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MARINE REVIEW. it Ship Yard Matters, A Detroit correspondent says: "Within a fortnight half a dozen vessels have been docked by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. The steamer Elfin-Mere, barge Toledo and whaleback 104 were among them. 'The whaleback, which was damaged by collision with one of the Minch steamers, had simply a small plate, 3 by 4 feet, tapped on overa damaged plate of larger dimensions. At the Dry Dock Engine Works some important alterations in machinery are being made in the Bradley steamer Ranney, which is also being fitted with Howden hot draft apparatus. Her old boiler has been taken out and a new one of the Scotch type, which will have the Howden appliances, is ready to be placed aboard. 'The rebuilt steamer Fayette Brown has been floated from the Springwells dock, where she has been all winter, and in the few days that this plant has been given up to generay repair work, three steamers, the Fessenden, State of Michigan and Wyan- dotte, have all been docked for minor repairs. S. F. Hodge & Co. have also been busy on machinery repairs, including extensive jobs on the Get- tysburg and Geo. Farwell. The schooner Peshtigo, which has been re- built and converted into a steamer, left Hodge's works on Saturday last for Lake Superior. At Wyandotte a force of about 900 men is being worked to the utmost on the four freight steamers that are under construction,but even with this great rush the management of the ship yard did mot dis- courage the desire of the workmen to offer sympathy to Assistant Superin- tendent Crossweller when his family was visited by death a few days ago. The assistant superintendent lost a daughter, an estimable young lady of . seventeen years. The works were closed down at noon on the day of the funeral and the men followed the remains to the grave." A slight departure from the regulation style of rounded deck in the whalebacks has been made in the steamer Franklin Rockefeller, which was launched at West Superior on Saturday last. The deck is flatter and the sides straighter than any of the other whalebacks. This is the thirty- seventh whaleback ship now afloat. The thirty-eighth vessel, a consort for this steamer, will be launched in a couple of weeks. Four of the vessels are on the Atlantic coast and one, the City of Everett, on the Pacific. The others are all on the lakes. The steamer just launched has eleven center line hatches, each 12 by 8 feet, and ten side hatches on the port side, each 6 by 4 feet. This arrangement will permit of twenty-one ore spouts being lowered into the vessel when loading. The Rockefeller is 382 feet long, 45 feet beam and 26 feet deep. Her triple expansio1 engines, as well as three Scotch boilers, were built by the Cleveland Ship Building Co. The engines have cylinders of 23, 38 and 63 inches diameter by 4o inches stroke, and the boilers are 12 feet in diameter by 13 feet long, each having three 38 inch furnaces, and capable of withsta: ding 175 pounds working steam pressure. The propeller is 13 feet 6 iaches in diameter and 16 feet pitch. Alike to all of the other modern whalebacks, this steamer is fitted with a complete electrical plant for lighting purposes and has steam windlass, steam capstans, etc. On account of uncertainty regarding time of delivery of the dif- ferent Rockefeller ships, names for them have not all been assigned as yet, but it has been decided to give the names Sir Henry Bessemer and Sir Wm. Siemens to the two steamers that are being built at the Globe works, Cleveland, while the two steamers that are being built by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. will be named Sir Wm, Fairbairn and Robert Ful- ton, The steamer under construction at the American Steel Barge Co's, works will be named John Ericsson. The tonnage of the mutual line steamer Coralia, recently built by the Globe Iron Works Co., Cleveland, and which will leave Saturday on her first trip for ore from Escanaba, is 4,330.82 tons gross and 3,351.43 net. Her official number 127,129. The Coralia will very probably takea big cargo of ore out of Escanaba for Ashtabula, as she is 432 feet over all. Tonnage of the steel schooner Geo. EK. Hartnell, just completed at South Chicago, is 3,265.50 gross and 3,154.70 net. The aggregate value of new ships being built by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. is about $1,252,000. This is allowing $360,000 for the side-wheeler City of Buffalo, $256,000 each for the two Rockefeller ships, $250,000 for the Wolverine company's steamer and $130,000 for the -steel lumber carrier that is being built for C. R. Jones and others of Cleveland. About 1,300 men are employed in the various departments of the dry dock company's works. The wooden schooner building at Abram Smith & Son's yard, Algonac, Mich., will be launched and ready for service about May 15. She will be named Vinland and will tow behind the Viking. This vessel is 210 feet keel, 37 feet beam and 14 feet 2 inches depth, and is of white oak entire. She will be schooner rigged and will have asteam windlass and capstan, as well as a deck hoist and two 8-inch pumps. If Senator Frye's amendment to the sundry civil appropriation is car- ried in the final proceedings, that measure will contain appropriations for two revenue cutters for the lakes, which will cost about $200,000 each and which will be similar to the steamer now building in Cleveland. Bids on these vessels would be called for about the time of getting over the present tush in lake yards. Recent Publications. As an addition to their series of practical handbooks, Spon & Cham- berlain, No. 12 Cortlandt street, New York, have issued a translation of G. Lieckfeld's little book on the care and management of gas engines. A chapter on oil engines has been added by G.Richmond,who made the trans- lation. Inthe limits allowed it has only been possible to refer to the Otto gas engine and the Hornsby-Akroyd oil engine. The book sells for $1. We have received through the Burrows Bros. Co., Cleveland, a copy of another work in the series of royal navy handbooks edited by Com- mander C. N. Robinson, R. N. Its title is "Naval Administration" and it deals with the constitution, character and functions of the British board of admiralty and of the civil departments under its supervision. Admiral Sir Vesey Hamilton, late first sea lord of the admiralty, is the author. McMillan & Co., New York, are the publishers. 'Refrigerating Machinery," containing the general principles of refrigerating and ice making machinery, by George Richmond, M. E., will be mailed free on receipt of 20 cents in stamps. American Engineer- ing Publishing Company, 333 Adams street, Brooklyn, N. Y. No Free Gharts. Some vessel owners and masters are of the opinion that the govern- ment still furnishes to new vesssels a full set of charts. This practice has been discontinued, as noted in the following letter from the United States engineer office from which the charts are issued in Detroit: Editor MARINE REVIEW: Your letter of the 27th inst. in reference to issue of charts to new vessels has been received. Charts are issued free of © cost only for the official use of officers in the service of the United States. To all other persons they are sold at the actual cost of paper and printing ; therefore, the only way in which a new vessel leaving a ship yard can obtain a set of charts is by purchase. United States Engineer office, Detroit, Mich., April 28, 1895. J. B. CAVANAUGH, Second Lieut., Corps of Eng. U.S.A. Mr. H. E. Schmuck of Springfield, Mass., is interested in lake vessel propery and is a careful reader of all information that is printed regard- ing lake shippiug. His requests to the REVIEW for information regard- ing new ships, carrying charges, operating expenses, etc., would indicate that he is better posted generally on shipping matters here than a great many vessel owners who are on the ground, but who do not go into de- tails as he does, A recent communication from Mr. Schmuck orders a copy of the year book, which the REVIEw is to issue shortly, and also the complete list of captains and engineers published a few days ago. His estimate of the value of printed matter sent out from this office may be judged from the following note in his last letter: "Iwill give youa standing order. Whenever you get out or publish any book or paper of any kind, which will give me any information on lake matters, Eee send me a copy without awaiting instructions." Now that the government is about to place more large orders for torpedo boats, the Herreshoffs of Bristol, R. I., are again making offers on boats of highspeed. They offer to build boats of thirty knots speed for $215,000 each. The Herreshoffs say that they would like to build for the navy two or more boats of the highest practicable speed, not to exceed 225 tons displacement, and a speed of at least thirty knots. To enable them to realize this speed they say that it would be imperative to use the highest quality of material obtainable, and to employ the greatest skill in manufacture. They areconfident that by using nickel steel they would be able to save sufficiently in weight and gainin strength to obtain this result; but this only can be done by considerably increasing the cost of material and labor over that necessary for the torpedo boats hitherto built in this country. Mr. H. F. J. Porter of Chicago, western representative of the Beth- lehem Iron Co., will read a paper on hollow steel forgings at the meeting of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, to be held in St. Louis, May 19. He has also prepared an article for Cassier's magazine, which will appear shortly and which will treat of steel forgings. Mr. Porter is specially interested in the matter of securing for his company an increase of business among ship and engine builders on the lakes, and he is doing a good deal of missionary work with thisendin view. With the aid of a number of lantern slides he will, at an early date, present the subject in an address to Chicago underwriters. He proposes also to make arrange- ments for similar addresses during the coming winter before the several associations of marine engineers in leading lake cities. The chart of distances between lake 'ports, which was recently pub- lished by the hydrographic office, is the only reliable distance chart in existence. Distances are in statute miles. This chart is especially ser- viceable in the offices of vessel owners where book records of miles run, and costs of various supplies per ton per mile are kept. It sells at 50 cents and may be had from the MARINE REVIEW, Perry-Payne building, Cleveland. ;