Shipowners themselves, notwithstanding some examples to the contrary, are, and have always been, anxious and painstaking seekers after thoroughness; not merely mercenary grubs, sacrificing considerations of safety to features promising exemption from tonnage or other registration dues, and perhaps the extinction of a rival. Some of the best British vessels, notably those of the Cunard Line, are unclassed at the registries, but have been built under private survey. The well known boast of the Cunard Company that not a single life has been lost by mishap at sea during their long and extensive service, is eloquent testimony to the care exercised in the construction and management of ships. It is the practice of some companies to effect classification in two, sometimes three, separate registries, and the number of inspectors employed to superintend the work of construction, over and above the surveyors of the registries and the overseers of the firms, is in some instances astonishing. The crowning case of all is that of the building firms themselves—many shipbuilders unquestionably being conscientious and thorough to a degree which simply mocks this great array of supervision. In the outfit of vessels correspondingly close attention is paid to those features, fixed or portable, which contribute to the safety of the ship and the welfare of passengers. The universal adoption of steam winches for working cargo enables the pumps communicating with the holds to be wrought by steam, through levers attached to the barrel ends of the winches. Special donkey-engine pumps, in addition, are now employed in all the higher class vessels, and automatic means of registering the quantity of water in the holds are beginning to be introduced. Provision against outbreaks of fire, no less than against foundering, has been receiving greater attention than formerly. Many of the first-class mail steamships are fitted with fire-pipes leading to every compartment, and which convey at the turning of a valve a charge of steam sufficient to extinguish the most serious outbreak. Lowering and detaching gear for life-boats is now a necessary part of every first-class steamer’s equipment. Over a dozen different apparatuses for effecting this very important purpose are at present in the market, some of which are admirably adapted for safe and speedy working, even in the hurry and panic which too often accompanies cases of shipwreck.