Ir two of the new German China mail steamers had been named Enterprise and Thoroughness, they would have fairly represented the principles that have actuated the two great German steamship companies, which are dividing the fortnightly service inaugurated by the Koenig Albert. The German Emperor is known to of his country's commerce with China, take a deep interest in the progress
and he may contemplate with justi-fable pride the vast strides that his country has made in the Far East since the Oder opened the four-weekly line between Bremen and Shanghai in 1886. The steamers employed in this service have always been of the highest class of their time, they have been run with perfect regularity and with conspicuous success, and on no similar line has more attention been paid to the comfort of passengers, so that they have become with English people as well as with Germans the most popular of the various lines that connect the Far East with the home lands. The steamers are always full, often crowded, and one rarely hears the grumbling in which passengers by other mail lines are too apt indulge often without reason, after they Ftave been safely delivered at their destination.
With such enterprise and thoroughness have the two great German companies, the Norddeutscher Lloyd, which has until now carried on the service single-handed, and the Hamburg-America, risen to the occasion that the Koenig Albert, which is to open the new fortnightly service, the finest merchant steamer that ever come to the Far East. It is significant to contrast the policy of the French and German mail companies with that of the P. & O. Ca., the pioneers of steam communication with the Far East. The managers of the P. & O. Company are old China hands, and they seem to imagine that the China ports and China trade have not progressed since their day, and so they send to the service here any steamers which they can no longer employ on their petted lines, steamers which were great ships in their day and are still really fine vessels, but which are quite outclassed by the packets which the Messageries Maritimes and the Norddeutscher Lloyd employ on the same route. The magnates at the t office in Leadenhall Street will open their eyes with amazement when they find that ten-thousand-ton steamers are not too large for modern trade between Europe and the Far East.
The new boats of the German line, {of which the Koenig Albert is the first, are splendidly adapted for both freight and passengers. They are builé. by, the Vulcan Company in Stettin, the builders of the magnificent Atlantic liner Kuiser Wilhelm {der Grosse, except the Oceanic the largest and fastest steamer afloat. There are three other sister-ships to the Koenig Albert now being built lby the Vulcan Ca, the Prin: Irene for the Norddeutscher Hoy and the Hamburg and Kiautchou for the Hamburg-America Ca. They are 520 feet in length, 60 feet in width, and 38 in depth. Their displacement at a draft of 28 feet is 18,000 tons, and their dead-weight capacity nearly 10,000 tons. They are built of steel and fitted out with every modern appliance and improvement; they are provided with rolling chocks and promise to be comfortable sea-boats. The passenger accommodation is all that the most fastidious could desire, and special attention has been paid to the lighting and ventilation of the cabins, and their suitability to a tropical climate. Provision is made for 300 first-class, 100 second-class, and a large number jof third-class passengers. The first-tolas accommodation is all in the veentre of the vessel and the state-
{rooms are all above the upper deck. Phere are two promenade decks, one above the other. The second-class Jaccommodation is in the poop and there are a large number of two-berth cabins. Even the third-class state-rooms, which accommodate from two to six passengers, are fitted out with every comfort. The steamers have twin-screws driven by quadruple expansion engines, built on the "Schlick" system by which vibration is obviated, and making a speed of 16 to 17 knots. The complement, including officers and engineers, is two hundred.
Some important changes have been made in the details of the service. The home departures are to be alternately from Bremen and Hamburg. The ports of call remain og before, with the addition of Penang but the branch line from Hongkong to Japan has-been done away with, the Hohencollern having been sold to the U.S. Government, and after a stay of 48 hours in Shanghai the steamers will go on to Yokohama, vid Nagasaki, the Inland Sea, and Kobe. They will make a stay of one week at Yokohama, and will. then return home touching, in reverse order, at the same ports as on the outward voyage. Arrangements have been made with the British India Company for a branch from Penang to Rangoon, and- special steamers have been built for the branch between Singapore and Deli, Sumatra. From Singapore close connection will be made with Bangkok by the steamers of the East India Steamship Ca. The present service between Singapore and New Guinea vid Batavia remains unaltered, but arrangements are being made for a more regular connection between Singapore and {Java by the steamers of the Royal
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.