in Skiddy, the Special Naval Constructor appointed by the
Government to superintend the building of all the mail packets, says
in a letter to Com. Perry:

"In reply I will commence with the first-class ships, which are
the 'Atlantic,' 'Pacific,' 'Baltic,' and 'Arctic,' of Collins'
Liverpool line; the 'Franklin' and 'Humboldt' of Mortimer
Livingston's Havre line.

"These ships, although equal in strength, probably, to any
steamships afloat, are not suitable for _immediate_ war purposes,
but can be made efficient in four or six weeks, capable of
carrying the armament or battery of a first-class frigate--say
four ten-inch guns and twelve eight-inch guns. These alterations
would consist of a removal of the deck-houses, spar or upper deck,
forward and abaft the paddle-wheel boxes, fitting the after and
forward bulwarks in sections, cutting port-holes, fitting hammock
cloths or nettings, putting in extra beams and knees, and
stanchions, moving the windlass below, building magazines,
shell-rooms, officers' rooms, etc., etc. The cost of all these
alterations and fixtures would not exceed ($15,000 or $20,000)
twenty thousand dollars each ship. These ships would then be
relieved of about one hundred and fifty tons weight, or nearly
double the weight of guns and carriages, with less resistance to
water and wind, adding an increase to their already great speed."

In the case of all these steamers, that is, of the Havre and Bremen,
the Collins, the Aspinwall, and the Pacific lines, Commodore Perry
reported that they "_were capable of being easily converted into war
steamers of the first class_."

PAPER F.

OCEAN STEAM LINES OF THE WORLD.

------------------------------+--------------------------------+------+--------
LINE. |SERVICE. |Ships.|Tonnage.
------------------------------+--------------------------------+------+--------
Cunard, Paddle-wheel, |Liverpool, New-York, Boston, and| 8| 12,000
|Halifax, | |
" Screw, | " " " " | 4| 4,800
North Atlantic Steamship Co., |St. John's and Portland, | 3| 4,800
European and American S. S. |Bremen, Antwerp, Southampton, & | 4| 10,000
Co.,|New-York, | |