Actionmailer configuration slows page loading and then error

I have the following in my environment.rb file:
ActionMailer::Base.server_settings = {
:address => “IP_ADDRESS_GIVEN_BY_HOSTING_COMPANY”,
:port => 25
}

it causes my pages to take forever to load and eventually they error
out with

rails application failed to start properly

any idea what could cause this?

thanks,
gabe