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MARINE REVIEW. ~ An Outward Thrust Propeller. There's a screw loose in the design of screw propellers. This is read- ily proven by the fact that every knot of additional speed requires so much additional power that the holds of modern war-ships and transatlantic liners are filled with boilers and engines. There is an enormous leak somewhere between the tip of the propeller blades and the thrust block. MR. A. W. CASE. The remedy has been sought by all forms of propeller blades, and by plac- ing them in all positions, except one. 'No engineer would stake his repu- tation on a wheel with an outward thrust, as it seemed exactly opposite to the whole theory of screw propulsion. At least no one but a Connecticut Yankee would. He not only designed and patented a wheel with an out- ward thrust, but he seems to have been so impressed with the idea that he has thrust his invention before owners and manufacturers until: some forty or fifty steamers, of 15 to 1500 tons, 25 to 250 feet long, and showing speed ranging from 8 to 29 miles an hour, have been equipped. In every trial the 'Case outward thrust wheel has given more speed with less revo- lutions than any other make. Vibration, which is such a factor in the wear and tear of launches and yachts, is also reduced and in most cases disappears when a 'Case wheel is used. This wheel increased the speed of the steam launch Dorothea 3% miles an hour. Of course, less engine speed saves steam, and saving steam saves fuel. The best results seemed to have been obtained in the largest steamer equipped, the Middletown. She is 253 feet long, 3814 feet beam and 9 feet draft. She has twin screws, the engines being 20 and 40 by 28 inches, compound. As soon as the wheels were tried the company sent a check and ordered a duplicate set for the 'Hartford. The superintendent of the line says that these wheels make a saving of from one 'and a half to two hours in the run from Hart- ford to 'New York. 'Mark Hopkins had an outward thrust wheel placed on the lake yacht Bonita and it increased the speed 5% per cent., or a mile an hour. Booth's Lake Superior Line steamer Hunter and the Playfair Barge Line steamer 'H. Andrew have Case wheels. 'Mr. Playfair writes of their satisfaction and their intention to have other steamers and tugs similarly fitted. The Hyde 'Windlass Works, Bath, Me., and the Bertram Engine Works, Toronto, 'Ont., have furnished wheels of this kind to a number of their customers, and they endorse them because of the general satisfaction they have given. A. W. Case, Highland Park, Conn., is the inventor. -An illustration of this wheel may be seen on page 6 of this issue. Buffalo's Big Breakwater. 'When the breakwater project now under way at Buffalo is completed that city will have by all odds the longest breakwater in the world, There is now 7,600 feet of breakwater at Buffalo built under an old project, and the new structure now being built will be 12,500 feet long, making a total length from the harbor entrance to Stony point of 20,100 feet, very nearly four miles. This breakwater will give Buffalo an outer harbor about four miles long and half a mile wide, permitting the utilization of the city's entire lake front. There is no breakwater, either built or in contempla- tion, which is as long even as the new portion of the Buffalo ee now under construction. The nearest approach to it is the celebrate breakwater at Cherbourg, France, which is about ee feet in length and cost $10,0 and was about seventy years in building. fede bende the longest in the world, the Buffalo structure will sur- pass all other breakwaters in one other respect, and differ in some of its important details from any breakwater ever built. For 7,500 feet obits southerly end the new breakwater is to be a timber crib structure, sini a in general construction and appearance to the old breakwater in front o the city. But a breakwater, exposed as it is, demands a good een and the entire lake bottom along its location is soft mud.. The line of the breakwater crosses almost at right angles an old prehistoric river some two miles wide, which ran from east to west, the rock bottom of whic Was plainly disclosed and outlined by the soundings, and which has be-» : : : 60 come filled by alluvial and lacustrine deposits to an average depth of eet. Bees good foundation a part of this great thickness of ae ee be removed and replaced with good material for foundations. This ae quires the excavation of a gigantic trench 50 feet wide on the pees a 0 to 50 feet deep through the mud to the bottom of the lake where the water is 30 feet deep. As each section of the trench is completed it will be back-filled with. gravel dredged from the Nidgara' river or some other place in the vicinity, which will be brought up:to the lebel of the lake bot- tom. This gravel, confined in the trench, will, it is believed, afford secure foundation for the breakwater, : a It is in respect to its great depth of foundation that the Buffalo break- water differs from and surpasses all other breakwaters. Five thousand feet in length between the existing old breakwater and the timber. crib breakwater is to be what is called briefly a rubble mound breakwater. It 1s a great heap of stone dumped on the natural bottom of the lake and brought up to a height of 12 feet above mean lake level. There are many rubble mound breakwaters and modifications thereof scattered over the world, but this one is the first to be built on the great lakes. A'bout-one- half of the bulk of the breakwater will be quarried stone and one-half gravel dredged from the Niagara river. The gravel is used in order to reduce the cost of construction; the stone costs in place from $1 to $1.50 per cubic yard, while the gravel costs but 13 cents per cubic yard. No other breakwater has ever been built, as far as known, using gravel as a hearting and foundation, and also in respect to this use of a finely divided cheap material for about half the mass the new breakwater differs from all others. It is quite a radical departure from all previous practices. The outer harbor when completed will be about four miles long and 3,000: feet wide. About 1,200 to 1,500 feet of this adjacent to the breakwater will be kept free from obstruction for the general use of shipping in passing, mooring, anchoring, etc. The other 1,500 feet or more adjacent to the shore will be available for wharves, piers, clips, coal trestles, etc. In concluding an address descriptive of this breakwater to Buffalo business men, Major Symons, United States engineer, says: "It is diffi- cult to imagine a place or a situation where business can be done between lake vessels and rail and canal lines to greater advantage than in our outer. harbor when completed. There is one thing that is essential to the proper utilization of this outer harbor, which the government cannot supply, but which you gentlemen should see is supplied, and that is a broad highway on land extending the length of the harbor, by means of which access to every foot of its front would be provided and available for all the railroads centering in Buffalo, as well as for wagons and trucks." - To Select Steamboat Inspectors, The United States civil service commission announces that on Feb. 15, 1898, an examination will be held at Washington, D. C., and other cities throughout the United States, for the positions of local inspectors and assistant inspectors of hulls and boilers of steam vessels in the steam-' boat inspection service, treasury department. Among the vacancies which will ibe filled as the result of this examination is one at Buffalo at a salary of $2,250 per annum,,.and one at Memphis at a salary of $1,200 per annum. Attention is invited to the fact that it is the practice of the department to appoint only residents of the district in which the vacancy exists. This examination is open, however, to persons residing in any steamboat inspection district in the United States. Applicants for local inspector of hulls at seaboard ports must have had at least five years' actual practical experience as master or chief mate of sea-going steam vessels within the seven years next preceding the date of application, and those for interior ports must have had at least five years' actual practical experience as master or first-class pilot of steam vessels un inland waters within the seven years next preceding the date of appli- cation. The qualifications for assistant inspectors of hulls are the same as those for local inspectors, except-that the time of service must have been at least three years within the five years next preceding the date of application. Attention is invited to the fact, however, that at the post of New York some of the positions of assistant inspector of hulls do not require a knowledge of sea navigation, and for these there are necessary only the requirements for inland port positions. 'While at this port, there- fore, the subject of sea navigation will be optional; applicants are informed that, in all probability,-selections will be made of those whi have shown a knowledge of sea navigation, and they are advised to take this subject in order to increase their prospects of appointment. vie ase Applicants for local inspector of boilers must have had at least five years. actual practical experience as first-class engineer of steam vessels within the seven years next preceding the date of application, under United States license of the highest grade granted on the waters upon which he has been so employed. The fact that they 'have been so licensed must be of record in the treasury department. 'Applicants must be physically able to enter a boiler through a man-hole 9 by 15 inches, as required by rule 2, section 21, rules and regulations of the board of supervising inspectors of steam vessels. The qualifications for assistant inspector of boilers are the same as those for local inspector, except that the term of service required under license must be three years within the five years next preceding the date of application. P ; . In any case, however, the experience of the applicant must have been under a United States license of the highest grade granted upon the waters on which the applicant has been employed. The fact that the applicant has been so licensed must be of record in the treasury department. Appli- - cations will not be accepted from persons under twenty-five or over fifty- five years of age, and applicants must be physically sound and free from color blindness. The examination will consist of a light educational test together with practical questions. Persons desiring to enter this exam- ination should at once write to the United States civil service commission, at Washington, D. C., for application blanks, forms 304 and 363, which should be properly executed and promptly forwarded to the commission. No applications will be accepted after the hour of closing business on Feb. 7, 1898. Each year at this season the' Berlin Iron Bridge \Co. of East Berlin, Conn., gives an "oyster roast" at its works to employees and friends of the company. This year the proprietors of trade journals in different parts of the country have been .invited to the feast. -- Travel at holiday rates via the Nickel Plate road, Dec. a Fak ols a and Jan. 1. Tickets are good returning until Jan, 4, 1898.