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Ship of the Month - cont'd. 8. that date. This question is all the more puzzling in that a launching photo of JOHN C. HOWARD shows that she went into the water stern-first, with all her flags flying, and apparently was fully complete, with all of her fit tings in place and even with smoke coming from her funnel! Thus it would seem unlikely that the launch and christening did not take place on the same day. EDWARD L. STRONG, enrolled at Montreal as C. 150823, sailed from the shipyard and arrived at Montreal on December 6 , 1922. There, a few finishing touches had to be added to her, and accordingly she was not ready in time to enter active service before the close of navigation, and she remained at Montreal for the winter. Of course, N. H. BOTSFORD and FRANK A. AUGSBURY had already been placed in service during the autumn, and JOHN C. HOWARD would, like the STRONG, not make her first revenue trip until the spring of 1923. The STRONG was 251.6 feet in length (258 feet overall), 42.1 feet in the beam, and 18.1 feet in depth, according to Lloyds Register, whereas the Ame rican Bureau of Shipping always showed her as being 250 . 7 x 43.2 x 18.1. Both sources agreed on her tonnage, which was 2052 Gross and 1225 Net. She was powered by a triple-expansion engine, which had cylinders of 19, 3 2 and 5 6 inches bore, and a stroke of 3 6 inches, the engine producing 1 , 2 0 0 I.H. P. or 188 N.H. P. Steam at 180 p. s.i. was produced by two single-ended, coalfired, Scotch boilers, which measured 14'8" by 12' 6 ". The engine was built by the Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp., of Ampere, New Jersey, while the boilers were manufactured by the Engine & Machine Works of Canada Ltd. As far as other details of the EDWARD L. STRONG and her sisters are concern ed, we can do no better than to quote parts of the description which appear ed in "Canadian Railway and Marine World" at the time of their construction. "They have full topgallant forecastle and long raised quarterdeck aft. They have been designed so that every modern improvement has been taken advantage of, to make for economy in operation, rapidity in handling cargo, etc. The hulls are built on the Isherwood system, with water ballast in a cellular double bottom, which is divided longitudinally for about two-thirds of the ship's length, for turning purposes in working the cargo, and water ballast is provided for in the fore and after peaks. "There are two cargo holds with six large hatches, four of them being 12 x 28 feet, and two 16 x 2 8 feet, the last two being specially arranged for handling beams and billets 60 feet long. Arrangements are also made for car rying heavy pulpwood cargoes in the holds and on deck. "Under the forecastle, accommodation is provided for passengers, and spaci ous quarters for the officers and pilot, all in separate rooms with baths, w. c. 's, etc., complete. The captain's rooms on the forecastle deck consist of sleeping room, office, bath room, etc. The navigating bridge is arranged over the captain's rooms and extends the full width of the ship, with a wheel house containing the steering wheel, compass, docking telegraph, tele phone, speaking tube, engineroom indicators, etc., with the standard steer ing compass on top. The dining room, engineers, stewards, pantry, refrigera ting room, galley and engineroom staff, including deck hands, are accommoda ted in a 6 0 -foot house aft on the quarterdeck. "... there is bunker accommodation for 150 tons (of coal). An ash ejector is provided in the stokehold for discharging ashes. There are the usual ballast pumps and auxiliaries, and extra large pipes are fitted to the ballast tanks for rapid filling and emptying. Powerful steam and hand steering gear is placed aft over the after peak, controlled from the wheel house forward, and top of the deckhouse aft. Three steam winches are provided for rapid handling of cargo, and there are two specially designed steam winches for warping purposes. A combined steam and hand windlass is placed on the forecastle deck, with one of the warping winches alongside. A patent snubbing wire com pressor, and the George Hall Coal Co.'s special fairleads and bollards are supplied for the quick and efficient working of the ship in and out of docks