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6 MARINE REVIEW. Inadequate Service from Life Savers--Chicago Matters. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, Bint No. 701 Phoenix Building, CHICAGO, II1., July 13. The feeling of indignation against the life saving service for abandoning the station at the mouth of the river and placing the crew at the fair grounds, is very warm now, since so many lives were lost Sunday in the big squall. Marine men generally, as well as those who are interested in aquatic sports and yacht owners, make no bones about terming this action of the life saving officials a piece of gross negligence. Of course it is the yachting and boating interest that is best protected by the life crew at this station, for the lake is scoured so thoroughly by tugs from the harbor north to Racine and Milwaukee, in search of tows, that accidents to the larger craft are very infrequent. Yachtsmen, 'however, hold that the whole of Chicago's water front from the fair grounds to Evanston is absolutely unprotected by life savers. This is about fifteen miles of shore line. Had not the tug Tarrant of the Dunham line been sent out from the harbor just after the squall last Sunday, on a search for capsized craft, at least two more victims would have been added to the list of dead in the Chesapeake horror. As it was they were in the water over an hour and a half, and it is extremely doubtful if the life saving crew at the: fair grounds knew of the accident until the daily papers were read the next morning. No blame shonld be attached to the life savers. The crew is well known on the lakes, and gained for themselves a record of daring and discipline when sta- tioned at Ludington. A life saving station at the fair for an exhibit is all right, but Chicago harbor should not be neglected for an exhibit. Let the exhibit remain, but Uncle Sam is rich enough to afford an exhibit and also the crew whichis so-necessary at the harbor. . The caravels are here all safe, and by the time the Rryrmw goes to press the Viking ship will be at her berth in the south lagoon at the big fair. They have been written up all along the lakes, and anything here at the last stop- ping place would be superfluous. They serve a good purpose in teaching the present generation the dangers of navigation years ago. Marine men haye al- ways had a poor opinion of the navy, and vice versa. Perhaps both are right in| somethings, but it is safe to assert that almost any captain of a merchant _vedsel on the lak ild have taken hold of the naval parade when the cara- vels arrived and handled it in better shape than it was under the direction of _ the old relies, the Johnson and Michigan. Vessel captains are inclined to the belief\that the trouble with the whole thing was too much gold lace and brass buttons:ab ard the Michigan and Johnson, and that the indispensable pomp and vain "glory, with thé usual red tape which prevails ona United States _ vessel, interfered materially with the display, and delayed it several hours. It would be wells to give the other side a chance now, and when there is occasion fora nayal display in the future place the whole affair in the charge of some competent steamboat captain, and let him show what he can do. If the Lake Superior line steamer Manitou goes on in her present style, | she will prove fast company for any of the "flyers"? that may fall in with her. On the s¢cond trip last week she was caught in a fog. Capt. McIntyre was too careful to run very fast, and consequently lost bout nine hours. When the _ fog lifted he started out to make this up, and when he passed Mackinaw on his way up he had caught up with the schedule and was runningontime. During this spurt the Manitou logged 17 miles an hour, and her owners say confident- ly that 18 miles is not her limit. Lake Carriers' Affairs--Buffalo Gossip. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. : Burraxo, N. Y., July 13.--Seeretary Keep of the Lake Carriers' Associa- tion has concluded not to go to Washington, as was decided upon at Cleveland lately. The Detroit river lights are likely to be kept up by the government without any further effort. A communication to him this week from Com- _mander Jas. P. Green, the new light-house inspectvr of this district, states that the Lime-Kiln lights will be in position as soon as possible, probably in two weeks. The placing of the Ballard reef light is already officially announced, The government has given_a still. more substantial proof of its activity and good faith by forwarding a check for the work done by the Lake Carriers' Association in lighting Detroit river lately. The next step to be taken is to prepare for the extra session of Congress. This body will have its committees in operation next month, and the departments are going to hand in their esti- mates, Secretary Keep will prepare a statement, addressed to the lig board, of the lights that are deemed most im portant ligently. It will have to be admitted for the first time that Buffalo begins to share in the general depression that has overtaken the lake trade, hi no more than an indication as yet, for more than an aver ht-house , 80 that it can work intel- There is age amount of grain was received and coal shipped last week, but coal shippers begin to hold back now. Boats are laying up in Tonawanda, unable to find lumber to carry. Vessel men say it never looked worse, not because they find loads hard to get but because they see no relief ahead. For this reason they are likely to ae easy. Tying up will be common in ten days unless there isa change for the better. The canal did remarkably well last week with a break of several days on hand. The superintendent of public works hustled the repairs forward and the freights advanced. Wheat is moving by canal at 43 cents to New York, a rate seldom reached in mid-summer. Were it safe to reckon on any such rate hereafter, or were it certain that the railroads had concluded tostop cutting summer rates on grain down to nothing, there would bea big fleet of canal boats built this winter. But the low rates have been the rule so long that boatmen are not only poor but very cautious. Though Gen. Poe is reported as quite well satisfied with the deep channel work, it is none the less known that the Bar point contract is not progressing very favorably, and it is said that the Smiths would be glad to give up their job for some reason. Small Boats on Big Ships of War. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Wasurnaron, D. C., Jnly 13--There is one feature of naval construe- tion which has been so overshadowed by the building of huge warships of the new nayy that the public has entirely lost sight of it. That is the building of the small boats which nowadays are an essential part of the armement of a ship of war. With the introduction of the torpedo, small craft for their use have become necessary, and our naval officials in designing them have fully kept pace with the ingenuity displayed in building the large vessels. The battle-ships Maine and Texas are to be equipped with two torpedo boats each, which are now under construction. They were included in the plans of the battle-ships and are to be paid for out of the appropriation. These boats re- present the latest inventions in mirine engines and construction and will be the most perfect craft of their kird in the world. The two which are to be placed on the Texas are about 60 feet long, with a displacement of between 7 and 8 tons. They will be required to maintain for a period of four hours a speed of 17 knotsan hour. The boats for the Maine are somewhat larger than those of the Texas, and will be required to attain a speed. of 18 knots. When it is taken into consideration that these adjuncts to the vessel, each as large as -anordinary yacht, are to be stowed on deck when not in use and must be rais- - and lowered whenever needed, an idea may be gained of the problem which confronted the officers in- designing them. The lightest machinery must be used, and yet to attain the great speed required must be exceedingly power- ful. They will be armed with the latest torpedo appliances, the Hotchkiss and Whitehead torpedoes being used. aa. Another novel craft is the electric gig of the new cruiser New York. ~Itis the first electrically propelled ship's boat ever used in out navy, and if it bears out the claims of the builders it is probable that all of the new. ships "will be similarly equipped. The New York's launch is 30 feet lotig, 6 feet 10 inches beam and has a draft of 22 inches. Her estimated speed is between 6 and 7 knots an hour ona sustained run of five or six hours, though it is claimed that she can exceed this in short runs. The Grand -Duke Nicholas was 'so im- pressed with one of these electric launches which he saw while in New York during the nayal review that it is said a pair of them were ordered for use in the Russian navy. Following the example set by Admiral Farragut when he took his station in the rigging of his vessel when running the forts on the Mississippi, the French nayal architects haye embodied in their latest plans for battle ships a system of protected tops that will afford a position of superior accomodations to the commanding officers. Details that have reached the navy department here show that these minature steel fortresses at the mast tops, in addition to an equippment of machine guns, are now being fitted out with speaking tubes, connections with the engine bells, and fianally with a wheel which will enable the officer in the top to steer from that position. Great strategic advantages are supposed to be made available from this arrangement. Capt. Alex. McDougall's Patents.* STEAM PASSENGER BOA'T--SPECIFICATION FORMING PART OF LET- THRS PATENT NO. 500,41I--DATED JUNE 27, 1893--AP- PLICATION FILED MARCH 23,189I--SERIAL NO. 386, 167---NO MODEL. The inventor says: 'My invention relates to various new and useful improvements in steam passenger vessels, and the in- vention is intended to be an improvement upon the steamboat invented by me and described and claimed in letters patent of the United States No. 429,467, and dated June 3, 1890. From an inspection of said patent, it will be seen that the vessel embraced therein consists of a metallic hull having straight sides, with a curved top and bottom, with a spoon shaped bow and skeged stern, with a short cabin, supported upon turrets, near the stern of the vessel, and with a working deck supported upon a single turret near the bow. Such a steamboat, as mentioned in said patent, was intended principally for the transportation of freight. The vessel which is to be described in this specification is in- tended principally for the transportation of passengers, but the hull, or hold, of the vessel may be used for carrying freight, or "Under this heading we will ish specificati ; a ' ' le publish specifications accompanying letters patent granted to Alexander McDougall since his first ¢ icati 3] le- : , all § $ first applicati a patent on the whale back type of vessel, May 1,1880. Pee ecw arene Dave