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to MARINE REVIEW. 23 be made, recorded carefully. Towers are listed with special reference to their value as daymarks, intended to help the approaching seaman before he is finally taken in charge by the elaborate system of buoys that mark out the channel for him from the mouth of the harbor to the docks. Be- fore the day of tall towers sailors used to steer by the wind mill and the meeting house steeple, and certain big tree landmarks. NOTHING TO SHOW THROUGH SNOW OR FOG. Perfect as modern light-house lighting is, nothing has ever been in- vented that could show unblurred through snow and rain, or show at all in a fog. "God Almighty hain't made nothin' Himself could show thro' fog," an old 'longshoreman said. But failing a light, something can at least shout through a fog and be heard. And for convenience of attend- ance and supply the various sounding signals are placed at light stations, except at fiercely exposed points among a group of lights, where a mighty fog signal may even have its own station, as at "The Cuckolds," between Monhegan and Seguin. Continuous sound, analogous to the fixed form of light, is not desirable. Intermittent sound more surely catches the ear and strikes best through the roar of wind and surf. A gray fog creeping in, day or night, shutting each "star" into the circle of its own halo, sets in motion instantly the crowd of ever-ready signals. The tenor sirens sing, the trumpets hoot, the whistles shriek and the bells toll solemnly; and the nervous "hand bells," sounded in answer to signals, ring and listen, and ring again. You look away from the clear blue horizon line and the gray rocks and the shining sea between, and look back again at a dead gray wall that crowds over the garden fence and bounds the visible world, and it is hardly done before the fog signal is telling the bigger world where you are. PROGRESS OF NAVAL CONSTRUCTION. The monthly summary of the progress of construction of vessels building for the United States navy shows a fair gain for September. There is an appreciable increase in the Denver class of cruisers. The cruiser Cleveland, building at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., is 20 per cent. completed and the Denver at Neafie & Levy's, Philadelphia, is 29 per cent. completed. Work has also begun at Lewis Nixon's ship yard on four of the submarine boats for which contracts were lately let. Fol- lowing is the summary: Degree of completion, BATTLESHIPS. Per cent. : Sept. 1. Oct. 1. TWlinbise 582 ee VR ree Getto Newport (News. /620i i REA OS 85 85 AVA Dam aise nese ks case ae ak Cramp & Sons rcs ee ean 99 99 WiISCOnSIT ot eo eo es Wnion' trons WOLKSe ace a os a. es ee 96 97 MEIN 2 is Seis aS otro eae eee Cramp: © Sons see eee 34 35 MUISsOUDL 43. 35 sccs Geis ea a o tee Ne@wDpOrtcoNewsditis. tse ies ak ke 12 15 OBIOS acs sone ook aa es Union Iron WOrks: 40 0 ence lace a 28 30 SHEATHED PROTECTED CRUISERS. Denver on eit gat oe ee Neaiffior& evy iis. 60 he 24 29 Des Moines More: River Hngine: Co<. 632 ac. ts 6 7 ' Chattanooga .. Ms ae TUOWAS SNEKON 55. eo Lae 8 1h Galveston ...... : ...Wm. R. Trigg Co 1 2 TACOMA: oss. scioes ... Union Iron Works iL 3 Clowelang ico. sses cs eae Bath Iron Works 15 20 MONITORS. ATKANSAG hos. eee oes eens Newport News ........... : 41 42 Connecticut (to be renamed)... Bath Iron Works 65 68 POTN G: fee ath cee Lewis: Nixon. 23.000 ease 46 48 WOME: oe cee eee i ees Union Iron Works 51 53 TORPEDO BOAT DESTROYERS. Bainbridge 43.0758 ok ee Neatio:& Pevy- sei oe ee 73 78 BBATIV aig cee ca eek pas arenas Neaiies& Levysii is cad ic Pe 72 76 CRBUNCEY oe hee Neatio & 6vy oo. es. eo ce 12 76 DAIS: Se ee .. Hae s Wane Reo irico Cosa seg 82 83 DSCAHUN Sees... SiG ser og Wii Re: Trigg sC0s225i oie Se RS 79 81 HODES. feces cee Naess Harlan & Hollingsworth .............. 67. 68 MAM eee ees crease cus ne Se ae Harlan & Hollingsworth .......:...... 67 68 TG WIENCO 5. ese ik ea ce oo. ae Fore River Engine Co.................. 97 98 Macdonough: 23 i06)..cis oan Fore 'River: Pngine Co... 25 ce. 95 96 Paul Jones .. a wa Union: Iron Works). v.65) 2 75 16 Perry .... ..-Union Iron Works ...... 15 76 Preble .. ..-- Union Iron Works ...... 15 76 . Stewart Hea ...Gas Engine & Power Co. 34 37 ETOURC Ue oes ee ene ee ares Maryland Steel Co....... fe ous 38 Whipple io. 2 ee ee Maryland Steel Co......... 31 38 Wordetic fis Loxieen cae eee Maryland Steel Co: scree 31 38 TORPEDO BOATS. SUINehaAm 6. ose ee as ee Harlan & Hollingsworth .............. 98 98 Goldsborough (72.72... WO ge ZWICker: o.5 00s s 99 99 BON ries Ae otk Eve ee Gas Engine & Power Co............... 96 97 ROY os os le pa cee cca he va Bathe iron Works... 60 83 92 TRATNO Soe aos 5 esos ose Ghee bea Baths leon. WoOrkse ce sce eee 96 97 Biddle i ak. a eee Bath tron Works... cose ccs onc ces 65 1 Blakely <0 94. 83'S on et. Geo. Lawley: & Son's 254 2S: 92 94 DORON R ois ae sees Gaeanaw Geo; Gawleoy..& Sonics. 6 ee 92 94 Nicholson . uate ee duewis "Nixon: O220.200 8 FASS. 75 80 O'Brien tdoewis. NIXON neo ris eke aes eS 77 82 Shubrick . Wim: Re ries: 00.5035, eo ee, 90 92 Stockton .. Ls ...Wm. R. Trigg Co ae we 96 97 APBOPN LON. 2. ois s 4 sss \ Cuesionaes Win Roe Prigs Coen... smelt? 88 89 MANBOV Sc ocs aces eee oe Cotumbian. tron: Works, =. ,:002.. 3'.. 61 61 NVIMGGB 2S IA ee Gas Engine & Power Co.............. 53 60 SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOATS. PLU ROR ise ccsticc ce cos keen ene s xine Wink: Re rigg Coe 75h us oh. ee Ss 85 85 WOOP ve cia eee ia es Bhewis: Nixon 3.3 7..5 ece: 6 TAIN PUS ioc or ee areas Union tron "Works. 33... 0 Moocasine 610.0 a ae: Tuewis-sNigon whi ik. oe eee Gd. 6 BIRO Soo ccsotaes pe sowrg kee: were Union tron: Works 2.5. (3 SB: 0 POPDOIRG Sooo oon de ays xs so oon Lewis Nixon. 26... s nm 6 PAT rs eee ee eae PIB WIS NIXON 3, eles a 6 According to a return published by the ministry of finance, the Rus- sian mercantile marine on Jan. 1 last numbered 657 steamers, of the esti- mated value of £9,251,000, and 2,143 sailing vessels, of the value oi £1,510,000. Of the steamers, nearly all are of foreign construction (mostly British), but of the sailing vessels a large proportion were built in the Baltic provinces. Of the above-mentioned vessels, 159 steamers and 460 sailing vessels have been added to the mercantile navy within the last three years. Odessa is the chief port of registry in the Black sea. According to the customs returns the number of vessels registered in that port on Jan. 1, i899, was 265 steamers and 535 sailing vessels, and on Jan. 1, 1900, 282 steamers and 540 sailing vessels. FRENCH NAVAL CONSTRUCTION FOR 1901. _ The French ship building program for the year 1901 has just been issued. The names of no less than 111 vessels are included in this state- ment, but thirteen of these are to be completed during the present year, including the Iéna, a 12,000-ton battleship, and the submarines Farfadet and Algérien.. During the year the battleships Henri IV., 9,000 tons, and Suffren, 12,000 tons, the armored cruisers Jeanne d'Arc and Montcalm, and the first-class cruiser Jurien de la Graviére, will be added to the French navy, as well as the three destroyers Pertuisane, Escopette and Flamberge. Five submarines--the Siréne, Triton, Korrigan, Gnome and Lutin--will also be completed, besides seven sea-going torpedo boats, and twelve smaller boats. The battleship Henri IV. is building at Cherbourg, and is to be finished by April 1; the Suffren, at Brest, is to be ready by May 1. Two new battleships, known at present as the A8 and A10, laid down under the act for the development of the fleet, are to be of a new type. They will have a displacement of 14,865 tons, 14,475 H.P., 18 knots speed and 8,390 miles radius of action when steaming at 10 knots. Their armament will include four heavy guns, 18 guns of medium caliber and twenty-eight smaller pieces, with five torpedo tubes. The estimated cost of each is 35,500,000 francs. These ships, it will be noticed, correspond very nearly to the British Formidable type. Of armored cruisers France has in all fourteen under construction, divided into five different types. Of these the Jeanne d'Arc, to be com- pleted towards the end of 1901, is the only vessel of her class. She has a displacement of 11,270 tons, and will cost nearly 17,000,000 francs. This vessel, it will be observed, is a little smaller than the English Cressy class, but is to have two knots extra speed, 23 knots, as compared with the 21 knots of the English ships. Three other armored cruisers--the Dupetit Thouars, Gueydon and Montcalm--have a displacement of 9,517 tons. They are being constructed at Toulon, Lorient and La Seyne re- spectively. The speed of this class is to be 21 knots. After these come five cruisers of 10,014 tons--the Condé, Gloire, La Marseillaise, Sully and Amiral Aube. The two first are building at Lorient, the third at Brest and the other two at Seyne and Saint Nazaire respectively. There are also three armored cruisers of 7,700 tons, specially designed for service in foreign waters. The twelve cruisers above mentioned were laid down before the close of the year 1899. In 1900 two vessels of a new type were commenced, the Jules Ferry and the Léon Gambetta, the former at Cher- bourg, and the latter at Brest. They are to be of 12,550 tons displacement. of 27,500 H.P. and 22 knots speed. Lastly, an armored cruiser, known as C13, similar to the Jules Ferry, will be commenced at Toulon during the coming year. With regard to protected cruisers, since it has been decided to discontinue building this type of vessel, there is but one under con- struction, the Jurien de la Grayiére, now building at Lorient. She is to be completed by Oct. 1. A distinctive feature of the new French program is the entire absence of torpedo boats, either of the seagoing or harbor type, these having been given up in favor of the destroyers, which it is said 'can keep the sea better and act more advantageously as scouts." Thus there remain under construction only the seven seagoing torpedo boats previously mentioned, and these will be completed in 1901. On the other hand, the building of destroyers will be pushed on energetically, fourteen being in hand, whilé ten others are to be laid down. These will be divided be- tween the government and private yards. Much interest naturally centers in the construction of submarines. Altogether seventeen such vessels are provided for. Two of these, as has already been mentioned, are to be completed in 1900. The Triton and Siréne, building at Cherbourg, which were delayed in construction pending the completion of the trials of the Narval, have lately been pushed forward. Two new submarines of the submersible type--the Silure and Espadon--have been commenced at Cherbourg during the current year. During 1901 eight others will be put in hand, six at Toulon and two at Cherbourg. The complete flotilla of submarines, as at present arranged, will therefore consist of twenty-two vessels, of which seven will be completed in 1900, the same number in 1901, five in 1902, and three in 1903. PESSIMISTIC ON THE SUBJECT OF GUAM. In his annual report to the secretary of the navy Rear Admiral W. K. Van Reypen, surgeon-general, takes a pessimistic view from the stand- point of health of the use of Guam as a naval station. "Typhoid fever is practically epidemic among the natives," he says, "owing to the pollution of drinking water in shallow-wells near cesspools and to the very common lack of any provision whatever for the receipt of refuse matter. The disease soon appeared among the enlisted force, as access to contaminated water was under the circumstances unavoid- able. During less than five months there were twenty-five cases and four deaths from this cause in a force of 143 men. The climate is debilitating. The mean annual temperature is above 77 degrees, but in the winter months, though the days are hot from the larger amount of sunshine, the nights are sufficiently cool for blankets. It is also at this season that the humidity is lessened and the trade winds are most constant. From June to November or December the rainfall is heavy and almost constant, but during the rest of the year the climate is very agreeable for the tropics. Leprosy is not common and the disease is not increasing. There are only fourteen cases known to be on the island at this time. Considering all the circumstances, the conditions are not favorable at this station for continuous good health. Excluding the influence incidental to life in the tropics, the present station is in too close proximity to surroundings made unfavorable by the long occupation of a people unaware of sanitary re- quirements. It is worthy of note that the health record of the Yosemite, anchored near Cabras island, has been excellent, and it is probable that naval station established there would enjoy far better health than the one at Agana. As Cabras island is not inhabited, its soil is free from infec- tion. Its natural drainage is excellent and it is reported that there is at hand an ample supply of potable water." Concerning the health of the large naval force in the Philippines, Ad- miral Van Reypen says: 'Considering the climatic conditions and the necessary exposure, the health of the squadron has been remarkably good. It has been and still is the practice to send officers and men who are suffering from debilitating climatic conditions to the naval hospital at Yokohama, where, as a rule, they soon recover and return to their sta- tions for duty."