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6 MARINE, Flint & Pere Marquette Car Ferry. As announced in the last issue of the REVIEW, F. W. Wheeler & Co. of West Bay City are to build the big $300,000 steel car ferry, upon which the Flint & Pere Marquette Railway Co. have been figuring for some time past. This vessel will run exclusively on Lake Michigan between Manitowoc and Ludington and will be in every way fitted for winter as well as summer service. Wheeler & Co. now have under contract six steel steem vessels, and two steel tow barges, valued in all at $1,670,000. The length of this car ferry between perpendiculars will be 331 feet, her over all length 350 feet, beam 56 feet, depth below main deck 19% feet, depth from upper deck to floor 37 feet. The steel frames and plat- ing will extend from bilge to upper deck, and the main and upper decks also are to be of steel. In preparing the plans for the craft particular attention was devoted to the matter of strength. Thisis evidenced by the fact that 2,700 tons of steel will be used in her construction. The bow of the new steamer is to be double-plated with 3/-inch plates for a distance of 30 feet abaft the stem, and this double plating will extend 3 feet above the load line. To resist the great pressure of ice shoves, chan- nel beams thoroughly secured both vertically and horizontally will span the hull at close intervals about midway between the floor and main deck. The hull will have six water-tight compartments but no water-bottom. KELLEY & SPEAR'S SHIP YARD, BATH, ME. A shield of forged steel will afford protection for the rudder, and the shafting of the two after wheels will be housed in as on the Northern line steamers North Land and North West. The steamer will have three-fore-and aft compound engines of equal power each with 24 and 48-inch cylinders and 36-inch stroke. One of these engines will work the bow wheel, the other two the stern wheels. Steam is to be furnished by four boilers, each 13% feet in diameter and 12 feet long. The wheels are to be of steel, the two aft of 11 feet and the for- ward one 9% feet diameter. The upper works will be of wood. They embrace a cabin with accommodations for twenty-five passengers in con- nection with the pilot house, texas, etc., and a house abaft the smoke- stacks to provide quarters for the crew. The steamer will carry thirty loaded cars and 200 tons of coal on a draught not to exceed 13 feet. She is to be completed in October next. Chase Deck Engine. The illustration shows a powerful and well-built deck engine. Since deck engines have become a side issue to so many small shops, it will pay owners to consider advanta- geous features of this machine. It can be made in 6 by 8,7 by 8, 8 by 10 and other sizes. The working parts are steel and forged, and there are two ; {eh i winch heads, with arrangement for attaching pump. The lever is re- versible and there is no chance of it getting out of order. The sides of the base are raised to form a drip-pan. Fishing concerns will be inter- ested in knowing that this engine with attachments is used for drivin g and pulling stakes. Other particulars will be furnished by the Chase Machine Co., Cleveland, O. In preparation for the large amount of work which the Detroit Dry Dock Co. now has on hand, a number of improvements and alterations must be made in parts of its plant. Two slips at the Wyandotte yard will be increased to a length of about 460 feet each. REVIEW. A Simple Trap. We illustrate what is called by the makers, for the sake of a name the diamond trap This isa simple and inexpensive device specially, designed for automatically discharging the water of condensation in places where 500 or 1,000 feet of 3{-inch or l-inch pipe is to be taken care SS ge eer eee A ' of. The steam is to be connected to the opening D and the discharge takes place at the outlet E. To adjust the valve for service, steam is first allowed to blow through until the entire valve is thoroughly heated. The head B with the expanding plug C is then screwd down and fastens the plug permanently in position, and the outer cap is then screwed down tightly over all. While the chamber is filled with steam the valve will remain closed, but as the water collects in it, the temperature will fal), the plug C will contract, being made of special material for this service, and the water will flow out until the steam arrives again, when the valve willinstantly close. The diamond trapis made by Jenkins Brothers, No. 71 John street, New York. Miscellaneous Matters. Capt. M. M. Drake, well known vessel owner, has been appointed commisioner of public works at Buffalo. Capt. Hursley of Sault Ste. Marie, who bought the schooners Moon- light and Kent, ashore near Marquette, claims that a week of good weather in the spring willbe sufficient to release the vessels. He says that no effort was made to release the vessels when wreckers went to them from the Sault recently. He was simply making an examination of their con- dition. Capt. Thomas Wilson's steamer W. D. Rees, launched recently by the Cleveland Ship Building Co., is built on the channel system of construc- tion and under the rules and inspection of the United States Standard Register of New York. The vessel will be classed in this register with half a hundred or more other big steel steamers built recently on the lakes. In the large table of lake ship building returns elsewhere in this issue, the Craig Ship Building Co. of Toledo is credited with contracts for two wooden steamers. This is a mistake. The vessels are of the tow-barge kind, and are to be built for the Wisconsin & Michigan Rail- way Co. They are intended for the transfer of railway cars on Lake Michigan, and are to be similar to the barges built last winter by Capt. James Davidson of West Bay City, Mich. Robert Curr, who was at one time employed by the Cleveland Ship Building Co., and who has of late been with the Bertram Engine Works of Toronto and the Union Dry Dock Co. of Buffalo, has just been ap- . pointed superintendent of the ship yard of the Globe Iron Works Co, Mr. Curr's early training was mainly with the Thomsons and Harland & Wolff, famous British ship buiiders. He has gained a thorough knowl- edge of lake practice through several years of experience here. We have known of his ability for a long time past and have every reason to an- ticipate a prosperous future for him in the trust that the Globe Iron Works Co. has placed in him. He is a young man who has devoted a great deal of study to advanced methods in ship buildin g. By the sale of the steamer Geo. W. Roby to Capt. W. S. Mack and others of Cleveland, F. W. Wheeler & Co. of West Bay City have realized a neat profit. When Wheeler & Co. contracted some time ago with Mr. Roby and others to build a steel steamer, it was agreed that the Geo. W. Roby shoufd be taken in part payment for the new boat, at the close of the season just past, at $75,000. When this contract was made vessel property was not as valuable as at present. Now Wheeler & Co. sell the vessel, through Mitchell & Co. of Cleveland, to Capt. Mack for $90,000. The Roby is a very good wooden steamer. She was built by Wheeler & Co. in 1889. Capt. Mack and his associates now own three steamers and three schooners, all good wooden ships. They are the steamers V. H. Ketchum, Pascal P. Pratt and Geo. W. Roby and schooners W. D. Becker, Wadena and Anna M. Ash.