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MARINE REVIEW Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Oo. VoL. XX. CLEVELAND, O., NOV. 23, 1899. Admiral Dewey on our Merchant Marine. Office of the Admiral, 1747 Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, Nov. 21, 1899. Dear Sir: Replying to your letter of the 2oth instant, | have much pleasure in expressing to you my belief that the upbuilding and strengthening of the merchant marine will have a very bene- ficial effect upon the country at large and tend to promote its prosperity. I hope to see everything done that can be done to- ward the growth and re-establishment of the merchant marine. Yours very truly, (Signed) GEORGE DEWEY. CONTRACTS FOR CRUISERS. BOARD OF NAVAE CONSTRUOTION NAMES FIRMS THAT WILL BUILD SIX SHIPS OF THE DENVER CLASS--KIND OF FIGHTERS INVOLVED IN THE NEW PROGRAMME FOR EIGHTEEN VESSELS--SUBMARINE BOATS --OTHER WASHINGTON MATTERS. WasHInGton Bureau, Marine Review, 1345 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, Wasuineton, D. C., NovemMBer 22, 1899. The board of naval construction has recommended that contracts for the construction of the six protected cruisers, provided for at the last session of congress, be awarded, one each, to the following firms: Wm. R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va., $1,027,000; Lewis Nixon, Elizabethport, N. J., $1,039,996; Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., $1,041,650; Union Iron Works, San Francisco, $1,041,900; Fore River Engine Co., Weymouth, Mass., $1,065,000; Neafie & Levy Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadel- phia, $1,080,000, making the total cost of the six ships $6,295,516. The vessels are to be constructed according to the plans prepared by the navy department. The firm of Townsend & Downey was the lowest bidder but they get' no contract, as the special board reported that they were reliable though not fully equipped for the work. The board was practically unanimous upon having the cruisers constructed according to me department designs, though there was some discussion upon the sub- ject of permitting the Trigg company to construct an 18-knot cruiser after their own plans. The report of the board as regards ships for which appropriations will be asked from the next congress recommends the construction of three sheathed, armored and coppered cruisers of about 13,000 tons trial dis- placement, carrying the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance for vessels of their class and to have the highest practicable speed and great radius of action; three sheathed and coppered cruisers of about 8,000 tons displacement, to have the highest practicable speed and great radius of action and to carry the most powerful ordnance suitable for vessels of their class; six sheathed and coppered gunboats of about 1,000 tons dis- placement and six sheathed and coppered gunboats of about 800 tons dis- placement, of light draught and carrying the most powerful ordnance for vessels of their class. The board is of the opinion that the present posi- tion of the United States necessitates the creation of a strong naval force which will be able to support any stand that may be taken in naval affairs. The report of the board of inspection and survey and Chief Engineer Lowe is to the effect that the Holland submarine boat is a success. The chief engineer recommends the purchase of the Holland and says that it would be a good idea not to let the secret of the boat's construction get out of the United States. Chief Engineer Lowe's report is of a very en- thusiastic kind. "T report my belief," he says, "that the Holland is a success- ful and veritable submarine torpedo boat capable of making an attack upon an enemy, unseen and undetectable, and that therefore she is an engine of warfare of terrible potency which the government must necessarily adopt into its service. Notwithstanding the Hague conference, the time has not arrived for nations to disarm. On the contrary that nation which is not ready to fight, that ceases to study war. that ceases to use the most fright- ful warlike appliances when war is made, has already placed itself in a post- tion of inferiority and has ceased to possess those valuable attributes which are well described in the term manhood. Such a nation 1s already in the position of China, a prey to the weakest and the most rapacious and a disturbance to all the rest of mankind. If there is anything valuable in submarine warfare we must not permit our hands to be tied behind our backs 'by any Hague conference or pusillanimous humanitarianjsm for- bidding such appliance." ! The report continues at considerable length along the strong lines above quoted; refers to our dependencies in the Philippines and Hawaii; to the need of fifty submarine torpedo boats right off in| Long Island sound, and to the fact that the French are very active in this matter. In adding his own opinion as to what the future policy of the navy depart- ment should be after inaugurating a submarine service, Engineer Lowe says there should be submarine torpedo boats, submarine gunboats, sub- marine observation and dispatch boats, submarine counter mines and sub- marine channel draggers, each kind complete in itself but not Sea more than'one office. The object I have in mind is to keep the boats down to small dimensions for the sake of handiness and to keep each boat as roomy and as habitable as possible for the sake of the crew. Subscription $2.00 a year. Foreign . $3.50 a year. No. 21 As a result of the favorable report received by the navy department from the special board appointed to study the Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, Rear Admiral Bradford says that half a dozen vessels will very probably be equipped with the Marconi instruments provided the price is made satisfactory. ; a "The trouble with Marconi," says the chief of the equipment bureau, is that he will not sell his instruments outright but wants to dispose of them at a good stiff price and then in addition wants a heavy royalty of so much per annum. His figures are up in the thousands. I have re- ceived the report of Rear Admiral Farquhar on the tests made on the New York and Massachusetts, and while I have not read it thoroughly, from all I know of the tests, they. were very satisfactory except the feature of interference. 'Marconi failed to prove that two vessels sending mes- sages to each other could not be interfered with by a third sending out messages. In fact in the tests between the New York and the Massachu- setts and the light-house at Navesink Highlands, N. J., whenever two messages were sent out at once neither could be understood, the receiving machines simply making a lot of unintelligible dots and dashes. Marconi has assured me that he has a way of combatting this interference but he has not proved it yet. Even with the interference question unsolved, Mar- coni's system would still be of considerable value in times of peace-for naval movements and for commercial purposes. How valuable the system would be to the navy I am not prepared to say, but Marconi asks too large a price at present for his instruments. It may be that later we can come to some understanding and secure some of his machines." The Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. of America, was incorporated in New Jersey a few days ago. The capital stock is $10,000,000, one-half of which is of preferred 8 per cent, cumulative dividend kind. The names of Isaac L. Rice and August Belmont of New York, and C. A. Griscom of the International Navigation Co., Philadelphia, appear among the incor- poratots. : In its new 6-inch gun the American navy has a weapon which gives better results than the famous Vickers gun of the English service. The fact was developed a day or two ago at the Indian Head proving grounds when the gun was fired for high velocities. The maximum muzzle velocity developed during the day's firing was 2,950 feet per second with the remarkably low chamber pressure of 1534 tons per square inch. Dur- ing its recent trial at the Indian Head proving grounds the Vickers 6-inch gun developed a maximum velocity of 2,914 feet per second with 17 tons pressure. It is expected that the new gun will develop a muzzle velocity of 3,000 feet per second. Rear Admiral Hichborn has received from New York some excellent photographs of the Olympia. "The Olympia," said the Admiral, 'is the best balanced ship in the navy in power, coal capacity and displacement. During the World's Columbian Exposition the French constructors asked me why the vessel was not more praised by the United States, and why so little is said of her in prints. 'The cruiser,' I answered, 'has her career yet to make. She is going to be Dewey's flagship.' "' , CONFIDENT THAT A SHIPPING BILL WILL PASS. Senator Hanna expresses great confidence regarding the passage of a bill at the session of congress opening next month for the assistance of our merchant marine in the foreign trade. The bill will be in virtually the same form iin which it was reported by committees of both houses of the last congress, but Mr. Hanna says he will not introduce it in the senate. The plans are to have it introduced in the senate by Mr. Frye of, Maine, the father of shipping legislation, and Mt. Payne of New York will stand sponsor for it in the house of representatives. "It was only through the absence of Mr. Frye last year that my name was connected with the bill," says Mr. Hanna, "but I will, of course, be just as much interested in it as ever." 'The new tbill will not differ materially from the old one. A sub-com- mittee of the "Committee on Restoration of American Mercantile Marine (representatives of commercial bodies, steamship lines, etc.)" which com- mittee drafted the original bill, has recently held a number of meetings to discuss the bill and the prospects, and it was decided that aside from minor changes in the verbiage designed to make the meaning of certain paragraphs clearer, no changes-at all were necessary or desirable. No change whatever has been made in the features of the bill itself and there have been no important additions or omissions. Cleveland representatives of the leading iron ore interests are still taking all vessels that are offered for next year at $1.25 a ton from the head of Lake Superior, but there is little, if any, Escanalba ore offering now at the dollar rate that was established when the bulk of the vessel capacity was engaged a few weeks ago. The producers of 'old-range Bessemer ores --leaders as regards prices--have not met as yet, but they will probably take up, during the coming week, the matter of sales for another year. It is quite probable that the base price of these high grade ores for 1900 will be $5.50, as against $2.95 for the present year and $2.75 for 1898. Some Mesabi non-Bessemers have already been sold independent of the action of the high-grade producers at $4.25. Mr. D. G. Thomson of Montreal, whose death was announced a few days ago, was well known to vessel owners in all parts of the great lakes as manager of the Montreal Transportation Co., a position which, he had held for thirty years. He had been engaged in grain transportation on the St. Lawrence for more than forty years.