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26 MARINE REVIEW. [May 2, MARINE REVIEW 'Devoted to the Merchant Marine, the Navy, Ship Building, and Kindred Interests. Published every Thursday at No. 418-19 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohio, by THE MARINE REVIEW PUBLISHING Co. SusscripPTion--$3.00 per year in advance; foreign, including postage, $4.50, or 19 shillings. Single copies 10 cents each. Convenient binders sent, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Many years ago Mr. Seward made the prediction that the Pacific coast would in the course of time become the chief theater of events in the world's hereafter. This was a broad and sweeping statement to make, but Seward was one of those men who have prophetic vision. While the Pacific coast may never be the center of the world's activity, the great center that Seward prophesied, still its growth has been such as to justify the remark of many years ago. Seward's prediction must be taken in its comparative sense. He could not have foreseen the great progress which the whole world was to make through the revolution of iron and steel. The San Francisco Chronicle has lately touched upon the ocean com- merce of the 'Pacific coast. It says: "The extraordinary growth of ocean commerce of San Francisco and the increase of the fleet of steamships engaged in the foreign trade are noticeable to every observer of the San Francisco water front. The docks are constantly filled with big steamships receiving or discharging cargoes. Some of these vessels are too long for the slips in which they lie and their hulls project far into the fairway beyond the ends of the piers. It is only a few years since many of these docks were constructed and they were then supposed to be large enough to accommodate the biggest steamships that would be likely to arrive at this port for twenty years to come. This is all changed now. Piers and docks must be lengthened to adapt them for the big liners which are making San Francisco their home port. Shortly we shall see vessels at our wharves which will make the old Pa- cific Mail liners of twenty years ago look like cockleshells alongside them. Scarcely a day passes now but what a fleet of large steamships lie in the stream waiting for vacant berths at which they may discharge the cargoes they bring from across the Pacific, or from the islands: of southern seas or the ports of Central or South America with which we are developing a large and valuable commerce. The wharves at which these merchant- men are moored tell the story of our new foreign relations and the vast and varied resource of the state itself." Everywhere one hears the story of the growth of ships. No sooner is the fact chronicled that such and such a vessel is the largest in her class ever launched than the statement must be amended and the announce- ment made that one a little larger has just been launched. They are dropping into the water as fast as they can be struck from the ways. Ten years is a century in these times. Think of the vessel of ten years ago. It was a pretty big vessel, to be sure, but it is not comparable with the vessel of today. On the great lakes ten years ago the largest vessel was the Matoa, 290 ft. long, 40 ft. beam and 21 ft. deep. \[n 1900 the largest vessel on the great lakes was the John W. Gates, 500 ft. long, 52 ft. beam and 30 ft? deep. This latter type was not dreamed of a decade ago. The Brittanic was a mighty ship when she entered the Atlantic trade, but now every sea carries tramp steamers as large. From the Brittanic to the Teutonic an advance in tonnage nearly equal to that of the former's total was marked, and now this is doubled by the Celtic. The limit of size has not been reached, of course, but it has come to the point where it must halt. The depth of harbors will not float a much bigger ship. The next step in the development of ocean carriage will be in the harbors. The channels must be made wider and deeper. A most interesting feature of the latest report from the United States treasury bureau of statistics regarding the commerce of the principal nations of the world is the fact, which it shows, that the United' States stands in the fiscal year 1901 clearly and unquestionably at the head of the world's list of exporting nations, her average monthly exportations for the nine months ending with March, 1901, being $124,497,853, while those of the United Kingdom, her closest competitor, were $117,816,246 per month during the same period; those of Germany, the next largest ex- porter, $87,551,000 per month during the twelve months ending with De- cember, 1900; France, $56,467,000; Russia, $29,550,000 per month; British India, $26,747,000 per month; Austria-Hungary, $25,753,255 per month; Belgium, $23,568,000 per month, and Italy, $20,518,000 per month. The total domestic exports of the United States in the nine months ending with March are $1,120,480,673, while the exportation of British and Irish produce in the same period is $1,060,346,214, showing the exports of the United States to be $60,000,000 greater than those of the United Kingdom, her greatest rival, during the period noted. The steel ship building industry which it was proposed to establish at Sydney, Cape Breton, in connection with the great steel works already in operation there, has for some reason been abandoned. It is not improb- able that the promotors, encouraged by the liberality of the Liberal goy- ernment to the iron industry, counted upon like generous aid to their enterprise. It is well known, however, that some of the cabinet members are rather dismayed over the prospect of the immense amount of the iron subsidies to which their bounty scheme has committed the country. It seems probable, therefore, that when the government took the matter of a subsidy for steel ship building under consideration it came to the con- clusion that no further bounties could safely be promised at the present time, even to such an attractive industry as ship building. YOUNG HERRESHOFF'S YACHT NEVADA. A yacht that is attracting much attention in England is being built for P. M. Inglis from designs by Charles F. Herreshoff, a nephew of the Bristol designer, who went to Glasgow last fall to study naval architecture at the Glasgow University. She is for the 65-ft. linear rating class, and will meet among others the Tutty and the Khama. This will be the first boat in the class built under the new English rating rule, and it will be interesting to see how young Herreshoff will tackle the difficulties offered. The yacht has been named Nevada, and William Hogarth is to be tle sailing master. She will have nickel steel frames, with planking of mahog- any. The Nevada will be an out-and-out racing machine, with light dis- placement, shallow body, flat floor, and designed and built for speed with- out any idea as to comfort. The water line has been kept down, the over- hangs are long and sharp and lie close to the water when she is on an even keel, and any heel will give the yacht much more length to sail on. The beam and draught will be less than English yachts usually have. Last summer Charles Herreshoff gained notoriety at Bristol by de- signing a small yacht called the San Toy, with which he defeated his uncle Nat in the knockabout Kildee. Charles was born at Nice, France, whi.e his parents were traveling in Europe, a little more than twenty years ago. For some years he lived at Bristol, and when thirteen years old went with his parents to 'California. After staying about two years there he went to Baltimore and was employed as a draughtsman by the Maryland Steel Co., and worked on the torpedo boats Stringham and Craven. Then he went with the William iR. Trigg Co. of Richmond, Va., and designed two smal! racers that were. successful on the James river. In the fall of 1899 he went to Bristol. Heé worked for the noted builders and gained lots of expe- rience during the construction of the 70-footers. It was during the follow- ing winter that he designed the San Toy, and the fact that the Kildee is 6 ft. longer than the former added to the glory of the victory.. It is said that the San Toy sailed eleven miles an hour in a stiff breeze. She is a remarkably light boat, square ended, with slightly rounded bilges, and measures 12 ft. on the water line with a crew of two men on board. SYNDICATE WILL OWN COLUMBIAN IRON WORKS. The Columbian Iron Works & Dry Dock Co, of Baltimore, which Mr. William T. Malster, formerly mayor of Baltimore, has been manag ing under difficulties, is about to fall into the hands of a syndicate. The proposed company will be made up of some of the best known and most substantial business and financial men in Baltimore. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. has become interested in the proposition of the syndicate and has offered to give it the right to buy the mortgage bonds held by the Baltimore & Ohio Co. The holding of these will give full control of the Columbian company property. Financial arrangements for carrying out the deal are well under way. Subscriptions to the stock of the syndicate were opened this week and it was said that one-half of the necessary funds had been pledged. The new company will be capital- ized for $750,000, $200,000 of which will be 6 per cent. twenty-year gold bonds, redeemable after five years at 105; $250,000 6 per cent, cumu- lative, preferred stock, redeemable at 110, and $300,000 common stock. Ample working capital will be provided. The Columbian Iron Works is the lessee of the dry dock built by the Baltimore Dry Dock Co. Money for this dock was supplied by interests identified with the Baltimore & Ohio railroad. The railroad company now owns $100,000 of the bonds of the dry dock company out of a total issue of $110,000. NO CONSOLIDATION OF LINE BOATS. A Buffalo manager of vessels who is in position to speak officially of the reports regarding consolidation of the Buffalo lake lines, says in a letter to the Review: "Tt is a fact that the Union Steamboat line and Lehigh Valley Trans- portation Co. have, by public circulars, announced the appointment of Mr. T. T. Morford, formerly agent of the Union Steamboat Line in Chi- cago, as general manager of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. and Union Steamboat line fleets. There is' nothing whatever in this move- ment except that it is a very natural, and in fact necessary, desire to effect economy in the management of the two properties, which it is believed can be accomplished by operating them jointly. The arrangement has been made without any reference whatever to the other lake lines. There is no agreement of any sort that would change conditions that have prevailed for a number of years. I have seen several newspaper articles referring to the joint management of these two companies, and they have all made very much more out-of it than it really represents."' The battleship Kearsarge of the North Atlantic squadron is at the Brooklyn navy yard. Rear Admiral Higginson succeeded Rear Admiral Norman H. Farquhar, in command of the squadron, on Tuesday of this week, the Kearsarge being the flagship of the fleet. While the battleship is at the navy yard the new 13-in. gun, which weighs seventy tons, will be put in the turret. Buying of pig iron for all the constituent companies of the United States Steel Corporation will be conducted by one department in Pitts- burg. In that city will also be located all the operating departments of constituent companies with the exception of Federal Steel. The National Steel is the first to move to Pittsburg, offices having been secured in the Carnegie building. e Rear Admiral Melville has just returned from an extended tour of the ears and northern navy yards. He reports everything in excellent condition.