These steamships are all supplied with triple expansion engines, and
are capable of maintaining a speed of from 8 to 11 knots per hour on
the small coal consumption of about 25 tons for each 24 hours. The
Bayonne is the fastest; she made the trip from England to New York in
11 days, averaging 11.10 knots per hour. They average from 2,000 to
3,000 tons gross, and carry from 3,000 to 4,000 tons of cargo. Aft
of the engine-room is the cabin and officers’ quarters, which are
comfortable in every particular. The crew is located in the forecastle,
as is usual on all vessels. The crew number about 30, all told.
Another type of steamship, which is an outcome of the tank idea, is the
molasses ship. These have been used with success in carrying molasses
in bulk between Havana and New York. The Circassian Prince is a notable
instance of this type. The traffic in molasses is not very great at
present, but when the trade increases tank steamships will, no doubt,
be largely employed.
The loading of an ocean steamship is a sight well worth a visit to one
of the city piers to witness. With the exception of the North German
Lloyd, the Hamburg-American, the Netherlands, and the Thingvalla lines,
whose piers are in Hoboken, and the Red Star Line, and some of the
Inman vessels, in Jersey City, the great transatlantic steamships dock
along the North River, from Canal Street up to Twenty-fourth Street.
The length of the steamships, some of them being nearly 600 feet,
make very long piers necessary. These piers on a sailing day present
an animated scene. A long line of trucks, loaded with all sorts of
merchandise, moves slowly down the pier, each truck delivering its
packages opposite the particular hatchway down which they are to be
lowered. The big ships load at four different hatchways at the same
time. Steam-hoisting apparatus at each, and separate gangs of men,
all, however, under the direction of one stevedore, load and stow the
immense cargo in an incredibly short space of time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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