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'TRAE. MarRINE. REVIEW 19. soon returned home as "unfit for active service from ill health." From 1851 to 1893 he held the position of surveyor of steamers for the marine underwriters of New York, Boston and Philadelphia. He designed and located the structures on Hoffman Island in New York harbor, the crib bulkhead at Hart's Island, the foundation of several of the large buildings in New York. He has supervised testing of the water works capacity at New Bedford and Chicago. He is at the present time consulting engineer for the Board of Public Improve- ments of New York. In this capacity he directed the exten- sive improvements at Riker's Island. He is the author of a well known pocket book for engineers, a work which has passed through many editions since 1846. He is the author of a text book on mensuration, one on book- keeping and a volume entitled 'Reminiscences of an Octo- genarian of New York City, 1816 to 1860." A full size facsimile of his. handwriting is here reproduced. It was sent with notes from which this biographical. sketch has been prepared. The neat handwriting on the. one side of the page and the trim alert figure on the other must be discon- certing to any believer in Oslerism. The good wishes of the engineering fraternity will be cordially proffered to this sturdy American who at 96 years young is the latest recruit to: the list of honorary members of the American Society of Me- chanical Engineers. WATCHING THE HOPPER-BOTTOM STEAMERS Buffalo, July 18---I hear as a rule nothing but praise of the great steel steamers on the lakes, unless it be the same thing modified by self interest, and then the comment is apparently very. different in character, as it comes in the form of envy and complaining that the strides in the business have thrust so many things aside that were good enough for anyone a dozen years ago. Still there is now and then a note of dis- sent from people who are concerned merely from the ex- pert side of the question. It may happen that nothing comes of the criticism of the work of the shipyards in recent years and then it may be that some heed should be paid to it, lest it come about that the industry be brought up with a rude shock, something as it was now and then in the early days of the steel hull. I asked an expert the other day if he was entirely satisfied with the building of the largest-sized craft and he admitted that he was not, though he did not go far enough to make any very serious predictions. He said that as the steel hulls grew larger they failed in the fortification they needed. After a certain size is reached there should be very much more inside strength provided, but with a single exception this was not the case. It was true that there was now an inside as well as an outside hull, which was comparatively new, the inside shell coming up at least as far as the main deck, but with this added strength the new construction about stopped. There is no pretence that the new hull is as flimsy as the whaleback used to be, depending chiefly on its round form to keep it in shape, but special attention was called to the water tanks which in some of the later constructions were 72 ft. long and not fortified at all at the forward end, but open away up forward. It would be so easy to strengthen the hull at the point where the water bottom turns upward that it is reckoned not only an oversight, but a defect of no ordinary consequence. When it is reflected that the largest steamers are open for carrying about 1,000 tons of water ballast. it is seen that there must ke a very large opening there and one which the expert looks on as sure to make a hole in the re- serve of the insurance companies if a good-sized hole should be made in the boat's bottom at the right place. So why not extend the tank top right on forward as far as it will go and make the most of the chance offered for providing needed strength? Some time it may be neééded. + If, as some experts are saying, the new dnd daring lengths of lake vessels are enabling them always to extend to at least two wave crests at a time, while the shorter vessels are be- ing weighted down almost to breaking by a single wave that must at some moment be exactly under their middle, it may happen that the supreme storm test to which the older craft is subjected has been escaped in the new construction, yet this is not saying that lateral pressure is provided for in this way. The expert is watching the hopper-bottomed steamers. They may not always be fortified in all directions as the reg- ular hulls are not, but they certainly must be stronger in some regards. "Wait for the Hoover & Mason," was the in- junction. "I am looking for a hull there with an immense strength transversely. She ought to stand any amount of twisting. Whether she proves just as strong in other regards will depend on her other Ronse or, but that much seems to: be provided for to a certainty." I seems a little odd that any possible defect in construction that was put out to be rectified by a new inside construction that was put in on account of accommodating and handling cargo entirely, but it may turn out to ke so. Accident has many times been turned to account in such ways and it is pos- sible now. Our expert does not appear to put any particular value on the hopper-bottomed hull as a mere carrier. The or- dinary bottom carries "the goods" all right. If there is any- thing forthcoming that will add something to the strength of the new steel hull in a general way let it come, but even then it can probably be provided quite as well with view to that alone as to carrying and handling capacity. No fault is found with the lengthened steel steamers. The work appears to have been done well and the problem is an easy one. So far as can be learned they all behave well, so all that has to be considered is whether the cost of the work is coming back in the work done by the enlarged boat. As a rule it seems to be a satisfactory proceeding in that respect also, though figures usually show that the percentage of earn- ing to cost of the enlarged craft is not very different from what it was at first. Fuel and wages do not increase very much, but it costs a lot of money to cut a steamer in two ae get her ready for the new work.. JoHN ouaee. STEAM SHOVEL RECORD The record for handling ore with a steam shovel has been broken by a ninety-ton machine at the Hull mine in Minnesota. In 5 hours, 36 minutes this shovel loaded from a stock pile 138 thirty-ton cars of ore, or a total of 4,140 tons. At the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton docks in Toledo, O., on June 17, 10,000 tons of coal were transferred from the cars to the steamer Ball Brothers by a McMyler machine in 14 hours flat. A total of 250 car loads were handled, and the quickest time was made in transferring thirty-eight car loads brought in as a special to fill out the cargo. These cars atrived at the dock at 3:30 p. m., the transfer to the boat was completed at 4:55, and five minutes later the boat cleared and was heading for Lake Erie en route to Duluth. The steamer Ball Brothers has twenty-eight hatches. Chairman Shonts of the Panama Canal Commission, 'Chief Engineer Stevens and Col. O, H. Ernst of the engineering committee will sail for the isthmus this week on the steamer Mexico, which has just been purchased by the commission, Mr. Stevens expects to remain on the isthmus for several months. It is expected that much will be accomplished dur- ing their stay towards clearing up the preliminary. work under Mr. Stevens and placing at his disposal the proper facilities for the actual digging of the canal.