On the deck were three houses, whose compartments were used as cabins for the crew, or as machine rooms.

In the center house was the machine which drove the suspensory helices, in that forward was the machine that drove the bow screw, in that aft was the machine that drove the stern screw.

In the bow were the cook's galley and the crew's quarters; in the stern were several cabins, including that of the engineer, the saloon, and above them all a glass house in which stood the helmsman, who steered the vessel by means of a powerful rudder.

All these cabins were lighted by port-holes filled with toughened glass, which has ten times the resistance of ordinary glass.

Beneath the hull was a system of flexible springs to ease off the concussion when it became advisable to land.
Engines of suspension and propulsion .-- Above the deck rose thirty-seven vertical axes, fifteen along each side, and seven, more elevated, in the centre.