Our ship of twelve thousand tons, R.M.S. _Orsova_, was more like
a floating hotel than a sea-going vessel, and the passengers living in
bright, comfortable cabins with a fine dining saloon and first-rate
food, could hardly imagine the work that was going on in other parts
of the ship to insure their travelling with such ease and speed and
safety.
A tour round the ship, such as we made one day, is full of interest
and wonder. The second-class passengers are housed and fed just as
well as those in the first-class, and there is accommodation for 230
of them.
In the third-class, again, they are wonderfully comfortable in cabins
for two or for four people each, with nice dining and sitting-saloons,
and a roomy, roofed-in deck where they can enjoy the fresh air in all
weathers. There is room for 800 of these, and the cost of the journey
from England to Australia is only 17 Pounds, which means board and lodging
of the best description for six weeks while doing the journey out.
The crew, of course, live forward, and, including seamen, stokers,
engineers, stewards, etc., they number about 300 men. On the
navigating staff of officers, quartermasters, and look-out men depends
much of our safety at sea.
Then down in the depths of the ship are the engineers and stokers, who
make the ship go. Our chief engineer, like all chief engineers, is a
Scotsman, and he loves and takes a pride in his engines, and is glad
to show them.
In Rudyard Kipling's song of the chief engineer, he describes him as
looking upon his engines as almost the work of God, in their wonderful
power and intricate working.
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