Cunard Line

“ Currie was appointed Cunard agent at Havre and Paris, and secured for his firm a large share of the freight traffic between France and the United States. About 1856 he returned to Liverpool, where till 1862 he held an important position at the Cunard Company’s headquarters. In 1862 he determined to strike out for himself, and leaving the Cunard established the “Castle” line of sailing-ships between Liverpool and Calcutta. Business prospered, but in 1864 Currie found it profitable to substitute London for Liverpool as the home port of his vessels, and himself settled in London. ”

“ Their passenger traffic rapidly increased. But the severe condition of the mail contract, with their quick sailings allowing only short stays in port, made it impossible for the company to secure a profitable share of the freight business without a heavy outlay for slower cargo boats. Within a few months after the start of the line the Cunard Company had cut freight rates from seven pounds ten shillings per ton to four pounds. So, while the Collins ships continued steadily to outsail the Cunarders and got the bulk of the passenger traffic, the Cunarders got most of the freighting. ”

“ The average profit of the lines of steamers is well set forth in the statement of the Cunard Company, unless, indeed, that statement is more favorable than the average facts warrant. The Hamburg-American Line dividends during the past fourteen years have averaged 53⁄4 per cent per annum, and it is likely that but one other ship-owning corporation has done as well on deep water. It is a world's traffic even for a line that plies between New York and Liverpool only. ”

“ When, in the early years of steam navigation, the English government made known its desire to substitute steam vessels for the sailing ships then employed in the mail service between England and America, Cunard heartily entered into the scheme, came to England, and accepted the government tender for carrying it out. ”

“ Before we go on to outline the marvellous growth which has been seen under the Cunard Company’s flag, whose history is practically a history of the Atlantic liner, varied here and there by the happenings which other rival companies have brought about, it is both curious and amusing to append the following letter, which has only quite recently been made public, and which will surprise many of those who here read it. It is evidence of the remarkable speed at which events may happen, and men’s minds adapt themselves to newer conditions. ”

“ In illustration of the style of management, it may be added that it has been the policy of those conducting the business to keep abreast with the advancement of the age, by constantly selling and replacing vessels as required. From first to last they have sold considerably above 100 steamers.
The business of the Cunard Company, in its various branches, has from its origin been carried on in Glasgow by Messrs. G. & J. Burns; in Liverpool, by the energetic firm of Messrs. D. & C. MacIver; in Halifax, N.S., by Messrs. S. Cunard & Co.; and in New York, by Sir Edward Cunard, Bart. Mr. ”

“ Some idea of the magnitude of the work thus carried upon the shoulders of the Cunard management may be gathered from the facts that in one year alone not less than 200 sailings were made from American and Canadian ports, and that over 10,000 tons of cargo were often carried in one steamer.
With the entrance of America into the war, the carrying problem became at once more complicated and greater in bulk; and in its solution the Cunard Company may once more justly be said to have played a major part. Let us consider first its work in the carriage of troops. ”

“ Rennie have, long since, reflected upon all the above consequences; but I, with great respect, venture, for the public good, to differ in opinion with them on the line and construction of their projected railway; and more particularly so, when they know that there is a line of country about the same distance with practicable levels, and that a railroad can be constructed from London, to Shoreham and Brighton, without a tunnel. They have given notice to Parliament, and Parliament will investigate the merits of all the above projects. ”

“ The railroads that have been constructed, have not been executed upon the best model or form that might have been adopted, although designed by engineers of great talent, taste, and powers of mind; and nothing but practical experience could have shown the results now obtained. The Manchester and Liverpool railroad, in my opinion, is constructed too narrow both in the trams and the space between them, and the sharp curvations in that road should be avoided, if possible, as well as the sedant inclined planes: the level on the line should be divided as equal as possible in the distance. ”

“ Cunard—who had every motive for expediting not only the mails, but the passengers and freight passing to and from the Canadas—drew attention to the necessity for ample provision for the new conditions. Unless he were able to afford a fast and comfortable conveyance at a moderate charge to his Canadian passengers, he could not hope to hold the business. As it was desirable that he should be able to exercise control over this part of the passage, he offered to provide the service between Halifax and Pictou on terms, which were accepted by the deputy postmaster general of Nova Scotia. ”

“ The case of the Cunard Company is a striking instance of what individuals can do. Legislative enactments are not required to regulate the conduct of such men as constitute the managing owners of this company, nor of that of the great majority of British shipowners. They know that a good ship, well managed and well found, is a much better investment than a bad one. ”

“ An ascent of 1 in 240, or 17 feet in 1400 yards, which requires the power of traction to double its energy, is scarcely perceptible to the eye; and the rise of 1 in 96 at Rainhill, on the Manchester line, which is barely perceivable, requires the power of traction to increase its intensity in nearly a four-fold proportion. It follows, therefore, that whatever agent may be employed as a propelling power on a railroad having incurvations upon it, however inconsiderable, must be susceptible of varying its energy and speed within very wide limits. ”

“ On the proposed Railway from London to Birmingham he believed not a single instance of this nature occurred. No pains, no expense had been spared to effect so desirable an object. Were all the facts which had been given in evidence, as to the increased value of lands from improved modes of communication, collected and laid before the opposing proprietors, he was satisfied that time and consideration would convince them that, in opposing the Railway, they were influenced, in the language of the Resolution, by "ill-founded apprehensions." ”

“ THE CUNARD STEAMSHIP COMPANY,
LIMITED. It seems incredible that less than three-quarters of a century ago steamers were unknown on the Atlantic. The mail-boats of that date were wretched old Government 10-gun “coffin brigs,” slow and uncertain in their passages. But there were men, even in those days, who dreamed of a time to come when steamers should cross the ocean with the regularity, though not with the speed, of railway trains. Amongst these enthusiasts was Mr. Samuel Cunard, a shipowner of Halifax, Nova Scotia. ”

“ Communication with Canada was confined to the land route, seven hundred miles in length, over which it took ten days travel to reach the nearest point of importance. By 1854, two other modes of communication had presented themselves. The Cunard steamers, which called at Halifax on their way to Boston and New York, were laid under contribution to carry mails between Halifax and Canada; and the completion of the railway between Montreal and Portland, Maine, afforded an opportunity of a connection which was made by a steamer running between Portland and St. John, New Brunswick. ”

“ The people of Nice well know that the only thing that can give life to their trade is a rapid communication with Cuneo, because by that town they would be in direct intercourse with Piedmont, Lombardy, and Venetia. When the necessary studies shall have been made of the development of the line in question, and of the outlay it would require, the company which would be formed to carry it out would probably ask the Alta Italia Railway Company to take charge of at least the construction of the section which would end at the short tunnel that must be made on the Col itself. ”

“ I was elected a member of the board of directors of the Cunard Company in 1888, and found the work of looking after a great and progressive steamship company to be extremely interesting. For two years I was the deputy-chairman. I resigned this position as it required almost continual attendance at the Cunard offices, which I could not, with all my other engagements, possibly give.
To have been identified with the most forward policy in the shipping world has always been a source of great pride and pleasure to me. ”

“ The steepest part of the Liverpool railroad is at Rain Hill, where it rises about eight feet per mile; and from all the experiments that have been hitherto tried, a railroad, whose inclined plane exceeds ten to twelve feet rise per mile, destroys the objects for which commercial railroads are designed; viz. speed of travelling, and the transit of large cargoes of goods, grain, and merchandise, at a small expense: therefore, I am of opinion that railroads will not do for hilly countries, or cross roads ”

“ Cannot this melancholy list of maritime casualties be materially reduced? It can and must. Opinions may differ widely as to the most effective mode of carrying into practice the means at our disposal for bringing about a more satisfactory state of things than exists at present. But the work has to be done, and ought to be done, when the great fact, which cannot be too often repeated, is considered that the Cunard Company’s steamers have for thirty-five years constantly traversed the Atlantic without the loss of the life [Pg 247] of a passenger, or of a letter entrusted to their care. ”

“ It is scarcely necessary to point out the impolicy and injustice of such conditions, when I consider the advantage possessed by one engineer, in having the exclusive experience of the road as his guide. It would perhaps have been not only a more liberal, but a more wise policy in the Directors, to have encouraged the inventive genius of the country, by affording it in some degree those opportunities and advantages which the possession of so grand an instrument as their railroad placed in their hands ”

“ The Cunard steamers, finding that the Collins and the New York and Havre lines have at last equaled them in the speed and safety of their vessels, and far exceeded them in beauty and comfort, have apparently resolved to test the question of the supremacy of the sea by the relative capacity of purses. While the Franklin was loading at Havre, the Cunarders suddenly reduced the price of freight from $40 per ton to $20, and finally to $10, from Havre to New York by way of Liverpool ”

“ No transoceanic navigational undertaking has been conducted with more ability, no business dealings have been crowned with greater success. In twenty-six years Cunard ships have made 2,000 Atlantic crossings without so much as a voyage canceled, a delay recorded, a man, a craft, or even a letter lost. ”

“ A recent item of interest in connection with this famous company is the agreement made in August, 1903, with the British Government, by which the Cunard Company are to build two new steamers of an average speed of not less than 241⁄2 knots, which, along with all other Cunard ships, are to be at the disposal of the Admiralty for hire or purchase whenever they may be required. To help them in this undertaking, such fast ships being unprofitable for commercial purposes, the Government lend the Company £2,600,000 to build the ships, and grant them a subsidy of £150,000 a year. ”

“ How greatly the Cunard steamers were concentrated upon dangerous routes will be seen on reference to57 the map,B which indicates the most important services of Cunard Steamers during the war. Finally, let it be stated that from August, 1914 to November, 1918, without taking into account such outside steamers as were working under the Cunard Company’s direction, its own steamers steamed not less than 3,313,576 miles, with a consumption of 1,785,000 tons of coal. This distance is equivalent to the circum-navigation of the world no less than 132 times. ”

“ The art of constructing locomotive engines, so far from having attained a state of maturity, has not even emerged from its infancy. So complete was the ignorance of its powers which prevailed even among engineers, previous to the opening of the Liverpool railway, that the transport of heavy goods was regarded as the chief object of the undertaking, and its principal source of revenue. The incredible speed of transport, effected even in the very first experiments in 1830, burst upon the public, and on the scientific world, with all the effect of a new and unlooked-for phenomenon. ”

“ There won't be a train till later in the afternoon by which they can get away now. They'd have to go by the night boat, if it was France. Somehow or other–though everything seems against us, and we are only two, where there ought to be a dozen going in as many ways at once–we'll circumvent that devil yet."
"You have plenty of confidence in yourself," said Cunningham. "Perhaps you don't know Carson Wildred as well as I do." ”