able information as to the actual state of the compound
engine and boiler up to the date of our inquiry. To ascertain the
facts by experience, we dispatched Mr. Alexander Wilson, younger
brother of the manager who had been formerly a pupil of Messrs. Macnab
and Co., of Greenock, and was thoroughly able for the work--to make a
number of voyages in steam vessels fitted with the best examples of
compound engines.

The result of this careful inquiry was the design of the machinery and
boilers of the Oceanic and five sister-ships. They were constructed on
the vertical overhead "tandem" type, with five-feet stroke (at that
time thought excessive), oval single-ended transverse boilers, with a
working pressure of sixty pounds. We contracted with Messrs. Maudslay,
Sons, and Field, of London, for three of these sets, and with Messrs.
George Forrester and Co., of Liverpool, for the other three; and as we
found we could build the six vessels in the same time as the machinery
was being constructed; and, as all this machinery had to be conveyed to
Belfast to be there fitted on board, whilst the vessels were being
otherwise finished, we built a little screw-steamer, the Camel, of
extra strength, with very big hatchways, to receive these large masses
of iron; and this, in course of time, was found to work with great
advantage; until eventually we constructed our own machinery.

We were most fortunate in the type of engine we had fixed upon, for it
proved both economical and serviceable in all ways; and, with but
slight modifications, we repeated it in the many subsequent vessels
which we built for the White Star Company. Another feature of novelty
in these vessels consisted in placing the first-class accommodation
amidships, with the third-class aft and forward. In all previous ocean
steamers, the cabin passengers had been berthed near the stern, where
the heaving motion of the vessel was far greater than in the centre,
and where that most disagreeable vibration inseparable from proximity
to the propeller was ever present. The unappetising smells from the
galley were also avoided. And last, but not least, a commodious
smoking-saloon was fitted up amidships, contrasting most favourably
with the scanty accommodation provided in other vessels. The saloon,
too, presented the novelty of extending the full width of the vessel,
and was lighted from each side. Electric bells were for the first time
fitted on board ship. The saloon and