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Colonist, Volume XVIII, Issue 2017, 8 January 1876, Page 2

The New York area inside

the comply which can boast of posseting the fastest S always follow when the Atlantic » the racecourse J the dangers of these trials of speed fire very Sous There is one thing which observers of the SJlmnts to make these quick ocean passages must Remarked, and that is the frequency With winch the noteworthy results are attained by a new .teamer, and the comparative rarity of the same vessel mamSning the same rate of speed in future voyages. The nrobability is that the great strain thrown upon the En-nry to accomplish a remarkable feat renders E machinery itself incapable of bearing a likestrau again, so that no permanent advantage « obtained. It i rue that accidentß are unfrequent; still, if such catastrophes as the shipwrecks of the Atlantic and fh« Schiller are in any degree due to a determination o mk rapid passages at all hazards, the system Self .tends condemned. It is not uncommon, we ben-eve, for Atlantic steamers to be driven through dense fogs for days together at a speed of 12 or 14 knota an hour. Indeed, these rapid passages to which we have referred necessarily imply a disregard of everything save speed. If the risk, ran could be t cited alonf with the results, few would admire the announcement. As the competition is daily becoming more severo, as the ordinary dangers from fog, iceberg and etorm do not diminwh, and as the increase of Traffic adds the further one of crowds of vessels where before was an almost deserted highway it would be well if less thought were given to the quickness of tbepawages across the Atlantic, and greater oains taken to ensure their safety.