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1900.] MARINE REVIEW. 23 model with two, three or five shroudless masts of any length and pro- portion, stepped down hatchways or over the side, with lug sails of bam- boo matting stiffened by bamboo splinters, and the inevitable perforated rudder and painted eyes keeping lookout from the bows. The junk is as inscrutable as the race which designed her; but as she can never go far to sea, she will never compete with other types in the navigation of the future. Neither can any other form of lug or lateen or square sail. The sea-going ship of the future will be schooner rigged. ® COMMERCE WITH HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. The people of the United States are likely to be deprived of some much desired information regarding the commerce of the United States with the Hawaiian islands. The recent act of congress which extended to these islands practically all of the laws of the United States is construed as rendering the commerce between the United States and the islands "'coastwise" in its character. The laws with reference to the gathering of statistics of our commerce require importers and exporters to file with the collectors of customs at the ports at which their goods enter, or at which they leave the country, a specific statement of the quantity and value of each article imported or exported. The law does not require, however, this detailed information with reference to goods passing from one port of the United States to another port of the United States. Taking advantage of this condition merchants of San Francisco who are engaged in the trade with the Hawaiian islands are refusing to furnish to the. collector at that point, regarding goods sent to or from the Hawaiian islands, the general class of information which they have for years been furnishing, but from which they claim they are now exempt under the new conditions, The effect of this will be to deprive the treasury bureau of statistics and the people of the United States, at present at least, of all informa- tion regarding the commerce with the Hawaiian islands. No feature of our import and export trade has attracted so much attention during the past year as that with the Hawaiian islands. It was one spot where the effect of annexation upon commerce with the territory annexed could be studied, since in the other territories brought into close relations with the United States, conditions were not in our favor by reason of the war which had existed previous to or immediately following the new relation- ship. While the growth of our commerce with Porto Rico, Cuba and the Philippine islands had been very great, it has been difficult to deter- mine what proportion of the growth was due to war conditions or what proportion to the new relations thus established. In the case of the Hawaiian islands, however, no war conditions existed, either previous or subsequent to annexation, and the growth of the commerce with the United States may be attributed chiefly, if not wholly, to the close rela- tions brought about by annexation and the general business revival which followed that event. The growth of our commerce with the Hawaiian islands in the last few years, especially in the years 1899 and 1900, has been phenomenal. This growth is especially interesting in view of the new relationship which has been established with the islands and the marked increase which accompanied the final determination of that event. In 1890 the exports of the United States to the Hawaiian islands were $4,711,417 and in 1897 $4,690,075, showing no growth from 1890 to 1897. In 1890 the im- ports into the United States from the Hawaiian islands were: $12,312,098 and in 1897 $13,687,799, showing but a slight growth. The treaty of annexation was signed at Washington June 16, 1897, so that all the commerce of the fiscal year 1898 felt the effect of that step in the process of annexation. In that year the exports of the United States to the Hawaiian islands were $5,907,155, an increase of 27 per cent. over 1897, when they amounted to $4,690,075. The treaty was ratified July 7, 1898, and sovereignty over the islands formally transferred to the United States on Aug. 12, 1898, thus bringing practically all of the fiscal year 1899 within the period following the complete annexation. The ex- ports to the Hawaiian islands in the fiscal year 1899 amounted to $9,305,- 470, an increase of over 50 per cent. On the import side the year 1898 showed an increase of $3,500,000 over 1897 and the year 1900 showed another increase of $3,500,000 over 1898 and 1899, CIVIL SERVICE POSITION FOR MASTER. The United States Civil Service 'Commission announces that it is de- sired to establish an eligible register for the position of master in the Quartermaster's Department at Large. No scholastic test will be given, but applicants will be graded upon the elements of age, experience, intel- ligence, character as a workman, and physical qualifications, as shown by the information furnished in connection with their formal applications. It will not be necessary for applicants to appear at any place for examina- tion. From the eligibles resulting from this examination certification will be made to the position of master on the quartermaster's steamer General Ayres, at Boston, Mass., at a salary of $110 per month. This examination is open to all citizens of the United States who com- ply with the requirements and desire to enter the service. All such per- sons are invited to apply, and applicants will be graded and certified with entire impartiality and wholly without regard to any consideration save the grade given them. Persons who desire to compete should at once apply to the secretary of the local board of examiners at Boston, Mass., or to the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C., for application form 1093, which should be properly executed and filed with the commission prior to the hour of closing business on Oct. 1. s The_navy department has been notified by the Harlan & Hollings- worth Co., Wilmington, Del., builders of the 30-knot torpedo boat Stringham, that the vessel made a very satisfactory trial trip, her engines and boilers working perfectly, but that she failed to develop her full contract speed, and they have requested permission of the department to fit her with higher speed propellers. It is believed by the navy depart- ment that with this change the Stringham will easily come up to the 30-knot limit. : The monitor Wyoming will be launched from the ship yard of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, on Sept. 8. Miss Frances Warren, daughter of United States Senator F. E. Warren, will christen the monitor. BUILDING BOATS FOR WARSHIPS. One of the most important and interesting of the shops at the Charlestown navy yard is that in which the ships' boats are built. This yard sends out many of the navy's finest specimens of small boats, and builds them at a very low cost to the government compared with the expense of constructing similar types at other stations. The explanation of this is in the fact that the Charlestown yard is in the very heart of the boat-building section of the country, and that skilled workmen are al- ways available. Materials for construction are obtainable at minimum cost. At present about seventy-five men are employed in this shop, un- der the supervision of 'Master Boatbuilder Robertson, who has had years of experience in this line of work and knows it thoroughly from the lay- ing of the keel to the finishing touches. The boats built here are of the types most in use in the navy, and are divided among six classes: Twenty- foot cutters and whaleboats, 26, 28 and 30-ft. cutters, 28-ft. whaleboats, 30 and 33-ft. steam cutters. The standard types of boats in use in the United States navy are: Steam cutters, balsas, launches, barges, gig whale- boats, cutters and dinghies. The shop has orders ahead for about forty boats of different classes, including several steam cutters. Work is in progress on three steam cutters, two 28-ft. cutters, one 28-ft. whaleboat, four 20-ft. cutters, two whaleboats and the boats of several of the ships undergoing repairs at the wharves are being renovated. The vital importance of the launches, cutters and other small boats carried on board ships of war in all the navies of the world is great, their small size being no indication of their value either in actual warfare or in the performance of peaceful duties. The number and types of boats on each ship varies according to the use to which they are to be put. For instance, a battleship requires a vastly different set of boats from a tor- pedo boat. The former's boats must have a capacity sufficient to accom- modate all her officers and crew either for a landing party or to allow them to reach shore safely in case their ship has to 'be abandoned at sea; the torpedo boat's outfit will probably be used very little except for trans- porting her crew. Ina word, the largest ships must have enough boats to carry from five to six hundred men, while the smallest class need only enough to take care of thirty or forty. The amount. of time, the cost of material and labor consumed in building a steam cutter will astonish anyone unacquainted with the facts. The ordinary person when he reads where some ship has lost a steam cutter or has had a boat or two shot away, thinks of it as merely an incident whereby the government loses a few dollars. When he learns that these cutters cost about $6,000 each and occupy a year in building his views change. The engines aboard the cutters are very powerful and can drive them through the water at the rate of from 10 to 14 knots an hour under favor- able conditions. They have a sail area of 372 sq. ft., but this is hardly ever taken advantage of except in an emergency. 'A 40-ft. steam cutter weighs over 10,000 lbs. and has a bunker capacity for 1,600 Ibs. of coal. These cutters represent the maximum of cost, weight and speed in small boats. It takes about 200 days to complete one. The minimum of cost is represented by the 10-ft punt which weighs 369 lbs., can be built in ten days, and costs less than $70, $45 of which is for labor. Between these two extremes come the other classes, twenty-nine in all. Down to the 24-ft. cutters all are fitted with an ordnance circle. This circle is to hold in place a small machine gun in cases of emergency, and weighs 30 Ibs. The other outfits furnished to this class of boats are: Equipment 780, water supply 1,525, coal 1,600, or a total of 3,938 lbs. The punt carries no outfit, and is used principally for cleaning ship. Punts are of no use in making a landing or in abandoning a ship at sea.. Of course, Hp .one likes to think of such an emergency. but every precaution must be taken. : "Well, I thought I knew all about every kind of a 'boat," said an old man who was being shown through the boat shop recently, "but I've never heard of a balsa; and what is the boat you call a dinghy?" 'A balsa is nothing but an improved life raft fitted with oars and sails. It is an in- vention of Admiral Ammen, who has more recently come into prominence as the designer of the Ammen ram Katahdin. Although the balsas have proved more successful than the ram, they are not being built for the navy at the present time. The balsa consists of two large cylinders which serve to buoy up a platform. The dinghies are nearest to an ordinary lap-streak row-boat of anything in the navy. They are usually finished in hard woods, polished mahogany being frequently used. That they are much more elaborate than the row-boat is evidenced 'bv the fact that the 20-ft. type, for instance, costs nearly $500. Every boat that is built in a government navy yard, or by private contract, is made from plans drawn especially for it. It makes no dif- ference how small a boat is, the plans are sent on from the department at Washington, and every detail has to be carried out as they call for. Plans for steam cutters are very elaborate and cover seven sheets of blue paper. When they are drawn up the boat is assigned a number, and thereafter it is known officially only by this number. Boats built at navy yards have letters prefixed to their numbers as follows: Portsmouth, P; Bos- ton, B; New York, Y; League Island, L; Norfolk, N; Mare Island, M; Pensacola, F; Port Royal, R; Washington, W; Puget Sound, S. Those built by contract are lettered '©. The letters precede the number in the following manner: Y-160 will represent the 160th boat built at the New York navy yard; and thus designated, the bureau of construction and repair, under which it was built, can trace its history. These numbers are used in surveys and in correspondence relative to boats. All articles be- longing to each boat are marked with its number. In the boat shop, as in every other division of the navy yard, a lot of red tape has to be cut before actual work can be begun. The blue print plans and the accompanying letter authorizing the construction of the boat which they call for are first carefully scrutinized 'by the naval constructor and then are handed to a clerk who makes record of their receipt, the class of boat to be built, its cost, and other minor fa@fs regarding it. Next they go down to the office of the master boatbuilder, where more records have to be made. Finally the plans are placed in the hands of the workmen. After the timber has been selected and sawed, the keel and stem are set in position and a few days later the ribs are up. A gigantic skeleton of some extinct mammal most closely resembles the boat at this stage. But this is soon altered by the planks, and finally come the finishing of the interior and the painting of the whole boat.