Page:EB1911 - Volume 25.djvu/881

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 Thomas Henry Ismay took it over, and two years later the great revolution in the constitution of the company took place. It was in 1869 that Mr Ismay formed the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company to run a line of steamers between Liverpool and New York. 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 notice that the terms upon which Messrs Harland & Wolff built the White Star ships were peculiar. No definite price was agreed upon, but the actual cost plus a percentage for builders’ profit was charged.

Fleets of Various Important Steamship Companies in 1891, 1901 and 1910.^[1]

Company.	No. of Vess- els.	Gross Tonnage.	Flag.	1910.			1901.			1891.
				Numer- ical Order.	Gross Tonnage.	No. of Vess- els.	Numer- ical Order.	No. of Vess- els.	Gross Tonnage.	Numer- ical Order.	No. of Vess- els.	Gross Tonnage.
International Mercantile Marine Co.
White Star Line	31	372,045	British	—	—	—	10	25	212,403	17	16	84,902
Leyland Line[2]	42	253,803	British	—	—	—	7	55	242,781	23	23	60,511
American Line and Red[3] Star Line	16	164,213	Mixed	—	—	—	15	25	167,105	—	—	—
Atlantic Transport Co. .	14	107,650	British	—	—	—	26	17	123,593	32	6	18,111
Dominion and British & North   Atlantic Co.	13	86,655	British	—	—	—	27	13	105,430	29	8	28,696
Vessels owned jointly with   Shaw, Savill & Albion	⁠7	51,053	British	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
National S.S. Co.	⁠2	16,005	British	—	—	—	—	3	18,464	—	12	53,522
Training Ship	⁠1	1,814	British	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	126	1,053,238		1	1,053,238	126	—	—	—	—	—	—
Hamburg-American Line	—	—	German	2	979,217	168	1	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	1	100	234,654
Royal Mail S.P. Co.	45	194,663	British	${\Big \}}$6	377,897	${\Big \{}$85	32	28	88,205	19	25	73,384
Pacific Steam Navigation Co.	40	183,234	British				22	42	138,754	15	36	97,793
Alfred Holt & Co.—Ocean S.S. Co.	39	234,808	British	${\Big \}}$7	340,559	${\Big \{}$57	16	41	165,143	11	44	109,000
China Mutual Steam Navigation Co.	18	105,751	British				—	—	—	—	—	—
Furness, Withy & Co.	—	—	British	8	340,537	116	—	12	40,994	—	20	44,528
Elder, Dempster & Co.[4]	—	—	British	9	331,533	108	3	120	382,560	25	48	55,256
Union-Castle Co.[5]	—	—	British	10	295,360	41	8	41	222,613	—	—	—
Messageries Maritimes	—	—	French	11	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	106,648
Nav. Gen. Italiana[6]	—	—	Italian	15	274,952	106	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-atlantique	—	—	French	17	245,353	62	13	59	183,343	5	66	174,600
Harrison 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
I Cunard Line	—	—	British	20	209,231	19	25	26	126,332	16	22	85,104
Clan Line	—	—	British	21	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
Wilson Line	—	—	British	24	190,278	87	12	89	189,818	7	73	132,889
Kosmos Line	—	—	German	25	177,704	36	—	29	110,251	—	15	32,963
Allan Line	—	—	British	26	160,570	28	19	36	152,367	13	31	106,346
Ropner’s	—	—	British	27	155,440	50	29	36	100,426	21	34	62,717
Maclay & Macintyre	—	—	British	28	144,500	45	24	51	126,917	30	19	26,928
Chargeurs Reunis	—	—	French	29	144,441	25	34	26	81,149	20	30	70,173
Booth Line	—	—	British	30	128,200	37	—	27	64,456	—	10	13,951
Holland-American Line. .	—	—	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	90,174	35	31	38	88,306	27	31	48,298
Volunteer Fleet	—	—	Russian	36	84,500	18	35	16	80,424	31	8	23,845
Johnston Line of Liverpool .	—	—	British	37	81,000	20	28	24	100,460	24	22	58,621
Compañia Transatlantica	—	—	Spanish	38	79,767	22	30	23	88,453	14	36	101,214

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 extended the whole width of the ship, thus giving increased light and improved ventilation, and reducing to a minimum the sensation of the vessel's 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 10 hours and

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1. This table is based on that contained in a paper on “Shipping Subsidies,” by B. W. Ginsburg, published in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society (September 1901).
2. The Leyland Line was formerly the Leyland Line and West India & Pacific Steam Navigation Company.
3. In 1891 the old American Line had 3 steamers of 10,166 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.
4. Messrs Elder, Dempster & Co. now control the fleets of the African, British & African, and Imperial Direct Steamship companies.
5. Formerly the Union Line and the Castle Line. In 1891 the Union Line had 23 steamers of 55,576 tons, and the Castle Line 1 steamers of 57,934 tons.
6. Formerly known as the FIorio-Rubattino Line.