common event. In 1840 the British and Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
was organized, its chief promoter being Samuel Cunard, of Halifax, Nova
Scotia, whose name has long been attached to this famous line.

The first fleet of the Cunard Line comprised four vessels, the
Britannia, Acadia, Caledonia and Columbia. The Unicorn, sent out by this
company as a pioneer, entered Boston harbor on June 2, 1840, being the
first steamship from Europe to reach that port. Regular trips began with
the Britannia, which left Liverpool on July 4, 1840. For a number of
years later this line enjoyed a practical monopoly of the steam carrying
trade between England and the United States. Then other companies came
into the field, chief among them being the Collins Line, started in
1849, and of short duration, and the Inman Line, instituted in 1850.

We should say something here of the comforts and conveniences provided
for the passengers on these early lines. They differed strikingly
from those on the leviathans of recent travel and were little, if any,
superior to those on the packet ships, the active rivals at that date
of the steamers. Then there were none of the comfortable smoking rooms,
well-filled libraries, drawing rooms, electric lights, and other modern
improvements. The saloons and staterooms were in the extreme after part
of the vessel, but the stateroom of that day was little more than a
closet, with two berths, one above the other, and very little standing
room between these and the wall. By paying nearly double fare a
passenger might secure a room for himself, but the room given him
did not compare well even with that of small and unpretentious modern
steamers.

Other ocean steamship companies gradually arose, some of which are still
in existence. But no especial change in ship-building was introduced
until 1870, when the Oceanic Company, now known as the White Star Line,
built the Britannic and Germanic. These were the largest of its early
ships. They were 468 feet long and 35 feet wide, constituting a new type
of extreme length as compared with their width. In the first White Star
ship, the Oceanic, the improvements above mentioned were introduced, the
saloons and staterooms being brought as near as possible to the center
of the ship. All the principal lines built since that date have followed
this example, thus adding much to the comfort of the first-class
passengers.

Speed and economy in power also became features of imp