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1809.) MARINE REVIEW. | 19 ae INTEREST IN THE HOLLAND. NEWSPAPER REPORTS ARE TO THE EFFEOT THAT FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS ARE AFTER AMERIOA'S LATEST TYPE OF TORPEDO BOAT--ENGINEER LOWE'S REMARKABLE REPORT. Reports of the success attending recent trials at Peconic bay of the Holland submarine torpedo boat, accounts of which were contained in the last two issues of the Review, seem to have induced a wonderful revival of interest in the craft. If newspaper reports are to be believéd, the matter has bees taken up by both the British and French naval attaches at Wash- ington, and the French representative has gone so far as to recommend that his government secure the exclusive right to the use of the invention. The owners of the boat have determined to take the craft to Washington in order to give before the naval committee and other members of con- gress a practical demonstration of its workings. Arrangements have been nade to start within a few days in tow of the steam yacht Josephine, and the Holland will be subjected to still further tests in the Potomac. Naval Constiuctor Francis T. Bowles of the Brooklyn navy yard, who first reccmmended to former Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney the value of submarine attack, is quoted in a New York paper as saying that he is still convinced of the soundness of the theories which he then held. The very remarkable supplementary report,submitted in connection with, the regular report of the trial board by Capt. John Lowe, U.S. N., re. corder of the board,.has also. attracted,a great deal of attention. Short reference to this report was made. in the last issue of the Review. It is in substance as follows: "We need, right off and right now, fifty submarine torpedo vessels in Long island sound to preserve the peace and to give potency to our diplomacy. The French in this matter are much more alive to their needs than we are. What we have left to a private company the French have taken up as a national affair. Leaving out the Gymnote, of which I know but little, the French, at the end of this year, will have spent money and produced vessels as follows: Gustave Zede, $386,181; Morse, $166,483; Narval and class, seven boats, $910,000; total, $1,462,664. It so happens, however, that the Zede is only a partial success, newspaper accounts not- withstanding, and the Morse still less so, while the Narval and class will be abject failures because of the same mistake made in our Plunger--a notable mistake, which the Holland demonstrated in advance, and which mistake, I understand, is to be rectified. All the mistakes which have be- fallen the French will pass by our government, notwithstanding the fact that, instead of one and one-half millions, our government has not spent one cent, nor has it bestowed anything more than scant encouragement upon the private company which has spent large amounts of money. Be- sides the mistakes saved, very many essential difficulties have been over- come, which could not have been dreamed of at the outset, and as a con- sequence the Holland people, by means of the Holland, are in possession of ripe experience, which the government should possess, and no one else. "Among the facts stated in the first part of my report I have de- scribed the Holland torpedo station and sketched the daily routine. I might observe that this is precisely what the government would do did it possess a station of the kind. It is also precisely the routine to be ob- served by a torpedo boat at sea, lying in wait for an enemy--that is to say while motionless or in cruising trim the batteries can be recharged and the air tanks filled, ready for the approach of an enemy, until the fuel for the gas engine is nearly exhausted. "Tt seems to me, therefore, quite a necessity that this government should not allow this skill and knowledge to pass out of its own hands from native to foreign lands, but should forestall such a catastrophe by at once purchasing the Holland and putting the Holland people under some ban whereby they will be prevented from disclosing secrets to the disad- vantage of the United States. How keenly foreign governments are alive to the Holland is shown by the presence of foreign officers upon her. Concerning future improvements to be made in the Holland and her suc- cessors, I confine myself to one example to show how much this point is a matter of opinion and not yet of knowledge. The Holland thus far has only one torpedo tube. On the one hand some advocate two such- tubes, and give good reasons; on the other hand others argue that one tube only should be provided, and give good reason. This and several other alterations can be made in the Holland, either now or at any other time, if so desired by the government. I desire to add my own opinion as to what the future policy of the navy department should be after inau- gurating a submarine service. Instead of doing too much with one vessel, each one should be a distinct vessel of its kind, and not have combined two or more kinds in one vessel. Thus there should be submarine torpedo boats, submarine gunboats, submarine observation and dispatch boats, submarine countermines and submarine channel draggers, etc., each kind complete in itself, but not combining 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. It must. be remembered also that this class of vessel cannot possibly have the comforts of a roomy vessel. For example, there is no room for bodily exercise and recreation. There can only be limited cooking facilities. They must, therefore, always be attached to some base, either on shore or afloat, and then, when sent on service, the vessel and the crew must be considered analogous to an army scouting party; they. must carry food in their haversacks and water in their can- teens. For sleep, they will always be better off than soldiers are, because they will always have a dry and a warm blanket and sufficient relief to get Sufficient rest. When the fuel for the engines is exhausted then food should be exhausted, and the vessel should return to base, or the base to the boat, for relief and replenishment." 4 : The report of the trial board is made up largely of technical details and is far more conservative in tone than that of Engineer Lowe. Among the statements made, however, is the following: "Throughout the double Tun over the mile, the conning tower was closed, and the air within the yessel was quite fresh and pure. While on the course and submerged it was very noticeable that the only disturbance of the water was due to the distance poles at each end of the boat.: On one or two occasions when the vessel dipped forward and the propeller came near the surface the wake of the boat was quite noticeable, although the vessel itself was not in sight." Appropriations made by congress some time ago for the construction of two additional submarine torpedo boats will become available as soon as the navy department declares itself satisfied as to design. This is looked for at an early date, and in all probability the new boats will be built at Lewis Nixon's Crescent Ship Yard at Elizabethport, N. J. It is understood that the work of altering in conformity with the Holland de- sign the machinery in the submarine torpede boat Plunger, now building for the United States government at the yard of the Columbian Iron Works, Baltimore, will be proceeded with as soon as authority can be secured from the navy department. ALONG THE GREAT LAKES. Lieut. Geo. N. Hayward is the naval officer now in charge of the branch hydrographic office in Cleveland. Lieut. Hayward comes of salt water stock, his father having been Commander G. W. Hayward, who died some years ago in Alexandria, Egypt. He was graduated from the naval academy in 1888 and in the eleven years of his service has been berthed in the Boston, Pensacola, San Francisco, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Baltimore again, and in the Monadnock, being but recently detached from sea duty and assigned to:shore duty. He was with Dewey at Manila. At the Wisconsin Central docks in Ashland, a few days ago, 5,000 gross tons of iron ore was placed aboard the steel barge Geo. E. Hartnell in two and a half hours. At the fast coal loading plant of the Baltimore & Ohio company in Sandusky 4,500 tons of soft coal was placed aboard the steamer McWilliams in 9 hours 5 minutes. The Sandusky plant is similar to that of M. A. Hanna & Co. at Ashtabula. The coal is dumped into pockets from bottom-dump cars, and from the pockets to 5-ton buckets which are hoisted into the ship's hold. Sales of vessels during the past week include the steel steamers Parks Foster and Ira Owen from Messrs. Clough, Foster and others of Elyria, O., to A. McVittie of Detroit, J. G. Keith of Chicago, and others. The vessels are to be turned over to the new owners at the close of navigation. Capt. James Corrigan of Cleveland, has bought two more vessels--the steamer Quito, from the Tonawanda Iron & Steel Co., and the schooner Ashland from D. C. Whitney of Detroit. Capt. C. P. Perkins of the U. S. S. Michigan, who has been making surveys in various parts of the lakes, says the passage between' Mackinaw and Round island is only good for 19 feet. It is all foul ground, he says, and there may be boulders with even less than 19 feet over them. The United States hydrograph office will very probably issue shortly a sup- plemental chart covering this particular locality. Capt. C. E. Dahlke of Cleveland, will remove the wreck of the schooner H. G. Cleveland under a contract with the government and for a consideration of $485. The wreck of this schooner is about W. N. W. 4 miles off Cleveland crib and is a dangerous obstruction to navigation. DEATH OF THE FOUNDER OF WHITE STAR LINE. A cable from Liverpool announces the sudden death of Mr. Thomas Henry.Ismay, founder and chairman of the board of directors of the White Star line. Thomas Ismay, who was the eldest son of Joseph Ismay, a ship builder and ship owner, was born at Maryport, Cumberland, in 1837, and at the age of 16 proceeded to Liverpool to enter into business life. He was apprenticed at the outset to the then well-known firm of Imrie, Tomlinson & Co., ship owners and brokers. In 1867 he took over the business of the White Star line of Australian clippers and was soon after- ward joined by Mr. William Imrie, son of one of the partners in the frm of Imrie, Tomlinson & Co. The two young men then formed the busi- ness of Ismay, Imrie & Co., which strengthened later by the addition of other partners, is still in existence, although Mr. Ismay himself retired from it at the end of 1891. ; Before the close of the sixties, Mr. Ismay, who had studied with care and closeness the possibilities of improved transatlantic travel, organized the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., of which his firm became managers and by which the world-famed White Star line of Atlantic steamérs was started. The Oceanic, the first steamer of the line, was launched in 1871 and admittedly revolutionized the Atlantic type of passenger steamers. She was followed by other vessels, each an improvement upon its prede- cessor, until culmination has come in the magnificent new Oceanic, the largest vessel ever constructed. Mr. Ismay continued until his death as chairman of the White Star line. In 1887, his jubilee year, Mr. Ismay started with a gift of $100,000 (since augmented by further donations of ~ $200,000) a pension fund for aged Liverpool seamen, under the operation of which over 100 old mariners are each receiving a pension of $100 per year. Two of Mr. Ismay's sons are managers of the White Star line. -- It is announced from Seattle that the Pacific Coast Steamship Co., which has for years had practically a monopoly of the coastwise steamer trade from Alaska to San Diego, is now controlled by James J. Hil, president of the Great Northern Ry. Goodall, Perkins & Co. of San Francisco, formerly owned the Pacific coast steamship lines, but sold the control fifteen years ago, obtaining at the time a contract as general agents of the system, which will expire Jan. 1, 1900. The announcement of sale is based on statements made by United States Senator George C. Perkins of Goodall, Perkins & Co., who is to retire not only from the shipping firm but also from the steamship company Jan. 1 next. ; The Berlin Iron Bridge Co., East Berlin, Conn., has just shipped twenty-seven carloads of structurai material to the Paris exposition. The material will form the steel framework of a machine shop to be tused ex- clusively by the American exhibitors of iron and wood-working machin- ery. The building will be 343 feet in length and 77 feet in width.