A LEVIATHAN LINER.

NZ Truth, Issue 281, 12 November 1910, Page 8

A LEVIATHAN LINER.

Joitn Norton on the Osterley.

ONE OF THE ORIENT CO/S CRACKS.

How Passengers Are Catered For.

INTERESTING FACTS, FIGURES AND FEATURES.

Mr John Norton, the proprietor/of "Truth" is a great traveller, indeed there are not many parts of the civifised world which he has not, at sometime or other, visited. He. has marked the rapid, progress .made m ocean travelling, ' and his remarks, sjenerally, which we have had to summarise, on the up-to-date comforts and conveniences o-n Ihe R.M.S. Osterley will prove intensely, interesting. In the course of a very long article, occupying a pag-e of Sydroey "Truth/ 1 Mr Norton, writes from Perth,' under data, October 14, 1910*:— When something can .be said of Australian en ; ere,y and enterprise,, which promotes line progress and prosper^ ity of the Commonwealth it ought to be" said, and that, too, with pleasure and pride. . In no other direction has Australia's progress m trade and commerce been more marked than m the development of her mercantile marine and oversea trade. • There is no part of the British Empire with a 'Trigger mail . and passenger connection with the Old Country than Australia. There are at least a dozen different steamship lines regularly running between Australia sand ; England, by various routes, from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Fremantle, via Colombo and the Suez Canal, The Cape, Vancouver, : San Francisco, and Torres Straits and Java.' The chief, among She companies which maini&in this splendid mail and passenger service ars the Orient Royal Mail, the P. and 0., the Nord Deutsoher T loyd, the Messageries Maritimes, the Union Company, .the White Stafir Line, Holt's Blue Funnel Line, the British India Company, and the Pedeial-Houldei-S-hire Line. Then there are n OTHER LINES OF SPLENDID STEAMERS trading between Australia and Europe, which may be said to be subsidiary to the splendid fleets just cited. Within the last 25 years the development of Australia's sea passenger traffic has been little short of marvellous. Within 'the memory of ttoe majority of the 7 adult citizens of the Commonwealth,; the degree of development and r/ttio of progress during that period marked by the difference m the/ one-time popular Orient Co. liner, tfuzco, of a quarter of a century and the Orient liner Osterley ■' of to-day. In her day, and for inai/.y a long day, the old . Cuzco was regarded as the craclc craft of the Orient Company's fleet. What A "MARVEL OF MODERN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE as regards size, speed, and comfort was not the Orient liner Opbix thought to be ten years ago, when she brought out to Australia their present Majesties, King George * and Queen Mary (they then being respectively the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York) on the occasion of the inauguration of the Commonwealth ! The Ophir was chosen for that important Imperial service, because she was regarded as one of the most splendid, spacious, commodious, and luxuriant liners at that, .time procurable for that purpose. But what a. transformation has been wrought m. the oversea service between England, and Australia m the comparatively; snort space of 25 years ! Withint that period the good 'old Cuzco that; conveyed so many scores of thous-< ands of souls safely to and fro foe-j tween the Antipodes during so many* years, became an - ; • i OBSOLETE SORT OF COCK-BOAT comipared witih samp of her imtmediatej. successors like the Orient, Chimborazo, Iberia, Liberia, and G-aronne. But the progress of tbe last ten; years has exceeded that of the pren ceding 15 years, both- m rapidity and proportion. And it has to toe stated —as it can be both candidly and conscientiously—that m no other company's fleet has this progr.ess . been more steady and stable than m that of the Orient Company. That this •statement may not be sivspected of savoring of invidious distinction, the admission al):eady made •is here repeated, viz. ( that the P« and 0., the' Nord Deutsfaher, and Messsigeries, and other lines previously cited, are one and all splendid systems -ol passenger steamers. I have travelled between Australia and Europe on Message rites and Nord Deutscber Lloyd liners, a,nd frequenrfrly between Sydney and. Brisbane, and Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and (Fremantle, on the P. 'awl 0. and the Orient liners, and 1 profess to have had s"fTH-?nt persona! experience- of all these principal lines to enaJbie me to pronounce . 'A PRACTICAL EXPERT OPTNfON. Great as has been.' the progress made by other compani es, such as the P. and O. and the North German 'Lloyd, lor instance, I, nevertheless, hipld the opinion that n'/>ne of the corcipanies running m the Anglo-Australiaifc trade has made suclt substantial progress or developed so rapidly m the . direction of size aistt speed of ships, and the comfort jKnd convenience ctf passengers, of- ?A\ classes — first, second, and third— ''as the Orient Company. Take the /Ophir, which brought KINO f>EORGE AND HIS SUKTE to Aus/jralia ten years ago, at the time fjf the Commonwealth cel-ebia-itionsy and compare her for size, speeiJ comfort, and convenience, with the 7 leviathan liners of the same com-. pa*',y to-day, lik« the Orvieta, Otway, Osr terley, Otranto, and Orsora, practf cally all new, twin-screw, and sister ships of an average tonnage of '12 000 tons and 14,000 horse-power capable, at a pinch, of doing w knots and averaging 16 knots under normal conditions— not to speak such splendid, though somewhat smaller, ships of the same company, like the Ormuz, Orontes, and tne Omrah, which may, be c assed as enlarged and improved editions of the ' ° P I M hold no brief for Jhe Orient Co., v or aay other shipping concern, either

m my private capacity as «, passenger, or my public, position as A PUBLICIST AND NEWSPAPER ' PROPRIETOR. I speak simply as a passenger who has travelled on 'several of this com- • pany'sr snips, notably, the Oroya, the Ororites, and, latterly, on the Osterley. It is of gny 'personal experiences { aaid observations "%s a passenger from Sydney to Fremantle, on the • lastnamed steamer, that I propose to speak, and I shall;? do so without fear or favor, or the;, promptings of any promise or hope" of pay or reward, either m the shape of free passage ,money or "fat" advertisements— de-. vioUs devices so often: resorted to by equivocal enterprise to secure cheap press puffs for their crooked, and olten CORRUPT, COMMERCIAi; CONCERNS. I am merely concerned to chronicle what I have seen and heard aooard the 1 Osterley dtrnii}g a ten days' Uip from Sydney to Fremantle. These ten; days included a two days' stay atMelbourne, and the best part of four days occupied m traverswig. the Great Australian Bight. Daring the run across the B%ht, strong head winds and high sens were encountered until rouiidi ng ' the Leeuwin light late on the night ybefore our arrival at Fremantle, the \port of Perth. I am prompted the more readily to take this course of '•'writing up" the Osterley because quite recently there was published m Sydney "Truth. 0 ' a letter, which ,1, fiord, 1 to be false m substance and SPITEFUL- IN SPIRIT. The writer of the letter signed himself "H. W. Knigfot.". He complained of alleged want »f cabin and deck space and fresh ejax ; of alleged defective hospital actpommodatipn. This graphic writer deleted m harrowing terms 700 passe ft^ers cooped up like so many fowls, or cattle iii trucks, or, as he puts &,- 'lammed m together like sardines^' Then he writes about "300 souls ,cr*xmmed m a gloryhole down to the water's edge," and "12 girls scfueezect fox a place with all their belongings, aiid no fresh air." He wants to T6jciQW! why a woman who faints is nofc tafeen to the hospital, a place which, according to his description, woufld ' NOT BE FftT FOR. A PIG, let alone a humjan being. I may say at once that the hospital aboard the Osttrley is oiiet. ;of tlie best lighted and fitted, and., most cool, clean, comfortable and cjommodious' I have seen afloat. But,, even so, it 'is no place for a person 'who has merely fainted. Attached ?*o. this modern, well appoicted hospital is an isolation ward for infectious cases. The, doctor aboard. i}he. Osterley is a physician and sui?geon holding the highest diplomas, and ,of first-rate status ; and he is most constant and counteous.in Ms atl>fcntion.s to those passengears requirinK his skilled services: It transpires tfea* 1 the writer of the letter to "TrutirA" is a NEWLY-MARtfilVtD SEPTUAGENARIAN .. G2SNTLEM AN , wiio, if his loohjs do not belie his real age, is .neairer eighty than seventy. The old gentleman went to England m the Ostetley, and liked -her and everybody connected, with her. He is. said .to have gone so far m his , efllogy as to write a complimentary letter tb an English papier concerning the ship( and the treatment -of her .passengers on the run home. Furthermore, .he emphasised the seemin/g sincerity of his satisfaction totf returning to Australia m tihe same »ship, the Osterley. Now, what suddeii change had come over the internal arrangements and economy of the Outerley m so. 1 short a space or tsneas to charige this old chip's profiuje praises of the' ship into bitter complaints ? Nothing whatever. . No change has taken place m the stop. Ail the change seems to have been m Mr Kinipjht himself. This tyierimonibus quidnunc, between 'his arrival m England by the Osterley and his return to Australia per the same ship, has gone and got married to a young woman, yowug enough to be Ms greatgrandchild. iSes, this estimable old man hafl "BEEN AND GONE AND DONE IT"; f had taken . the matrimonial leap m the dark, and mated December with May. On the voyage out the young wife, who seemed to be a bad sailor, was sick and ailing, and, naturally, caused the old gentleman some anx-. iety and trouble. To make matifcers worse, a mumher of merry, matrons and maids among his fellow third--class passengers used to annoy " and. worry the belated Benedick 'by rude and ribald remarks concerning his latesjt connubial contract and its concomitant joys and sorrows. They are said to have given the old man a devil of a time, and to have made the return voyage anything but a pleasure trip for him. Consequently, the queer old chap can be pardoned for feeling a bit chipped and nipped, and for venting his chagrin m a querulous complaint to the press. At the invitation of Captain, Jenks, R.N.R. (commander ol trve Osyerley), I accompanied the "skipper" on one of his daily tours of inspection and tasting, and saw and tasted the bill of fare for dinner served m the third-class. We dined that day m the galley, off the thirdclass .'menu,' and I must say that richer pea soup, sweeter pickled leg of pork, or more succulent stewed rabmt, or better cooked vegetables, or boiled puddings and naked pastry, I have never tasted. Everthing was of the first quality, and exce'lently cooked. 'Bad cookery makes the best of v-iptuals. ba<l. But the best of victuals are made better by pood cookery- Good comestibles combined with good cookery MAKE DINING A DIVINE DELIGHT, and the mere mechanical process of mastication a gastronomic joy, culmin (ting m the' God-given gift of a aood di-estion which waits on appetite. Such is the condition of the

culinary arrangemcfnts for the thirdclass passengers aboard the Osterley. Of. course, it may te suspected and said, that I have viewed these thirdclass arrangements on tliis slrip through , first-lass spectacles andunder the chapefcmage. of her courti eous Captain. Nothing of the kind : I hold no brief for the Osterley, her or her owners, the -Orient Co. But I -do hold a brief 'for the great body of my fellow Australian citizens throughout the I States o£ the Australian ,. Commont wealth and I THE NEW /ZEALAND DOMINION, Ij-W'ho- purchase and peruse .my papers jfrn these seven great. States, to the of nearly a million every [-•week-, and who may have, m contem- , *plation the taking of a trip . to Europe, and who send my papers to their friends m the Old Country m ; thousands every month m. the year. Hundreds, perhaps, thousands of these intending voyagers to Europe may. not have the •nieoessaiy information, or the facilities for acquiring that mr : formation, concerning what may be termed the best linci to travel third--class-. It is for these I have written this article ; .it is these whom I ask to carefully peruse it ; and, if pos- , si' le, to. inspect the. Osterley, and her sister ships, whomever they may be m any of the ports of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, or Fremantle. If they can and will do this, they will find all I 'have here stated CONCERNING THIRD-CLASS " ACCOMMODATION and treatment on ithis Orient liner su-bsfrtatially' borne out m any important, and m every essential, particular. After comparing the t relative merits of the accommodation ami attendance on English and German liners, Mr Norton" says :— "ln , spite of the determined, efforts of the Germans to "cut out" British ships m the Australian passenger and freight traffic and trade, the Orient. Co. (has forged ahead so f.st and far, as to loate even the G-armians a long way behind. The Nord Deutscfcer Lloyd Company, .while -virtually acknowledging this fact, do not seem to be discouraged- Th?y appear to be as determined to try and beat the British by peaceful commercial competition m British waters, as they are to destroy, BY MEANS OF DREADNOUGHTS, British inaval supremacy. , Whether they will succeed m • achieving either of tbes-s ambitions rests with Britishers. When Germany shall succeed m Bupprassimtg Britain's supremacy m maritime commerce or naval armnients, 'then Britain's sun will have To show the earnestness with which Germany is fighting for ' the shipping supremacy m the pass or er traffic rxtA it-tijit trade m t'us. part of the Pacific, it may be stated that the North ' German .'Lloyd Company, recently 'had ore of its nvn-a^fog directors m Australia, inquiring into THE PROSPECTS OF TRADE. The result of his inquiries has been to constrain the company to issue a notice of red-iction m .ps-ss'n er rates by 20 per cent, on- current rates, which on the German boats are practic l l y the sarnie as those .prevailing at present on the, Orient and all other Austr- l ; an lir-es. . Mr Norton has frfee following tossy concerning the conimanler of the Ost&ri-cy :— • "On Capta/n Jcn r s I.miust be permitted, to offer a few personal observations. In tte best and hiehest sense •• of the term, he is a British sailor and a mian. He is but a little over 50 years of age, 36 of which have been spent at sea. As the saying is, 'HE- RAN AWAY TO SEA' when a mere stripling, and has stuck to it, and slowly, feat steadily and sur-sly, succeeded m his arduous vocation;'' Asas a toy; he served on Ameiicin ships, m vvh oh m thoso days sailors were subjected to m thoss grievous hardships and gross m justices, so graphically described by Dan* m has well-known romance of the American nserearatile marine, entitled, "Two Years Before the Mast." Re has seen service, m all. parts of •the world, and m various capacities, and m command of many ships, rising gradually step •by step from ship's apprentice to his PRESENT PROUD POSITION of Commander of the latest and next biggest Royal Mail passenger- ship trading to Australia. Tbe Osterley is the. second largest ship of the Orient Anglo-Australian -fleet of Royal, M\ail steamiers. Having given the names and the descriptions of the mammoth liners of the Orient Company's fleet, Mr Norton coaitfoiues a/nd concludes :~ There is one feature connected with Captain Jenks' command of the Osterley which calls for commendatory j comment, and it is the personal .m- j terest he ttatees tin the present and fu-, ture of his third-class passengers. People who go down to the sea m ships must expect some sort of discomforts arising from meteorological conditions and changes of temperature. After all, a ship at sea is tire creature of the elements, -and passengers with "WHISKIFIBD" OR "BEERBLOATED" LIVERS, or bad or weak stomachs, must not 'be surprised or sorry ,if ijhey are sea-sick-. On the contrary, such as those ought to thaink the dta*s that sent them to sea, seeing that a good bout of "mal de mer" is a better purge and purifier for them than a peck of pills or a bucket of salts. However, sluggish livers and slow stomachs >apart, Oaptain Jonks makes a practice of catering for the intellectual as well as the material wellbeing of the third-class passengers on the voyage out to Australia. He de Livers addresses to them m the din-ing-salaon, concerning the resources, climate, labor conditions and requirements of the several States to which these passengers may bo gomg m search of employment. These lectures are illustrated by lantern slides, thrown on to a £2 x lOtt. screen, depicting scones of Australian agricultural, mining, timber, dairying, fishing and other industries, together with beautiful pictures of tilvo coastal and inland scenery of all the States. These lectures are 'not of the GOODY-GOODY, NAMBY-PAMBY SORT, nor of the high-falutin, hi de-bound, professional philanthropist kind, m which immigration is recklessly propounded as a positive panacea fur all the industrial, social, and political ills o[ England and Australia. On fcfro contrary, the real facts are stated m blunt,, plain English, and intending settlers arc told the true state of things prevailing m the several States ; the prospects that probably awadt them ; the dilliculties to he faced, and the certainty of a competency that awaits the worker who Is

willing to go upon the lamd and remaim there, and to take his coat oS and work — especially if he is 'possessed of a small capital to enable Mm to promptly select or purchase suitable land, an-d to maintain himsell and his family until it is ma-cle productive. Captain Jenks is no advocate of the emigration of ' SOCIAL \ND INDUSTRIAL DERELICTS, nor of the pauper or loafer elements of England and other oountries, to Australia. He is strong, upon tihat point, and very insistent that Australia is the best place m the wgrld for the proper sort o/f people to emigrate to ; but one of the worst for , the wrong sont of people. There is: no doubt that these lectures, whith are eagerly welcomed a-nd listened to, are of greal) as&istanoa to the passengers m "their future | career and m the quest and choice of a calling and a home. Captain Jenlcs has a very pleasant conversational or coHqqaiial style of delivery : He speaks consecutively, coherently, logically, and with the force of conviction, which carries great weight with his interested auditors. He was prompted to undertake these lectures to third-class passengers 'by LORD AND LADY DUDLEY, who came out to Australia on. the Osterley. Lord Dudley himself delivered an address to 'his fallow pas.sengers,in '"The Third," which is said to have been of ,a very practical character and Mghly appreciated. Oaiptaiai Jenks has a whole serfes of type-wriitten lectures or. addresses ready to hand, one or more for each of the States, all based on the latest statistical and other authentic information. In the preparation of these addresses— he, himself, and none other being the author — he has been greatly assisted both by the Common-wealth.-ami sqveral State authorities, who have supplied him lilbierally wtfth the very LATEST STATISTICS, LITERATURE, AND MAPS and general information respective; tho resources : .of the States, and tho facilities they afford for the profitable ;omployment of oertain brandies of skilled and unskilled lf<bor, and tho hours of labor and rates of pay ruling m each, as well as with a larco number of lantern slides. Tlbe delivery of these addresses to his immigrant passengers is a labor of love ■In delivering them, he not only entertains and instructs his 'bearers, ib-uh discharges a patriotic duty to his' country, and confers' a favor on tC Commonwealth. In this way does this capable and competent Commander not only popularise the shin he commands, but a i ao does fo o noV to his nation and to himself as i captain and % man, i