I.

---+-------------------------+------+-------+------
| | Days.| Hours.| Mins.
| +------+-------+------
1 | Etruria. | 6 | 5 | 31
2 | Umbria (sister ship). | slightly longer.
3 | Oregon. | 6 | 10 | 35
4 | America. | 6 | 13 | 44
5 | City of Rome. | 6 | 18 | 0
6 | Alaska. | 6 | 18 | 37
7 | Servia. | 6 | 23 | 55
8 | Aurania. | 7 | 1 | 1
---+-------------------------+------+-------+------

It will thus be seen that from the 15 days' passage or thereabout, of
the earliest Atlantic steamers, we had got down in the days of the
Scotia to about 9 days; in the Britannic to 81/4 days, and, at the
present time, we have got to 61/4 days, with seven ships afloat that
have done the passage under seven days, and capable of making their
average passages range between 61/2 and 71/4 days.

Ranged in order of gross tonnage, these eight vessels stand as
follows:

TABLE II.

1. City of Rome. 8,144
2. Oregon. 7,375
3. Aurania. 7,269
4. Servia. 7,212
5. Umbria. 7,129
6. Etruria. 7,100
7. Alaska. 6,586
8. America. 5,528

Here the America shows to advantage, for while being eighth in size
she is fourth in point of speed, and from what the author can learn,
although he had no authenticated details on the subject, he believed
she is economical in coal consumption. He might perhaps be permitted
to say that one of the most difficult subjects in connection with the
propulsion of ships on which to get absolutely accurate data is that
of coal consumption. The records of six to eight hours' trials for the
purpose of ascertaining the coal consumption are absolutely worthless,
as all shipbuilders and engineers know, and so far as English ships
are concerned they are never attempted. Foreign owners frequently
stipulate for such trials in their contracts with English
shipbuilders, and get wonderfully economical results on paper, but the
fact that the trials only extend over a few hours renders them
valueless, however carefully the coal may be weighed during that
period. An authentic record of the absolute quantity of coal consumed,
say by each of the eight fastest Atlantic liners, together with their
average indicated