The _Augusta Victoria_, on her first voyage, made the fastest maiden trip then on record between Southampton and New York—7 days, 2 hours, 30 minutes. She has since made the run in 6 days, 19 hours, 19 minutes. The _Normannia_ has done it in 6 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, and the _Fürst Bismarck_ in a few minutes’ less time. The _Normannia_, built in 1890, was at that time claimed to be one of the finest steamships afloat. She is 520 feet long and 59 feet wide. On her trial trip she showed a speed of twenty-one knots. In addition to her main triple expansion engines, she makes use of fifty-six auxiliary ones, and is provided with a deck boiler, by which steam is secured for her pumps in case of the main boilers being rendered useless by such an accident as befell the _Paris_ a few years ago. Her passenger accommodation is unsurpassed. The music room is described as a “marvel of elegance.” The decorations throughout are by the best European artists. [Illustration: “AUGUSTA VICTORIA.”] The line has not been exempt from marine disasters and loss of lives. The _Austria_ was burned in 1858, when only sixty-seven were saved of the whole ship’s company of 538. By the wreck of the _Schiller_ on the Scilly Islands, in 1875, 331 persons perished. In 1883 the _Cimbria_ was sunk off the coast of Holland, with the loss of 389 persons. The _Normannia_, on a recent trip, narrowly escaped collision with a huge iceberg, but thanks to her good “lookout” and her twin screws, she sheered off from the towering monarch just in time. This company has recently added to its fleet one of the largest freight-carrying steamers afloat. The _Pennsylvania_, built and engined by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, has a carrying capacity of 21,762 tons, with accommodation for 200 first-class and 1,500 steerage passengers. Her length is 585 feet; breadth, 62 feet; draught of water when fully loaded, 30 feet. She has two balanced quadruple expansion engines, with five boilers, and carries a working pressure of 210 pounds of steam. Her three-bladed twin screws, each weighing 9½ tons, make 76 revolutions per minute, developing a speed of fifteen knots an hour. The _Pennsylvania_ left New York on her first voyage with a cargo of 18,500 tons measurement, said to be the largest cargo ever taken out of New York in one ship, if not the greatest that any ship in any part of the world has ever carried. THE NORTH GERMAN LLOYD COMPANY.