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1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. 19 vessels are now leaving for Gibraltar, and the program to be car- ried out is somewhat similar to, although with important dif- ferences from, the trials of a few months ago. 'The tests will be under the direction of admiralty officers. The Hyacinth has been fitted with new propellers of increased surface since the last trials, when, with engines of greater power, the speed of the ship was less than that of the Minerva. 'These propellers give about a quarter of a mile per hour more speed. Both vessels will leave England with the same quantity of coal and of feed water on board, and will steam south at 7,000 I. H. P., continuing as long as the coal lasts. This will determine the actual coal en- durance of the ships. On the former trial neither ship went to the utmost limit, owing to the choking or bird-nesting of the tubes in the cylindrical boilers of the Minerva and to water leak- ing from the Belleville boilers of the Hyacinth. When their coal is exhausted they will put into Gibraltar, and-at once prepare for the return journey. The time required for such preparation will be an element in the contest. Both ships will leave together and the return run will be a speed contest. It has been decided to hand over the Hermes to the boiler committee for a' series of exhaustive trials with the new boilers of the Babcock & Wil- cox type. The Hermes is a sister ship to the Hyacinth, with en- gines of 10,000 I. H. P., and is the largest vessel completed with this type of boiler. The results will be compared with those got with. the Hyacinth and Minerva with Belleville: and tank: The boiler committee is engaged: in 'trials' boilers respectively. with the Medea and Medusa, having large-tube Yarrow and Durr boilers. " Messrs. J. & A. Allan of the Allan and State lines of Cana: dian and American steamers have purchased the steamers South Point and Orient Point, which were built on the Clyde last year to the order of the Norfolk & North American Steam Shipping Co;. The gross tonnage of each is about 4,200. These vessels. were fully described in former letters, and their rapid transfer to new owners is here noted as a matter of interest. vee NEW PLEASURE CRAFT. , 2s The Marine Construction & Dry Dock Co. of Mariner Harbor, Staten Island, New York, has secured the contract for building an auxiliary, bugeye-rigged yacht for the well-known mining engineer, Mr. A. A. Blow of London, England, which he in- tends to use the coming season in cruising in and about the waters of Chesapeake bay. Dimensions are: Length, 56 ft. over all; 44 ft. load water line; 11 ft. 6 in. beam and 4 ft. maximum draught, with center-board of 4 ft. drop. Auxiliary power wiil be furnished by a 20-H: P. gasoline engine, which is calculated to drive the boat at a speed of 11% miles per hour without aid of sails. She will have two masts, carrying jib, staysail and mizzen sail, in all about 1,700 sq. ft. of canvas. She will have overhanging bow and stern with a low trunk cabin. Her engine room will be well aft affording ample cabin space, which will -be divided into fore-and-aft cabins, finished in mahogany with ceilings in cream enamel and gold trimmings. The after cabin will be fitted with sliding seats and the forward cabin with Pullman bunks which will let down from the sides. Immediately forward of the cabin will be a 6-ft. pilot house and accommoda- tions for the crew. The aft companionway leads toa spacious passage, which will be the galley, while in similar space on the port side will be the toilet accommodations. The gasoline tank, with capacity of 125 gallons, will be located forward, and, in order to eliminate all danger from leakage of gasoline will be protected by two watertight bulkheads, to which pipe connections will be made at the water line, permitting a free flow of water in and out, thus carrying off any gasoline which might escape from the tank. The specifications call for fittings and furnishings complete, including carpets, curtains, hangings and furniture. The boat is to be ready. for delivery in May. io This company is also building a steam yacht for F. D. Under- wood, president of the Erie railway, which is well on towards completion. Joiner work is now being put in. This boat is 116 ft. over all and is calculated to make not less than 12 knots per hour. She is being made extra strong and heavy for her dimensions, making here more than ordinarily seaworthy, so as to enable her owner to take extensive cruises. - SHIP BUILDING AT NEWPORT NEWS. Newport News, Feb. 18--The Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. will launch the large armored cruiser West Virginia in April. The ship is now 45 per cent. completed. The keel of the new 16,000-ton battleship Louisiana has been laid at the yard and work on the vessel is progressing rapidly. There is considerable material on hand for this vessel. The Connecticut, sister of-the Louisiana and building at the Brook- lyn navy yard, will not go down on the ways before April. The steamship Harry Luckenbach will leave the yard in a few days after being laid up here several months being converted into an oil carrier. "he steamship S. V. Luckenbach was also converted into an oil carrier and is now taking on a cargo of oil at Philadelphia. Both ships have been chartered by the Luckenbachs to oil companies. for the consumption of oil as fuel. The contract price for con- verting these vessels from cargo-carriers into oil carriers amounts to nearly $200,000. : They are equipped with burners | The ship yard has had considerable repair work in the past few weeks and the dry docks have been kept pretty busy. Half a dozen large steamships have been here for surveying in dock and repairs and a number of smaller vessels have received atten- tion. Among the vessels repaired were the steamships Daven- try and Garlands which grounded near Hatteras within a few days of each other. The new Old Dominion steamship Monroe, building for the Old Dominion Line between Newport News, Norfolk and New York, will be completed and ready to go on the line the latter part of March. She will be given a trial run between Hampton Roads and New York immediately. The Monroe will be the largest and costliest ship in the Old Dominion fleet and the occa- sion of her maiden trip will be quite an event with the officials of the steamship company. The Pacific coast lumber steamer Francis H. Leggett will be completed about the same time. Little has been heard in the past few weeks about the Norfolk and Hampton Roads Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., which pro- posed to build a large ship yard at Sewell's Point, opposite New- port News. The company has purchased 700 acres of land on Hampton Roads and has cleared about seventy acres, on which it was proposed to build the yard. It is understood that plans are in course of preparation, but little is being said about the company's intentions. a : At the navy yard all is activity, a number of vessels being in the hands of the workmen. The cruiser San Francisco, the largest, is having her boilers jacked up as they were out of plumb. Owing to difficulty in securing good mechanics, it is understood that there will be advances in wages in certain trades employed at the yard. An examination for carpenters on this naval station was held at the navy yard Tuesday. The torpedo boat destroyer Bainbridge went in commission Saturday. 'NEW AMERICAN SHIP MOVEMENT. © Editor Marine Review :--Notwithstanding the efforts of. Senator Hanna to resurrect in the house the ship subsidy bill passed by the senate that measure is as dead as codfish, salted, dried and sold any old place at 5 cents a pound. Eleven Repub-. licans and six Democrats compose the committee on marine and' fisheries and yet the bill was stuck with such a committee. The real movement in the interest of the American ship is fore- shadowed in the following concurrent resolution introduced in the house recently by Representative Sulzer: "Sec. 1. That a joint committee of the two houses be ap- pointed to investigate our present policy of international naviga- tion, to trace its effects upon our merchant marine, to consider how we may constitutionally encourage it in foreign trade and thereby regain our lost position at sea, and to report to the senate and house, respectively, identical bills calculated to effect with certainty a renewed development of American shipping power. "Sec. 2. That the said committee shall consist of seven members of the senate, four from the side of the majority and three from the side of the minority; and of ten members of the house, 'six from the side of the majority and four from the side of the minority, seventeen in all; to whom shall be added the president of the senate, who shall be chairman. A quorum of committee shall consist of twelve members; the measure to be reported shall be supported by at least fourteen members; vacan- cies on the committee happening before or during its sessions. shall be filled by appointment of the chairman from the member- ship of the senate or house from either political party, as the case may require. © "Sec. 3. That the committee shall sit in Washington in the 'month of May, 1903, before whom letters and briefs may be pre- sented and considered or experts examined; expenses of the committee, including clerical services, stationery, printing, cost of travel' and subsistance, and railroad fares and hotel ex- penses of persons that may be called, as the chairman may de- termine, to be defrayed by the government." - Mr. Sulzer, the sponsor for this resolution, is a Democrat and may be the floor leader. in the next congress. The day after this resolution was introduced, Mr. Green of Massachusetts, a Republican on the marine committtee, who had subsidy predilec- tions, introduced another resolution of same tenor and object, in fact differing little from the first one. One of these will doubtless be reported favorably and pass the house, if not senate also, before adjournment in March. This: movement means bus- iness on the early lines of action. The present ruinous navi- gation policy will be discontinued and the original and consti- tutional policy re-instated, probably by the next congress, as should have been done.by the session following the inauguration of Wm. McKinley. The intervening time has been lost experi- menting with subsidy bills. Seven Republicans could at any time have reported the pending bill favorably, yet out of eleven this number cannot be obtained. If five out,of eleven Repub- licans will not vote for subsidy in the house, it is believed that a proportionate number would not in the country. This would be about 45 per cent. of the G. O. P.! With subsidy fooling out of the way, congress will either do the proper thing or give up the sea to the Europeans. : Suip's FRIEnp.