Biggests

Vigilant patriots last week pointed with pride to two news items recounting their country's advancement in transportation. Each item mentioned a new "biggest." They were:

1) Down the ways of the Newport News (Va.) Shipbuilding Co. slid the liner Pennsylvania, biggest commercial vessel ever built in the U. S., constructed at a cost of $7,000,000 for the Panama Pacific Line (International Mercantile Marine). Specifications: 21,000 tons (approximating the America and Cedric); 613 ft. long, 80 ft. beam; two 8,500 h. p. turbo-electric motors capable of 18 knots; capacity, 800 passengers. In service next October, she will ply between New York and San Francisco in 13 days.

2) Across the Hudson River between two gigantic steel towers in Manhattan and New Jersey was spun, with appropriate ceremonies (Governors handshaking), the first strand of the first cable of the world's largest suspension bridge. Built by the Port of New York Authority at a cost of 60 millions, the bridge will have a span of 3,568 ft., 206 ft. above water, supported by four wire cables, each three feet in diameter. Date of completion: 1932.