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1899.] MARINE REVIEW. MASTER OF SCIENCE. HONORARY DEGREE CONFERRED UPON REAR-ADMIRAL GEORGE W. MELVILLE, ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF OF THE UNITED STATHS NAVY, BY COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, Rear-Admiral George W. Melville, engineer-in-chief of the United States navy, received on June 7, 1899, the honorary degree of Master of Science from Columbia University, New York. In introducing 'the ad- miral to the president of the university during the commencement exer- cises, Professor F. R. Hutton, head of the department of mechanical en- gineering, spoke as follows: "Mr President--I am to present to you Rear-Admiral George W. Melville, engineer-in-chief of the United States navy, who has been named by the trustees for the honorary degree of Master of Science. It is significant that this degree is given today for the first time in the his- tory of the university and that its award should be to one to whom the honor is so singularly fitting. I present to you Admiral Melville as a Master of Science, both in that field where knowledge for its own sake is its own exceeding great reward, and also in that where the mechanical 17 engineer-in-chief of the Unitd States navy for his third term. When he was appointed in 1888 the only modern vessels in commission were the Atlanta, the Boston and the Dolphin, two cruisers and a dispatch-boat. The twelve years of his service have enabled him as bureau chief to be responsible for the design and engining of 120 ships, aggregating 700,000 horse power. Beginning with the San Francisco, the earliest American- designed vessel of our modern navy, his sound mechanical judgment, his boldness, and his progressiveness have culminated in the Columbia and the Minneapolis, each triple-screw giants, each holding for a time the world's record for speed. But, sir, lest I weary with technical detail I pass to a final reference, to that upon which Columbia today hases her meed of praise. I refer, sir, to the significance in the war of 1898 which belongs to the preparation and the achievements of the navy in the Spanish-American conflict. The conception of a floating-machine-shop, whereby vessels could be outfitted and repaired a thousand miles from a shore basis and a navy yard, and the development of economical dis- tilling ships whereby a large body of men and vessels on blockade could be supplied with fresh water without the necessity of touching a hostile shore, and the condition of the engineering departments of our vessels when the hour of battle had struck, give Admiral Melville's leadership a significance which we are glad to honor. It must not be forgotten, sir, TRESILE SUPPORTING TEMPOKARY WOODEN BRIDGES ON CARNEGIE DOOK NO. 4 AT CONNEAUT, O. engineer leaves the impress of his thought and creative energy upon con- crete achievements in iron and steel. : "7 bring you, sir, ane who has made himself, in the first place, an authority and expert upon arctic exploration. This knowledge has been acquired in service as an officer, first upon the Tigress in the search for a part of the crew of the Polaris, later as engineer officer of the Jeannette under Lieut. De Long, and finally with the relief party which went to rescue Greely with the Thetis and the Bear. It would be impossible to reirain from a reference to the revelations of personal quality which belong to the experience of these years and yet only a permitted hand should lift the veil from the tragedies which it conceals. I speak only with bated breath of the imprisoned Jeannette with her frames cracking under the remorseless grip of the ice pack; of the terrible journey across the floes to the launching in the icy sea; of the long exposure to the arctic gale in open boat, which left its impress on arms and feet, frozen to disablement from exposure; of the lonely landing upon an island of the Lena Delta in Siberia; of the unfaltering prosecution of a search for comrades, when even hardy natives w-:re cowed by the warring elements; of the heart- breaking end of the search when only the dead were found in their last bivouac; of the lonely burial on the shores of the unfriendly sea. These, sir, are memories to thrill under and not to recount lightly, "But I turn rather to the achievements of Admiral Melville in that other field where as mechanical engineer he has impressed himself upon the engineering of the navy of our country. Melville is now serving as that the achievements of the captains of our fleet are the result, in great part, of the thought, the planning, and the capacity of those engineers who gave them their weapons and who operated for them the battle ma- chines with which their work was done. Sir, I present you Rear-Ad- miral George W. Melville." C. S. Swan & Hunter of Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, are building a vessel considerably over 600 feet in length, which is understood to be for the Cunard company. Progress on the vessel, which would under ordi- nary conditions have been seriously retarded on account of a great deal of wet weather in England of late, has been entirely satisfactory owing to the covered berths provided. Plans and specifications have just been prepared by the life saving service for the stations at Gloucester and Nahant, Mass., authorized by the last congress, and bids for their construction will be called for at once. A $100,000 electric power plant is to be installed at the Brooklyn navy yard. Nickel Plate road excursion to California account of National Edu- cational Association convention at Los Angeles, Cal.--Tickets on sale June 24 to July 7. One fare, plus two dollars, for the round trip. Ask agents of the Nickel Plate road for particulars. 44, July 6.