time of the forty-two
westward trips in the early days of the line was 11 days 10 hours and 26
minutes, against the average of the then so called fastest line of
steamers, 12 days 19 hours and 26 minutes. In February, 1852, the Arctic
made the passage from New York to Liverpool in 9 days and 17 hours.

The Arctic was afterward run into by a French vessel at sea and only a
few of her passengers were saved. The Pacific was never heard from after
sailing from Liverpool, and all the persons on board were lost. The
Atlantic, after rotting and rusting at her wharf, was deprived of her
machinery and converted into a sailing vessel, and was broken up in New
York last year. The Adriatic, the "queen of the fleet," made less than a
half dozen voyages, was sold to the Galway Company, and is now used in
the Western Islands as a coal hulk by an English company.

The Baltic was in the government service during the war as a supply
vessel, and was afterward sold at auction; her machinery was removed and
sold as old iron. She was then converted into a sailing ship, and of
late years has been used as a grain carrying vessel between San
Francisco and Great Britain. On a recent voyage to Boston she was
strained to such an extent as to be made unseaworthy, and for that
reason is to be broken up.

One cannot but remark in this connection how small has been the advance
in steamship building during the quarter century since the Collins line
was in its glory.

* * * * *

CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET.

[Illustration: CHINESE WOMEN'S FEET.]

An American missionary, Miss Norwood, of Swatow, recently described in a
_Times_ paragraph how the size of the foot is reduced in Chinese women.
The binding of the feet is not begun till the child has learnt to walk.
The bandages are specially manufactured, and are about two inches wide
and two yards long for the first year, five yards long for subsequent
years. The end of the strip is laid on the inside of the foot at the
instep, then carried over the toes, under the foot, and round the heel,
the toes being thus drawn toward and over the sole, while a bulge is
produced on the instep, and a deep indentation in the sole. Successive
layers of bandages are used till the strip is all used, and the end is
then sewn tightly down. The foot is so squeezed upward that, in walking,
only the ball of the great toe touches the ground. After a month the
foot is put in hot water to soak