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1901.) MARINE REVIEW. 19 CONSTRUCTION OF LIGHT-HOUSE TENDER SUMAC. Bids have again been solicited by the light-house board for the con- struction of the twin-screw steel steam light-house tender Sumac for the ninth light-house district of the great lakes. The general dimensions of the vessel are: Length over all, 168 ft. 10 in.; length between perpen- diculars, 160 ft.; beam, molded, 30 ft.; depth of hold from top of main deck beam to top keel amidships, 14 ft. 1 in. The vessel is to be con- structed of steel throughout and all the material used in the construction must be of American manufacture. There will be five main water-tight bulkheads and two water-tight flats at ends, forming perfectly water-tight trimming tanks forward and aft. The vessel will be equipped with two vertical, inverted, direct-acting, open front, jet-condensing, fore-and-aft compound engines with cylinders of 18 in. and 34 in. diameter, and a com- LABOR QUESTION AT NEWPORT NEWS. Newport News, Va., May 29.--Ever since the strike of the machinists began May 22, there has been an air of expectancy noticeable among the workingmen at the great ship yard in this city, where hundreds of skilled . machinists are employed. Various sensational rumors have been started a regarding the status of affairs between the men and the company, but most of them have been run down and found to be without foundation. From what can be learned fully 90 per cent. of the machinists employed here are opposed to going out on the basis set forth in the order of the international union. The outside machinists, however, are said to have a grievance, and it is reported that a committee from the union called upon General Superintendent Post and endeavored to reach an agreement concerning these matters. It is reported that the yard asked for a delay atest a ae a Fig lig A hE A lg Ha WM LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE TENDER SUMAC. Frames 3% in. by 3 in. by 6-20 in. to 5-20 in., spaced 22 in. apart. Reverse frames: 3 in. by 2% in. by 5-20 in. to main deck, and 12 in. above turn of bilge al- ternately; double in en- gine and boiler space. 3 Floors: 16% in. by sae; 7-20 in. a nt Stem: 7 in, by 2 in. Stern post: 6% in. by eu = Bean uae Sranenons: in. "scars Sts ff wwen ro Dt Dee . 'i y porn yieiey Rudder head: 5 in. di- Be aaa eA ER a AMR BON eS . . ---- a eg cr ameter; heel and pintles a Js 3 in, diameter. we NK srocuer-1echimtbahor eves, Bulkheads: 6-20 in., Cet at 5-20 in., 4-20 in. as ce Shaft tunnel: 6-20 in. atin ; s Caine (eit oo earl cee a "han lescd pacenes a) atk Oftice of the Light House Board, April,1900. UWathid@ybren. Superintending Engineer. Captath, U.S.N., Naval Secretary OROSS SECTION OF THE SUMAO. mon stroke of 28 in. driving right and left handed, four-bladed cast iron propellers of the solid type, about 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter and a suitable pitch of screw. Steam will be furnished by two Scotch boilers, designed for a working pressure of 120 Ibs. per square inch with a mean diameter of 12 ft. 3 in. and 12 ft. in length. The vessel will also be fitted with a donkey engine and boiler. Bids have been twice before solicited for the con- struction of this vessel, but at no time came within the appropriation of congress. It is unofficially announced that the net earnings of the United States Steel Corporation during April were $9,000,000, about equalizing the net earnings for March. This is at the rate of $108,000,000 per annum, ample to meet all fixed charges and to declare, if deemed advisable, a dividend on the common stock. in reference to the matter until next Saturday, June 1. The outcome of the matter is awaited with a good deal of interest, as it is known that a strike of the machinists would probably tie up the operations of the yard, which now has on hand in the neighborhood of $27,000,000 worth of naval and merchant contracts. There are now 7,110 men on the pay roll at the yard, and a nine-hour day with ten hours pay for the machinists would inevitably lead to dissatisfaction among the other men and would probably mean a demand for extension of the system to all the men employed in the yard. AN IMPORTANT LAKE ERIE LIGHT. Amherstburg, Ont., May 29.--Col. William P. Anderson, chief engi- neer of the department of marine and fisheries, will be here during the latter part of the week when a-crib for the new light-house on Pelee Middle ground will be towed to its destination. It is not the fault of the marine department that this new light-house is not to be placed on South- east shoal as requested by a great many of the vessel masters. Col. Anderson spent three or four days about the middle of the month on Southeast shoal with Mr. W. J. Stewart, in charge of our hydrographic survey, examining the shoal, to see whether a foundation suitable for a light-house could be found. These officers found everywhere fine sand, into which they could sink a rod to a considerable depth. They also found evidence that the surface of the shoal had changed materially since ] it was last surveyed by the U. S. S. Michigan in 1895. They particularly ; examined the shoalest spots shown on the United States hydrographic d chart No. 1543, and the patches marked rocky, but it was all alike, fine sand. Col. Anderson says he was therefore forced to the conclusion that his pre- vious information about it, that it was a shifting sand shoal, was correct, and this compelled him to decide on placing the new light-house on the Middle ground as originally intended. The illuminating apparatus to be put into this new light-house will be modern, quick, double-flashing light, with the following characteristic: Flash, .58 second; eclipse, .85 second; flash, .58 second; eclipse, 5.48 seconds; total period, 7.50 seconds. REMARKABLE RESULTS WITH MAXIMITE. Reports of tests made during the past few weeks at the government proving ground at Sandy Hook show that the United States is still very much in the lead in the matter of high explosives. Maximite is the explo- sive from which great results have been obtained. It is named for the inventor, Hudson Maxim. Its composition is a government secret. The Maxim system provides a high explosive which can be loaded into a service, armor-piercing shell, and on account of its insensitiveness to shock, can be carried through any thickness of armor that the shell can penetrate, and be exploded by a time-fuse at the rear of the plate. In the recent Sandy Hook trials shells of all sizes, from 6 pounders up to 12 in., carried their loads of the new explosive through armor plates of 3 to 12 in. thickness, and either exploded the charge in the plate or just beyond it. The new compound is far more powerful than wet guncotton. It has an explosive value equal to that of nitro-gelatine and picric acid, and it can not only be fired from powder guns at the highest velocity with safety, but will withstand the far greater shock of penetrating any armor plate that the projectiles themselves can get through.