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6 : MARINE REVIEW. A Vessel A Week. The latent power of a maritime country lies in the private ship yards and engineering works at large within her borders. In this respect Great Britain still stands unrivalled. In the old wars, inthe days of oak and hemp, Eugland's yards enabled her to launch ship after ship ; some, it is true, were not exactly "Hearts of Oak," for when oak ran short and time pressed, shift had to be made with less staunch ma- terial. Again, the many iron foundries enabled cannon to be cast throughout the land, and the power was not wanting to bore and finish them. Thus,by her recuperative power,England maintained her mastery of the sea. But in old days of sails, when it took perhaps twelve months to get around the world,wars were reckoned by as many years as now they would by months. The battleship has become so infinitely more in- tricate, such a vast and highly organized machine, that its construction can not be hastened as of old. Therefore, so far as the main body of the fleet is concerned,--in spite of the acceleration in dockyard construction of late--as a nation finds itself when war breaks out, so must it fight it out. This, however, does not apply to the smaller. craft, the auxiliaries of the fleet, which are expected to perform so large a share in the work of destruction. Here the latent power will be made sensible. A foretaste of what may be accomplished has lately been given by Messrs. J. & G. Thompson, at the Clydebank yard where the Paris, New York and many other renowned liners have been built, to say nothing of the Terrible, the first of the two largest cruisers ever constructed in England. Some time ago the Spanish government awoke all at once to the immediate necessity of quashing the Cuban insurrection, and, finding that they wanted light, quick vessels, searched the yards of Europe, only to learn that the market had been cleared by the South American repub- lics in the settlement of their little differences. There being nothing available 'in stock," proposals were invited for quick dispatch, and Clydebank undertook seven gunboats, to be turned out in three months, heavy penalties being recoverable for further delay. The contract was signed on July 11, 1895, but owing to the Glasgow fair holidays, which no Clyde artisan will miss, especially if his firm is exceptionally busy, a commencement was not made until July 22. The first vessel was launched on Aug. 24, and was ready to be taken over on Sept. 11. Others followed in quick succession, the last being completed ten days within the con- tract time, the entire period occupied for completing the seven vessels being just ten weeks--a little less than a vessel a week. The displace- ments of the vessels vary between 100 and 300 tons, and the speeds from 12to 13 knots. The first vessel was 186 feet long, 26 feet wide and 11 feet draught. A yard that can turn out work in this fashion, in spite of havinga big cruiser, a battleship aud three torpedo boat destroyers in hand is, indeed, a source of strength to its country. Another piece of smart work was executed by Messrs. Yarrow & Co. in turning out the stern wheel gunboats Mosquito and Herald for service in African rivers in the British service. England then had a little trouble looming up with Portugal. The order was given on the first day of April, and on the fifth of May following the trial trip took place, the con- struction having occupied just twenty-five working days. Inthe year 1893 the French government found it necessary to give the Dahomyans alesson in ahurry, Wanting a shallow-draught gunboat for the pur- pose, they naturally first tried their own native builders, but no French- man would undertake to turn out a vessel under four months, some ask- ing ten. They then applied to Messrs. Yarrow & Co., who considered that the thing could be done ina month. They booked the order, com- menced work on April 28, and in twenty-three working days, or by May 23, the boat had made her trial. The vessel was 100 feet long by 18 feet wide, and like the two built for England, was made in portable sections which could be carried on a steamer and put together afloat. She steamed 10 miles an hour and carried 100 troops.--Cassier's Magazine. Fuelling Agreement. _ The committee empowered to act for the Lake Carriers' Association in the matter of fuel for steam vessels, met in Cleveland Wednesday and adopted the following agreement, which, it is expected, all members of the association will sign, and which means that during the coming season fuel will be purchased from hard coal dealers at Buffalo, but at no port shall the question of furnishing cargoes enter into the price of fuel, or the right of the vessel owner to purchase his fuel where he sees fit: _ "This memorandum of agreement made as of the 12th day of Febru- ary, 1896, witnesseth: We the undersigned owners, managers and agents of vessels on the great lakes do hereby agree each for himself and each to and with every other signer as follows: _ WHEREAS, great abuses crept into the business of fuelling steamers, whereby certain shippers and dock managers required a steamer to ob- tain fuel in some particular place as a condition of the charter or in con- nection with furnishing or handling of cargoes, and certain shippers dis- criminated against consorts, which do not require fuel, unreasonable prices were charged and various extortions were practiced upon vessels and their owners in the matter of fuelling; and. WHEREAS, to meet these abuses in part many vessel owners last year refused to purchase fuel under any circumstances from the coal shipper by reason of the abuses referred to; now, in order to prevent any unfair- ness or injustice on either side we agree that during the season of 1896, our vessels shall obtain fuel wherever it mey seem to their best advant- age, whether with the shipper of cargo or any other shipper, the mana- ger of any dock, or from any fueling concern, or elsewhere, but this shall be upon the basis and conditions that shippers of coal whether at Buffalo or any other Lake Erie port, and whether of hard or soft coal, and every other shipper or manager of any dock, shall leave the vessel, her owner and master free to purchase fuel at any place the owner or master shall deem best for the interest of the vessel, and shall not make fuelling a condition of chartering or handling the vessel's cargo and shall not dis- criminate against consorts because of their not requiring fuel, or charge more than the usual market price taking into consideration the quality of the coal furnished. : "And for the purpose only of insuring absolute freedom of trade to all parties in the matter of fuelling, the undersigned owners agree that they and each of them shall refuse to deal at all in the matter of fuelling with any parties who shall attempt to abridge the right of the vessel to obtain fuel independently of any other consideration, and for that pur- pose we adopt as our committee the following, who were named at the Lake Carriers' meeting: James W. Millen, William S. Mack, John Rice, B. L. Pennington, M. A. Bradley, James Corrigan, David Vance, Thomas Wilson and George G. Hadley. 'We authorize this committee to appoint a sub-committee, of their own number if found more convenient, said committee being hereby in- vested with authority in our name and for us to adopt such proper measures as may be necessary in such case from time to time, each here- by agreeing to report at once to the chairman of the committee any such instance, and each of us agree to give directions toour agents and masters to do nothing directly or indirectly to defeat the purpose and intention of this agreement." Around the Lakes. Frank Rockefeller is the name selected for the steamer that is being built at West Superior for the American Steel Barge Co. The steamer Neosho, which met with an accident last season and was sold as a wreck in Milwaukee, is now controlled by the Milwaukee Tug Boat Line. Washington's birthday is the day selected for the launch of the big. new Mutual line steamger--432 feet over all--at the ship yard of the Globe Iron Works Co., Cleveland. Arthur Irwin is now corresponding secretary of the Thunder Bay as- sociation of marine engineers, No. 85, Alpena, Mich. His address is No. 427 Washington avenue. Maricopa is the name selected for the steamer that is being built He South Chicago for the Minnesota Steamship Co. The two steel tow barges building at the same yard for the same company will be named Manda and Martha. . J. Kendall of Port Huron is engaged in the commendable work of endeavoring to establish a life saving station at that port. He is prepar- ing petitions and other documents to be forwarded to Washington and if he succeeds he will deserve the congratulations of the shipping interests. Recent vessel transfers at Chicago are: Schooner Horace Taber, Mrs. Antoinette Swenson to Peter W. Peterson, all, $1,000; schooner Lake Forest, W. D. Hitchcock to Chas. E. and Ervin P. Hinds, all, $5,500; schooner T. Y. Avery, M. A. Gunderson to John W. and Mannes J. Bonner, all, $800. The London Times reports that 18,000,000 roubles have been appio- priated by the Russian government for naval construction during 1896. The main object of Russia, according to the dispatch, is that for every new warship, especially of the cruiser class, which England shall add to her fleet, Russia shall produce one equally good or superior. The dis- patch adds that seven vessels are now in course of construction for the Russian navy. Another dispatch says: "The czar has given his sanc- tion to the naval estimates covering a period of seven years, beginning in 1896, when 57,500,000 roubles will be appropriated for naval purposes. This sum will be increased 500,000 roubles yearly. The figures are fixed in proportion to the amounts expended on their naval forces by other powers." Capt. Nicoll Ludlow, U. S. N., who has been on duty as a member of the steel board in Washington, was a few days ago unexpectedly ordered to command of the monitor Monterey. Capt. Kane, who was in com- mand of the Monterey, has been granted a leaveof absence on account of sickness. It was thought that Capt. Ludlow was to be given the San Francisco, but this emergency order has probably changed things.