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MARINE REVIEW. VoL. XIII. CLEVELAND, O., FEBRUARY 20, 1896. No. 8... Another Big Steel Ship--Ship Yard Matters. Mr. W. I. Babcock of the Chicago Ship Building Co. informs the RE- VIEW that he has just closed a contract with the Wolvin syndicate of Du- luth for a steamer to be delivered at the opening of navigation in 1897, of the following dimensions: 406 feet keel, 48 feet beam and 28 feet deep. She will be practically a duplicate of the steamer Zenith City, built by the Chicago company for the same people, and will be constructed from the same model. The machinery will be the same and probably the boilers, although the matter of boilers is not definitely decided yet. The Zenith City has water tube boilers made by the Babcock & Wilcox company. The shipping and lighterage department of the Standard Oil Co. now has in the hands of the lake ship builders plans and specifications for a tow barge, designed especially for lake work, and which is to be 254 feet by 40 feet by 23 feet, with a capacity of 750,000 gallons on 14 feet draught. The vessel is to have afour-masted schooner rig, with deck houses and other appliances the same as on the barges now on the lakes, known as S. O. Co. No. 75 and S. O. Co. No. .76.. This new barge is to take the place of No. 75 and No. 76, which have a capacity of only 350,000 gallons each, and which are only 170 by 33 by 17 feet. The two barges now in ser- vice were originally built for coast work, and will be transferred to the coast next fall. In the construction of the new vessel there will be no departure from the practice followed in the two already built, except dis- pensing with the longitudinal bulkhead which runs through the center of these two barges and substituting a water bottom similar to that which is common in lake practice. Inspectors for the twelve 4,000-ton vessels that are being built in different lake ship yards for Mr. John D. Rockefeller are: One steamer at yard of Cleveland Ship Building Co. and two at Detroit Dry Dock Co.'s plant, Wyandotte, Mr. Sinclair Stewart of the U. S. Standard Register of Shipping, New York; two steamers at yard of Globe Iron Works Co., Cleveland, together with a steamer and two steel tow barges at Wheeler & Co.'s yard, West Bay City, John Haug of Philadelphia; one steamer and one tow barge at American Steel Barge Co.'s Works, West Superior, as well as two tow barges at South Chicago, Capt. F. D. Herriman of the Bureau Veritas, Chicago. Following are names selected for some of the new vessels now aides way in lake ship yards: Eddy-Shaw steamer at West Bay City, City of Bangor; Roby Transportation Co's steamer at same yard, 1. C. Waldo; North Western Transportation Co's steel tow barge at South Chicago, Geo. E Hartnell; C. W. Elphicke & Co's steamer at South Chicago Geo. N. Orr; Minnesota Steamship Co's steamer at South Chicago, Mari- copa; two steel tow barges for Minnesota Steamship Co. at South Chi- cago, Manda aud Martha; American Steel Barge Co's whaleback steamer at West Superior, Frank eprerelice. The proposition of Rieboldt, Wolter & Co. to remove their ship arti plant from Sheboygan to Sturgeon Bay, if they are given a site near the east entrance to the ship canal anda bonus of $6 000, has met witha favorable reception. The site has been voted tothe firm and subscrip- tions for the accompanying bonus are now being solicited. The site chosen is on a bed of limestone rock which will enable Rieboldt, Wolter & Co. to putin a substantial stationary dry dock of the largest size simply by drilling and blasting. Two launches are scheduled for Saturday of this week. At the ship yard of F, W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay City, Mich., the Roby Transporta- tion Co.'s steamer L. C. Waldo will very probably go into the water and at the Globe yard, Cleveland, everything is in readiness for the launch of the néw Mutual line steamer. Both boats will belong to the largest class of ships afloat on the lakes. Probably the largest repair job ever executed on the lakes, has just been finished by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. on the Northern Steamship Co's steamer Northern Wave, which stranded on rocks near Sand Beach, while trying to make that harbor during a storm in November last. It is reported that the cost of repairs will exceed $75,000. Upon the completion of Wheeler & Co's ship yard addition, two or three weeks hence, the firm will be employing, with eight big steel vessels under contract, about 1,500 men. It is said that the German government has decided upon the con- struction of twenty torpedo boat destroyers of 30 knots speed, and that orders for twelve of them have been placed in England. Duluth Freights--Cleaning Up Coal Stocks. Duluth, Minn., Feb. 19.--The freight situation here is thus described in a letter sent out by one of the leading brokerage firms: 'Shippers say they will pay 3 cents for two trips, but they are not very active in their inquiries. We have ascertained on very good authority that no wheat has been sold in this market for eastern shipment within two weeks, consequently we incline to the opinion that the inquiry now being made for tonnage is purely of a speculative nature on the part of the shippers. We think it possible that a cargo or two might be secured at 3% cents, shipment within ten days after the opening of navigation, but we are not prepared to make an offer of this kind. There are 14,000,000 bushels of all kinds of grain in store here, and probably 4,000,000 bushels more will be received before the opening of navigation. At the opening of navigation in 1895 the amount in store was 12,000,000 bushels. The cold weather prevailing through the past week has had a stimulating in- fluence in the matter of coal shipments, and we are still very strongly of the opinion that by the opening of navigation there will be no coal on the docks at Duluth or West Superior; very small. Considerable ice has been formed during the week, and more is making every day " Chicago Grain Freights. Chicago, Ill., Feb. 19.--The Buffalo corn 'rate dropped to2 cents Tuesday, two charters being made at that price. Some vessel agents have advised their principals to take their boats offthe market, believing that with a rate of 1% cents at the opening of navigation, they will be better off than to take 2 cents now. Extra tow bills and other expenses ~-- incidental to loading for winter storage, they say, will more than make The outlook in grain is far from what vessel men 'has : up the difference. hoped for at this stage of the winter season. at any rate, the quantity will be ie The little excursion steamer Belle has been sold by Henry J. O° Hara : to Albert C. Major of Duluth for $3,500. spring. The dissolved firm of Palmer, Cook & Calbick is cicinine all up. Calbick will retain the old office on Sherman street, while Cook goes in next to Carr & Blair's office. Novel Design of Marine Engine. A new design of marine engine of considerable novelty, and appar- ently possessing some solid advantages over the ordinary type of inver- ted direct-acting engines so long in use, has been submitted recently to a number of the leading engineering firmson the Clyde. The inventor and patentee is Mr. Wigzell, whose name is already favorably known in connection with the Cooper-Wigzell sea-sounding apparatus. The dis- position of the cylinders in the new type of engine is at right angles to the crank-shaft in a three-cylinder triple expansion engine, but there are six pistons in place of three. Steam is admitted to the cylinder about its mid-length, and expanding between two pistons forces them apart, one © with its piston-rod going downwards to the crank, the other with its pis-- ton-rod going upwards through the top of cylinder, but by an ingenious arrangement of T-arms having a return action on the cranks, which are only three in number in vessels up to 3,000 horse power. The patentee claims for his engine that greater power can be attained with smaller diameter of cylinders than now obtains in practice, perfect balance, a practically uniform power throughout its revolutions, friction of main bearings greatly reduced, the crank-shaft being almost a floating one, and that for the same power developed much less space is required. Some engineers to whom the working of this engine has been shown consider it well adapted for high piston speeds, and on account of the diminished space occupied, it may with advantage be adopted in high- speed craft, such as swift steam yachts, torpedo boats, and light cruisers, and also for electric light purposes.--Fairplay, London. A meeting of Philadelphia members of the Association of American Draughtsmen was held Saturday, Feb. 15, at which it was proposed to form achapter in that city. A committee was appointed to frame by- laws. The next meeting will be held Saturday, Feb. 29, whey will be discussed plans for furnishing draughting roomsin the central portion of the city, that the American draughtsmen of all trades may have a place where they may not only transact private business, but also meet their brother draughtsmen in social intercourse. She will goto Duluth next oe