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MARINE REVIEW. Vot. XIII. CLEVELAND, O., JUNE 18, 1806. No. 25. --_--_--_ Ship Yard Matters, The Cleveland steamer Marquette, which has been undergoing gen- eral alterations of machinery at the Dry Dock Engine Works, Detroit, was delivered to her owners Saturday, having been out of commission just three weeks from the time of her arrival at the Detroit shops. In this time a new Howden hot draft boiler, 12 feet 3 inches diameter and 11 feet 6 inches long, allowed 150 pounds steam pressure, had been fitted to the boat, and her engines were compounded so that they are now 21 and 44 inches diameter by 36inches stroke. Similar alterations were recently made by the same company in the Bradley steamer R. P. Ranney. The Ranney's old boiler was replaced by a Howden hot draft boiler of 12 feet Ginches diameter and 12 feet length, allowed 160 pounds steam pressure. She also received a new high pressure cylinder of 20 inches diameter, which replaced one of 28 inches, and the compound cylinder was bushed from 52 inches diameter to 46 inches. A newcrank pin and a lining up of journal brasses were also among the changes. A new wheel is now being made for the Ranney, as the old one was found too small for the new order of things. It is claimed that the reduction in fuel consump- tion on the Ranney has already exceeded expectations on account of the changes. Another repair job at the Detroit works is the rebuilding of the Argonaut's wrecked engines, The framing of these engines broke off under the cylinders, letting them fall back over the engine room hatch, bending the piston rod valve stems and breaking the valve stem brackets and small gear. This job will be completed in about two weeks. En- gines of the steel lumber carrier building for C. R. Jones and others of Cleveland will have steam on during the present week, and it is expected that the big steamer Senator will be launched on Saturday next. Prep- arations were partly made to launch this boat last Saturday but it was found impossible to do so. Engines and boilers for the first of the Rock- efeller steamers wlll be completed about July 1. A Detroit correspondent says: "Owing to several wet days of late, completion of the large steamship Senator at Wyandotte has been further delayed, but with a very large force of men--some of them working almost day and night during the past week--the big ship is about ready for launching and will go into the water on Saturday, the 20th. Nearly 800 men are now employed in the Wyandotte ship yard, and with so much labor ready to be transferred to the Rockefeller ships, itis ex- pected that the launch of the first of these will occur in about three weeks. The steamer Arganaut, which is undergoing repairs to machin- ery is also in the Detroit Dry Dock Co's large dock for part new keel, forefoot, and general bottom repairs. The new boiler built at the same company's boiler shop for the steamer Iron Ageis completed and will be placed on board to-day (Thursday). are also at the sheer legs, ready for the arrival of the steamer from Wyandotte. Two steam steering machines, which are also at the dry dock company's sheer legs, are attracting considerable attention. The type is known as the "Sentinel." 'They were made in Glassgow, Scotland, by -- Alley & McLellan. The machine is compact and the workmanship ex- cellent. - Capt. Alex Ruelle's tug C. A. Lorman, which was ashore in Pigeon bay recently, and which was released by the Murphy Wrecking Co., was placed in the Springwells dry dock. She required new stan- chions, new rail and considerable other work, her port side having been badly used up. Her boiler is shifted and her machinery and piping also Suffered some damage. At Oades' marine railway the yacht Uarda, owned by C. D. Waterman, is up for minor repairs, repainting, etc. The S. M. Fischer, with the two new car ferry barges, all of which were built by Craig of Toledo for the Lake Michigan Car Ferry Co., passed up the other day. The tug is a fine appearing boat, but the barges, with their Scow sterns, are not so good looking." About $3,000 will be spent on the schooner Moonlight and about $6,000 on the Kent, both of which are under repairs at the dock of the Cleveland Dry Dock Co. The Moonlight was in need of no immediate Tepairs, but it was necessary to give both vessels a general overhauling, as they had been abandoned as total losses by the underwriters and could tot get aclass without repairs. They will both be good vessels when they leave the dry dock and can be used to advantage by J. C. Gilchrist, their new owner, although it might be impossible to make any money With them if they were not in a fleet like that controlled by Mr. Gilchrist. Saturday, June 27 »is the date fixed for the launch, at the yard of F.W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay City, of the steel steamer Lagonda, another big coarse freight carrier, which will be owned by Capt. John Mitchell and others of Cleveland. There are now five steel vessels of the The two boilers for the Senator : very largest class on the stocks at Wheeler & Co.'s yard--the Lagonda, the steel car ferry for the Flint & Pere Marquette Ry. Co. and a steamer and two barges for the Rockefeller fleet. Davis & Sons, Kingston, Ont., are building a wooden steam yacht for A. E. Knopf of No. 36 Spruce street, New York. The vessel is to be 70 feet over all, 60 feet load 'water line, 12 feet 3inches beam, 5 feet 9 inches depth of hold and 3 feet 10-inches draft. The engines are fore- and-aft compound, with cylinders of 7 and 14 inches diameter by 10 inches stroke. The boiler will be of a water tube kind originated by the builders. Tonnage of the steamer Lagonda, building at West Bay City, as fixed by the bureau of navigation, treasury department, is 3,647.40 gross and 3,017.34 net. Tonnage of the tug S. M. Fischer, just completed by the Craig Ship Building Co. for the Lake Michigan Car Ferry Co., is 628.71 gross and 427.52 net, while that of the two new car ferry barges that are to tow with the Fischer is in each case 1,581.05 gross and the same net. It is now understood that the Chicago Ship Building Co. has definitely decided to go ahead with the erection of an engine building plant, but no boiler works will be connected with it. Ship Yard Employes, Employes of the lake ship yards that build steel vessels have, within the past two or three years, become connected, in large numbers, with the organization of boilermakers and iron ship builders which has just closed a convention in Cleveland. About 4,000 boiler makers and ship yard employes were represented in the convention. Delegates were present from all of the lake cities where steel ship building plants are located, and one of the most important acts of the convention had reference to wages in these ship yards. Up to this time the local lodges have dealt with the matter of wages, and it is claimed that the scale has varied in Detroit, Cleveland, South Chicago and other places, It is now proposed to organize on the lakes a district lodge, which will be made up of two delegates from each of the local lodges, and which will deal with the question of wages in all lake yards. Preparations for the formation of this district lodge will be made as soon as the delegates who have been in attendance at the national convention return to their homes. It is expected that the first meeting of the district organization will be held in Cleveland or Chicago sometime next month, and that thereafter meet- ings forthe arrangement ofa scale of wages for all ship yards will be held annually, probably, in May. The question of whether wages in the - different yards should be uniform, or whether allowance should be made to builders who are at some disadvantage on account of extra freight charges on material, was informally discussed at the convention, but this ~ is a matter that will, of course, be left to the district organization. Rep- resentatives in the convention from lake cities said that they expected to -- - consult the ship builders in matters pertaining to the formation of the district organization, and'that they expected also to prove to the builders that the new order of things would be an advantage to them, as it would bring about stability of labor charges, and would also place the builders in a position of equality as to cost of labor. fi At the convention just adjourned the national organization made some changes in its constitution, notably the striking out of the word " white" in the clause pertaining to membership and a decision to offil- iate with the American Federation of Labor. The nine-hour-day question was not settled. The next convention will be heldin New Orleans in June, 1898. Officers elected for the next two years are as follows: Lee Johnson of Kansas City, grand president; G.T.Gilthorpe of Kansas City, grand secretary and treasurer ; Charles Garr of South Chicago, first vice president; John McNeil of West Bay City, second vice president ; W. J. Smith of New Orleans, third vice president; N. B. White of Mon- treal, fourth vice president; George Manchester of Pittsburg, fifth vice president; F. H. Schiller of Chicago, grand organizer; Charles P. Pat- rick of Savannah, deputy grand organizer. In the REVIEW of May 4, there was printed a rule for ascertaining how much coal a modern lake steamer should burn per hour. After multiplying by .5 or .6, the instructions read: "Divide this product by 2, which will give the economical horse power of the engine." This should not be done, as the result is obtained by multiplying by.5. The error was in giving two methods for getting the same result. _The ex- ample given was correct but the instructions preceding it were in error.