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

MARINE REVIEW. It in gimbals on the end of a piece of pipe about 8 or 9 feet long, which pipe is hung by its center to a trolley running inside of another piece of pipe which is bolted to the bottom of the ship. This allows the hammer to be brought to any point in a considerable space of the ship's bottom without shifting. The mounting of the hammer in gimbals allows it to be swung in any direction, so as to get at the rivet from all sides exactly as in hand riveting. The small cylinder shown with the air pipe connected to it close to the hammer is only to hold the machine steady when required, the piston rod being jammed up against the bottom of the ship and carry- ing a piece of rubber at its top end to prevent slipping. The radial frame or carriage for bilge work is simply a rig to facilitate the operation of the machine. It can be readily changed to suit different shapes in bilges. The capacity of the machine for deck work, also shown in one of the engravings, is, of course, greater than any of the others, on account of the ready manner in which it may be handled and applied to the rivets. The 'Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co.'s chipping tool is applied in connec- tion with the riveters in all flush work, and all through the yard there are pneumatic reamers and pneumatic caulkers in use. "The simplicity of these machines," said Superintendent Gunnell while showing a representative of the Review around the yard, "enables us to make riveters of men who have been engaged in bolting up work, in reaming and in other laboring lines. No skill is required. Some of the men you see handling the machines have had only a few days' experience in _ the use of them. The time required to close up a rivet is less than in hand work. It is chipped off quicker, as it is red hot, or nearly so. We have no further trouble on account of the length of rivet coming through the hole, as was always the case with hand work. Any length will be hammered down by the machine, and the work is uniformly good, whether the size is 34-inch, 7£-inch, full inch, or even larger. The rivets are driven better and tighter, always filling the holes, so that the work is much more satisfactory than hand work." Riveting operations are, of course, carefully inspected in the interest of owners and underwriters. Robert Curr, who is the inspector for Pickands, Mather & Co., owners of the new steel vessel on which all work is being done with the machines, has reported to that firm that the work is of the very best quality. He has made a study of the machines and says there is no doubt of their adoption generally in ship building. The air compressor at the Chicago yard is of large capacity, made by the Ingersoll-Sargeant Drill Co. of New York, but with the extensive opera- tions for which the yard is equipped additional capacity in this regard must be secured, so as to provide for a large increase in the number of tools when more work is under contract. "One of the most important results of this invention," said Mr. W. I. Babcock in discussing the different lines of work to which the machines have been applied, "is that it will end the abuses that employers have been forced to put up with on account of the unreasonable demands of the riveters' union. We will run our own business now and the men have only themselves to blame. The riveters have always been a troublesome element in ship yards and: have been at the bottom of nine-tenths of the strikes we all have had. Their labor has been indispensable from the time metal boats were first built. The work is hard. They made big wages and were deserving of a full return for their labor, but they did about as they pleased and we had to put up with them as best we could. The same is true of riveters all over the world, in all of the ship building centers of Europe as well as in this country. Their unreasonable methods have hastened the development of machinery of this kind. They must face a new condition of affairs now. We can do without them if we choose, and we will so choose for the greater part of the work, although it will be to the advantage of our yard to keep a few gangs on hand to do the ends of ships, odd jobs, repair work, etc. It was our intention since we first met with success in experiments with these machines to care for the men who had built up homes around the ship yard and were regarded as a distinct part of our force, and we still have them in mind, but the success of these machines has brought an end to our fears regarding the troublesome element among these workmen. Our men here have been on a strike for seven weeks and are still out, but we are going ahead quite as usual. After a while they will learn that in this age any machine that saves labor or cost is bound to come into use against all opposition." Grain Cargo Record Broken. The steamer Superior City, owned by A. B. Wolvin, which has of late been breaking cargo records in a most reckless manner, last Monday in- creased the record for grain cargoes by pretty nearly 1,000 tons. The Superior City on this occasion loaded in less than seven hours at South Chicago a cargo of 266,500 bushels of corn, weighing 7,463 net tons, on a mean draft of 18 feet 2 inches. The best previous record was that of the ° steamer W. R. Linn, owned by 'C. W. Elphicke and others of Chicago, which carried from South Chicago to Owen Sound a cargo of 232,000 bushels of corn, amounting to 6,496 net tons. The present cargo of the Superior City has only been excelled by her performance on her previous trip, when she loaded 7,642 net tons of ore. Cargo records to date are as follows: § Iron ore--Steamer Superior City, owned by A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, 6,823 gross or 7,642 net tons, Escanaba to South Chicago, draft of -- feet -- inches; steamer W. R. Linn, owned by C. W. Elphicke and others of Chicago, 5,638 tons gross, or 6,314 net, Escanaba to South Chicago; schooner Amazon, James Corrigan of Cleveland, 5,631 tons gross, or 6,307 net, Duluth to South Chicago draft of 17 feet l inch. ~ Grain--Steamer Superior City, owned by A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, 266,550 bushels of corn, equal to 7,463 net tons, South Chicago to Owen Sound, draft of 18 feet 2 inches; steamer W. R. Linn, C. W. Elphicke and others, Chicago, 232,000 bushels of corn, equal to 6,496 net tons, South Chicago to Owen Sound; steel schooner Australia, James 'Corrigan of Cleveland, 210,539 bushels of wheat, eaural to 6,316 net tons, Chicago to Buffalo: steamer Andrew Carnegie, Wilson Transit Co. of Cleveland, 332,100 bushels of oats, equal to 5.313 net tons, Manitowoc to Buffalo. Coal--Schooner Polynesia, James Corrigan of Cleveland, 5,654 net tons of bituminous, Cleveland to Duluth, 16 feet draft; steamer Carnegie. Wilson Transit Co. of Cleveland, 5,369 net tons of bituminous, Cleveland to Duluth. A Popular Engineer Honored. Personal popularity is a strong element in character of George A. Grubb of Chicago, who was recently appointed by National President George Uhler to the secretaryship of the National Marine Engineers' Beneficial Association. Mr. Grubb is a comparatively young man, being under thirty-seven years of age, yet for over nineteen years he has been engaged in various capacities around steam engines. He was employed for a time by the Dunham Towing & Wrecking Co., later took charge of the Chicago & North Western grain elevator, and since 1895 has acted as engineer at the Chicago avenue waterworks plant. He secured the position by reason of his record against thirty-nine competitors in a civil service examination. Mr. Grubb was one of the founders of the Chicago Tug Boat Engineers' Association in 1885 and acted as one of its officers until its absorption by M. E. B. A., No. 68, of which, in turn, he was for a time corresponding secretary and also treasurer. In 1894 the consolida- GEO. A. GRUBB, NATIONAL SEO'Y, M.E. B.A, tion of the two Chicago associations, No. 68 and No.4, was effected, largely through the efforts of Mr. Grubb and Thomas F. Dowd, late national secretary. Mr. Grubb was soon after elected corresponding secretary of the new No. 4, and was re-elected each succeeding year until the present, when he declined a re-election on the plea that he wished some younger member to have an opportunity. 'He attended the national conventions in Washington in 1895-6-7 as the Chicago representative, accompanying Na- tional Secretary Dowd, and is therefore pretty thoroughly conversant with his duties. Mr. Grubb was very active in furthering the Squires- Hopkins bill, and the naval engineers' personnel bill now pending. For the portrait herewith presented, the Review is indebted to the courtesy of the American Shipbuilder of New York. The New Queen of the Whaleback Fiect. The date of June 20 has been set for the launch of the largest vessel of the whaleback type yet constructed, and as a merited compliment the vessel, which is also the largest ever constructed at the yards of the American Steel Barge Co. at West Superior, is to be christened the AI- exander McDougall. Several innovations have been introduced in this _ new craft, chiei among them that she is fitted with a straight stem and forecastle in. lieu of the spoon. bow distinctive of other vessels of this class. 'The vessel is 480 feet over all, 414 feet keel, 50 feet molded depth, 27 feet deep. She has a double bottom 5 feet deep, having a total water ballast capacity of 2,000 net tons. Engines are quadruple expansion, built by the Cleveland Ship Building Co. There are two boilers of Babcock & Wilcox type furnishing steam at 250 pounds pressure. The vessel has thirteen cargo hatches, each 24 by 8 feet in the clear, and spaced 24 feet centers, in addition to a large fueling hatch, the coal bunker capacity being 350 tons. The vessel's displacement on a draft of 18 feet will be 10,000. tons, and it is expected that she will be able to carry close to 7,000 net tons. The McDougall will be the property of the American Steel Barge Co. and will be operated by Pickands, Mather & Co. of Cleveland. Mr. C. H. Tucker, well-known as one of the most energetic agents on the lakes, has leased the commodious new warehouses just erected by the Pennsylvania Railroad Co. on the lake front, 'Cleveland. The ware- houses are 200 and 400 feet in length, respectively, with a slip on either - side, and not only mark the advent of this class of business in the outer harbor, but by reason of obviating the necessity of vessels entering the river afford Mr. Tucker special advantages for patrons of the Northern Steamship Co., the Ogdensburg Transit Co. and the Lackawanna-Green Bay line, the lines which he represents. Direct railroad connection with the warehouses is afforded. Mr. Tucker still retains the dock at 23 River street. The Brier Hill Iron & Coal Co. and the Youngstown Steel Co. of Youngstown, O., by a purchase of the holding of A. M. Byers of Pittsburg in the Biwabik Bessemer Iron Co., acquire control of the Biwabik mine on the Mesabi range. The agency for the sale of Biwabik ore continues with Tod, Stambaugh & Co. of Cleveland. Nickel Plate road excursion to San Francisco, Cal.--Account of North American turners' convention. Tickets on sale June 27th and 28th. Ask agents. 84, June 23