Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/622

STEAM NAVIGATION. of a race for speed supremacy that has brought out a new ‘record-breaker’ almost every year since. As the vessels are increased in size it takes less horse power per ton to drive them at a given speed, and this has tended to augment the tonnage of the great liners so that the dimensions of the Great Eastern are now exceeded by nearly a dozen vessels, built and building. The accompanying table gives the principal features of the largest ships belonging to the-great steamship companies, transatlantic and transpacific.

Marine engines have during recent years tended to one general type. For special services on inland waters a great