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1899 ] MARINE REVIEW. | 3 which she embraced. When the war was over we found we had no ships but England had plenty of ships and ship yards and facilities for building more. With reconstruction on our hands and a period of great develop- ment before us, followed by such prosperity as no nation has ever had since the dawn of the human race, we were intoxicated with home affairs. Our congress became blind to its duties regarding the future. Its mem- bers became crazed about railroads, mines and real estate from the Miss- issippi to the Pacific ocean. We were soon without ships of any kind and we found our farmers paying tribute to foreign ship owners. When the Oregon, Washington and California farmer wishes to ship his wheat or other products of the farm to a foreign port he must of necessity move it in a foreign ship, and pay the freight or tribute demanded by the foreign owner. An American cannot even get a policy of insurance on the cargo or ship; it is all carried in an English company. The English- men are not blamable for this, but the American congress and their American constituents are. There has not been an hour in the twenty-four of the last eighty years that an English ship has not arrived in England from a foreign port, laden with gold or silver or the products of the country visited, and from whom she has levied tribute, and deposited the wealth so obtained in England. Need we wonder that London is the financial center of the world? New York city should be, and would be under an American policy as outlined herein. Let any American take a position on the steel bridge in the city of Portland, Ore., during the wheat shipping season and count twenty or twenty-five ships in port for wheat and flour, etc., and observe that all carry the English or a foreign flag, and not an American ship among them. If his blood does not course more rapidly or his indignation soar on a very high plane, he is sailing under a false name when he pretends to be an American desiring American supremacy, for he is not. The alleged crime of 1873 (even if true as charged) is a mere imaginary speck compared with the thirty years' crime (on our part) since the war of the rebellion. The failure and neglect of this nation for thirty years to pro- tect its interests on the seas is a crime against this great nation, which cannot be measured in words and is not generally understood, but will be when the American people know that there can be no genuine reciprocity in trade until we have the ships to carry our own manufactured goods and possibly carry the goods of other nations received in exchange fo1 our own, which means that we levy as much tribute as we please when the other party has no ship, and hence are at our mercy as to terms. The nation without ships is always in the power of the nations owning ships, so far as trade and commerce is concerned, "The weaker are always in the power of the stronger." Our trade with Russia, China and Japan, from both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts is fast growing in importance, as is also our trade with the Central and South American republics, and with the rapid development now in progress in these countries continued for ten years to come there will be an immense trade direct from the Pacific coast with these coun: tries, and we shall act very unwisely as a nation if we fail to appreciate it and provide American ships and other facilities with which to conduct and control it and share in its benefits, and also be on hand and prepared to conduct and control the trade of the Hawaiian and Philippine islands, Cuba and Porto Rico when the changed conditions now near at hand shall give the people of these places new courage, more business and better government, The rebuilding of our American merchant marine, American ship yards, and the education of American seamen can be fully achieved, and the American foreign trade transferred to and secured to Americans, and the nation thereby enriched $200,000,000 annually, our manufactures strengthened, our commercial relations enlarged and reciprocity made easy with nations purchasing our manufactured goods and paying freights to our ship owners by the enactment of a proper law for the purpose. San Francisco, Cal., October, 1899. J. E. LOMBARD, . Late Lieut., U. S. Navy. THE] PRESIDENT IS THINKING OF SHIPS. It would seem from President McKinley's remarks at the Commer- cial Club banquet in Chicago, relative to the development of a powerful merchant marine that his next message to congress will contain some plain language on this score. The president emphasized most emphatic- ally his remarks regarding the important relations existing between an American merchant marine and the industrial and commercial develop- ment of the country. In part he said: "American shipping under the American flag should be seen in every port, and our trade must go wherever the flag goes. Our ship building has been greatly increased. For the first time in all our history the ton- nage of our steam vessels exceeded on June 1 the tonnage of all our Sailing vessels, barges and other craft. We built in 1897 and 1898 more vessels of steel than of all other materials combined. Our tonnage in- creased during the year 100,000 tons and is without a parallel in our Tecent history. More large ocean steamships are under construction in the United States than ever before. Our ship building plants are being enlarged and new establishments projected. There is no better time than the present, therefore, with all these favorable conditions, and others which will suggest themselves to you, for the development of a powerful Merchant marine. Our relations to other nations. by reason of our new FE eostous, make this duty even more commanding than it has ever een, Navy department officials have learned through a special inquiry what was long ago known to ship builders of the great lakes, viz., that there is a great scarcity of the excellent quality of white oak timber which has heretofore been found in abundance in Ohio. Experts in forestry claim that no material of equal quality can be found in any other state, and this would seem to be evidenced by the fact that every year from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 feet of white oak timber is taken to Quebec and ence to Liverpool where it is bought by British ship builders. AMERICAN SHIP BUILDING MACHINERY. HEAVY PURCHASES MADE BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ITALIAN FIRM OF GIO. ANSALDO & CO. OF SAMPIERDARENA. Heavy purchases of ship building machinery of American manufac- ture have been made by representatives of the Italian firm of Gio.Ansaldo & Co., who have just sailed for home after extended visits to the yards of the Cramp company, the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. and the yards of the American Ship Building Co. at Cleveland and Chicago. The contracts placed with American manufacturers of machine tools aggregate fully $75,000. One of the engineers in speaking of the orders placed here said: "Our 'works at Sampierdarena, in the vicinity of Genoa, which now consist of ship building yards, mechanical shops, steel, malleable, cast iron and brass foundries, are about to be enlarged all round. A big shop will be constructed in Genoa for navy repair work. In view of these extensions, we*came over here some three months ago and made an extensive inquiry into the systems of ship building and gen- eral mechanics now being pursued in America. It seems to me super- fluous to make the remark that we have marvelled greatly at the im- proved methods and devices your various manufacturers make use of. I fail to see how any foreigner can be but impressed in the same way. The features of organization and division of labor prevailing in the big shops in the United States also struck us as unique. Everything seems to be carried out with clockwork precision. "The number of young men who hold responsible positions also in- terested us. I need hardly say that it did not take us long to make up our minds to purchase labor-saving devices here. We bought one hundred machines, including lathes, planers, milling machines and various other machine tools, and when we get back to Italy I think I am safe in stating that further contracts will be placed in your country. As we may re- quire to purchase some big machinery this year, one or both of us will return in a month or so. I may mention that our new shops will be built and conducted on American principles. "While Newport News, Cramps' or the Cleveland ship building yards may not be quite on a par, in point of magnitude, with the Spezia yards, where the bulk of the Italian naval vessels are at present built, the Amer- ican ship building yards are easily superior to them in organization and facilities for turning out work promptly. One of the things that im- pressed us most was that every possible ounce seems to be taken out of everything. The energy all round is nothing short of bewildering. I would not have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes." NAVAL TESTS OF WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. Inventor Marconi, with the co-operation of Rear Admiral Bradford, chief of the bureau of equipment, navy department, is engaged in com- pleting arrangements for trials of wireless telegraphy with regard to its adaptability for naval use. The trials will take place during the month of November between the cruiser New York and the battleship Massachu- setts. The electrical batteries, induction coil, sending key and receiving apparatus used by Signor Marconi in sending bulletins of the interna- tional yacht races will be installed on the New York. A duplicate outfit, which was used to receive the reports at the Highlands of Navesink, will be set up on the Massachusetts, while the set of apparatus which was utilized on the cable steamer will be erected on a third vessel or on land. Four naval officers especially detailed by Rear Admiral Bradford to watch the reporting of the yacht races will also be present during the naval tests. The officers are Lieut. Commander E. F. Qualtrough, Lieut. Commander John E. Newton, Lieut. George We Denfield and Lieut. John B. Blish. These officers saw both the sending and receiving oper- ations during the races and all expressed themselves as highly pleased with the workings of the system. When the two war vessels start to sea for their trials, each will be fitted with a tall pole, projecting at least 150 feet above the water. The trials will be made first at short distances and later will be extended until the full limit of the system's use is reached. Great circle sailings will be performed by the vessels and both day and night trials will be held as well as tests in heavy weather, during rain and fog and practically under every weather condition. Marconi claims that under favorable conditions he can transmit messages between vessels eighty miles apart and that weather conditions have no appre- ciable effect on the use of the invention. Fog and rain, it is claimed, might in some instances facilitate rather than retard quick transmission of communications. If the experiments between the two vessels are sat- isfactory, a land station may be established and tests made to determine the advisability of equipping light-houses so as to warn approaching vessels of danger. Signor Marconi expects to return to Europe within two or three weeks. BRITISH SHIP BUILDING. Returns compiled by Lloyd's Register of Shipping for the third quarter of the year show that on Oct. 1 there were under construction in the united kingdom a total of 558 merchant vessels of 1,347,549 gross tons. This is a considerable falling off from the showing on the corre- sponding date in 1898 when 598 vessels of 1,364,250 tons were 'building. Of the 558 vessels now under way but twenty-five are sail vessels. Of the total tonnage but two vessels, aggregating 3,350 tons, are building for the United States. It is notable that sixteen of the vessels are of 10,000 tons burden or above. There are under construction in the united kingdom eighty-two war vessels of 412,980 tons. Of this number four- teen vessels of 125,920 tons are building at the royal dock yards and sixty- eight vessels of 287,060 tons at private yards. It is said that electricity will again be tried on the Erie canal. The Erie Canal Co. of New York, is said to have contracted for the construc- tion of a number of electric motors, similar in type to automobiles. The scheme is to run the motors, which will require no rails, on the tow path. Each motor is to haul six canal boats at a speed of 5 miles per hour. ee