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MARINE REVIEW Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Co. VoL. XX. CLEVELAND, O., DEC. 21, 1899. Subscription $2.00 a year. Foreign $3.50 a year. No. 25 NEW SHIPS FOR THE GREAT LAKES. Readers of the Review will be interested in knowing how the twenty- three new steel vessels for which the American Ship Building Company has contracts are divided among the different yards of the consolidation. Contracts for all kinds of auxiliary machinery, and in fact for almost everything entering into these vessels, have been and are being made in bulk at the Cleveland headquarters of the big company. Of the twenty- three vessels only one is for passenger service, and only three of the freight carriers are tow barges. All the rest are steamers, and it may be interesting to note also that of the steamers all but three are of the very largest kind, 6,000 to 8,000 gross tons capacity, and fitted in most eases with quadruple expansion engines and water tube boilers, the latter of Babcock & Wilcox type. Some of these vessels will not, of course, go into commission until very late. next season. They are divided among the different yards of the American company as follows: Chicago Ship Building Co.--Three steamers and three 'barges. Two of the steamers are for Carnegie interests and one for John D. Rocke- feller. Two of the barges are for the Minnesota Steamship Co, and oné for Carnegie interests. All.these vessels are for the ore trade and are of the largest class. bon ae Detroit Ship Building Co.--One passenger steamer for Detroit and St. Clair river service; one freight steamer for Alex McVittie and others of Detroit (Admiral), which has been launched but not yet completed; two freight steamers, largest class, for Eddy Bros. of Bay City, Mich.; one freight steamer, largest type, for Carnegie interests. Lorafn works of American company.---Iwo steamers, largest type, for American Steel & Wire interests, represented by A. B. Wolvin of Duluth; two similar steamers for Carnegie interests; one 3,000-ton Welland Canal size steamer for R. R. Rhodes of Cleveland. Globe works of American company, Cleveland.--One freight steamer, large type, launched but not yet completed (Wm. E. Reis), for John Mitchell of Cleveland; one steamer, large type, for John D. Rocke- feller; two 8,000-ton steamers, Welland canal size, for American Steel _ & Wire interests, represented by A. B. Wolvin of Duluth. West Bay City works American company.--Two very large steamers pee merican Steel & Wire interests, represented by A. B. Wolvin. of Duluth. Superior Ship Building Co., West Superior, Wis.--One steamer, largest type, for John D. Rockefeller. _ In addition to the foregoing list of orders under way at the consoli- dated yards, there is building at the works of the Union Dry Dock Co., Buffalo, a package freight steamer of the largest type tor the Lehigh Valley Transportation Co.. and at James Davidson's yard in West Bay City, Mich., a wooden schooner, which latter will very probably be followed by one or more wooden vessels during the winter. The Craig Ship Building Co. of Toledo has well along towards' the launching. stage a 3,000-ton steel steamer for Arthur Hawgood and others of Cleveland, and 'as noted recently has begun work on a small passenger steamer for the Arnold Transportation Co. of Mackinaw, Mich. The Arnold steamer will be 200 feet over all, 34 feet beam and about 14 feet hold. She will have two decks and a commodious cabin finished in mahogany... Engines will be triple expansion of about 1,600 horse power, built after navy prac- tice and intended to insure'a regular speed of 18 miles an hour. This vessel is to be completed about July 1 next. i boas ao Work on the second dry dock at the West Superior yard of the American Ship Building Co. is so well along that it.is hoped a vessel will be docked before severe weather sets in. The principal work yet to be done is in the approach to the dock. This new dock is 606 feet long, 106 feet 8 inches wide and 24 feet 4 inches deep. : SHIPPING RELATIONS WITH CUBA AND PORTO RICO. : Mr. Frye, chairman of the senate committee on commerce, has in- troduced a bill relative to Cuban shipping and also measures providing for the extension of United States laws relative to commerce, navigation and merchant seamen to the Hawaiian islands and Porto Rico. The bill relating to Cuban shipping provides that vessels hailing from the island shall be entitled in United States ports to the rights and privileges ex- tended to the most favored foreign nation. The bills relating to the Hawaiian islands and Porto Rico indicate the intention to regard these islands as part of the territory of the United States, at least in so far as their commerce and navigation interests are concerned. The commis- sioner of navigation is authorized to make regulations for the national- izing of all vessels owned by subjects of the Hawaiian islands and Porto Rico on April 11, 1899, and which have been continuously so owned to the date of nationalization. The coasting trade, it is provided, shall be regulated in accordance with the provisions of the law applicable to such trade between any two great coasting districts. The steel steamer Plymouth of Boston has been purchased by the United States light-house board for $80,000.. The Plymouth, .it will be remembered, was the vessel used as a tender for Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht Shamrock during the international races. The vessel has been taken to the light-house department docks at Tompkinsville, S. I., where she will be overhauled and remodeled. . ; Emperor William, by reason of his interest in everything pertaining to the German navy, is making a full investigation of the subject of wire- less telegraphy. He recently spent five hours listening to an address on the subject delivered at the High School of Technology at Berlin by Prof. Slaby. RECORD OF THE YEAR IN MAINE SHIP BUILDING. Much has been printed during the past year regarding the revival of the ship building industry along the coast of Maine, and as the year draws to a close, enabling a summing up of the operations of the various yards, it appears that these reports are not of an exaggerated kind. In wooden ship building the increase is, of course, very remarkable, but more interesting is the manner in which Maine is coming forward as a producer of steel craft of the highest class, both for the navy and mer- chant marine. There have been launched in the yards of the state since Jan. 1 of the present year new vessels aggregating over 50,000 net regis- tered tons and valued at fully $3,000,000. There are now under contract or on the stocks vessels aggregating fully 52,000 tons, with a total valua- tion of $4,000,000. The building operations for the year have been con- fined for the most part to four districts--Bath, Belfast, Waldoboro and Machias. ; The prospects for the year 1900 are brighter than they have been for a long time past. At the Bath Iron Works there are now being built naval vessels to the amount of 7,991 tons displacement. Percy & Small have a five-masted schooner of 2,300 tons on the stocks, to be launched in February or earlier, and will then begin work on a five-master of 2,500 tons and a six-master of 5,000 tons capacity. The New England Co. of Bath, will build three or more barges within the next few months, and have contracts for a 2,000-ton schooner and one of 1,000 tons. Gardiner G. Deering will build a five-masted schooner of 2,000 tons. Kelley, Spear & Co. have contracted to build two barges of 850 tons each and a four- masted schooner of 1,600 tons. William T. Donnell will build a four- master of 1,000 tons. -In the Waldoboro district business promises well for 1900. At Rock- land, Cobb, Butler & Co. are building a three-masted schooner of 590 tons for the hard pine trade, and I. L. Snow & Co. are to build a center- board schooner of 200 tons. At Thomaston, Washburn Bros. are build- ing a four-masted schooner of 1,100 tons, to be launched in January; have laid the keel of a three-masted schooner to be launched in the spring, and are getting out the frame for a 1,600-ton four-master to be built next. summer. At Waldoboro, George L. Welt will build a five- masted schooner of 1,800 tons for William F. Palmer of Boston. In the Belfast district, at Camden, there is now on the stocks a five- masted schooner of about 1,400 tons to be launched in January. There -are under contract at Camden a five-master of 1,800 tons and a marine marvel--a six-masted schooner, the first ever built and the largest fore- and-aft rigged vessel ever designed for salt water. She is to register 3,000 tons gross and about 2,750 tons net, and will carry about 5,500 tons of coal. At Belfast the Pendleton Bros. of Islesboro and New York, will build a duplicate of their 762-ton four-master, Pendleton Bros. recently launched from Carter's yard. ena _ BATH LEADS IN SHIP BUILDING. Washington, D. C., Dec. 20.--It may surprise some people in -ship- ping circles to learn that Bath, Me., is again as preeminently the ship building city of the new world as she has ever been. That,.neverthe- less, is the fact. During the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1899, Bath built more tonnage (merchant vessels, of course) than any other customs district in the United States; and more, she built more tonnage than was turned out in any whole state outside of Maine. Only three districts in the United States turned out more than 20,000 tons of vessels. They were! ee District. aed : No. of vessels. Gross tous, "Bath: (ones atlas. ha aia eran ee 43 46,693 Philadel phitawav.ssre acs draceicreie at 37 37,625 Cuyahoga (Gleveland)n=3 cers c ess. 13 34,467 The district of Cuyahoga, which ranks third, is that in which Cleve- land, the principal ship building city of the great lakes, is located. In all there were built in the United States during the year 1,273 vessels of 300,088 tons gross register. In proportion to population Bath, Me., is the leading ship owning city of America, there being 12 tons of ship- ping per person owned in that city. Duluth comes next with 5.3 tons per person. The total number of vessels owned in this country is 22,728, with an aggregate gross tonnage of 4,864,238. NEW PLANT LINER. The Plant system will shortly have a valuable addition to its fleet of steamers in the H. B. Plant, now nearing completion at the works of the Merrill-Stevens Engineering Co., Jacksonville, Fla. The vessel, which is designed for service on Tampa bay, is of steel construction, 130 feet in length over all, 22 feet beam, and fitted with inclined Corliss engines and a Scotch boiler of 300 horse power. She will have accom- modations for upwards of 400 excursionists, the saloon being 21 by 55 feet in size. The draught is only 3 feet. The H. B. Plant is, of course, a side wheeler. Her speed will be about 12 miles per hour. This vessel was designed by Mr. A. D, Stevens of the Merrill-Stevens Engineering Co., and her builders have every confidence that under actual service conditions she will be as fast as either the Margaret or La Grande Duchesse. She will be lighted throughout with electricity, fitted with all modern improvements and will cost, when completed, in the neigh- borhood of $30,000. The torpedo boat Stringham, building by the Harlan & Hollings- worth €o.; Wilmington, Del.; has received the repairs to her machinery necessitated by a recent mishap, and after a brief sojourn in dry dock will resume her trial trips. | | | |