Excerpt from Steamships and Their Story
The exceptionally kind reception on the part of both Press and public which greeted the appearance of my history of the sailing ship last year, and the numerous expressions of appreciation that have reached me from so many parts of the world, have encouraged me to attempt in a similar manner to set out the story of the steamship from the earliest times to the present day.
I am by no means unaware that between the sailing ship and the steamship there is a wide difference, as well in character as in their respective development. But that is no reason for supposing that the steamship is less interesting in her history or less deserving of admiration in her final presentation. Around the sailing ship there hovers eternally a halo of romance; that is undeniable even by the most modem enthusiast. But, on the other hand, the sailing ship in the whole of her career has not done more for the good of humanity than the steamship within a century or less. It requires but a moment of thought to realise the truth of this statement; and for that reason alone, the history of the steamship makes its appeal not to a special class of reader, but to all who interest themselves in progress, in the development of their own country and empire, in the welfare of the world generally, and the evolution from stagnation to beneficial activity and prosperity. There are but few civilised people nowadays who have not been brought into contact with the steamship in one way or another.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. Это и многое другое вы найдете в книге Steamships and Their Story (Classic Reprint) (E. Keble Chatterton)