The story of rapid transit . the best daysrun on the homeward voyage. The Kronprinzsaverage speed throughout her trip was In 1901 the new twin-screw steamer Arundclmade a record channel passage from New Havento Dieppe in two hours, fifty-eight minutes, or atan average speed of twenty-two knots. The ab-sence of all vibration was secured to passengersby a patent balancing arrangement of the ma-chinery. What part electric traction will play in thefuture of navigation cannot easily be even with steam, it is almost certain that theold piston and cylinder type of engine wil
The story of rapid transit . the best daysrun on the homeward voyage. The Kronprinzsaverage speed throughout her trip was In 1901 the new twin-screw steamer Arundclmade a record channel passage from New Havento Dieppe in two hours, fifty-eight minutes, or atan average speed of twenty-two knots. The ab-sence of all vibration was secured to passengersby a patent balancing arrangement of the ma-chinery. What part electric traction will play in thefuture of navigation cannot easily be even with steam, it is almost certain that theold piston and cylinder type of engine will besuperseded. Another and fundamentally differ-ent type—the turbine—in which the impulse ofthe steam spins a wheel instead of pushing a pis-ton—is making great headway. The antiquity ofthe idea is considerable—it is even ascribed toHero of Alexandria, who describes an elementaryform of such an engine, and this rotary principlewas certainly experimented with and abandonedby the seventeenth century experimenters. The. a 3 64 THE STORY OF RAPID TRANSIT reason was that it was not adapted to pumping,this being the end then, and until toward theclose of the eighteenth century, in view. In themeantime the piston-engine became developedand the turbine principle rested dormant untilonly some twenty years ago the requirements ofthe dynamo-electric machine opened up fresh in-ducements for development. By 1894 so manydetails had been worked out, that capital was in-duced to venture upon the construction of an ex-perimental ship. This vessel, the Tnrbinia, afterrepeated trials and modifications, achieved theunprecedented speed of 34^ knots an was the high-water mark of marine travel-ing—but it was to be surpassed. The Viper, alarger but similar vessel, constructed for theBritish Navy, as a torpedo destroyer, reached avelocity of forty-one miles an hour. The builderhas stated his confidence that fifty and even sixtymiles an hour will yet be achieved by such crafton the
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