Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1908. LEVIATHANS OF THE DEEP.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 15 September 1908, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1908. LEVIATHANS OF THE DEEP.

!THE GROWTH OF STEAMERS. THE recent visit of the Cevic to Wellineton impresses on the mind the enormous growth that is occurring in the size of vessels intended for the purposes of commerce and traffic. While the vessel may be regarded as only of the cargo-carrying class, yet 6he gave us a elitupse of the development that is proceeding in shipbuilding — a development that, owing to our smallness as a oommunitv. docs not come under our notice except throngh the agency of printed records. • . rt _ • . * In the ereat centres of the world, however, the rivalry for power in warshins finds a parallel in the increasing competition to decide which company or what nation shall build the biggest steamers for the mercantile marine. According to a cablegram received Borne time ago, the new White Star liners "ill be 860 feet lons, and have a tonI *'".'- T e of be*ween "::.TCO .-.nd 50,000, ■ I with a speed of 19 <,/ 20 knots. They . will, therefore, bo 70 feet longer than ■ tho new Canard 6hips which have been I breaking all Atlantic records, and considerably exceed them in tonnage, but they will bo much slower, for the Ounardcra have mado as high as over 27 knots an hour. Evidently the White Star aim is to capture trade by vastness of carrying capacity. « » * . * . . In these days of scientific discovery it '<-- hazardous to attempt prediction of finahtv. or to declare that "the last word" has besn said. Otherwise, one mip-ht cast doubt on tho possibility of ship enlargement, going much fnrther. | Already dock and wharfage accommoda- • tion that in the past has fonnd room for the shipping of the world's trade • md traffic has had to be reconstructed m various ports to n.eet the demands ' ■-.-.dr ..-ijvn -it. by the insistent desire to "■?" on? b-Vtr-r." Th» Atlantic -st-.-im- '.' have crown so huge .that the larpest -I them can leave or enter Liverpool ' md New York only when tides are fa- ' ' rourablo— and that in ppite of tho I normous expense already incurred in ndeninc and deepening the New York '

•haiinel and in improving the facilities' >f Liverpool. And now there ie being ' huilt at Southampton — whioh has 63 I feet depth at high water, estimated toj bo the depost open dock in the world — a. new dock to accommodate four vO3--sels of 800 feet length each. Everywhere wharves have had to be lengthen- ! cd. channels deepened, and all such provision made to suit new mammoths. Now it has come to steamere nearly tffk>e as long as the American battleships, and those by no moans neoeasorilv representing finality. Hence the Question of how long this oan go bri becomes a problem extremely difficult of solution.