The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

8 MARINE REVIEW. Commending Babcock & Wilcox Boilers. In a paper read by J. R. Fothergill, at a recent meeting of the Northeast Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders, was the following letter from the superintending engineer of Wilson Sons & Co., Hull, England: "T believe we were the first in this country to try Messr. Babcock & Wilcox's water-tube boilers in a sea-going steamer; this was over three years ago in our steamship Nero. This boiler is running quite satisfactorily, and the ship has not lost a day for boiler repairs up to the present. A few tubes in the feed water heater have been renewed, and probably the whole of them will require renewals shortly, as they appear to corrode very rapidly. In the boiler proper only one or two tubes exposed to the fire have been renewed, ata trifling cost. About twelye months ago we fitted a new steamer, the Hero, with a pair of boilers by the same makers, but somewhat modified in details, no heater was fitted, and the tubes were larger in diameter. We have had considerable trouble with the bottom row of tubes in these boilers, and in consequence of this, in a third ship, the steamship Cameo, which we have fitted with Babcock & Wilcox boilers, we have re- verted to the smaller tubes (slightly larger than the Nero's), and up to the present no tubes have given away, neither have any repairs been required to these boilers. As regards consumption, there is not much either way; comparing the steamships Hero, Nero, and Cameo. With our most economical forced draught and ordinary boilers they fall slightly short, but still give as good results as ordinary averages with the ordinary boilers. I think the direction in which economy in con- sumption is to be sought for in the water-tube boilers is in the arrange- ment of baffles over or amongst the tubes, so as to properly utilise the heat that frequently too easily goes up the funnel. We have, as you are probably aware, one steamer fitted with four Belleville boilers. We have not been fortunate in our experience with these, but perhaps this has been from causes other than the design although it is certain that the Belleville boiler is more difficult to clean and repair than is the Babcock & Wilcox, whilst with us the consumption has been greater with the Belleville than with the Babcock & Wilcox."' A Look into the Future. An exchange comments on the opening of the new Soo lock as fol- lows: 'The opening of the commerce of the great lakes of the new lock, capable of accommodating vessels of deep draft, is regarded by head of the lake business men and students of transportation as an event of deep significance. Within a short time-there will be a mini- mum depth of 16 feet or more all the way through the connecting waters of Lake Superior and Huron. This means that the Lake Superior ports will be placed on a footing with those of Lake Michigan as regards available draft for transportation of freight to and from the foot of the lake system. "Chicago will have no advantage over Duluth, in the future in that respect, as she has had in the past. Lake freights from Chicago to the lower end of Lake Erie have ever been lower than from Duluth for the reason that vessels could take a heavier cargo out of the great Lake Michigan metropolis. The completion of the American lock, and the deepening of the shallow places in the St. Mary's river, will adjust the differences between Duluth and Chicago, as regards lake freight rates, for the conditions will no longer be unequal. The dis- tance from Chicago to Buffalo is slightly less than from Duluth, but the facilities for handling freight of all kinds are far superior at Duluth than at Chicago, and that fact more than offsets the advantage of distance. "It is expected that, with the completion of a deeper channel at the Encampment, rates will experience an equivalent drop at the head of the lakes and that under natural conditions they will never be as high as they have ranged in the past. The opening of the new Amer- ican lock and the deepening of the river connecting Huron and Lake Superior will be a powerful blow to the small vessels which were such prosperous members of the maritime community seven or eight years ago. There are few of them, however, that have not paid for them- selves more than once. ~The greatest and most direct benefit which will accrue to Duluth as a result of the placing of this Lake Superior route on an even basis with the Chicago route, via the lakes, will be the certainty that a vast amount of grain and other products produced in the territory equally distant from Chicago and Duluth, will come that way, instead of go- ing via Chicago, Corn is one of the products which much can be ex- a ---- pected of in this connection. The shipment via Duluth is preferable on account of the better facilities for handling and for other reasons of more or less influence."' In General. The Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del., will build a large ocean tug for the Philadelphia & Reading railroad. The Pusey & Jones Co., Wilmington, Del., will build a side- wheel passenger steamer for Venezuela service., 131 feet long and 25 feet beam, having two compound engines. : The Richelieu and Ontario 'Navigation Co., with its usual enter- prise, has made soundings in the St. Lawrence river between Coteay - and Beauharnois, and has discovered a new channel, which will sim: plify the navigation of the Split Rock rapids greatly. The greatest waves known are these on the Cape of Good Hope, where under the influence of a northwest gale, they have been found to exceed 40 feet in height. Off Cape Horn they have been measured at 32 feet from trough to crest, and in the North Atlantic waves from 20 to 25 feet are by no means uncommon. Ordinarily, however, they rarely exceed 8 or 10 feet, and all accounts of their running "moun- tain high" must be received as mere poetical exaggerations. A new port for Canadian coal shipments is being constructed on the north side of Cape Breton by an American company, which will work in opposition to the Dominion Coal Company. They are build- ing a breakwater on the northern side of McIsaac's lake, where they intend to dredge the channel into the lake, to keep the sand which is all on the northern side of the intended harbor from filling up the channel when dredged, and to protect the dredge while at work there, They are also building two wharves in the lake, one for general' freight and the other for the shipment of coal. The railroad between the coal mines and the lake is nearly all graded.--Marine Journal. Single Cylinder Engine and Dynamo. In a recent issue we illustrated and described a compact double _ cylinder engine and dynamo especially designed by the General Elee- _ tric Co., for supplying electricity for light and power purposes on ship- board. In addition to this type that company has also designed a single cylinder engine for direct coupling to the dynamo, making a set equally as compact. These single cylinder sets are built in capaci- ties of 7, 10, 15, and, 25 kilowatts. The engines are of simple design and have but few parts which being constructed to templates and gauges, are interchngeable. They occupy a minimum floor space, the engine bed being carried out to support the dynamos. The weight of the complete sets has been brought down as low as possible, by careful coreing out of the bed, ete., and every part of the engine has been the object of special care both in design and workmanship. The genera- tors are of the multipolar type, with iron-clad armatures. These single cylinder generating sets have already been installed on several vessels, and are now operating successfully in every case. The Nickel Plate road sells one fare excursion tickets to Erie, Pa., account of the LL. A. W. bicycle meet and races, August 17th and 18th. 234 Aug. 17.