ft. 6 in. depth of hold, 423 horse power--nominal--and 1,153 tons
burden, built of wood, and propelled by paddles. In 1860 the Collins
Line started in opposition to the Cunard, and, after a series of
disasters, collapsed in 1858. This was three years after the Persia,
the first Cunarder built of iron, had been completed. In 1850, also,
the Inman Line was started with the City of Glasgow, of 1,600 tons
builders' measurement, and 350 horse power. She was built of iron, and
was the first screw steamer sent across the Atlantic from Liverpool
with passengers, and was the pioneer of the great emigrant trade which
Mr. Inman, above all others, did so much to develop and make cheap and
comfortable for the emigrants themselves, as well as profitable to his
company. That the builders of the celebrated old Great Britain, in
1843, and Mr. Inman, in 1850, should have pronounced so decisively in
favor of the screw propeller in preference to the paddle for ocean
steaming is a proof of their true practical judgment, which time and
practical experience have made abundantly clear. While the Cunard
Company went on developing its fleet from the early wood paddle
steamer Britannia of 1,130 tons in 1840 to the iron paddle steamers
Persia, etc., in 1858, the iron screw steamer China of 1862, to the
still more important screw steamers Bothnia and Scythia, vessels of
4,335 tons, in 1874, the Inman and other lines were as rapidly
developing in speed and size, if not in numbers. The year 1874 is
memorable, for it saw the White Star steamers Britannic and Germanic
put into the water, as well as the Inman steamer City of Berlin and
the two before mentioned Cunard steamers, Bothnia and Scythia. By the
addition of these two ships to their fleet the White Star Line,
although started only in 1870, reached a front rank position in the
New York passenger trade. The author gave in separate tables the logs
of several of these ships, some from published documents and some
kindly furnished by the owners. The Great Western had crossed the