The rivalry between the Inman and Cunard Lines was intense, and neither company produced a steamer which the other did not seek to surpass, but the Inman Company forged ahead both in the matter of speed and passenger accommodation and became for a time the premier company on the Atlantic. The White Star Line, however, entered the “ferry” with vessels of a different type, and the competition between the three great companies became keener than ever. The first _City of Paris_ was added to the fleet in 1866. Her Cunard rival was the _Russia_. The _City of Brussels_, of 3081 tons, began her sailings in October 1869. She was the last of the Inman Line to be fitted with the long wooden deck-house which was a conspicuous feature of so many ocean-going steamers. Her average speed was between 14 and 15 knots, which was slightly increased when she was re-engined in a few years’ time. In December 1869 she made the voyage from New York to Queenstown in 7 days 20 hours 33 minutes, a record which remained unbeaten until September 1875, when the _City of Berlin_ made the westward passage in 7 days 18 hours and 2 minutes, and the homeward run in 7 days 15 hours 48 minutes. The _City of Brussels_ was the first vessel, apart from the _Great Eastern_, in the North Atlantic trade, in which McFarlane Gray’s steam-steering gear was introduced. The dangers inseparable from the North Atlantic traffic led to the adoption by the company in 1870 of the “lanes” or routes across the ocean as suggested by Lieut. Maury of the United States Navy, a more southerly course being taken during the months from January to August, to avoid the icebergs from the northern regions. The Cunard and other steam-ship companies adopted the system about the same time. The _City of Berlin_ was contracted for by Messrs. Caird and Co. in 1873, and when she was launched the Inman fleet counted up thirty-one vessels with a total of 76,766 tons. The rivalry between the builders of the great ocean-going liners, no less than between the firms owning the ships and the officers of the ships themselves, was very great, and Messrs. Caird were successful in their endeavour to turn out a vessel which should be admitted to be the finest ocean-going steamer afloat. The rapid acquisition of one first-class vessel after another placed the Inman Company in the front rank. This steamer was 489 feet long on the keel, and 513 feet over all, by 45 feet beam and 36 feet depth. Her speed was about 16 knots. She was of 5491 tons gross and 3139 tons net. She had a pair of engines of the inverted direct-acting compound type, with high- and low-pressure cylinders, and of 1000 nominal horse-power, but on her trial trip the indicated horse-power was 5200, and this was sometimes exceeded in her voyages. Her low-pressure cylinder was 120 inches in diameter, and the high-pressure was 72 inches. Her twelve boilers were heated by thirty-six furnaces, the boilers being so arranged that any number of them could be cut off.