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Only those who are directly concerned in the operation of a line of steamships have any idea of the enormous total cost of operation of even a single ship, and of the extraordinary variety of the sources from which expense bills are made up. Of course, the main items of expense are perfectly familiar even to the person who takes but a languid interest in a steamship; we all know that the coal bill is a big one, and that on a great passenger steamer the single item of wages runs up to very large figures, while, of course, the bill for provisions and general stores is also a considerable item. Outside of these, however, there are other less-considered sources of expense, one of which, the painting of a ship, is very cleverly treated in an article which we publish in the current issue of the SUPPLEMENT, showing that this single item in the maintenance of the fleet of one corporation runs annually into hundreds of thousands of dollars. So great is the size of a modern transatlantic liner that the total area to be covered every time she is painted runs up into the acres. Thus we learn that to entirely paint the top sides of a big steamship from water line to rail calls for enough paint to cover about an acre of surface. About as much more is required to paint the upper works, while the big smokestacks call for over half an acre of paint, and in the case of the German steamships' with four smokestacks, the total area must be nearer three-quarters of an acre. Since the great ships of the first-class companies are painted every voyage, the calculation shows that to keep the one hundred or so vessels of the International Mercantile Marine Company in first-class shape requires the painting of some 2,250 acres each year at a cost of between one-quarter and one-half million of dollars. A curious fact in this connection, which is a direct compliment to our climate on this side of the water, is that on account oi the larger number of fine days on the eastern seaboard of the United States, the painting of the vessels is almost invariably done on this side of the water, even in cases where the headquarters of the company are in some English or Continental port.
