and was the pioneer of the great emigrant trade which Mr. Inman, above all others, did so much to develop and make cheap and comfortable for the emigrants themselves, as well as profitable to his company.  That the builders of the celebrated old Great Britain, in 1843, and Mr. Inman, in 1850, should have pronounced so decisively in favor of the screw propeller in preference to the paddle for ocean steaming is a proof of their true practical judgment, which time and practical experience have made abundantly clear.  While the Cunard Company went on developing its fleet from the early wood paddle steamer Britannia of 1,130 tons in 1840 to the iron paddle steamers Persia, etc., in 1858, the iron screw steamer China of 1862, to the still more important screw steamers Bothnia and Scythia, vessels of 4,335 tons, in 1874, the Inman and other lines were as rapidly developing in speed and size, if not in numbers.  The year 1874 is memorable, for it saw the White Star steamers Britannic and Germanic put into the water, as well as the Inman steamer City of Berlin and the two before mentioned Cunard steamers, Bothnia and Scythia.  By the addition of these two ships to their fleet the White Star Line, although started only in 1870, reached a front rank position in the New York passenger trade.  The author gave in separate tables the logs of several of these ships, some from published documents and some kindly furnished by the owners.  The Great Western had crossed the Atlantic from Bristol to New York in 15 days as early as 1838.  The first Cunard steamer, the Britannic, was about the same speed, from 81/4 to 81/2 knots an hour.  The average duration of the Cunard voyages in the year 1856 was 12.67 days from Liverpool to New York, and 11.03 days from New York to Liverpool.  The Bothnia, in 1874, reduced the passage to about nine days.  The White Star Britannic, in 1876, averaged 7 days 18 hours 26 minutes outward from Queenstown to New York, and 9 days 6 hours 44 minutes homeward, and has averaged for the last ten years 8 days 9 hours 36 minutes outward, and 8 days 1 hour 48 minutes homeward.  The City of Berlin, of the Inman Line, also built in 1874, 8 days 10 hours 56 minutes, and homeward 8 days 2 hours 37 minutes; and for the nine years from 1875 to 1883 inclusive, averaged outward 8 days 19 hours 56 seconds, and inward 8 days 8 hours 34 seconds; or, putting it into rounder figures, the Britannic had reduced the average passage between the two points to 81/4 days, and the City of Berlin to 81/2 days.  From the year 1874 on to 1879 no further advance was made in Atlantic steaming, but in that year the Arizona was added to the Guion Line, and it soon became evident that another important stride had been made in the Atlantic passenger trade, which would lead to most important results.  The results, as we all know, have been sufficiently startling.  The Guion Line, which had started in 1866 with the Manhattan, had now the fastest passenger ship on the Atlantic.