THE CEVIC.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 296, 8 September 1908, Page 8

THE CEVIC.

-■' A HUCE CARCO STEAMER. } INTEREST.ING PARTICULARS. ' The people of Wellington will bo surprised, and interested to learn that what is said to v be the largest vessel to visit New Zealand waters and the second largest cargo steamship in the world is lying at the Glasgow Wharf preparatory to her departure tomorrow. for vAustralia and Liverpool, via southern ports. The White Star steamship Cevic, temporarily detached from tho Liver-pool-New York service, is making a single trip to Australasia because, it is believed, of a very exceptional' cargo inducement: this being the first and most probably tho last voyage to the Southern Hemisphere the ship will make. ' _ The Cevic's visit to AVellington is a uniquo circumstance, and merits special attention. The external appearance of the vessel is impressive, because of her stately and yacht--like-lines, in spite of her huge bulk. Tho sharp and finely-modelled bow . and symmetrical proportions throughout the entire length contrast in a marked degree with tho snubnosed, unwieldy Home passenger ships familiar to Now Zealantlors. The purposo of this design is to enable the craft tto battle . through the Atlantic westerly'gales with a minimum of disturbance. When a Dominion representative visited the ship yesterday tho genial and well-informed commander, Captain Starclc, offered every facility for a thorough inspection, which resulted in the following notable particulars and extraordin- . ary statistics. _ , The new submarine signal apparatus, which. practically eliminates the "dangers to ' "navigation from thick fog or. haze, is installed aboard the ship. Two microphonic instruments are fitted to the outer shell in No. 1 hold in the bow, and these communicate by wiro with a telephone receiver in the chart-room. All submerged sounds 'within a radius of twenty miles, such as tho pounding of breakers on a rock, or tho ploughing of another steamship, are recorded and distinctly heard with the receiver placed to the ear. ' Ample warniug is thus given of tho proximity of danger, and the ship rendered immune from the possibility of wreck or collision. _ 1 ~ The Cevic, it is stated, was first to miti--gate the horrors of the trans-Atlantic eattlo traffic. . Her spacious decks afford comfortable shelter to 2000 head, of cattle and 1200 sheep, and Captain l Starclc can lay claim to- . the just and proud boast that the enormous herd of' live stock in transport aboard his ship is as safely quartered as in the best building ashore. Time was when a ship would lose 25 per cent, of cattle on a single voyago, and the traffic excited the indignation'of all the countries concerned until tho vigilance of the British and American societies: for. the prevention of cruelty to animals ' intervened. ■ Tho Cevic began tho era of colossal cargoes. She carries 15,000 tons of grain in tulk, which can be loaded or discharged in a ' siiigle night by means of giant grain elevators. .This magnificent ship, moreover, marks a great advanco in the well-being of the crew. The fetid and congested fo'c'sle is relegated to a past age. Tho firemen and sailors are separately quartered in largo and commodious cabins on an upper deck, with ."ports" guaranteeing an unlimited amount of fresh air open to the sea on all sides. Standing on the captaift's bridge, the ship presents fore and aft a broad and extended expanse, of clear and uninterrupted deck, on which hundreds of passengers could dance or join in games without fear of ing. .• The average speed of the vessel is fifteon knots per hour, and on the voyago to Australia sho accomplished the remarkably 'fine run of 11,500 miles from Teneriffo to . Melbourne without a stop. This conveys an idea of tho resources of her bunkers, which on arrival had an enormous quantity of coal yet in reserve. Captain Starck, who has had command of .. large Atlantic steamships for some years, and wlio. is therefore an authority on the subject;'- gave some interesting views on the recent record performances of tho Maurc•tania and Lusitania. Ho contends that a maximum speed will never bo attained while .the. primitive hand-shovel in the stokehold • in vogue. The huge furnaces, with . their daily consumption of 1000 tons, could not by this means be fired quickly enough to obtain the highest steam pressure, and yet, Captain Starck added, " automatic • shovels are, and will bo for some time to come, impracticable aboard ocean liners." When questioned as to tlio rumoured inten- ' tion of the Cunard Company to abandon Liverpool for Southampton, the captain explained that, whereas Liverpool would always control the freight traffic, Southampton must , command the passenger trade, and there the s mail and express passenger steamers must , eventually go. Moreover, the Liverpool channel presents almost insuperable difficulties in tlie way of navigating ships of the size of the latest Cunarders. It is sub- ' stantiallv reported that Germany has abandoned the contest for the blue ribbon of the Atlantic, the Doutschland and Kaiser . Wilhclm II being hopelessly outclassed. Interest now centres in the new White Star leviathan, the keel of which is shortly to be laid, a ship 1000 ft. in length, 100 ft. in beam, 60,000 tons displacement, and fitted with both reciprocating and turbine engines. For Economic reasons tho tendency is now ali together in favour of ships of this class, combining mammoth proportions and consequent steadiness with a moderate speed and the "last word" in comfort. Captain Starck has with him tho following [_ officers: —Chief, Lieutenant S. Bolton, R.N.R.; first, Lieutenant P. R. Vaiighan, R.N.R.; second, Mr. G. 15. Iv. Oliver; third, i, Mr. G. Steele; fourth, Mr. P. C.' Finnic. These gentlemen represent the best in their profession, each being keenly alive to every dotail in naval and marine architecture and equipment in which England's safety in the last resort depends. Mr. Vaughan, it is interesting to note, belongs to the famous Vaughan family 'which has maintained in several generations an unbroken succession of distinguished scholars, theologians, and literati, of which the famous Father Vaughan, of London, is one. The Cevic will, leave Melbourne about the J. 2oth of this month, with a full cargo for Liverpool, and then resume her regular running to and from Now York,