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MARINE REVIEW. 13 Steam Yacht Races, Editor Marine Review :--I have been very busy lately and have just found time to real the remarks in your issues of Sept, 24 and Oct. 1 in regard to the Enquirer--Say When yacht race. I hope to get time, later on, to discuss this matter again, but "business before pleasure.' We are just now rushed with orders. One of the great difficulties in'the way of arriving at a definite conclusion as to power developed in this race seems to be the lack of indicator cards from which to make accurate calculations. Kverything seems to be guess work and much figuring is done to prove what power has probably been developed. Iam trying to get accurate information in regard to some eastern yachts, and, if I succeed, I will give you the results. The steam yacht Marietta is probably the fastest cruising yacht of her inches in this vicinity, and we wrote to Commodore Moore lately asking him to inform us of the indicated horse power developed by -- her engines. In reply, we received the following letter from him, which is very complimentary to the Roberts boiler, even if it does not furnish the information asked for: Roberts Safety Water Tube Boiler Co., New York Gentlemen :-- In reply to your favor of the 12th inst., in relation to the indicated horse power the Marietta is able to develop, will say that I have never taken any cards from the engines. In relation to the measurements of the yacht, will say that she is 143 feet over all, 16 feet beam, and 9 feet 11 inches hold. The only accurate account I have of the Mari- etta's speed is from trying wheels between a buoy off Larchmont and one off Glen Cove, the distance being a little over two miles, I never have run her over a course under full pressure. The last wheel I tried she made an average of 19.88 miles with 180 pounds of steam running under natural draft. Of course I was not speeding the boat; Iwas simply experimenting with wheels, and when I do that I do it ata pressure that I know I can maintain for any distance. Her engines are 12, 18 and two 22's by 15 inches stroke.. She makes 300 turns with 200 pounds of steam. H. B. Moore. New York Lighterage & Trans. Co. No. 6 Broadway, New York, Oct. 12, 1896. I will say, however, that the Marietta has a reputation of twenty- one miles per hour under forced draught and burning anthracite coal. Her owner has built quite a number of yachts and has always used Roberts boilers. He has been offered other types of boilers but believes in "letting well enough alone." He has some sporting blood in his veins and is always willing to back his boat against any com- petitor, even to the tune of several thousand dollars. You will probably recollect him as the winner of the celebrated Pampero-Dandy race on Lake George about five years ago. He was the owner of the Pampero and she had a Roberts boiler, which carried 325 pounds of steam during the race. According to the terms of the wager, the loser paid for a special train of parlor cars from New York to Lake George (with the usual refreshments for both ladies and gentlemen en route,) three days board for the friends of both parties at the Fort William Henry hotel, the charter of the steam boat Horicon to follow the race, and a banquet for the invited guests and the members of the Lake George yacht club on the evening after the race at $10 per head. I will only add that many of the guests were "seasick" while return- ing to New York by rail. E. E. Roberts. The Roberts Safety Water Tube Boiler Co. Nos. 39 and 41 Cortlandt street, New York, Oct. 16, 1896. P.S. Iunderstand that Mr. Fairburn has gone to Europe in the interests of the Bath Iron Works, and it would hardly be fair to reply to his criticisms during his absence. Improve Lake Erie Harbors, Editor Marine Review:--The interesting article in the Review of Oct. 15, relative to "Lake Front Docks," calls attention to matters which should receive the careful consideration of every one interested in the future commercial prosperity of Cleveland. The city on Lake Erie which first furnishes adequate facilities to properly handle the traffic which will be developed by the improvements now being made in the lake waterways will unquestionably secure a large percentage ofthe increase. The increase in depth of channels already obtained is having avery marked effect on Lake Superior traffic, and the project to regulate the lake levels, which has been temporarily pigeon-holed through the influnce- of the army engineers, is almost certain to be carried out in the near future, the completion of which will-permit vessels to load for maximum draft throughout the entire season, and will no doubt havea greater influence on lake commerce than the improvements now being executed. If the citizens of Lake Erie cities wait for the general government to solve the problem of securing adequate harbor and dock facilities, it is quite certain that their de- scendants will never have occasion to boast of the good judgment ex- ercised in the matter. Civilian. Cleveland, Oct. 19, 1896. Officers of the Light-House Service. A list of officers of the United States light-house service e through- out the country, which has just been published Pe the treasury depart- ment, gives these officers in lake districts: Ninth district--The inspector of this district is Commander James H. Dayton, U. 8. N., room 1308 Chamber of Commerce building, corner of ,Washington and La Salle streets, Chicago. The engineer of the district is Major Milton B. Adams, U.S. A., No. 18 Bagley avenue, Detroit. Tenth district--Inspector, Commander Gharles V. Gridley, U. 8. N., Post Office building, Buffalo, N. Y.; engineer, Lieut. Col. Jared A. Smith, U.S. A., Hickox building, Euclid avenue and Hrie street, Cleveland. Eleventh district Inspector, Commander W. M. Folger, U. S. N., No. 80 Griswold street, Detroit; engineer, Major M. B. Adams, U. 'g. A., No. 18 Bagley avenue, Detroit. The chairman of the light-house board, who is the chief officer of the service throughout the country, is Rear Admiral John G. Walker, U.S..N., No. 1202 Highteenth street, N. W., Washington., D. C. The naval secretary is Commander Geo. F. Wilde, U. S. N., Wash- ington, D. C., and the engineer secretary is Capt. John Millis, U. 8. A., also of Washington. New York State Canal Improvements. Improvements in New York state canals involving an expendi- ture of $3,368,439 will be undertaken when the canals are closed to navigation next month. Advertisements calling for proposals on a large part of this work have already been published. This is the first expenditure under the $9,000,000 appropriation authorized by a vote of the people of New York state in November a year ago. The canal board, which consists of five elective state officers, togther with the _ state superintendent of public works, has thus far approved of plans and specifications as follows: Erie canal, eastern division, $753,090; middle division, $1,015,283; western division, $1,042,844; total, Erie canal, $2,118,217; Champlain canal, $409,502; Oswego canal, $147,- 720; grand total, $3,368,439. It is understood that the work of im- provement is to start at the eastern end of the Erie canal. The western division will hardly be touched during the coming winter. Specifi- cations may be obtained from Geo. W. Aldridge, superintendent. of public works, Albany, N. Y. Bids will be opened Oct. 29. Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The following table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of trade, shows the stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular eleva- tors at the prmcipal points of accumulation on the lakes, Oct. 17, 1896: _ Wheat. bushels. Corn, bushels. Whicaco. Nata ak ece ee 15,361,000 7,228,000 Dulutheg tere ae ee eee 8 5,477,000 22,000 Ma wakee 865i iati puck Ge! esis fase aca 336,000 68,000 _ Derolten ere eur ee 492,000 59,000 Do lod OF iy sad Si tari yeh ie eae 772,000 17,000 Butalog hea fee ace 1,880,000 243,000 Total 24,318,000 7,637,000 As compared with a week ago, thé above figures show at the sey- eral points named an increase of 163, 000 bushels of wheat, and 487,000 bushels of corn. As usual, the Bethlehem Iron Co. of South Bethlehem, Pa., has again shee a big share of the contract for gun farbities for the United States navy. Tonnage of the Rockefeller steamer Robert Fulton, built by fhe Detroit Dry Dock Co., is 4,219.74 gross and 3,181.95 net tons. ; The Nickel Plate road offers excursion rates to points in eeans sin, Michigan and the southwest for hunters. 338 Nov. 1. -- : v. ij