The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

8 MARINE REVIEW. No Trials of the Boilers, Although the London trade journals, notably Engineering, have for weeks been filled with communications bearing upon the challenge of James Howden, inventor of Howden's hot draft, to the manufacturers of the Belleville water tube boiler in Great Britain, for an actual competitive trial of efficiency between Scotch boilers and those of the Belleville type, the whole matter is to pass over without a settlement of questions of dif- ference, even as far as such atrial would tend to determine matters of general interest. The British manufacturers of the Belleville boiler, Maudsley Sons & Field of London, would not accept Mr. Howden's chal- lenge, and gave no particular reason for declining the proposition, further than to say that they were themselves satisfied with the progress being made in introducing the boiler into naval and merchant ships, and had no desire to satisfy public curiosity by undertaking the proposed tests. Mr, W. D. Hoxie of the Babcock and Wilcox Company, New York, informs the REVIEW that Messrs. Thos. Wilson Sons & Co., of Hull, Eng- land, ship-owners, who have had one of the Babcock and Wilcox marine type of boilers in use about a year and a halfon the steamer Nero, have given an order for 1,300 horse power to be fitted into another of their ships. The boilers wiil be constructed entirely of open-hearth steel forgings, and will carry a working pressure of 225 pounds per square inch. Belleville boilers, to be constructed by the British manufacturers, are to be placed ina fast steamer for the Russian volunteer fleet, whichis being constructed by Messrs. R. & W. Hawthorne, Leslie & Co., Hebburn-on- Tyne. The guaranteed speed of the vessel is 19.5 knots on a twelve hours' trial. There will be twenty-four boilers and they will be arranged in three groups of eight each. They are to be constructed to carry steam of 450 pounds pressure, and with a grate areaof 1,132 square feet anda heating surface of 35,000 square feet will give steam for 12,500 indicated horse power. The engines are to be of the triple-expansion type, with steam of 170 pounds working pressure. There will be twosets to work twin propellers. The vessel will be 500 feet by 54 feet by 24 feet, and will carry 4,000 tons dead-weight, in addition to 1,400 tonsin the coal bunkers. Cleveland Harbor Improvements. Representatives of the city government in Cleveland have for some time past been working with the navigation committee of the chamber of commerce, in an effort to secure appropriations from the city, as well as the general government, for widening and straightening the Cuyahoga river from a point beginning at the harbor entrance and extending as far up the river as may be possible with funds to be obtained from both sources. The plan is to direct attention to advantages to be derived from improving the present harbor afforded by the river, and to have the city undertake such improvements on quite an extended scale, while receiving some assistance from the general government in the way of approaches to the river. "T suppose these committees are willing to accept suggestions," said. Capt. Geo. P. McKay to a party of vessel owners, a few days ago, "and it has occurred to me that if the river is to be widened the work should be- gin in the channel known as the old river bed and. the approach to that channel. Fully 80 per cent of the iron ore and coal business of Cleveland is confined to the old riverbed. The Minnesota Steamship Company, which conducts a larger business in that channelthan any other ship- ping concern in Cleveland, contemplates the construction of a steamer of 400 feet keel and 48 feet beam, the largest boat as yet thought ofon the lakes. This steamer as well as all others of her kind will be forced to trade exclusively to Lake Erie ports other than Cleveland, if such obstructions as the Valley and Willow street bridges, with the bends in the immediate vicinity of them, are to remain undisturbed. There is no question of the old river bed being the proper place to begin with any improvement that is to be undertaken byjthe city, and the expense attend- ing such alterations as are necessary would be only trifling as compared with the advantages to be obtained." é Capt. McKay's opinion in this matter certainly meets with endorse- ment from practical vessel men who understand what is most needed in Cleveland harbor improvements. A Remarkable Breakdown. Editor MARINE REVIEW: The peculiar breakdown of the steamer Peerless noted in the last REVIEW has a parallel in the case of the steamer S.J. Macy. Some time in August last she suffered a breakdown and the attendant circumstances were remarkable enough to be worthy of notice. Her engine is a steeple compound, and the throttle valve is at- tached to the side of the high pressure steam chest. The pistons are taper-fitted to the rod and secured by nuts. The high pressure rod let go just below the nut, and the piston thus released left the rod, smashing the cylinder cover, some of the fragments of which crashed through a partition into the kitchen. The piston, after smashing the skylight, de- scended and landed edgewise on top of the high pressure steam chest, fracturing it, and rebounding from there struck the arm of the throttle valve and shut off the steam, though in doing so it smashed the throttle gear completely. Passing downwards and through a companionway leading to lower engine room it landed finally at the foot of the stairway, not two paces from the engineer, who had just descended. Now note the possibilities. If the piston had missed the throttle, the engineer would probably not have been able to get near it, even sup- posing he had escaped as he did. If it had simply disabled the throttle rigging without shutting the valve, the consequences might have been still more serious. As it was, everything worked harmoniously and no one was scratched. Altogether it was one of the most remarkable breakdowns that ever came under the writer's notice. Xx. N.- TRICE: Detroit, Mich., Nov. 21, 1894, Around the Lakes. Harvey C. Beeson, publisher of "Beeson's Inland Marine Directory," is in Cleveland preparing for another issue of his book. The Johnson company is considering the matter of trying to arrange its furnaces for the new steel plant at Lorain so as to use Mesabi ore almost entirely. s Up to Dec. 1, Milwaukee had received 711,302 tons of anthracite and 437,224 tons of bituminous coal, or a total of 1,148,526, which is an increase of 31,078 tons over 1893. A. M. Jones, formerly with the firm of J. M. Jones & Co., Detroit, has severed his connection with that company and is now associated with C. R. Jones of Cleveland. Damages to the steamer V. H. Ketchum, which was stranded near Whitefish point some time ago, have been fixed by survey at $26,369.20, of which the owners will be required to stand 43 per cent. J. H. Bowles of 94 Reade street, New York, who has prepared from photographs a large engraving containing likenesses of 154 lake captains, is in Cleveland delivering the pictures. The work has been very well done. The annual meeting of the grand lodge, Shipmaster's Association, will open at the Russell House, Detroit, on Tuesday, June 8, the date which has also been decided upon for the opening of the annual meeting of the Lake Carriers' Association. For a new port, Conneaut has made a good record in the coal and ore business during the past season. An official report from Capt. Day, superintendent of the docks, notes receipts ef 237,905 gross tons of ore and shipments of 89,023 net tons of coal. W.C. Farwell of Chicago has sold the schooner Sunrise to Capt. Frank Conlin of Buffalo for $6,900, the schooner A. J. Rogers being taken in part pay. George D. Kitzinger of Manistee has sold a quarter interest in the steamer Mark B. Covell to Arthur Kitzinger of the same port for $3,684. Capt. J.J. Reed, U. S. N., who was recently in charge of the light- house district having headquarters at Detroit, is about to take command of the protected cruiser Olympia. The Olympia, which was built by the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, will shortly take her place in the Pacific squadron. Capt. KE. M. Peck of Detroit was not considered a candidate for the position of president of the Lake Carriers Association mainly for the reason that he is making preparations to so arrange his business as to be at liberty to take two or three years of rest and to spend a large portion of this time abroad if he is so disposed. : Mesabi mining companies that are operating under state leases will make a strong effort in the legislature, to convene shortly, for a reduction of royalties, but as there is considerable opposition to the movement throughout the state, and as the mines of the companies like the Rocke- feller syndicate and the Minnesota are mostly owned in fee, there is doubt of the request being granted. It is evident from complaints made by masters and owners whose boats have been taking coal out of Buffalo of late, and who have been forced to pay exorbitant prices for fuel in order to secure cargoes, that the question of devising some plan of overcoming this abuse at Buffalo, as well as other Lake Erie ports, will again be brought up at the annual meeting of the Lake Carriers' Association in Detroit on Jan. 8. General Manager Gordon of the Northern Steamship Company an- nounces that Mr. Duncan Fraser has been appointed to the position of superintending engineer in the company, vice A. MacAdam, resigned. It -- is understood that Mr. Peck's services with the company, which were ex- pected to be only temporary, are at an end. From experience gained as chief engineer on the North West, Mr. Fraser is considered fully compe- tent to look after the company's interests in the construction of machin- ery and boilers for the North Land and the operation of the two big boats next season. .