to be on the downward grade. But a change came over its fortunes. A new chairman, Sir Owen Philipps, took over the reins and new enterprises were started in several directions. The interest of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company in the Orient-Pacific Line to Australia was purchased in January 1906, and steamers despatched once a month from London to Australia through the Suez Canal. This enterprise, however, was discontinued when the new mail contract came into force in May 1909. New twin-screw steamships of much greater tonnage than any they had hithertofore owned were constructed for the mail service to South America, and an extension was made into the tourist and cargo trade to See also:Morocco, Madeira and the Canary Islands by the purchase of the old-established Forwood Line. Part of the fleet of the See also:Shire Line to the Far East was also acquired. But the great development took place at the beginning of 1910, when the See also:directors made the startling announcement that they had purchased the whole of the See also:share capital of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company—a business established in Liverpool only a year after the grant of their own royal charter. This absorption brought some forty ships—many of them modern twin-screw steamships of a high class—into the fleet, which was then placed amongst the big lines of the world. Another move was made when Sir Owen Philipps joined Lord Pirrie in organizing a company to take over the numerous enterprises of Sir Alfred Jones. The West India Line steamers leave Southampton for the West Indies every fort-night, and after calling at See also:Cherbourg proceed direct to Barbadoes, thence to Jamaica and Colon, whence they proceed to Savanilla and other local ports. From Barbadoes, See also:Trinidad, La Guaira, branch lines run to See also:Demerara and the islands. The Brazil and River Plate Line comprises a fortnightly service of mail steamers to See also:Pernambuco, See also:Bahia, Rio, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. The Shire Line steamers sail to the Far East every fortnight, as do those of the Islands service, whilst the Pacific Line despatches twin-screw passenger steamers and large cargo vessels alternate weeks from Liverpool to South American ports, besides maintaining local services up the West Coast. There are also cargo services to the West Indies and Mexico, and to the River Plate and intermediate ports. Messageries Maritimes de France.—Originally known as the Messageries Imperiales, this company sprang from a land-transit undertaking. It received its first contract for the conveyance of oversea mails from the French government in 1851. It then extended its services to See also:Italian, See also:Greek, See also:Egyptian and Syrian ports. In the following year it included See also:Salonica in its itinerary. The occurrence of the Crimean War gave an increase to its fleet and a stimulus to its operations. For it was not only given the task of maintaining mail communication with the French forces in the Black Sea, but was largely entrusted by the government with the See also:duty of transporting troops and stores to the seat of war. At that time it was a considerable purchaser of British tonnage. In 1857 it had the French mail contract to See also:Algiers, as well as to the See also:Danube and Black Sea ports, whilst in the same year a new mail contract for a service between Bordeaux and Brazil and the river Plate was granted to it. By this time it had, either afloat or under construction, a fleet of no less than fifty-four steamships of 80,875 tons. In 1861 further employment was found for its vessels in the conveyance of the mail to India and China. By the year 1875 its fleet embraced 175,000 tons of shipping, and also employed a large number of chartered sailing vessels. It was at that time the largest steam shipping company in the world. It had already ceased to employ British shipbuilders and now constructed its own tonnage in its own yards. The extension of its services to Japan followed, and eventually it put forth branches which served See also:Madagascar, See also:Mauritius and Zanzibar, as well as Australian ports and the French colony of New See also:Caledonia. Some of the steamers employed in the mail services to the Far East and South are of a very f ne See also:character. In 1909 its fleet traversed 1,019,046 marine leagues and carried 197,320 passengers and over a million tons of cargo. Morgan See also:Combination.—Under the head of the American Line it has been shown how a group of American capitalists acquired the Red Star, Inman and American lines, thus forming a See also:body of shipping which embraced in the year 1901 about 167,000 tons of shipping tonnage, partly under the British and partly under the Belgian and American flags. Another company which See also:drew its capital chiefly from the United States, though its vessels See also:fly the red ensign, is the Atlantic Transport Company, registered under the British Limited Liability Acts in 1889. Its main service is between London and New York, and it is carried on by large and modern twin-screw steamships, several of which have been constructed by Messrs Harland & Wolff of Belfast. These vessels range up to about 14,000 tons gross register, and though they carry large quantities of cargo and of cattle on the eastward voyage, also accommodate a number of passengers in their saloons. Through the connexion of this undertaking with Messrs Harland & Wolff as builders of their vessels, those American capitalists who were interested in the extension of United States interests on the North Atlantic and who purchased the share capital of the Leyland Line were brought into connexion with Lord Pirrie, the managing director of this ship-building firm, and through him approach was made to the managers of the White Star Line in the year 190I. An offer for the purchase of this famous British line was put forward by the American See also:syndicate, headed by Mr J. Pierpont Morgan. The managers of the White Star Company had not merely'to consider what many experts believed to be a liberal offer. There was another See also:factor in the situation present to their mind. The New York syndicate, besides having the control of the vessels of the American lines on the Atlantic, had, it was said, secured the management of the See also:trunk lines of railway between the great producing districts of the Western states of America and the eastern seaboard. Theywere thus in a position to give to shippers from the United States the convenience of , transit by a through See also:bill of See also:lading to embrace both the railway journey and the ocean voyage, and there was ground for the belief that if competition were allowed to ensue the British steamship companies—which from the nature of things could receive no corresponding support from the railways of the United Kingdom—might suffer very severely. The White Star Line accordingly threw in its See also:lot with the American and Atlantic Transport Companies, and with the White Star Line went the Dominion Company—a line whose fine passenger vessels were constructed by Messrs Harland & Wolff, and whose management is largely influenced by the partners in that firm. The Dominion Line has services from Liverpool to Boston, Portland (Maine), and St Lawrence ports. The Norddeutscher Lloyd and the Hamburg-American companies were approached by Mr Morgan with a view to their entering into the See also:scheme; but though a working agreement was arranged, the See also:German lines decided to preserve their See also:separate existence. The Morgan combination was eventually incorporated at the end of See also:September 1902 in New See also:Jersey as " The International See also:Mercantile Marine Company," with a capital of $120,000,000; and an agreement was come to with the British government, by which the British character of the British ships in it would be preserved. The combine controls about a million tons of steamships. Navigazione Generale Italiana.—The union of the See also:Florio and Rubattino lines in the year 1882 was the origin of this company. The Rubattino Line finally made Genoa its headquarters, while the Florio Line centred its business at See also:Palermo, and had itself been largely strengthened by the absorption of the Trinacria Company of its own port. The coasting trade of See also:Italy and See also:Sicily, with services to various ports of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, occupies the great part of the company's fleet. But it also runs monthly lines from Genoa through the Suez Canal to Red Sea ports, and so to India and Hong-Kong. Towards the western ocean it has a service maintained in conjunction with that of another Italian company, La Veloce, to Brazil and the River Plate, whereby weekly departures are made from Genoa. In February 1901 a new line was opened by the sailing of the Italian Generale Company's steam-ship " See also:Liguria " —a new Italian-built vessel of upwards of 5000 tons register—for New York. The See also:object of this line, which is maintained by steamers of the Generale Company, aided by a similar number from the fleet of La Veloce, sailing once a week from Genoa via See also:Naples, is to See also:attempt to retain in Italian hands some of the large traffic which is carried on from these ports in the steamers of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the Hamburg-American Line, the Cunard and White Star fines.
New See also:Zealand Shipping Company.—This company was established in 1872 for the purpose of maintaining a passenger and cargo service between London and New Zealand. This was before the days when steam vessels could be used with commercial success in the long sea trade. At first it depended on chartered vessels, but gradually it acquired a fleet of fast clipper iron sailing-ships which reduced the voyage to 90 days. These vessels took out a large number of government emigrants between 1874 and 1882. In 1881 one of these ships inaugurated the frozen See also:meat trade from New Zealand, thus opening up a business which has since grown to See also:colossal proportions. The trade increased so rapidly that it was found impossible to conduct it by means of sailing ships, and in January 1883 the company despatched from London the chartered steamship " British See also: The company about this time received the contract of the New Zealand government for a monthly mail service, with a guaranteed time of 45 days. The managers gradually eliminated all the sailing vessels from the fleet, and more recently replaced the original single-screw mail steamers with large modern twin-screws. In addition to passenger vessels the company owns several cargo, boats, some of which are among the largest afloat. In the " Otaki " triple-screw vessel, added to the fleet in 1907, the company initiated a combination of reciprocating engines for using the high-pressure steam and turbines to make use of it subsequently. The company's ships sail from London, calling at See also:Plymouth, See also:Teneriffe, Cape See also:Town, See also:Hobart, on the way out, and sometimes at Montevideo or Rio and Teneriffe on the return voyage. Communication with the different ports of New Zealand, as well as to Australian ports, is carried out by the vessels of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. Norddeutscher Lloyd.—To the enterprise of certain citizens in the city of Bremen this large business owes its existence. The originator was Herr H. H. Meier, who brought into line the various shipping interests of Bremen, and induced them to amalgamate into one company. The associations thus brought together were the See also:Weser Haute Steamship Company, the linter Weser and Ober Weser Steam Tug Companies and the Ober Weser Universal Shipping See also:Insurance Association. The statutes of the new company were approved by the See also:senate of Bremen on the 18th of February 1857. The original capital was 4,000,000 thalers, but soon after the formation of the new company great depression set in, owing to the commercial crisis in North America. More than 2500 shareholders in the Lloyd forfeited their shares, but the directors were not dismayed, and had the loyal support of their See also:fellow citizens. Four big ocean steamers were constructed for the American line and three for the English, and large docks for See also:repairs were established at See also:Bremerhaven. The first voyage was made in See also:June 1858, when the " Bremen " started for New York, carrying many steerage passengers, but only one in the See also:saloon. The second ship, the " See also:Hudson," was shortly afterwards burned while lying in harbour. At the end of the first year both lines showed a loss. At the end of the second year matters improved, the English cattle trade especially showing great progress. But the company still commanded little confidence, for the See also:Darmstadt Bank parted with I,000,000 thalers' worth of shares at a loss of 75 %. These the directors themselves took over. But the American See also:Civil War now came, to deal another severe See also:blow at the Lloyd, just when its prospects were growing brighter,and till 1864 no See also:dividend greater than 2; % was paid to the shareholders.. After the termination of the war the trade with the United States See also:grew enormously, and the English traffic also revived in a most unexpected way. One result was the See also:foundation of rival lines, which, however, were unable to maintain effective competition, and succumbed. In 1868 a new line was opened. Bremen's See also:staple of See also:commerce is See also:tobacco, and the directors determined to bring their port into direct communication with the tobacco-producing areas in the States; so in that year they inaugurated their line to Baltimore. In the following year a line was started to New Orleans, another great centre of the tobacco and cotton trade. It was necessary to construct three special liners for that service, as the ordinary ships could not pass the See also:bar of the See also:Mississippi. In 1869 a line to Central America and the West Indies was set on foot, and new steamers were ordered to run on it. With the outbreak of the war of 187o the company naturally had anxious times, as the French fleet blockaded the German coasts; but its vessels often ran the See also:blockade with success. Soon after the war the West Indian service, proving unprofitable, was given up. In 1875 a new line of steamers to Brazil and Argentina was started. This was separated into two distinct services in 1878. In 188o the approach of the great struggle for supremacy on the Atlantic made itself felt, and the company began to prepare for the contest, and ordered the construction of the " Elbe," the first of its express line of steamers. She commenced running in 1881, and was quickly followed by others. Between 1881 and i888 an entirely new fleet was placed on the New York line. In 1886 the Australian and East Asian Lines were founded in accordance with a contract with the imperial government. This included a monthly service to China, with a branch service to Japan, and a monthly service to Australia, with a branch line to the Samoan and See also:Tonga Islands. From that time onwards the story of the Norddeutscher Lloyd has been one of increased prosperity. The company's fleet includes four large and fast steamships of about 23 to 231 knots speed for its weekly express service to New York, whilst it has also large vessels—one, the "George See also:Washington," being of 27,000 tons—for its intermediate service to the same port, built by the Vulcan Company at Stettin. The company runs many lines from its headquarters at Bremen; among them are those to New York—a line of express steamers and a line of ordinary mail steamers, all calling at Southampton or Cherbourg; to Baltimore direct; to Galveston direct—there are no first-class passengers by this line; to Brazil; to the River Plate, calling at principal ports on the way. There are also lines of imperial mail steamers between Bremen and Hamburg and eastern Asia, and Bremen and Australia, and a See also:freight line to east Asia, which runs in connexion with the Hamburg-American Line. In pursuance of the German policy of securing the feeders to maintain traffic, the Norddeutscher Lloyd purchased the ships and business of the Kinsing Line and of the Scottish See also:Oriental Company, when it began seriously to develop its Eastern trade. Feeling in See also:common with all large steamship companies the difficulty of providing efficient personnel for its constantly expanding fleet, and believing in the See also:necessity for sea-men of experience in masted ships, the Lloyd has provided itself with a sea-going training-ship. Such success attended this experiment that a second vessel has been added and the idea has since commended itself to certain British steamship companies. Ocean Steamship Company.—The Ocean Steamship Company is the successor of older steamship enterprises, mainly under the same management and ownership. These began in 1852 with the coasting trade, and extended in following years to French ports, and in 1855 to the West Indies. The last-named line attained some moderate importance, comprising seven vessels; it was sold in 1863, and eventually became the West India & Pacific Steamship Company, which in its turn was absorbed by the Leyland Line in 1900. The managers thereupon, seeking other trades, decided on attempting that to China, and the company under its present title was registered as unlimited in 1875. Up to this date See also:low-pressure See also:jet-condensing engines were alone used, burning perhaps 5 to 51- lb of See also:coal per indicated horse-power per hour. This See also:rate of See also:consumption would have been fatal to the scheme, since vessels could not have carried any cargo in addition to the coal necessary for so long a voyage as that via the Cape, the Suez Canal not being opened till 1870. A small vessel, the " Cleator," of which the exact speed and consumption with the old type of See also:engine was well known,was therefore experimentally fitted with new machinery of the compound high-pressure (70 lb), See also:surface-condensing type. The result of the experiment was that her consumption was reduced to about 3 or 31 lb per i.h.p. per hour, and this warranted the construction of the " See also:Agamemnon," " See also:Ajax " and " See also:Achilles," all 309 ft. long, 38 ft. 6 in. broad, 28 ft. 6 in. deep, fully rigged as barques, with screws outside their rudders. These rigs were subsequently altered to that of barquentines, but the relative positions of the screws. and rudders were retained till they were disposed of in 1899. In these vessels the consumption was further reduced to about 21- lb, which allowed margin for a reasonable cargo. The " Agamemnon " sailed from Liverpool in 1866; the itinerary being Mauritius, See also:Penang, Singapore, Hong-Kong and Shanghai, and, with similar calls, back to London. The cargoes in those days were mainly manufactured goods outwards and See also:tea homewards. The average speed was perhaps knots, and the consumption about 211- tons of Welsh coal per day. These and succeeding steamers were at that date the only vessels carrying high-pressure steam on long voyages, and they traded regularly round the Cape, being the only line that did so. When the Suez Canal was opened in 1870 they changed the route. The trade from the United Kingdom to China has since steadily grown, and increasingly large cargoes are also procurable homewards from the Far East, in spite of the successful competition of Indian and Ceylon teas. In 1891 a service was begun from Amsterdam and Liverpool to See also:Java, and this is maintained about once a fortnight, finding employment for about ten of the smaller ships. The vessels in this trade, which is principally between See also: Three small steamers bring tobacco from Deli for transshipment to Europe. (3) Singapore and Penang to China. The great See also:emigration of See also:Chinese coolies to the British colony of the Straits Settlements keep several steamers regularly employed. The company is colloquially known in the shipping world as the See also:Blue See also:Funnel Line, and is also often referred to by the name of Mr Alfred See also:Holt, who has been closely identified with it throughout its history. In 1902 the Ocean Company absorbed its younger rival, the China Mutual Steam Navigation Company, with a fleet of thirteen vessels of Io6,87o tons, and shortly afterwards re-registered itself under the Limited Liability Acts. The company's most recent development is in its connexion with Australia. For its direct service thither several io,000-ton ships fitted with See also:refrigerating apparatus and accommodation for some 300 passengers each are provided. Orient Line.—The Orient Line of steamers between London and Australia took up the work of the Orient Line of clipper packets, which in the days of sailing-ships used to ply between London and See also:Adelaide. In April 1877 it was announced that " the Orient Line would sail the under-mentioned steamships of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company to Australia." That connexion between the two organizations was continued and strengthened till in 1901 the name of Orient Line was changed to that of Orient-Pacific. In June of 1877 the " Lusitania " was despatched from London to Adelaide, Melbourne and See also:Sydney, via the Cape of Good See also:Hope. Other sailings followed at about two-monthly intervals. In the following year the Orient-Pacific Line came into existence. It was formed by the See also:joint efforts of Messrs Anderson, Anderson & Co. and F. See also:Green & Co., who are the managers of the line. When the service was begun it was intended to be run monthly, but the in-crease of traffic soon demonstrated that fortnightly sailings would be successful. This extension was determined on in 188o, the year following that in which the " Orient," the first ship specially built for the company's trade, commenced work. Since 1888 the Orient Company has carried the mails to Australia by contract with the English post office, once a fortnight. These despatches, alternating with those of the P. & O., give Australia a weekly mail. Several twin-screw steamers have been built for this service by both the Orient and the Pacific Companies. The latter company subsequently retired from the partnership, the Royal Mail Company taking its place and purchasing the vessels which it employed. In 1910, however, a new mail contract came into operation, and this was undertaken by the Orient Company alone. The Royal Mail withdrawing its ships, the Orient Company replaced them with a new fleet of 12,000-ton steamers, of which the first five are twin-screws and the See also:sixth is to have three propellers driven by a combination of reciprocating and turbine engines. It was the Orient liner " See also:Ophir " which took the place of a royal yacht for the imperial tour of the See also:Prince and Princess of See also:Wales in 1901. The steamers of the Orient Line call regularly at Plymouth, See also:Gibraltar, Marseilles, Naples, Port Said, Suez, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Pacific Steam Navigation Company.—This was the pioneer of the steam-trade along the western coast of South America; subsequently its operations were extended to Europe, and finally, in conjunction with the Orient Steam Navigation Company, it established the Orient Line to Australia, from which it withdrew in 1906. It obtained a charter early in 184o, and soon sent out from England two steam vessels, the " Chili " and " See also:Peru." These were paddle-boats of 710 tons and 198 ft. in length. They ran along the coast from See also:Valparaiso to Panama. The early struggles of this company are noteworthy as showing how difficulties, apparently insuperable, may be overcome, and even turned to essential ad-vantage. The great obstacle to the success of these steamers was the difficulty of obtaining supplies of fuel, and in the first five years of its existence no less than £72,000 was lost, the whole capital of the company being but £94,000. But the difficulties were over-come, and all that remained in the mind of the managers was a strong feeling of the importance of See also:economy in coal consumption. Accordingly, in conjunction with the See also:Fairfield firm of See also:Randolph, Elder & Co., they turned their attention in this direction, and were sending out vessels fitted with compound engines some ten or a dozen years before the Atlantic companies adopted them. In 1867, under pressure from the Chilean government, the company sought and obtained See also:powers to extend its operations, and in the same year the " Pacific," of 1630 tons, was constructed. She left Valparaiso for Liverpool in May 1868, the first of the new mail line. In 1870 the voyage was extended, See also:Callao, Il,000 miles from Liverpool, being made the terminal port, and the sailings were increased from one to three a month. In 1873 a weekly service between Liverpool and Callao was instituted, and by 1874 there was a fleet of fifty-four steamers, with an aggregate of 120,000 tons, in commission. Owing, however, to a great decrease in the South American trade the service was reduced to a fortnightly one. The opening of the Transandine railway was expected to have a great effect on the fortunes of shipping companies in South American waters and consolidation of interests seemed desirable. In 1910 the whole of the company's ordinary capital was purchased by the Royal Mail Company, and the line was thus absorbed. In January 1893 the company inaugurated a monthly cargo service to the Brazils, River Plate and the West Coast. This service has been extended to Glasgow. Many ports are served. The principal are La Pallice, La Rochelle, See also:Corunna, Carril, Vigo, Lisbon, St See also:Vincent, Pernambuco, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, See also:Monte-video, Buenos Aires, Punta Arenas, and the ports of the western coast of South America, Valparaiso and Callao. Peninsular & Oriental.—The story of the P. & O. Company may be divided into two eras—the first reaching from its foundation to the opening of the Suez Canal; the second from that date to the resent day. During almost the whole of its career the company has acted as the See also:agent of the British government in the conveyance of its mails, first to Mediterranean ports, and afterwards to See also:Egypt, India and the Far East. From time to time the government has made efforts to procure some other means for transmitting its mails, but on every occasion it has found it advisable to return to the P. & O. In 1835 Messrs Willcox & Anderson, a firm of London merchants, began to run steamers to the principal ports of the Peninsula. Their vessels observed greater regularity than the sailing-ships then employed to carry the mails, and the first mail contract was entered into on the 22nd of August 1837. This was awarded to them after another company, which was unable to fulfil its obligations, had been engaged for the work. Messrs Willcox & Anderson had shortly before, in See also:concert with Captain Bourne, R.N., founded the Peninsular Company. This contract arranged for a monthly service between Falmouth and Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon and Gibraltar. About two years later another step was taken. Hitherto the mails to Egypt and India had been conveyed by the Peninsular Company to Gibraltar, by an admiralty packet from Gibraltar to See also:Malta, by another admiralty vessel from Malta to See also:Alexandria, and from Egypt to Bombay by one of the East India Company's steamers. It was resolved to substitute for this unsatisfactory mode of conveyance a direct system of carriage by one line of steamers from London to Alexandria. The Peninsular Company again secured the contract, which was put up to public competition, and built two steamers of 1600 tons for the purpose this being a large tonnage for those days. The annual subsidy was fixed at £34,00o, by which the government saved £10,000 of the amount formerly expended on their own inefficient means of transport. The company then, by a charter of incorporation, dated See also:December 184o, assumed the name by which it has ever since been known—The Peninsular & Oriental Company. The charter was granted only on the onerous See also:condition that steam communication with India should be established within two years. The first steamer, the " Hindostan," was despatched to India via the Cape of Good Hope on the 26th of September 1842. She was oneof a small fleet destined to ply between Calcutta, Madras, Ceylon, Aden and Suez. It was an adventurous undertaking, for the East India Company promised no definite subsidy, only a small See also:premium on a certain number of voyages. The obvious advantages of a direct conveyance of mails between Suez and Bombay by a regular sufficient service were becoming evident, and the P. & O. Company offered to effect this at a great saving on the existing system; but, for some See also:reason or other, the East India Company showed the greatest reluctance to allow the control of this route to pass out of their hands, in which, in fact, it remained until 18J4. Fortunately for the P. & O. Company the government decided to establish regular monthly steam communication between England and Ceylon, Madras and Calcutta, and also from Ceylon, eastward to Singapore and Hong-Kong. Only the P. & O. could at that time have comtemplated under-taking such a service. In 1844 the contract was signed, and by it the company was to receive a subvention of £16o,00o. The Indian portion of the service opened on the 1st of January 1845, and during that year the extension to China was effected, and nine new steamers were put on the See also:stocks. The organization of the overland route was due to the P. & O. Company, which brought it into regular working in See also:order to convey its passengers from Alexandria to Suez. It was a picturesque but uncomfortable passage by canal-See also:boat and steamer to See also:Cairo, then by a two-wheeled See also:omnibus for ninety miles across the See also:desert to Suez. Even the coal for the boats at Suez had to be transported in this See also:fashion, which was cheaper than sending it by sailing vessel round the Cape. The construction of a railway across the See also:isthmus in 1859 greatly simplified the transit. It may be noted that the company had to establish coaling stations between Suez and the Far East, and also depots of provisions, a business of no less magnitude than that of the steam service itself. In 1852 the first mail service to Australia was undertaken by the company, and the same contract included an arrangement for a fortnightly service to India and China, though a service running once every two months via Singapore and Sydney was thought sufficient for the requirements of Australia. The year 1854 saw the abolition of the East India Company's service to Bombay, the P. & O. taking its place. This arrangement saved the country £80,000 per annum. The Crimean War made large demands on the company's resources for the conveyance of troops, and the Australian service was for a time interrupted. By 1859 the company was in See also:possession of all the lines of steam communication between England and the East. In 1864 the service to Australia was increased to one sailing a month, and in 1868 the Bombay mail left weekly. About the same time the See also:fourth India and China contract was entered into, and at the end of 1869 the opening of the Suez Canal led to a serious crisis in the company's affairs; and also, after these difficulties had been surmounted, to a See also:complete revolution in its methods. The opening of the canal led to a See also:pro-longed controversy with the post-office, which, with true See also:official perversity, would not allow the company to use the canal for the conveyance of its mails. A serious falling-off of the company's See also:revenue was the result, as the competition of the canal steamers was killing its trade. At length in 1874 a new arrangement was made by which the mails were to be carried through the canal, the subsidy granted to the company being at the same time reduced. Under these conditions, however, it was now able to construct vessels capable of competing successfully with its rivals. A pro-longed dispute between Victoria and New South Wales for a long time prevented the Australian service from being as efficient as it might have been. Sydney insisted on the Pacific route being adopted. In consequence of this controversy the Australian headquarters of the company were for some time fixed at Melbourne, and it was not till 1888 that a general contract was entered into with the nostmaster-general, acting at last for all the Australian colonies as well as for the Imperial government. This stipulated for an accelerated service—the India, China and Australian mails being all worked from Aden in connexion with the steamer which conveyed them from Brindisi. There was for long a service between See also:Venice, Brindisi and Egypt, and a mail contract with the Italian government; but this came to an end in March 1900. The company's first ship, the " William See also:Fawcett," built in 1829, had a gross tonnage of 206 and 6o h.p. Down to 1851 the vessels of the fleet were all constructed with paddles; after that date the screw took their place, though for the Marseilles to Malta express service certain famous fast paddle-steamers were subsequently constructed. A later interesting development was the See also:abandonment of Brindisi as a port of call for the ocean mail steamers, which reverted to Marseilles, whence they run across to Port Said direct. The mails leaving London every See also:Friday night are See also:des-patched from Brindisi in specially designed twin-screw vessels, which land them at Port Said little more than 96 hours after their despatch from London. On this service the " See also:Osiris " and " See also:Isis " are employed, and they have the distinction of being the only vessels in the mercantile marine which cross the seas with mails and passengers only. The company is under contract with the British government for the conveyance of mails to India, China and Australia. Its services are as follows—India: Brindisi to Bombay, weekly. China; Brindisi to Shanghai, fortnightly. Australia: Brindisi to Sydney, fortnightly. Apart from the mail services, the company runs See also:independent lines to Malta, Colombo and Calcutta; also between Bombay, Colombo, Singapore, Hong-Kong and Shanghai; and between Hong-Kong, Nagasaki, See also:Hiogo and Yokohama. There is likewise a direct fortnightly service of through steamers to China and Japan at special rates. The mails are despatched weekly to Bombay, going one week by direct mail steamer and the next by the fortnightly Australian liner as far as Aden. A fast twin-screw vessel—the " See also:Salsette "—built after the idea of the " Isis " but of thrice her tonnage—takes the Bombay mails from Aden on the weeks when there is no steamer. For the Indian and Australian mail services a new type of steamer known as the " M " class has been provided. There are already no less than ten such vessels, all twin-screws of similar design, commencing with the " See also:Moldavia," built 1903, of 9500 tons and 14,000 i.h.p. and running up to 12,500 tons and 15,000 i.h.p. in the " Maloja " and " See also:Medina." In 1910 a new service was acquired, the Blue See also:Anchor fleet of Mr Wilhelm See also:Lund being purchased. This gave the company an entry into the South African trade, the Blue Anchor steamers calling at Cape Town and See also:Durban on their way to Australia, and new and larger vessels are being provided for this branch also of the company's activities. See also:Shaw, Savill 6' See also:Albion Company.—The amalgamation of the business of Messrs Shaw, Savill & Co. of London and of the Albion Shipping Company of Glasgow brought this company into its present See also:form at the See also:close of the year 1882. At that time the amalgamating firms owned a large fleet of sailing-ships, and traded chiefly between England and New Zealand. Soon, after the amalgamation the company began to acquire steamships, which gradually supplanted their sailing vessels. The Shaw, Savill & Albion Company were among the first in the frozen meat trade, and their vessels are fitted to carry large numbers of carcases. With this company the White Star Line of Liverpool became associated in the year 1884, and five of their ships now run in the fleet of the Shaw, Savill & Albion Company. In June 1910 an offer was made by Sir John Ellerman to take over the fleet, which at that time consisted of six twin-screw and five single-screw steamships with a total of 51,300 tons gross register, a twelfth vessel being under construction. The route to New Zealand is by the Cape of Good Hope on the outward voyage, returning by Cape See also:Horn, thus going completely round the globe every voyage. After leaving London the steamers call at Plymouth, Teneriffe, Cape Town, Hobart and Wellington; returning from New Zealand, the ports touched are Rio (sometimes Montevideo), Teneriffe, Plymouth, London. The " Arawa," which came out in 1884, made the outward voyage in 38 days, and the run home in 35 days 4 hours steaming time; she thus made the See also:circuit of the world in 73 days 4 hours See also:net time. Union .Steamship Company (see Castle Line).—This company first came into existence in 1853 under the name of the Union Steam See also:Collier Company, with a capital of £60,000. At its commencement it possessed a fleet of five small steamers with an aggregate of only 2337 tons. But by the time these vessels were built the Crimean War was being actively carried on, and it was thought advisable to employ them for other purposes than those for which they were originally intended. They ran for a time between Southampton, Constantinople and See also:Smyrna; but the transport service proved more remunerative, and they were used for the conveyance of troops. At the close of the war the company was registered under the Limited Liability See also:Act by its present name. It was then deter-See also:mined to run the vessels between Southampton and Brazil with cargo, but this did not prove profitable, and in 1857 a notable change took place in the status of the company, for in that year it took its place among the great ocean mail companies of England. In that year a contract was completed with the government for a monthly mail service for five years to the Cape of Good Hope at an annual subsidy of £30,000. The " Dane " was the first steamer to leave Southampton with the mails on the 15th of September. In 1858 the subsidy was increased in order that the company's ships might call at St See also:Helena and See also:Ascension for mails on the homeward voyage. When the first contract expired the company secured another for five years. A service between the Cape and See also:Natal, under a temporary arrangement, was inaugurated in 1862, and a seven years' mail service contract with the Natal government was concluded in 1865. In 1873 the House of Commons refused to ratify a contract which the government had entered into with the company for an extended mail service; the company, however, carried out its intention to extend its service to Zanzibar. But in October 1876 a new mail contract with the Cape of Good Hope government was entered into for a fortnightly service between Plymouth and Table Bay, the length of voyage not to exceed twenty-six days. During the Zulu War this company rendered considerable services to Great Britain. In 1878 three ships were employed, and after Isandula they conveyed reinforcements, the " See also:Pretoria " being the only mail steamer to carry an entire See also:regiment, the 91st Highlanders. It was on this company's s.s. " Danube " that the prince imperial sailed, whilst the old s.s. " German " took out the Empress See also:Eugenie when she went to visit the See also:scene of his death. The direct service with the Cape, Natal and Zanzibar was in 1881 discontinued, and in February of that year operations were extended to the Continent, a service from Hamburg was commenced, runningevery twenty-eight days, which for a time proved highly successfub A branch service to Antwerp, begun in 1882, was discontinued for a time, but subsequently resumed. At the time of the See also:Panjdeh scare in 1885, when hostilities were threatening with See also:Russia, two of this company's steamships, the " See also:Moor "and the Mexican "were selected to act as armed cruisers for the See also:defence of South Africa. The former was the only See also:merchant vessel on which the See also:pennant was actually hoisted. In 1889 the company's continental traffic increased so that it not only resumed the despatch of through steamers from Hamburg, but made calls at Rotterdam. This service afterwards became fortnightly, calls being made at Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. New contracts with the colonial governments were made in 1888, and in the same year Southampton took the place of Plymouth as the outward mail port, while in 1889 the homeward mails were landed at Southampton in place of Plymouth. In 1889, by the construction of the " See also:Scot," the company. acquired a much larger vessel than any they had hitherto employed; in 1895 Messrs Harland & Wolff successfully accomplished the task of lengthening this ship by cutting her in two amidships and adding 54 ft. to her length and See also:i000 tons to her tonnage. She subsequently was altered to adapt her for public See also:yachting purposes and transferred to the German flag under the name of " Oceana." In 1893 the company entered upon its new policy of building a large number of practically sister ships for its intermediate trade. All were built by Messrs Harland & Wolff, and fitted with twin-screws. The See also:series included ten vessels, commencing with the " See also:Gaul " of 4745 tons, and ending with the " Galician " of 6757 tons launched in 1900. Meanwhile from the same yard the mail. steamers " See also:Norman," " Briton " and " Saxon " were added to the fleet. The last-named, which came out in 1899, is a vessel of 12,385 tons, with a length of 570 ft. By a resolution passed at a meeting of shareholders held on the 13th of February 1900, this company was amalgamated with the Castle Line (see below). At its absorption its fleet consisted of twenty-three vessels, of which nine were over 6000 tons. Union-Castle Line.—This company was formed by the amalgamation of the Union and Castle lines. Previously, though practically all the vessels made their final departure from Southampton, the Union Line only made its headquarters at that port, the Castle liners coming round from London. After amalgamation, the mail steamers—to which cargo is not of so much importance —did not come to the Thames at all, the increase in their size and the neglect of the improvement of the river and of the docks by the authorities making it undesirable that they should do so. The cargo (intermediate) liners, on the other hand, all load in London, and many of them, before their final departure from the Thames, visit Hamburg, Antwerp and Rotterdam, for the purpose of picking up cargo. On these North Sea trips passengers are carried, and facilities are given for their accommodation on See also:board during the calls at the various ports. The new company carries out the contracts of its two constituents and thus despatches every Saturday a mail steamer from Southampton via Madeira to the Cape and Natal. An hour or so before the sailing of the mail boat an intermediate steamer departs from the same port. Her places of call are Teneriffe or See also:Las Palmas for certain, and possibly also Ascension and St Helena. These vessels serve the east coast ports of Algoa Bay and East London as well as Natal. Some of them also go to Delagoa Bay, to See also:Beira on the mainland, and to the See also:island of Mauritius. In 1910 a further extension was made, a monthly service being instituted to East Africa through the Canal. Besides the two weekly vessels, however, there are despatches of extra See also:mid-weekly intermediate steamers, and these extra railings have recently tended to become more frequent. The company's attention has for some time been directed to the trade between the United States and South Africa, and within two years after amalgamation eight new steamships were constructed with a view to the development of the trade between Cape ports and New York. Nor did the union of the two companies stop the improvement of the general fleet. The 10,000-ton twin-screw mail steamers " Kinfauns Castle " and Kildonan Castle " were delivered to the Castle Company from the Fairfield yard prior to the amalgamation. Messrs Harland & Wolff had the " Saxon," 2000 tons larger than these ships, well in hand at the time. But the " See also:Walmer Castle," a larger and still later addition to the fleet, embodied as far as possible the practice which from experience commended itself to both the old companies. Subsequent additions to the mail fleet have been the sisters " Armadale Castle "and "See also:Kenilworth Castle," followed in 1910 by the "Edinburgh Castle " and the " Balmoral Castle " of 13,300 tons each. Provision is now made for the carriage of the mails exclusively in twin-screw vessels. Meanwhile the intermediate fleet has received several vessels of large dimensions and of comfortable accommodation, though of speed inferior of course to the mail steamers. The company proved its capacity in the South African War, when it carried vast bodies of military and civilian passengers by its regular steamers at a time when many of its vessels were chartered by the government as troopers and storeships. In spite of the See also:strain put on the resources of the company by the heavy work entailed by the South African War, both on the vessels employed in their regular service and on those especially taken up for government transport duty, it was found possible already to discard two of their older vessels.
White Star Line.-Though perhaps chiefly known in the New York trade, the White Star flag was first hoisted in the middle of last, century over a fleet of clippers which sailed to Australia. In 1867 Mr See also: Immediately on its formation the company entered into arrangements with Messrs Harland & Wolff of Belfast for the construction of a fleet of high-class passenger ships, and it is worthy of See also:notice that the terms upon which Messrs Harland & Wolff built the White Star ships were See also:peculiar. No definite See also:price wasagreed upon, but the actual cost plus a percentage for builders' profit was charged. The first " Oceanic," pioneer steamship of the line, was launched on the 27th of August 1870, and sailed for New York on the 2nd of March 1871. Her advent opened a new era in Atlantic travel. She introduced the midship saloon, which ex-tended the whole width of the ship, thus giving increased See also:light and improved See also:ventilation, and reducing to a minimum the sensation of the vessel's See also:motion. The arrangement thus introduced is now almost universally adopted in the construction of ocean liners. The " Oceanic " was also narrower in proportion to her length than the vessels previously designed for the transatlantic mail service. In 1877 the " Britannic " reduced the passage to 7 days lo hours and Fleets of Various Important Steamship Companies in 1891, 1901 and 191o.' Company. No. of Gross Fla s. 1910. 1901. 189 Vessels. Tonnage. §e)-, Gross No. of ffiq No. of Gross u No. of Gross z Tonnage. Vessels. B 6 Vessels. Tonnage. 'ab Vessels. Tonnage. z g6-, z International Mercantile Marine Co.- White Star Line . . . 31 372,045 British - - - Io 25 212,403 17 i6 84,902 Leyland Line2 . . . 42 253,803 British - - 7 55 242,781 23 23 60,511 American Line and Red' Star 16 164,213 Mixed - - - 15 25 167,105 - - - Line . . . Atlantic Transport Co. . 14 107,650 British - - - 26 17 123,593 32 6 18,111 Dominion and British & North 13 86,655 British - - - 27 13 105,430 29 8 28,696 Atlantic Co.. . Vessels owned jointly with 7 51,053 British - - - - - - - - - Shaw, Savill & Albion . National S.S. Co 2 16,005 British - - - - 3 18,464 - 12 53,522 Training Ship . . . i 1,814 British - - - - - - .. - I26 8,053,238 I 1,053,238 126 Hamburg-American Line - - German 2 979,217 168 I 202 541,085 9 42 126,795 Norddeutscher Lloyd . . - - German 3 752,037 176 2 111 454,936 4 70 198,723 P. & O. Company British 4 458,037 64 5 58 313,343 3 49 199,911 British India S.N. Co. . . . - - British 5 423,063 104 4 120 378,770 I 100 234,654 Royal Mail S.P. Co.. 45 194,663 British 6 85 S 32 28 88,2o5 19 25 73,384 Pacific Steam Navigation Co. . 40 183,234 British 377,897 22 42 138,754 15 36 97,793 Alfred Holt & Co.-Ocean S.S. 39 234,808 British ) ( 16 41 165,143 II 44 109,000 Co. . . . China Mutual Steam Naviga- 340,559 57 tion Co. . . . 18 105,751 British }). 7 Furness, Withy & Co. British 8 340,537 I16 12 40,994 - 20 44,528 Elder, Dempster & Co.' . . . - - British 9 331,533 108 3 120 382,560 25 48 55,256 Union-Castle Co.' British Io 295,360 41 8 41 222,613 - - -- Messageries Maritimes French 1r 293,669 65 6 62 246,277 2 63 202,801 Nippon Yusen Kaisha . . Japanese 12 289,787 73 9 69 218,361 28 52 42,058 Ellerman Lines . . . - - British 13 283,234 78 .. - .. -' Lamport & Holt . British 14 281,412 44 20 47 149,712 12 54 Io6,648 See also:Nay. Gen. Italiana 6 . Italian 15 274,952 Io6 11 102 205,104 6 106 164,052 Hansa Line - - German 16 247,691 53 18 57 157,037 26 26 50,413 Compagnie Generale Trans- French 17 245,353 62 13 59 183,343 5 66 .174,600 atlantique . . . IIarrison Line of Liverpool British 18 217,085 43 21 31 146,625 22 27 61,643
Austrian Lloyd . . . Austrian 19 216,414 66 14 68 169,436 10 76 124,435
Cunard Line . . . . - - British 20 209,231 19 25 26 126,332 16 22 85;104
Clan Line - - British 2I 202,463 49 17 46 164,487 18 29 76,300
Canadian Pacific Railway - - British 22 198,310 65 - 12 38,089 - 7 24,373
Hamburg South American Line - - German 23 197,703 49 - 32 125,597 - 26 56,938
See also: Dutch 31 124,136 15 - 9 55,413 - 11 37,891 Prince Line - - British 32 123,909 41 - 33 79,001 - 32 59,221 Bucknall Line - - British 33 122,388 29 33 23 83,207 33 - - Anchor Line British 34 110,588 19 23 41 132,540 8 44 127,065 Westoll Line - - British 35 90174 35 31 38 88,306 27 31 48,298 Volunteer Fleet . . . . - - See also:Russian 36 84,500 18 35 16 80,424 31 8 23,845 See also:Johnston Line of Liverpool . - - British 37 81,000 20 28 24 100,460 24 22 58,621 Compaiiia Transatlantica Spanish 38 79,767 22 30 23 88,453 14 36 101,214 ' This table is based on that contained in a See also:paper on " Shipping Subsidies," by B. W. See also:Ginsburg, published in the See also:Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (September 1901). 2 The Leyland Line was formerly the Leyland Line and West India & Pacific Steam Navigation Company. 8 In 1891 the old American Line had 3 steamers of Io,166 tons; the Inman Line 6 steamers of 41,276 tons; the International Line 4 steamers of 12,112 tons; and the Red Star Line 9 steamers of 39,609 tons. ' Messrs Elder, Dempster & Co. now control the fleets of the African, British & African, and Imperial Direct Steamship companies. ' Formerly the Union Line and the Castle Line. In 1891 the Union Line had 23 steamers of 55,576 tons, and the Castle Line I steamers of 57,934 tons. 6 Formerly known as the Florio-Rubattino Line. 5o minutes, excelling by three hours the best previous Atlantic passage. After the year 1888 the company ceased to build single-screw steamers, all later vessels having been constructed on the twin-screw system, of which the superiority had been clearly demonstrated. About this time also the owners of the line became responsible for an important advance in steamship construction which was afterwards imitated by merchant ships of all the great maritime powers. The " See also:Teutonic " and " Majestic," introduced in 1889 and 189o, were the first merchant ships constructed with a view to their use as possible auxiliaries to the Royal Navy. The former was present, armed with eight See also:quick-firing guns, at the naval inspection by the German See also:emperor in 1889. With the See also:launch of the second " Oceanic " in January 1899 the company's record was still further enhanced. The White Star Line was from 1877 regularly employed under contract with the British government to carry the American mails from Liverpool and Queenstown to New York. Besides this weekly mail and passenger service, a fleet of twin-screw cargo vessels maintained a subsidiary service between See also:Liver-See also:pool and New York. These vessels were especially designed for the conveyance of cattle and horses. After 1883 several steamships of the line were employed in the Shaw, Savill & Albion service between London and New Zealand. Three of the company's ships ran in the line of the Occidental & Oriental Company between See also:San Francisco and Yokohama and Hong-Kong. The company inaugurated a service to Australia from Liverpool in 1899. Five ships ran in it (calling at Cape Town) to See also:Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. The ports visited by their vessels in New Zealand will be found detailed under Shaw, Savill & Albion Company. In 1902 the absorption of the White Star fleet and management in the Morgan shipping combine was arranged. Since that time several alterations have taken place. The mail steamers of the line left Liverpool for Southampton in June 1907 and new call at Cherbourg on their way to and from New York. Two services are still maintained between Liverpool and New York—one the old cargo service, and the other a weekly despatch of large passenger and cargo vessels. In addition to these there are two other Atlantic services from Liverpool—one to Boston and the other maintained in conjunction with the Dominion Line to Canadian ports. There is also a line of White Star steamers between New York and the Mediterranean. Several important vessels from other limbs of the combine have been brought under the White Star flag, whilst the company has also practically absorbed the old See also:Aberdeen Line. Wilson Line.—Thomas Wilson, Sons & Co. is at the present time the largest private ship-owning company in the world. This line traces its origin as far back as 1835. It was founded by Mr Thomas Wilson in conjunction with Messrs Hudson and Beckinpton, and on the retirement of the two last-named gentlemen it acquired its present title. Early in the 'forties the firm was running three steamships to See also:Gothenburg, and was engaged largely in the iron trade, importing large quantities of See also:Swedish and Russian iron, and running a regular line of sailing boats to Swedish ports. It also despatched a regular service to See also:Dunkirk. Steamships gradually superseded the sailing vessels, and new steamers year by year were placed on the Scandinavian service. About this time the firm secured the mail contract between England and See also:Sweden, which it still holds. After the Crimean War it started the St See also:Petersburg, Stettin and See also:Riga trade. During the Franco-German War the trade to Stettin had to be suspended; and as a set-off the service to Trieste was inaugurated, which has developed into an independent Adriatic and Sicilian service. The See also:Norwegian trade was then improved by the despatch of steamships to See also:Bergen, See also:Stavanger and See also:Trondhjem, and subsequently a service of large steamers began running to Constantinople and the Black Sea. After the opening of the Suez Canal the trade to India, which has since assumed such considerable proportions, was inaugurated. In 1875 the firm launched out into a more See also:hardy enterprise, by commencing to run steamers to America. Its vessels in 1902 ran to New York regularly from Hull and the See also:Tyne ports. The original Calcutta trade was discontinued when the New York line was started, but in 1883 a service was established between Hull and Bombay. In 1891 the firm became a private limited company and in 1894 took over the coasting trade between Hull and New-castle. The company employs a number of large and See also:swift ships in the Norwegian passenger traffic, which in the summer See also:season now reaches very considerable proportions. It has frequent services of passenger and cargo vessels to the ports of northern Europe, carrying passengers in the season as far north as the North Cape. Of course the winter season necessitates considerable variation of summer services to Baltic ports. In 1903 the fleet of the old-established Hull firm of Messrs See also:Bailey & Leetham was absorbed, and in 1908 that of the North-Eastern Railway Company. There are also steamers leaving See also:Grimsby, See also:Manchester and Liverpool regularly for Scandinavian and Baltic ports; weekly services to See also:Ghent, Liverpool and Newcastle; and services to Mediterranean and Black Sea ports. Besides the New York line there are ocean services to Boston, to New Orleans and the river Plate. There is also a weekly service to and from London and Boston in con-junction with the Furness-Leyland Line. Conclusion.—The scope of this See also:article will not allow of any de-tailed reference to many of the important foreign lines which in a complete history should be mentioned. The Hansa Company of Bremen; the Chargeurs Reunis of Havre; the Holland-American Line, which has of recent years added to the fleet several fine twin-screw liners, built at the Belfast yard; the Compaiiia Transatlantica of See also:Barcelona, which performed so great a feat in the transport of troops from Barcelona to,Cuba in the latter days of See also:Spain's dominion over that island; the Pacific Mail Company of the United States; and many others might be noticed. A whole article might be de-voted to the work of the lines on the North American inland waters, while there are several other English companies which might well claim attention, both from the magnitude of their operations and the extent to which they have developed types of ships suitable for the peculiarities of the trades in which their vessels are engaged. The Clan Line, for example, has largely adopted the See also:turret-decked ship, which is the design of Messrs W. Doxford & Co. of See also:Sunderland. This type of ship is intended to carry large cargoes on a small registered tonnage and a light draught, without paying for it by a See also:sacrifice of weatherly qualities. The same object is aimed at by the design of the trunk steamers built by Messrs Ropner of See also:Stockton. The Isherwood system of construction and the See also:cantilever type of cargo steamer are other devices for attaining the same object. Then there are the tank steamers constructed for the carriage of oil in bulk. Many of these ships are adapted not only for the carriage of oil, but also for its consumption in their furnaces in place of coal. We have already referred to some of the vessels fitted with refrigerating apparatus for the carriage of dead meat, and to the cargo steamers of the Atlantic companies, which are supplied with conveniences for carrying valuable racehorses and cattle. The experience of many years has enabled the owners of some of these lines to exhibit a wonderfully low record of loss, the percentage of deaths at sea to numbers carried being small beyond the dreams of, say, the 'seventies. A tenth of 1% over a somewhat extended period is not an unprecedented average. The table shows something of the recent growths of companies, and at the same time records some of the amalgamations which have been so frequent. It should be explained that the table does not pretend to be exhaustive. The fleets embraced in it are not necessarily all those whose tonnage reaches above the See also:lower limit shown. There are now a number of lines whose total exceeds See also:Ioo,000 tons which are not shown in the See also:list. Amongst them may be cited the Hamburg-Pacific Line, the German line to Australia, the Union Company of New Zealand—which contains many small vessels, the Forende Company of See also:Copenhagen and the Anglo-American Oil Company. The table shows how whilst the principal lines are largely increasing their fleets, one or two companies are falling back in their gross amount of tonnage. The figures, moreover, are subject to certain reservations. The See also:count was not necessarily taken by the various companies at the same period of each year. Some of the figures given may include numbers and tonnages of tugs and tenders, while others may exclude them. Again, some of the companies may have returned in their fleets the vessels which they had under construction, whilst others may not have counted them. But none of these considerations can much affect the general significance of the figures shown. The growth in the average size of individual ships is as marked as that of the aggregate tonnage of the companies. AurHoRITIES.—The following books throw much light on the history of the leading steamship lines: History of Merchant Shipping, by W. S. See also:Lindsay (London, See also:Sampson Low & Co.) ; La Navig. See also:comm. au XIX. siecle (Paris, 1901); A. J. Maginnis, The Atlantic See also:Ferry (3rd ed., London, Whittaker & Co.); E. R. Jones, The Shipping World Year-See also:Book; Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping (published annually). Also see a comprehensive article on this subject in the Quarterly See also:Review for January 1900. Perhaps the fullest See also:information is, as a See also:rule, to be obtained from the handbooks issued by the companies themselves. (B. W. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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