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EA MARINE x ( i af eB a: American System of Tows. . The success that has attended the use of large tow barges in the lake trade and on the Atlantic Coast, especially since steam towing machines have 'been applied to this service, is attracting attention in all parts of the world. 'Mr.i#rank S.!Manton of the American 'Ship 'Windlass Co., Provi- dence, R. I., sends to the Review a copy of a letter from a shipping firm in Denmark, requesting full information regarding the barges and the kind of steamer used in towing them, as well as particulars of the steam towing machines and the extent to which they are used. The letter, which deals with the subject on a broad scale, was prompted by a report on the American system of tow barges made by the Swedish-Norwegian consul* general at Hamburg, who was greatly impressed with the capacity of tows used in the lake and 'Atlantic coast trades and with the advantages derived from the use of the steam towing machines. The Swedish consul writing to his government says: 'Owing to the fact that the system of tows, or lighter trathc, has hitherto played a most prominent part in North America, I have gathered some detai.s from a competent. shipper, who for several years has been'trading on the east coast ot 'tthe United States and has studied the matter thoroughly. Ac- cording to his reports the transportation of coal in these vessels is in full swing between Sidney (Cape Breton) and 'Montreal, and between Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Portland. In 1895 a lighter was towed from Philadelphia even, as far as the West Indies and returned with a cargo of sugar. There are used partly dismasted sailing ships of 1,500 to 2,000 tons, the "tween decks of which are taken out; partly so called whaleback barges, flat bottomed steel lighters of about 2,000 tons burden and draw- ing 15 féet; the latter are considered to have the best prospects. A single Steameér can tow upto three such barges. Of late, sea-going lighters have been extensively employed on the coasts of North America, and wiil, ac- . cording to'this named captain's opinion, soon be the principal means of transport:on the coast.' A problem, which maybe will soon be solved, is the employment of lighters in the transport of goods across the Atlantic. It appears from various professional papers that it is specially the bursting of the towing rope in rough weather which has caused ditticulties. But in order to protect the rope, it is contemplated to make use of an apparatus, which, according to the statements of the papers, has proved most efficient on the great American lakes. It consists of a roll on which the rope is wound up. By means of an ingenious mechanism the roll causes the rope to slack when the tug is setting heavily in the sea and threatens to break the rope, whereas, when the pressure on the rope is getting less, it winds itself up again into its previous position." : Following up this report the Swedish shipping firm is in search of a systematic collection of information on the subject of barge traffic. That they intend to go into the subject very thoroughly is indicated by the following questions which they ask regarding the barges: Of. what material are they generally built; what is the common size and draught of water; what is the price per regular ton, or per ton dead weight capacity; name some of the most prominent ship yards where these lighters are built; what is the size and horse power of steamers required to tow the lighters; how many lighters are towed at the time; what speed can they make; do they really go as far as Havanna, etc., from New York; how do they pull through in open sea in case of rough and stormy weather; do they carry all kinds of merchandise to the satisfaction of the merchants; can they carry goods at lower rates of freight than competing steamers and satlers; what is the number of hands on board; state insurance premiums charged by American underwriters for goods shipped in such lighters; state insurance premiums charged by American underwriters for the lighters themselves; state insurance premiums compared to the rates charged for ordinary steamers and sailors. Although the Roberts Safety Water Tube Boiler 'Co. of Red Bank, N. J., and 41 'Cortlandt street, (New York, has a very large works devoted exclusively to the manufacture of marine water tube boilers, the plant is engaged on orders that. will tax its capacity for at least three months to come. 'Among these orders are the following: 'For the Maytham steel tug to be built by the Union Dry Dock 'Co., Buffalo, 1,200 horse power; for the New York and \Sing 'Sing passenger and freight steamer Sarah A. Jenks, 1,000; for a steam yacht building by the Erie Basin Dry Dock Co., New York, for E. |W. Bliss, former owner of the yacht Elba, 1,200; for the |Elba, 1,400. The 'Buffalo tug building at the works of the Union Diy Dock Co. will be used for 'towing scows against an 8-mile current on Niagara river, and will be constructed with a view to this special service, which requires a powerful tug and which is in connection with the Buffalo breakwater contract. The big dredge just completed at Buffalo for the breakwater work is also fitted with 'Roberts boilers of about 1,000 horse power, which were specified on account of the success of boilers of the same type in one of Dunbar & Sullivan's dredges. A duplicate contract for dredge boilers was also secured recently. The list of orders also in- cludes several small boilers to be used on the Yukon and the lake district of Alaska, as well as a boiler for a new electric light plant at. Fort Fisher on the North Carolina coast. The Roberts company reports a total of 889 boilers built to date. James A. 'Adair, general superintendent of the works of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co. at Wilmington, Del., has been visiting lake ship yards with a view to noting anything in the way of methods prevailing here that might be of advantage on the coast. (William H. Jaques, well-known engineer and naval architect, formerly with the Bethlehem Iron Works, has accepted the presidency of the Joh P. Holland Torpedo Boat 'Co., New York. P vi John Holiday rates are available on the Nickel Plate road, Dec. 24, 25 and 31 and Jan. 1, returning until Jan. 4, 1898. ; 408--Dec. 31 {Holiday excursions via the 'Nickel Plate road Dec. 24, 25 and 31 and Jan. 1, returning until Jan. 4, 1898. 405--Dec. 31 'Army and navy charts for the lakes are kept in stock by the Marine Review, Perry-Payne building, Cleveland. SR BATES). hagé ido 3 4 Around the Lakes. Capt: J. P. Devney. will build at Ashtabula during the winter a wooden tug 80 feet over all,.18 feet beam and 10% feet depth. . At the South Chicago coal yard of 'E. L. Hedstrom recently 3,179 tons of coal were taken out of the steamer Chili in 16 hours 45 minutes. A cargo of 320,000 bushels of oats delivered at Buffalo from South Chicago, a few days ago, by the Mutual line steamer Coralia was loaded in about 12 hours. fe (Onondaga is the name selected for the second revenue cutter building at the ship yard of the Globe Iron Works Co., 'Cleveland. This vessel will be launched in afew days. In about 10 hours on Thursday last 5,037 tons of soft coal was trans- ferred from cars at the Cuddy-Mullen dock, Cleveland, to the steamer Rees, which was the last vessel to load for \Lake Superior. The first charters for boats to hold grain during the winter at Chicago and catry it to (Buffalo next spring have been made. 'The rate starts in at three cents. This is somewhat less than had been hoped for by vessel- men. The Duluth, Mesabi & (Northern railway ore dock on St. Louis bay, at 'Duluth, is to be extended 576 feet, at a cost of $100,000. The work will be done by the 'Barnett & Record 'Co. of (Minneapolis. The ore dock on Allouez bay, Superior, will also be enlarged to a capacity of 60,000 tons. 'Lieut. J. |F. |\McIndoe, corps of engineers, U. S. A., has taken charge of the government operations at. Sault . Ste. 'Marie under direciion of 'Lieut. Col. G. J. Lydecker, in place of General Superintendent E. S. (Wheeler, who recently accepted the position of chief engineer of the Nic- aragua canal commission. John Jamieson, aged fifty-five, engineer of the steamer City of Chicago of Benton Harbor, \Mich., died suddenly at the Hotel 'Wabash, in Detroit, Monday afternoon. The death of another well-known engineer, Owen Williams of Detroit, was announced from Chicago on Sunday last. 'Mr. Williams, who was seventy years of age, slipped from a ladder while going aboard the steamer Mecosta, on which he had been chief enginer for sev- eral years. He feel into the river and contracted a cold that resulted in pneumonia, ; Ai 'Washington dispatch states that Gen. Wilson, chief of government engineers, still maintains the position which he held while in Chicago, that congress has authorized the dredging of the Chicago river to a depth of 16 feet only. He does not see any use in dredging the river to a greater depth while the tunnels remain at their present height. /He says it rests with the citizens of Chicago to decide whether the tunnels sha.l be low- ered, which means that the city must bear the expense attaching to such a gigantic undertaking. iLieut. (G, H. Stafford, U. S. N., of.the branch hydrographic office, Cieveland, says in a note to the 'Review: "Referring to an item that appeared in the columns of the 'Marine Review to the effect that Lieut. H. K. Hines, U.'S. N., would. come to the:Cleveland branch hydrographic office before assuming charge of the branch office to be opened at Duluth, I have now to inform you that the navy department has revoked the order to Lieut. Hines, and the opening of thle 'Duluth office will be delayed until another officer has been found for that duty." 'The steel steamers L. C. Waldo and 'Fayette Brown are to hold their coal cargoes at Milwaukee until the rush at the docks is well over. After they have got rid of their freight they will follow each other into the sta- tionary dry dock at the south yard for permanent repair of touch-and-go damage suffered through the season just ended. The jobs are the first of the kind received by the Milwaukee Dry Dock Co. since the establish- ment of its steel plant. 'Repairs on the steel steamer S. R. Kirby and steel tow barge Hartnell will be made at South 'Chicago. The Harvey 'Brown, of the same fleet, will get repairs at 'Detroit: The United \States court of appeals has sustained the decision of the district court at Duluth in the case of the owners of the steamer 'Nyanza against a cargo 'of coal that the vessel delivered: at the port of Duluth in 1895. The decision was in favor of the vessel owners. The vessel met with an accident while on the way to/Duluth, and as a result the cargo of coal was damaged by water. The consignee, the Pioneer Fuel Co., de- clined to accept the coal and the vessel was detained awaiting some dis- position of the coal. The court awarded the vessel demurrage to the amount of $100 a day for eight days. The court held that under the bill of lading the coal company was bound to accept the cargo. Contracts for several yachts and other small craft are announced by the Racine Boat Mifg. Co. of Racine, 'Wis. 'A' steel yacht for Otto Young of 'Chicago, to be used on Lake Geneva, will be of the following dimen- stons: 'Length, 75 feet; beam, 12 feet; draught, 4 feet, and guaranteed to make 14 miles an hour. The boat will be finished throughout in mahog- any, anid will have a triple expansion engine. (A: boat for Martin A. Ryer- son of 'Chicago will be 75 fleet over all, 1214 feet beam, and 4-foot draught. There will be 28 feet of clear deck room. It will cost $12,000. The com- pany is getting out several boats to be used by parties interested in the Klondike regions. They will be constructed of steel and in water-tight sections. The Northern Steamship Co. is looking over the ground and counting the cost of lengthening the freight steamers of the line, putting 45 feet or more into the middle of each of them. -It is possible that the project may be given up altogether, for it all rests on the simple proposition whether the additional carrying capacity will meet the cost and afford a good mar- gin. The company will spend considerable money on the work--if it is done--as the boats will not merely be given a certain number of feet additional, but will be practically reconstructed so that there will never be any question as to their strength. It looks now as though the cost would be too great to warrant the undertaking, and if such proves to be the case the project will be dropped.--Buffalo Exchange. S. ENGINEER OFFICE, Duxurn, Mrinn., ; e Nov. 30, 1897. Sealed proposals for build- ing substructure for south pier, Duluth Ship Canal, will be receive here until noon, Jan'y 15, 1898, and then publicly opened. Information fur- nished on application. Clinton B, Sears, Major, Engrs. jan. 15