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try and the new into closer relationship. The Britannia steamed into Boston's historical harbour on Saturday evening, the 19th July 1840, and the inhabitants of this most English of American cities assembled in immense crowds along the wharves to welcome this new harbinger of peace and prosperity.

Salvoes of artillery

were fired, lamps were hung out in all directions, flags and banners waved from masts, roofs, and windows, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed. Never since the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers had the shores of America experienced so important an advent. Before Mr. Cunard had been twenty-four hours in Boston he had been made the recipient of no fewer than eighteen hundred invitations to dinner; and on the 22d of July, three days after the Britannia's arrival, a grand public banquet was given, presided over by Mr. Josiah Quincey junior, to celebrate the establishment of steam postal communication between America and Great Britain.

The Britannia was a wooden vessel, 207 feet in length, 34 feet 2 inches in breadth, and 22 feet 4 inches in depth; she carried 225 tons of cargo, and could accommodate 90 first-class passengers. The speed at which she made the voyage out and home averaged eight and a half knots an hour. It was on this very vessel that Charles Dickens made his first voyage to America, as recorded in his American Notes, in January 1842. The scene on the Mersey has been described by him in his happiest vein. Every gallant ship was riding slowly up and down,' he wrote, 'and every little boat was splashing noisily in the water; and knots of people stood upon the wharf, gazing with a kind of "dread delight" on the far-famed fast American steamer;

and one party of men were "taking in the milk," or, in other words, getting the cow on board; and another were filling the icehouses to the very throat with fresh provisions-with butcher's meat and garden-stuff, pale sucking-pigs, calves' heads in scores, beef, veal, and pork, and poultry out of all proportion; out of all proportion; and others were coiling ropes and busy with oakum yarns; and others were lowering heavy packages into the hold; and the purser's head was barely visible as it loomed in a state of exquisite perplexity from the midst of a vast pile of passengers' luggage; and there seemed to be nothing going on anywhere, or uppermost in the mind of anybody, but preparations for this mighty voyage. Three years later another distinguished personage made the trip across the Atlantic in the Britannia, Sir Charles Lyell, and he too put upon record his impressions of the voyage, in a work which he published during the same year, 1845.

It was not long after the launching of the Britannia that the other three vessels included in the first contract with Mr. Robert Napier -the Acadia, the Caledonia, and the Columbia-were despatched from the shipyards of the Clyde to take their places on the Atlantic line. They were all of about the same size and tonnage, and were the finest paddle-steamers afloat. In comparison, however, with the vessels which were afterwards built, and notably with the steamers built during the last few years for the Cunard line, these first four packets were very diminutive. The Gallia has a gross tonnage of 4809, an effective horse-power of 5300, and can accommodate 300 cabin and 1200 steerage passengers; and the company have a still larger vessel building at the present time-the

Servia-which will have a gross
tonnage of 7800 and an effective
horse-power of 10,000.

The success of the Cunard ven-
ture induced other companies to
make extraordinary exertions to
outstrip this fleet of steamers, the
Great Western Company being,
perhaps, the most energetic in
carrying on the competition. This
company sought, by building larger
ships than those owned by Messrs.
Cunard, Burns, & MacIver, to
divert the bulk of the Atlantic
steamer traffic to themselves; but
a series of disasters attended their
early undertakings, and greatly
retarded the success of their op-
position. The ill-fated President
was launched by them in Decem-
ber 1839, and, after a few voyages
to the United States, was lost on
her return voyage to England in
April 1841, never having been
heard of after leaving America. The
Great Western Company then set
about building their immense iron
steamer, the Great Britain, which
in magnitude and splendour far
surpassed any vessel that had up
to that time been seen.

She was

built at Bristol, and measured 321 feet long and 51 feet broad, and was of 2984 tons burden. The public papers justly hailed her as a maritime wonder; the Queen and the Prince Consort visited her as she lay in the Thames; and almost as much interest was evinced in her as was subsequently displayed in regard to that unwieldy giant of the deep, the Great Eastern. The Great Britain was intended for the Atlantic service, and set forth for her first voyage to the United States in December 1843; but, unfortunately, she was stranded in Dundrum Bay, off the coast of Ireland, and was not able to be floated until the following spring, when she was told off for the Australian service, and until a comparatively recent period made

regular trips between England and the Antipodes, and was the favourite ship of the line. The Great Western Company were ultimately of the Atlantic service to the compelled to yield the supremacy not hinder others from entering Cunard Company; but this did into competition. The British Company went so far as to cause and American Steam Navigation a parliamentary inquiry to be instituted on the subject of the conEngland and the United States; veyance of the mails between the further ratification of the mail but the only result was to obtain contract between the Government and Messrs. Cunard, Burns, & MacIver. After a year's experience, the amount of the annual subsidy to this firm was raised from 60,000l. to 80,000l.

The Cunard fleet was not long limited to the four steamers by which the Atlantic mail service had been inaugurated; not only did the demands in respect to the mails increase, but the passenger and cargo traffic grew at a rate that exceeded all expectation. bria, each of 1423 tons burden, The steamers Hibernia and Camwere added, and these, together with the four vessels by which the service was originally comrequirements until the expiration menced, sufficed for the company's when, the Government having of the first term of seven years, come to the determination to have a weekly instead of a fortnightly mail service, the Cunard Company found it necessary to double the number of their steamers. Mr. Robert Napier's skill was called into requisition on behalf of the company, and the result was that, at the beginning of 1848, four additional steamersthe America, the Canada, the Niagara, and the Europa-were set afloat on the Cunard Atlantic

Again

service. These vessels ranged from 1800 to 1900 tons burden, and from 600 to 700 horse-power, a marked increase in size and capacity being again effected. In 1850 two still larger steamers were added, the Asia and the Africa, each of 2227 tons burden and 750

horse-power. Then came the building of the Arabia, a vessel of 2400 tons burden and 285 feet long. This was the turning-point in the ship-building experience of Messrs. Cunard, Burns, & MacIver. The Arabia was a splendid ship, and was largely used in the transport of troops and war material during the Crimean war ; but it was considered that she was quite as large as it was desirable to make a wooden vessel; and in 1852 it was determined to substitute iron for wood, and from that time all the additions to the Cunard fleet consisted of iron steamers. Sir William Fairbairn at Manchester and at Millwall, Messrs. Laird at Birkenhead, and the great shipbuilders on the Clyde had by this time succeeded in establishing the principle of iron ships; and the Cunard Company, always anxious to keep abreast with the progress of maritime invention, saw the force of superseding their wooden fleet by an iron one, with all the speed that circumstances would permit. At the beginning of 1852 they had a fleet of thirteen wooden vessels, propelled by paddle-wheels, of a capacity ranging from 1139 to 2400 tons burden; but in that year two iron screw steamers, the Andes and the Alps, were built, and these being shortly afterwards engaged, like the Arabia, in the conveyance of troops to the Crimea, it became incumbent upon this prosperous and enterprising company to proceed with their shipbuilding operations without delay. Accordingly two more iron screws,

the Jura and the Etna, were built in 1854 and 1855, and were immediately imported into the Atlantic service. The success of these iron steamers was undoubted; and in course of time it was found advisable to abandon paddles as the propelling power, and rely simply on the screw. The paddle was not relinquished, however, before it had been experimented upon on a more extensive scale. With the view of fully testing the capacity of the paddle, the Persia, iron paddle-steamer, was built in 1856 by the Cunard Company. She was of 3300 tons burden and 900 horse-power; and although she was a splendid vessel, and did the work that was required of her, the conclusion was ultimately arrived at that the screw was the most effective power at command for ocean steamers; and after 1862, when the Scotia was launched, nc further experiment was made on the Cunard service in paddle steamers.

The business of the Cunard Company increased year by year, in spite of the keen rivalry to which they were naturally subjected-a rivalry which, while it did not impair the success of the Cunard undertaking, was, it must be admitted, to the profit and advantage of the public. Messrs. D. & C. MacIver managed the concern in Liverpool; Messrs. G. & J. Burns directed it in Glasgow; Messrs. Cunard & Co. in Halifax, Nova Scotia ; and Messrs. Edward Cunard & Co. in New York. All these gentlemen brought to bear upon the enterprise a rare amount of skill and energy; and from the first they worked together in perfect accord and sympathy, and were thus enabled to act with as much directness of aim and purpose as if the control of their vast affairs had been in the hands of one individual. Mr. David Mae

niary assistance to schemes of a benevolent or philanthropic nature. The name of Mr. John Burns is a "tower of strength" where there is a good cause to be promoted. He rendered valuable service in assisting to establish the Cumberland training-shipan institution which, in its proved results, has done more than all the rest of our industrial institutions put together to reform our street Arabs, and to inspire them with higher aims and better motives in life. During the three years (previous to 1872) that have elapsed since the Cumberland was brought to the Gareloch, Mr. Burns has acted as its president; and in the midst of his own multitudinous and incessant business duties he has not failed to bestow upon its affairs great attention. As an honorary president of the Foundry Boys' Religious Society, which embraces within its pale upwards of 14,000 boys and girls in the humblest ranks of life, he has likewise assisted very materially to promote the welfare of the city. For their own servants the Messrs. Burns have displayed an exemplary solicitude. They have provided a chapel in Glasgow for the sailors employed in their coasting trade; and they defray the expenses connected with the support of a chaplain, who visits the men on board ship, sailing with each vessel in turn, and preaching in the chapel on Sundays. Through the chaplain, who visits the wives and families of the sailors when they are away on duty, the Messrs. Burns are made aware of the circumstances and condition of the sailors in their employment, and they spare no trouble to maintain an efficient and sober body of men in a happy and comfortable position.'

Iver only lived a few years after the formation of the company; but his brother, Mr. Charles MacIver, continued to manage the Liverpool house for very many years. Mr. Charles MacIver's eldest son, Mr. David MacIver, was for eleven years a partner in the company, but retired in 1874; in the same year he was elected M.P. for Birkenhead, which constituency he has since continued to represent. His brothers, Mr. Charles MacIver and Mr. Henry MacIver, also became members of the company, and both of them are on the present board of directors. Messrs. George Burns and James Burns for many years devoted themselves vigorously to the business of the partnership, and realised handsome fortunes thereby. Mr. George Burns, after his retirement, became the purchaser of the Wemyss Bay property, near Glasgow, where he settled down to an honourable old age, esteemed and respected by his fellow-townsmen for the many good and noble works with which his name has been associated. His two sons, Mr. John Burns, who is the owner of Castle Wemyss, and Mr. James Cleland Burns, who lives at Glenlee, near Hamilton, succeeded to the Glasgow business, and the former is now the Chairman of the Cunard Company, while the latter is one of the directors. Mr. J. S. Jeans, in his Western Worthies, makes the following allusion to the Burns family: In their private capacities, each and all of the family have been distinguished for their ready and liberal support of measures calculated to improve the moral, social, and religious condition of their fellow-townsmen, and an appeal for support to a deserving object has never been made to them in vain. Mr. George Burns has always been ready to afford personal service and pecu

In 1859, in recognition of the great services which he had ren

dered to this country by the establishment of the Cunard line of mail-steamers, her Majesty, upon the recommendation of Lord Palmerston, conferred a baronetcy upon Mr. Samuel Cunard. He was succeeded on his death, both in his business and his title, by his son Edward, who continued his connection with the company up to the time of his decease in 1869, when the title devolved upon the present baronet, Sir Bache Edward Cunard. Sir Bache was born in 1851, and has not been connected with the management of the undertaking originated by his distinguished grandfather. Besides having a town residence, Sir Bache Edward Cunard is the happy possessor of a seat at Staten Island, New York, and another at Nevill Holt, Market Harborough. The only member of the Cunard family now associated with the Cunard steamship enterprise is Mr. William Cunard, the second son of Sir Samuel Cunard, and uncle of the present baronet.

In the year 1852 the Cunard Company established steam communication between Liverpool and the ports of the Mediterranean. Their steamers have also performed the mail service between Glasgow, Greenock, and Belfast; they have had lines of steamers plying between Liverpool and Glasgow, and Glasgow and Londonderry; and they likewise have had steamers carrying the mails between Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, and St. Thomas. From the year 1840 down to the present time the Cunard Company have built no fewer than 122 steamers, and their entire fleet now comprises thirty steamships, having an aggregate tonnage of 69,604 tons and 44,445 effective horse-power. In one year (1874), as recorded in the Times, from information supplied by Messrs. MacIver, 'the

twenty-two ocean vessels of the Atlantic fleet made one hundred and twenty-three trips from Liverpool to New York and Boston, and the same number in the opposite direction. The outward-bound steamers carried 9198 cabin-passengers and 26,570 steerage-passengers (mostly emigrants) from England to America. The homeward - bound steamers brought 7933 cabin-passengers and 15,158 steerage-passengers from America to England. In a single year, therefore, the Company conveyed nearly 59,000 persons across the Atlantic; a number greater than the entire population of such a town as Exeter, Derby, Cheltenham, or Halifax, and nearly equal to that of the island of Jersey. If the officers and crew were counted, the total would be over 100,000.'

With a history extending over forty busy years, with a fleet that has comprised from the beginning upwards of one hundred and twenty large steamers, with a constant floating population of many thousands to guard and protect, and with all the dangers of wind and wave to battle against, it might naturally be supposed that the Cunard Company would have a long list of disastrous incidents, shipwrecks, and losses to recount; but it is the boast of the proprietors of the Cunard line that, from 1840 to the present time, not one of their passengers has lost his life by accident on any of the thousands of voyages that have been made across the Atlantic in their ships. They have not lost a single vessel, and the few accidents which have happened to the machinery or otherwise have only resulted in temporary delays, without endangering the safety of the passengers. Many things have combined to secure to the Cunard ships this astonishing immunity

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