It would be too tedious to mention in detail the other ships built for the White Star line. The Adriatic and Celtic were made 17 feet 6 inches longer than the Oceanic, and a little sharper, being 437 feet 6 inches keel, 41 feet beam, and 32 feet hold. The success of the Company had been so great under the able management of Ismay, Imrie and Co., and they had secured so large a share of the passengers and cargo, as well as of the mails passing between Liverpool and New York, that it was found necessary to build two still larger and faster vessels--the Britannic and Germanic: these were 455 feet in length; 45 feet in beam; and of 5000 indicated horse-power. The Britannic was in the first instance constructed with the propeller fitted to work below the line of keel when in deep water, by which means the "racing" of the engines was avoided. When approaching shallow water, the propeller was raised by steam-power to the ordinary position without any necessity for stopping the engines during the operation. Although there was an increase of speed by this means through the uniform revolutions of the machinery in the heaviest sea, yet there was an objectionable amount of vibration at certain parts of the vessel, so that we found it necessary to return to the ordinary fixed propeller, working in the line of direction of the vessel. Comfort at sea is of even more importance than speed; and although we had succeeded in four small steamers working on the new principle, it was found better to continue in the larger ships to resort to the established modes of propulsion. It may happen that at some future period the new method may yet be adopted with complete success. Meanwhile competition went on with other companies. Monopoly cannot exist between England and America. Our plans were followed; and sharper boats and heavier power became the rule of the day. But increase of horse-power of engines means increase of heating surface and largely increased boilers, when we reach the vanishing point of profit, after which there is nothing left but speed and expense. It may be possible to fill a ship with boilers, and to save a few hours in the passage from Liverpool to New York by a tremendous expenditure of coal; but whether that will answer the purpose of any body of shareholders must be left for the future to determine. "Brute force" may be still further employed. It is quite possible that recent "large strides" towards a more speedy transit across the Atlantic may have been made "in the dark."