Business: II Duce's Ships

Splitting the foam-flecked blue waters of the Mediterranean the S. S. Rex, pride of Italy's rejuvenated merchant marine. last week completed her engine trials in triumph. One of the two biggest ships built since the War (51,000 tons), the Rex tore over her 600-mi. course at an average speed of 28 knots, became unofficially "the world's fastest liner."* At times her 125,,000 h. p. turbines drove her bulb-stemmed hull 29 knots. With her smaller sister the S. S. Conte di Savoia, she is Il Duce's supreme bid for traffic over the longer, warmer,...