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ea Ten papain 1903. ] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. aI ANNUAL MEETING OF STEEL CORPORATION. At the second annual meeting of the stockholders of the United States Steel Corporation, held in Hoboken this week, a unanimous vote was cast on all matters that came up. 'The vote amounted to 1,021,268 shares of preferred and 2,404,258 shares of common stock, or more than 37 per cent. of the entire pre- ferred and 47 per cent. of the entire common stock outstanding. Besides electing directors the stockholders approved the pur- chase of the stock of thea Union Steel Co. and the stock and bonds of the Troy Steel Products Co.; the plan to expend $36,- 000,0co for improvements to plants, which will increase the an- nual production by 2,700,000 tons of products, add $7,000,000 yearly to earnings and save $5,000,000 in the cost of manufactur- ing, and an amendment to the by-laws making the fiscal year of the corporation correspond with the calendar year. Mr. E. H. Gary, chairman of the corporation, presided. Others present included President Charles M. Schwab, Comptroller Filbert, Treasurer Trimble, Francis Linde Stetson and about thirty other stockholders. Mr. Gary, in answer to a stockholder's question, explained that the purchase of the Troy Steel Products Co., on account of the furnace capacity of the Troy plant, gave the cor- poration a complete supply of material for its plant at Worcester, Mass. Finding that the plant could be secured for about $1,- 000,000 the purchase was made. These retiring directors were re-elected to serve for a period of three years: Francis H. Peabody, Charles Steel, W. H. Moore, Norman B. Ream, P. A. B. Widener, James H. Reed, Henry C. Frick and William Edenborn. James Gayley was elected a director of the third class for the three years ending in, 1904, to succeed Percival Roberts, resigned, and Robert Bacon was made a director of the first class for the three years ending in 1905, to succeed William FE. Dodge, resigned. The vacancy in the board caused by the death of Abram S. Hdwitt was ndt filled. 'Vhe directors will meet to elect officers on May 5. Mr. Gary, chairman of the board, is authority for the statement that Mr. Charles M. Schwab will be re-elected president of the corpora- tion. the mate, or the boatswain could assign the crew to their several tasks. My boatswain called it a second-hand way of manag- ing a ship, and because all Malays looked alike to him he sewed a strip of canvas on the 'sarong' of each of those headmen. When both watches, or all hands, were on deck, the chief Malay of the starboard watch. seemed to have a little more authority _ than the other knight of the canvas strip, perceiving which my irrepressible boatswain immediately added yet another patch of. cloth 'to remember him by,' as he said. 'They would not eat pork; very little meat; refused to be hurried, and prayed evéty morning at sunrise with their faces toward the east, kneeling upon little mats they brought along from Batavia. c? "Yes, they were good sailors in many respects, and: it was seldom that I wished to have a white crew on board. One day, for instance, considering it needful to take in the foreroyal, the yard was soon lowered and the sail clewed up. One man went up to furl it but when getting on the weather foot rope he stood there idly gazing round. Soon after two more feiiows followea and the first Malay did not even get the gaskets ready until -- his two mates had joined him. One white) man would have furled that sail but as three Malays had been ordered aloft the first man there saw no reason for commencing work until the others arrived upon the scene. But set those fellows upon the | deck in hot weather and they could give most white sailors points in doing so-called 'fancy work,' stroppine buckets to cross- pointing." Thus endeth the old captain's yarn. And now as to drunken- ~ ness among British crews. In every British forecastle there must be a copy of the so-called "articles' in a conspicuous place, and at the bottom appears in large letters "liquor allowed at the master's option." On the plea that he is temperate the master's option is total abstinence for his crew. Whatever may be the result of local option in cities, for instance in Maine, the total abstinence option in those small communities floating around under the English flag has only caused the British tars to indulge to | excess at the first and every following opportunity, and India has the pleasure of seeing more of her multitudinous sons hon- . orably employed. Under any other flag that uses. upon the sea (this is inadvertently quoting Kipling again) the sailors are given | their daily rations of liquor--wine and cognac for the French, | gin for the Dutch, kummel for the Germans, a certain cherry brandy for the Scandinavians, etc. A certain amount of this liquor each sailor can claim, and the captain may give an extra allowance as he thinks fit, as, for instance, after reefing a topsail. Should some readers consider the above simply the vulgar prejudice of national superiority, or others claim that compari- sions are odious, the more temperate and decent behavior ashore _ of sailors who have been regularly, though sparingly, supplied than those from whom liquor has been arbitrarily withheld' dur- ing a voyage is conclusive proof that the latter procedure does not further the desired end. 'This is the age of the survival of the fittest, and Chinese, Laskars and Malays have the floor, or rather, the deck. P.-H. The monitor Nevada which goes in'o commission this week. MATTER OF INEBRIETY OF SAILORS, English consuls in Hong Kong and other seaports of the flowery kingdom declare that Chinese are taking the berths of British sailors and firemen on the majority of the regular liners, and even on some of the tramp steamers. Inebriety of the mem- bers of British-born crews, resulting in insubordination, disorder, and causing trouble to the officers as well as to the consuls, is said to be the reason of the advent of the Chinaman, the Laskar and the Malay in several forecastles. | Doubting that those orientals ever heard of "no-breakfast" fads, and wholly repudiat- ing the assertion of envious and prejudiced British tars that their substitutes are able to subsist on air, it is well known that a yellow, brown and black-hued crew, being almost vegetarians, is easily and cheaply fed, which is, of course, something that ap- peals even to the most philanthropic and benevolent ship owner. Their meekness and obedience recommend them to those in command, and their unquestioned sobriety is in pleasant contrast to the behavior in port of those whom they superseded. All captains unanimously declare that Chinese, Malays and Laskars are excellent sailors, and, in fine weather, the equals of any white crew. In stormy weather--to quote Kipling--"that is another story." An ancient master mariner who once shipped a crew of Malays on board his vessel, a large, lofty wooden bark, related some incidents of the trip: "Upon leaving Batavia I did not much fancy the appearance of the crew, and both my mate and boatswain were astonished that not one sailor would directly obey a command, but always looked for orders from one of their colleagues. Before we passed Anger point, however, the riddle was solved and we had no further trouble. It appears that each watch had chosen a chief, a captain, a mate, or whatever they called it from among their own number, and it was only through these men that. [, Great Northern steamship Minnesota just after the launch at 5 : New London, Conn.. MARCONI SYSTEM FOR AMERICAN LINE. The American Line, which has for some time past had the Marconi wireless telegraph system in successful operation on the steamer. Philadelphia, has issued a handsomely illustrated circu- lar showing cuts of the Marconi station and of the St. Louis at sea, and announcing its determination to equip the St. Louis, the st. Paul and the New York at once with the system. In ad- dition to the facilities offered to passengers in the way of send- ing or receiving telegrams while at sea, arrangements have been made with news companies for supplying current news, which will be sent by wireless telegraphy to east-bound steamers from the Polah station on the coast of England and to west-bound steamers from the Siasconset station, Nantucket. The steamejrs of the line when fitted with the wireless telegraph apparatus will be practically in continuous communication with either shore stations or with passing steamers. Rear Admiral Melville, chief of the bureau of steam engi- neering, has under conside.ation a report from the chief engineer of the Maine regarding the condition of the ship's boilers. Ninety tubes are said to be bent and several bursted. The Maine will be sent to Cramps for repairs but it is not yet determined whether the builders or the government will stand the cost of repairs.