The New York Times, 22 June 1911
BIGGEST OF LINERS GETS NOISY WELCOME
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Giant Olympic Greeted Enthusiastically All the Way from Quarantine to
Her Pier
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TWELVE TUGS BERTH HER
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Passengers Enjoyed Her Maiden Voyage and Found the Big Ship Just Like a
Hotel
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Standing so high out of the water that the throng waiting on the pier
could barely see the tops of her four smokestacks as she came alongside,
the world’s biggest liner, the Olympic, was safely moored with the
assistance of twelve tugs at 10 o’clock yesterday morning in her berth,
Pier 59 North River.
With the exception of a playful touch given to the stern of a tugboat,
drawn under the counter of the Olympic by the suction of the tide, that
carried away the flagstaff, the liner was made fast without accident to
the newly extended pier. This was a delicate task for Pilot Julius
Adler and Capt. E. J. Smith. The docking took the better part of an
hour, as there was a delay in getting the ship far enough in to allow
her gangways to be opened, and even then only one was available for the
first-cabin passengers.
The Olympic left Quarantine at 7:45, and was saluted on her way up the
harbor by all kinds of craft, from tiny motor boats to the ferryboats
plying on the North River and lower bay. The Cunarder Lusitania swung
out into the river at 9 o’clock, just after the Olympic had passed and
gave the small army of photographers on the piers a chance for a good
picture of the two big ships.
The Lusitania did not salute the latest addition to the Atlantic fleet
as she passed either by whistle or dipping the ensign, which was
generally done by other liners moored at their piers along the water
front. It was thought that in the hurry of getting his ship under way
ands receiving congratulations on his coronation honor of Commander of
the Bath, Capt. Charles, skipper of the Lusitania, overlooked the
Olympic as she passed the Cunard pier.
Looked a Real Monster
The view of the liner at Quarantine as she loomed up off Staten Island
gave an impression of immense bulk to observers. She looked to be a
genuine sea monster. Two daring passengers emerged through the cloud of
galley smoke coming up from the depth and waved their hats as they
walked around the rim inside the top of the fourth funnel, which is
devoted to the carrying off of the foul air exhausted by the electric
ventilators and smoke of the kitchens and auxiliaries. A ladder inside
led to a small circular platform at the top.
The Olympic made the journey from Daunt’s Rock to the Ambrose Channel
Lightship in 5 days 10 hours and 42 minutes, at an average speed of
21.17 knots without being forced, Chief Engineer John Bell said. With
the exception of a strong northeast breeze with rough sea on June 17 the
new liner experienced fine weather all the way across.
Capt. Smith said she had done all that was expected of her, and behaved
splendidly. There was no really bad weather to try her seagoing
qualities, but he felt confident that the Olympic would be steady under
stormy conditions of weather.
“Will she ever dock on Tuesday? he was asked.
“No,” he replied emphatically, “and there will be no attempt to bring
her in on Tuesday. She was built for a Wednesday ship, and her run this
first voyage has demonstrated that she will fulfill the expectations of
the builders.”
The ship brought over 489 first class, 263 second class, and 564
steerage passengers, a total of 1,316, with 2,500 bags of mail and about
2,000 tons of cargo.
The impression of hugeness given by the external appearance of the
Olympic is intensified on entering the interior of the ship where the
amount of space on every deck cannot fail to impress the observer. The
saloons, staterooms, bathrooms, swimming pool, smoking rooms, lounges,
squash and racket courts, promenade decks, and dining saloon are so
large that they resemble the rooms of a Summer hotel more than those of
a ship.
The alleyways are so wide that there is no danger of that peculiar
jostling that passengers inflict as they pass each other in rough
weather on smaller ships. It would not be very difficult for two
elephants to walk abreast down the main alleyways on the Olympic. When
passengers were asked for an expression of opinion about the
accommodations on the liner they referred to her as “just a big hotel in
which it was a hard task to imagine one’s self afloat, she was so
steady.” One passenger said it was difficult to remember off-hand
whether the barber’s shop was an E deck and the squash court on B deck
or vice versa.
Miles and Miles
Purser McElroy averred that the daily tour of inspection, which he made
at 10:30 A. M. with Capt. Smith, Dr. O’Loughlin, and Chief Steward
Latimer, was fully nine miles. The Captain computed the distance at
one-third of that, while the surgeon insisted that it seemed like nine
miles.
The stewards all appeared to be good walkers and had ample opportunities
for judging distances. The main dining saloon, with seating
accommodations for 532 persons, has a width of ninety-two feet, being
the widest part of the ship. To the onlooker standing in the reception
room at the foot of the main companion, where hats and coats are
checked, it looks like hanging one’s hat up in Times Square and walking
down to Thirty-fourth Street and Broadway to eat.
This is realized by the waiters, to whom an order for another slice of
bread or a glass of water means a walk of 300 or 400 feet. Distance
makes no difference to the service, passengers said. The most agile
among the stewards is the night watchman, who has to cover alleyways 550
feet long with staterooms on either side. While he is going to answer a
bell at one end another rings at the other end of the alleyway, and the
watchman has to glide swiftly to keep up with his calls so that they do
not get ahead of him. It was noticeable yesterday that there were no
fat, comfortable-looking stewards on the Olympic.
One of the difficult tasks for the second steward is to get his men
together when there is some job to be done that requires a squad of
stewards to handle it. When the Olympic left Quarantine for her pier,
he started to find the delinquents who had not mustered on C deck to
assist with the baggage, doing what is known aboard ship as “soldering.”
After walking up and down the five decks the second steward found a man
sitting calmly in a quiet alleyway leading to the squash and racquet
court, away from the busy throng. In an impressive manner he asked:
“Why aren’t you working in that baggage with the rest of the gang? I am
not going to try to round you up again as it would be impossible for me
to keep track of you, but remember this. I may not see you again
to-day, Mivvins, but I shall see you again some day, and if you don’t
get to work on the baggage the meeting will be very interesting for
you.”
James [sic]
Bruce Ismay, President of the International Mercantile
Marine, which owns the White Star Line, was a passenger. He said he was
greatly pleased with the ship and the satisfaction she had given to the
passengers on her maiden voyage. There were a few minor details that
might be corrected in the next ship, the Titanic, he said, but nothing
of any importance. Mr. Ismay appeared to be especially interested in
the squash and racquet court, which was so popular on the trip that the
passengers were limited to half-hour games.
A Great Achievement
H. P. Davison, a partner of J. P. Morgan, also a passenger, said that in
his opinion, the Olympic is the achievement of the age. Mr. Morgan went
to Southampton to see him off, and will return on the next westbound
trip of the Olympic with Lord Pirrie, head of Harland & Wolff of
Belfast, the builder of the ship.
The decorations on the Olympic are an elaboration of the White Star
liners of the Adriatic type, with the addition of carved mahogany panels
in the spacious smoking room, bronze reliefs and tapestries in the
companion ways and silken hangings in the lounges, but the most
luxurious of them all in its appointments is the a la carte restaurant
on the bridge deck, 60 by 45 feet, decorated in Louis XVI style, paneled
in French walnut and hung with Arbbusson tapestries. The deck is
covered with a fine rug of Rose de Bari tint.
The big dining saloon with its double ports is decorated in the early
Jacobian [sic] English, after Haddon Hall, in white instead of carved oak.
Comfortable arm chairs, upholstered in green leather, are provided for
the passengers, instead of the usual small seats, and they are not
screwed down to the deck, as the Olympic is considered to be too steady
a ship to cavort wildly in any sea.
The principal attraction of her five decks in the first-class, is the
promenade deck, which is 530 feet long and 30 feet wide. There are also
two other promenade decks for the use of the passengers.
The second-class, which has seven decks, is equally well appointed, and
has numerous persons to look after the wants of the passengers.
The majority of the first-class staterooms are fitted with brass
bedsteads, and the upper berths are on hinges on the Pullman plan. The
suites on B and C decks are decorated in the style of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. The twelve most expensive ones consist of
parlor, two bedrooms, two dressing rooms and bath. All the good rooms
are fitted with wardrobes with full length mirrors.
The swimming bath, which is 30 by 14 and 9 feet in depth, was popular on
the voyage. It is free from 6 to 9 A. M., it was said, and can be used
later as a plunge for the Turkish baths, which cost $1.
Passengers said that there was very little vibration from the two
reciprocating and the centre turbine engines, which develop 46,000 horse
power to drive the ship through the water. The thud of the wing
propellers, however, could be plainly felt in the after end of the
dining saloon and in the smoking room, it was said. The Olympic will be
open for inspection to-morrow and Saturday to the public at a charge of
50 cents, to be given to charity.
Mayors Exchange Greetings
One of the passengers bore a special message to Mayor Gaynor from the
Mayor of Southampton, Col. E. Bance. It read:
The Mayor’s Parlor,
Municipal Building, Southampton
The Mayor and his fellow-townsmen of Southampton send greetings and
congratulations to the Mayor and his fellow-citizens of New York upon
the advent of the Olympic, another link in the chain of friendship
binding our two countries together in terms of peace and amity.
BANCE, Mayor.
To this Mayor Gaynor replied by cable:
Bance, Mayor of Southampton.
The Olympic is arrived, and the Mayor of New York returns his
congratulations and those of the people of New York to you and your
people. Some day we will return the compliment by sending over to you a
still bigger ship. W.J. GAYNOR, Mayor.
One of the first persons to board the Olympic after she had made fast to
her pier was Police Commissioner Waldo, who, with his wife, was there to
meet Mrs. John W. Norton, his sister-in-law. After finding a seat for
Mrs.. Waldo in the companion hall on the promenade deck the Commissioner
started at a rapid gait to find their relative. The third time he came
up the companion from the lower decks he murmured, “There’s an awful lot
of space here on this ship.,” then he wiped the perspiration from under
his Panama and ascended to another deck in his quest for Mrs. Norton.
Impressive Olympic Figures
In length the Olympic overtops by 182 1/2 feet the tower of the
Metropolitan Building, and by 132 1/2 feet the height of the new
Woolworth Building. She is four times as long as the Bunker Hill
Monument is high, and 327 feet longer than the height of the Washington
Monument. Here are some other big things about her:
Registered tonnage............. .................... .......45,000
Length, feet................ .................... ............... 882
From keel to boat deck, feet................ .......... 97
Funnels above casting, feet................ ............ 72
From keel to funnel tops, feet................ ........ 157
Number of steel decks............... .................... . 11
Watertight compartments........ .................... ... 15
Passenger capacity............ .................... ......... 2,500
Number of crew................ .................... ......... 860
Weight of electrically operated rudder, tons... 100
Weight of anchors, each, tons................ ........ 22
Each link in anchor chain, pounds.............. .... 175
She has also 2,000 sidelights and windows. Three million rivets,
weighing in all about 1,200 tons, are used in her. Altogether she
represents an investment of $10,000,000.
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