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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5638, 11 December 1879, Page 4

Wb see by the English papers the big sip recently built in England—the Orient, by much the largest vessel now atloat—is on her way out tho Antipodes, having been advertised to leave for Australia some time in November. We say the largest ship afloat, for we have not heard anything for a good while of the Great Eastern, which is 110 doubt lyiug by somewhere in dock. Tho Great Eastern was a very great mistake—too much in excess of the requirements of her time—possibly of any time, future as well as past or present. Her burden was stated at 25,000 tons, or five times as much as the largest of the mail steamers when she was launched ; and she had twice the length and three times the horse-power of any of them. She was expected to average 20 miles an hour, and that if employed a3 a troop ship in time of war she conld make room for 10,000 men. It was impossible for so vast a vessel to find freight or messengers for any regular service, and,

in point of fact, it has not been used at j all, except on one occasion in laying the j Atlantic cable, and on another when in brief requisition by the French Government as a transport. The mistake of the Great Eastern wa3 a costly warning. But since she was put in the water, over 20 years ago, international traffic has increased, and emigration is assuming greatly enlarg&d dimensions; and so another stride forward, only in much more cautions degree, has now been ! ventured on in the size of mail and ] passenger ships by the building of the Orient, which, according to a paragraph in the Home .Vtic.?, has "the displacement weight of 9500 tons, and registered tonnage 5400, with engines ot 1000 horse-power—sßoo indicated." She can run 17 knots an hours, and can accommodate 120 saloon and 130 intermediate passengers, and 300 steerage. If used as a troop ship, the Orient, we are told, can carry 3000 soldiers and 400 horses, and she is so fitted up as to be readily turned into a powerful ship of war, not only for defence but, if the . Government should require her in case of hostilities, as a sentinel on the mercantile seaway. The practical development of the size and speed of steamships, i 3 among the astonishing things of the present day. .Between thirty and forty years ago, the East India mails and the American mail 3 were conveyed by vessels of about 800 tons burden and 230 liorse-power ; and the speed exacted by those early mail contracts was only S knots an hour. Such vessels were soon insufficient. Some CO or 70 passengers more than filled the American mail packets, even when they became somewhat larger. 'W hen the West India packets were like the Clyde, of 1300 tons burden, there were constant complaints of overcrowding, when they had on board 70 or SO passengers. Twenty years from the present time, similar complaints used to be made against the Orinoco and others of 3000 tons, because they carried sometimes over 200 passengers. The traffic rapidly grew, and larger ships had to be put on—like the Atrato, of 3000 tons, and 800 horsepower, and the Persia, of 4000 tons and 900 horse-power. On all the mail routes such ships liavo not only been enlarged, but have been multiplied, and runs made oftener, and still in many directions they are often crowded. In response to the ever growing needs of trade aud travel, science has made the ocean something like a mere ferry between the nations ; and the ferry-boats, keeping pace with the occasion,continue to grow in size, in power of speed, in number, and in the frequency of their trips Of course, when the distance of a voyage is increased 'he magnitude and driving power of the steamship must be increased also. The arrival or departure of one of those gigantic steam vessels at an English port presents an extraordinary example of the variety and necessities of modern commerce. They bring food of all sorts, and of one sort or other from every quarter of the world ; they bring the gold of Australia, New Zealand, and Californian ; the Bilver of Mexico and Peru : the silk of China ; the shawls of India ; gums, spices, and ivory from Egypt ; tobacco and preserves fro in the West Indies and Lnited States ; the cofl'ee of Brazil; the dye stuffs of Central America ; wine, oil, and fruit from France and the Mediterranean. And they take away in return, to all parts of the globe, the manufactures, not only of England but ot France, Belgian, Switzerland, and Germany — bales of textile goods, cases of manufactures in steel, iron, bronze, and porcelain—the speed and punctuality covering for such goods the additional expence of the carriage by steam. Steam, this giant of our day, is really like many other discoveries, but a recovery. Thousands of years ago a Greek tore the roof ofl'his house by experiments with tire and water. That was scarcely a useful application of the contrivance, and so it lay by for ages. In the sixteenth century Blasco do Garay did better, for he constructed, launched, and propelled with perfect success, a steam-vessel of 200 tons burden, in the harbor of Barcelona. But though the Emperor Charles the Fifth, whom history credits with being a man of brains, was there to witness the experiment, with his son Philip and his treasurer, Ravago, they most probably regarded it as a device of the foul tiend, for no account was made of De Garay or his enterprise, and it went completely out of notice until, in recent generations, the Fultons and Lymingtons took it in hand, aud soon managed to transform it into the powerful servant of human convenience and civilisation which it has at last become. What is now wanted to further its usefulness—and perhaps even to sustain it at some future day—is a leas bulky substitute for coal. That, however, science has failed so far to light upon : aud as coal is not found in all parts of the world, and is not to be had in many, and aa the consumption in those large vessels is immense, the steamship companies have been obliged to form numerous coaling stations, and collect the fuel there for the replenishment of their ships. The onlj- really extensive coalfields in Europe are those of England. The United States have by far the largest tracts yet known. New Zealand abounds in coalfields, aud seems to be best endowed in this respect of all places at this end of the world ; and it is an advantage not easy to overrate, now that this fuel has got into such request and is more in demand for steam purposes every year, while its possession is limited to particular countries. Some years ago Mr. Jevous frightened people in England by his calculations of how long the coal deposits there might be expected to last at the then rate of consumption, and the consumption has probably doubled since. Mr. Jevous may not prove a correct prophet, but the subject he had in view lias much scientific attention, and he would be a bold mail, indeed, who would consider impossible, not only a substitute for coal, but, a substitute for steam itself among the things of the future. The discoveries already in chemistry and mechanism are among the most conspicuous of modern marvels, and yet the authorities tell us that still greater maybe expected.