Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 15 days as early as 1838. The
first Cunard steamer, the Britannic, was about the same speed, from 8¼
to 8½ knots an hour. The average duration of the Cunard voyages in the
year 1856 was 12.67 days from Liverpool to New York, and 11.03 days
from New York to Liverpool. The Bothnia, in 1874, reduced the passage
to about nine days. The White Star Britannic, in 1876, averaged 7 days
18 hours 26 minutes outward from Queenstown to New York, and 9 days 6
hours 44 minutes homeward, and has averaged for the last ten years 8
days 9 hours 36 minutes outward, and 8 days 1 hour 48 minutes
homeward. The City of Berlin, of the Inman Line, also built in 1874, 8
days 10 hours 56 minutes, and homeward 8 days 2 hours 37 minutes; and
for the nine years from 1875 to 1883 inclusive, averaged outward 8
days 19 hours 56 seconds, and inward 8 days 8 hours 34 seconds; or,
putting it into rounder figures, the Britannic had reduced the average
passage between the two points to 8¼ days, and the City of Berlin to
8½ days. From the year 1874 on to 1879 no further advance was made in
Atlantic steaming, but in that year the Arizona was added to the Guion
Line, and it soon became evident that another important stride had
been made in the Atlantic passenger trade, which would lead to most
important results. The results, as we all know, have been sufficiently
startling. The Guion Line, which had started in 1866 with the
Manhattan, had now the fastest passenger ship on the Atlantic. In
spite of burning some fifty per cent. more coal than the Britannic,
the ship was an obvious commercial success. The spirited policy which
brought her into existence was appreciated by the public, and the
other lines had to move forward. Then followed a period of rivalry,
the Cunard Company building the Gallia and Servia, the Inman Company
the City of Rome, and the Guion Line the Alaska, all of which were
completed in 1881, and afterward the Oregon for the Guion
Line--1883--the Aurania the same year for the Cunard Company, and,