It may be interesting to note in familiar terms what these enormous traveling palaces comprehend in equipment. For the safety and comfort of passengers, the great length reduces the pitching, bilge keels prevent rolling, and the Schlick system of cranks neutralizes vibration in the engine. Strong bulkheads, and double bottoms with air-tight compartments, impart buoyancy in case of collision. Boilers are placed in separate water-tight compartments, so that damage to one does not disable the others. Powerful pumps are arranged to discharge inflowing water, and the best of life boats are provided. Spacious dining rooms, promenade decks, drawing rooms, pianos, library, smoking room, state rooms, cabins for children, toilets, baths, medicine stores, a printing office, and electric lights everywhere, furnish every want and satisfy every luxurious taste. The cuisine includes a refrigerating plant, the finest ranges, and provisions galore. It may be interesting to the housewife to see the market list of a modern transatlantic steamer. A specimen is partially represented in the following: 25,450 pounds of fresh meat, 3,250 pounds of fish, 6,370 pounds of game and poultry, 12,715 pounds of bread, 43 barrels of flour, 3,938 pounds of butter, 1,307 pounds of coffee, 2,790 pounds of sugar, 102 pounds of tea, 7,220 pounds of fresh fruit; 1,230 gallons of milk, 26,106 eggs, 29,180 oranges and lemons, 7,033 bottles of mineral water, 1,800 bottles of beer, 2,688 gallons of beer in casks, 1,240 bottles of wine, 630 bottles of champagne, 1,600 heads of lettuce, 800 jars of preserved fruits, and other things in proportion. In the matter of size the “Oceanic” surpasses all previous efforts in ship building, but ocean steamers do not reach the highest speed attainable. The little “Turbinia,” a 40 ton craft equipped with a compound rotary steam turbine of the Parsons type, has attained a speed of 32¾ knots an hour. An even greater speed has recently been attained by the larger boat, “Hai Lung,” constructed in England for the Chinese Government, which vessel was equipped with reciprocating engines, and is credited with having made a run of 18½ knots at an average speed of 35 knots an hour. The highest speed ever attained, however, is by the British torpedo boat “Viper,” which is 210 feet long, and, like the “Turbinia,” is equipped with the Parsons steam turbines. In a recent trial the “Viper” covered a measured mile at the rate of 37.1 knots, or about 43 miles an hour.