These three ships all fulfill the requirements of the Board of Trade
and of the Admiralty and Lloyd's, and are classed as 100 A1. They will
also be placed on the list of British armed cruisers for service as
commerce protectors in time of war. For this service each vessel is to
be thoroughly fitted. There are two platforms forward and two aft, for
mounting 7 in. Armstrong guns. These weapons, in the case of the
Empress of India, are already awaiting the vessel at Vancouver. The
Empress of India is painted white all over, has three pole masts to
carry fore and aft sails. She has two buff-colored funnels and a
clipper stern, and in external build much resembles the City of Rome.
Her length over all is 485 feet; beam, 51 feet; depth, 36 feet; and
gross tonnage, 5,920 tons. The hull, of steel, is divided into fifteen
compartments by bulkheads, and has a cellular double bottom 4 feet in
depth and 7 feet below the engine room. There are four complete decks.
The ship is designed to carry 200 saloon passengers, 60 second cabin,
and 500 steerage--these last chiefly Chinese coolies, for whose
special delectation an "opium room" has been provided on
board.--_Daily Graphic_.
* * * * *
CHICAGO AS A SEAPORT.
The prairie land in the southwest corner of Lake Michigan, which,
seventy years ago, was half morass from the overflowing of the
sluggish creek, whose waters, during flood, spread over the low-lying,
level plain, or were supplemented in the dry season by the inflow from
the lake, showed no sign of any future development and prosperity.
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