Quietly and unostentatiously, without any blare of trumpets, the Titanic, the world's latest and biggest ship, steamed up the silent waters of the Solent and docked at Southampton at midnight on Wednesday, taking the same berth in the new wet dock that the Olympic occupied 12 hours before.

So much has already been written about the Titanic and her sister ship, the Olympic, that little now remains to be said. The construction of sister vessels is a familiar practice, but the production of two such notable vessels as the Olympic and the Titanic, and the competition of the second so shortly after the first, is worthy of special comment.

Both vessels are essentially similar in design and construction, and yet, so rapidly are we moving in these days of progress, that already the experience gained with the Olympic is being taken advantage of in the Titanic, and several changes have been carried out in the second ship, with a view to meeting even more completely than before the requirements of the service, and the large number of passengers with whom this type of ship is proving so popular. The new liner, it may be mentioned, will accommodate in all about 3,500 passengers and crew.

So intense is the competition now in the transatlantic passenger service - the richest plum in sea travel - that each new ocean queen must surpass her rival in some respect. Luxury and speed are to-day the tow great factors which attract the aristocracy and plutocracy from East to West and West to East. And so we find the Titanic able to offer something which none of her rivals can; indeed she makes her appeal to the pleasure-seeking millionaire, who finds comfort in the thought that he is saving time.

To make a complete tour of the Titanic would involve a day's work, but perhaps the thing that strikes one the most in the course of a flying inspection are suite rooms, of which there is an unusually large number, decorated in different styles and periods. On the promenade there is also increased accommodation, the deckhouse being extended to the ship's side and two private promenade decks having been instituted in connection with the parlour suite rooms.

On the same deck a Caf Paisien has been arranged in connection with the restaurant, the deck space outside the restaurant being utilised for this, which is an entirely new feature on board ship. A repetition room has been provided in connection with the restaurant, in view of the reception room connected with the first class dining saloon having proved so satisfactory to passengers. The restaurant itself has also been increased in size. The private promenades are decorated in a style of half timbered walls of Elizabethan period. The Caf Parisian is decorated in French trellis work with ivy creepers, and looks extremely attractive.

The first class dining saloon is an immense room decorated in a style peculiarly English, reminiscent of early Jacobean times; but instead of the sombre oak of the 16th and 17th centuries, it is painted a soft, rich white, which, with the coved and richly moulded ceilings and the spacious character of the apartment, would satisfy the most aesthetic critic.

The furniture is of oak, designed to harmonise with its surroundings. Over 550 passengers can dine at the same time, and a feature of the room is the arrangement of recessed bays, where family and other parties can dine together in semi-privacy.

The reception room adjoining the dining saloon was an introduction in the Olympic, and not only has it been retained in the Titanic, but increased in area in the vessel. The main characteristics of the decoration of this room are the dignity and simplicity. The beautifully proportioned white panelling in the Jacobean style, delicately carved in low relief, makes a fitting background to the brilliant gathering of which it is the scene.

The handsome bronze ceiling lights and wall brackets, magnificent tapestry, capacious Chesterfields, and dark, richly coloured carpet, emphasises the delicacy and refinement of the panelling, and combine to give the apartment an appearance of the utmost luxury and comfort.

The restaurant is Louis XVI in design, panelled from floor to ceiling in beautifully marked French Walnut of a delicate light fawn brown colour, the mouldings and ornaments being richly carved and gilded. The electric light brackets are finely chased in brass and gilt. The large bay windows draped with silk curtains and are a distinctive feature of the room. The room is furnished with small tables to accommodate from two to eight persons, and will seat in all 140. The chairs are made in similar light French walnut to the walls. For convenience of service there are several dumb waiters encircling the columns and forming part of the decorative scheme.

The cooling room in connection with the Turkish baths is one of the most interesting and striking rooms on the ship. The walls are completely tiled from the dado to the cornice, in large panels of blue and green, surrounded by a broad band of tiles in bolder and deeper blue. The dado and doors and panelling are in a warm coloured teak, which makes a perfect setting to the gorgeous effect of the tiles and the ceiling, the cornice and beams of which are gilt, and the intervening panels picked out in dull red. From these panels are suspended bronze Arab lamps. The stanchions are cased also in teak, carved all over with an intricate Moorish pattern, surmounted by a carved cap.

The reading and writing room, with pure white walls, and light elegant furniture, is essentially a ladies room. A great bow window at one side of the room gives a view past the deck over the vast expanse of sea and sky.

The gymnasium is equipped with the most up-to-date apparatus, and, with the swimming bath and racquet court, affords exceptional facilities for pleasurable recreation.

The second-class passengers have been very generously provided for. The dining saloon extends the full breadth of the vessel, and will seat over 400. The library and smoke room are also large, elegant apartments, and the second-class entrances and staircases are handsomely carried out in oak. The second-class staterooms, the majority of which are arranged on the well-known tandem principle, are of superior character, and the promenades are unusually spacious, a unique feature being the enclosed promenade. The accommodation for third-class passengers is also very good, the public rooms being large, airy apartments suitable furnished, and in excellent positions; and the same applies to the third class statements and berths.

The Titanic, as previously announced, will leave Southampton for New York on Wednesday next on her maiden Transatlantic voyage, under the command of Commander Edward J. Smith R.D., R.N. In the interim much still remains to be done to get things ship-shape on board, and the White Star Line are reluctantly compelled to announce that no applications for tickets for inspection by the public can be entertained.