the _Ville de Havre_, in November, 1873, from collision with an iron sailing ship, the _Lochearn_, which involved the loss of 226 lives, eighty-seven being rescued. Besides the American business, which is very large, the company has extensive trade connections with the Mediterranean and the West Indies. THE NETHERLANDS LINE, officially styled the “Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvart Maatschappig,” of Rotterdam, has a fleet of thirteen steamers, most of them from the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, Belfast, and ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 tons each. They are very fine boats of their class, and have attracted a fair share of the passenger traffic between New York and Amsterdam and Rotterdam, sailing alternately for these ports every week, calling at Boulogne-sur-mere. They carry the United States mails, which do not seem to be very weighty, as the _pay_ only amounted to $165.03 in 1896. The latest addition to the fleet is the _Spaarndam_, formerly of the White Star Line (the _Arabic_), a fifteen-knot ship, of 4,368 tons and 3,000 horse-power. The company, which commenced this business in 1872, has a capital of $1,680,000. THE THINGVALLA LINE, dating from 1879, is a Danish enterprise, with a regular service between Copenhagen and New York, consisting of five ships, the largest of which is the _Amerika_, of 3,867 tons, formerly the _Celtic_, purchased from the White Star Line in 1893. This line came into notoriety in 1889 through the foundering of one of their vessels, the _Danmark_, in mid-ocean. She had on board 735 souls. On April 5th she was sighted by the British steamship _Missouri_, Captain Hamilton Murrell. On April 6th, though a heavy sea was running, by an act of heroism almost unparalleled, Captain Murrell threw some of his cargo overboard, and in four and a half hours saved every soul by means of boats and lines, landing some at St. Michael’s, Azores, and the rest at Philadelphia. The gallant rescue was suitably acknowledged by public testimonials from Britain and America to the captain, his officers and crew.[26] FOOTNOTES: [17] The _St. Paul_, _St. Louis_, _Paris_ and _New York_ have all been taken over by the United States Government and fitted up as armed cruisers, the names of the last two being changed to _Harvard_ and _Yale_. [18] Fry’s “History,” p. 193. [19] The _Germanic_ has since been overhauled and has now a set of triple expansion engines, making her a seventeen-knot boat. In July, 1895, she crossed from Queenstown to New York in 6 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes. [20] Fry’s “History,” p. 180.