in
which she had in cargo. Her voyage from Cork had occupied eighteen and a
half days. The "Great Western," which arrived at the same time, made the
run from Queenstown in fifteen days. That two steamships should lie at
anchor in New York Bay at the same time, was enough to stir the wonder and
awaken the enthusiasm of the provincial New Yorkers of that day. The
newspapers published editorials on the marvel, and the editor of _The
Courier and Enquirer_, the chief maritime authority of the time, hazarded
a prophecy in this cautious fashion:

"What may be the ultimate fate of this excitement--whether or
not the expenses of equipment and fuel will admit of the
employment of these vessels in the ordinary packet service--we
cannot pretend to form an opinion; but of the entire feasibility
of the passage of the Atlantic by steam, as far as regards
safety, comfort, and dispatch, even in the roughest and most
boisterous weather, the most skeptical must now cease to doubt."

Unfortunately for our national pride, the story of the development of the
ocean steamship industry from this small beginning to its present
prodigious proportions, is one in which we of the United States fill but a
little space. We have, it is true, furnished the rich cargoes of grain, of
cotton, and of cattle, that have made the ocean passage in one direction
profitable for shipowners. We found homes for the millions of immigrants
who crowded the "'tween decks" of steamers of every flag and impelled the
companies to build bigger and bigger craft to carry the ever increasing
throngs. And in these later days of luxury and wealth unparalleled, we
have supplied the millionaires, whose demands for quarters afloat as
gorgeous as a Fifth Avenue club have resulted in the building of floating
palaces. America has supported the transatlantic lines, but almost every
civilized people with a seacoast has outdone us in building the ships. For
a time, indeed, it seemed that we should speedily overcome the lead that
England immediately took in building steamships. Her entrance upon this
industry was, as we have seen, in 1838. The United States took it up about
ten years later. In 1847 the Ocean Steam Navigation Company was organized
in this country and secured from the Government a contract to carry the
mails between New York and Bremen. Two ships were built and regular trips
made for a year or more; but when the Government contract expired and wa