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"TAE Marine. REVIEW 27 to. the bottom of, the piers which hold 'the ttowezs in position. The car will carry at. one time 125,000 lbs., which is equivalent to a fully loaded, double truck street car, two loaded wagons with teams and 350 passengers. The bridge has a clear height, above the normal level of Lake Superior, of 135 ft. This height. was.fixed by the Lake Carrier's. Association .and .will permit passage of the highest. masts... The truss at-:the 'center us 751 4t:: high making the total height of the bridge above the water 186 ft. The width, center to center, of trusses is 34 ft) and the clear span is 393.75 ft. The car platform is 34x50 ft. and contains in. addition. to space for a street car and two loaded wagons, two enclosed and glazed cabins of pleasing interior finish, each 7x30 ft.. The elevation of the bottom of the car above the United States government piers is six feet, and when the car is at rest its whole length is over land; hence. it is not an obstruction or menace to. navigation. Seven hundred tons of steel and over 100,000 rivets were used in the construction of the bridge. The motive power. of the ferry car is electricity, current being supplied from. two separate sources having different cable systems, and in case of the failure of one source, a switch, under the control of the motorman, enables him to turn on imme- diately power from the other. A. further safeguard. against delays is provided by an adequate hand power which. ¢an. be used in the event of the failing of both sources .of power. The normal speed of the car is four miles per hour but the electrical machinery is capable of propelling the car 'at twice that rate. Thus the passage across the canal is made in:a little over one minute. 'Two 40-H. P. motors, placed..under the ~ floor of each 9 7ift. in diameter; on the car, actuate: two drums, which are wound 1 in. cables, extending to the truss and thence over 9-ft. idle wheels, through the inside of the 'lower chords to the towers, where they are fastened, producing the motion, which causes the car to run. The track to carry the car and hangers is arranged ingeniously, being enclosed on three sides within the box section of the lower chord, thus avoiding the danger of its becom- ing coated with snow or sleet in winter. There are four rails, within the two bottom chords, two in each and 32 wheels, arranged in pairs (eight pairs in each lower chord) roll on them, which carry the truck. As the bearings of these wheels, as well as those of the drums and idlers, have roller ball end thrust bearings, the friction of all the working machinery is reduced to a minimum. The hand power method of propulsion is applied by use of lever handles, which, by a series of gears and sprocket, communicate power to the drums on the car. The cost of the steam ferryboat service averaged $1 1,000 per annum, The cost of the ferry bridge will be $8,000, which includes operation, maintenance and the interest on the bonds issued for the construction of the bridge. Thus a sinking fund of $3,000 for the payment of the bond issue can be created, which in time will pay for the bridge. The especial fitness of this type of bridge to existing conditions doubtless will be appzeciated more fully when it is known what enormous traffic passes under H. The following is an extract from a statement of Marine Commerce for the calendar year 1904, issued by Charles L. Potter, major, Corps of United States Engi- neers, in charge of the Duluth-Superior harbor improve- ments:--Tons passing through the Duluth ship canal, 4,037,608 entered; 7,113,207 departed; total, 11,150,905 passed through. Vessels entering, 3,246; departing, 3,147; total, 6,573. Navigation season 217 days, year.1904. Con- 4 sidering the mean monthly freight movement. during the season. of navigation the Duluth-Superior harbor pzactic- ally stands next to New York." The work of erection was superintended by By Ko Coe, C, Be under the' supervision of. the. city, engineer. . On April 9, 1905, there were transported 33,000 passengers, of whom 29,500 were cazried between noon and 7:15 p: M., OF im practically one half day--7,781 in one hour and 814 in one trip. The power necessary on the average trip 18 10H, P.. The car operates as well when the wind blows 60 miles per hour as when no wind is blowing. The deflection of car is but 1 7-16 in. under a broadside wind of 60 miles per hour. The approximate cost of electric power to operate the bridge is $800 per annum. The car makes twelve trips per hour between 5 a. m. and 12 p. m., and two trips per hour from midnight until morning. The approach to: the car is by means of a paved roadway and two broad cement walks of easy grade joining on to the buffer platform." The general type shows concrete construction. The safety of 'passengers is insuted by two sets of gates, one set on the! cab "and the other on the approach. Both are opened and closed by the motorman. ERIE'S NEW STEEL MAIL CAR That Erie's new steel mail car appeals strikingly to postal employes is shown by a recent action of the Spok- ane, Wash., Branch Railway Mail Association. The association has most: strongly endorsed the action of the Erie railroad in providing a car that will afford a measur- able degree of safety to the mail clerks. The resolution adopted Sept. 4, 1905, follows: "Whereas, The 'Erie Railroad Company has aa bule for use on its lines a new type of all--steel- mail car; and Whereas, The use of such mail car, by reason of its superio: strength and: non-inflammable qualities, will tend to greatly reduce the risk to life and limb of the employes of the postal service traveling'in charge of the mails and minimmize the danger of loss and destruction of the mails in case of accident or fire, now therefore be it "Resolved, That our delegates from the Bighth Divi- sion Railway Mail Service to the National Convention of the Railway Mail Association to be held in Cincinnati, use their influence to secure the passage by that body: of a resolution commending the action of the Erie. Rail- road in their construction of an'all steel mail car, thereby showing their humane and progressive spirit in further safeguarding the mails et the United States and the per- sons in charge of same.' . ° THE PORT OF MANCHESTER The progress of Manchester as a port during the last ten years is not a little remarkable. It may be as well to observe that Manchester was constituted a customs port as from Jan. 1, 1894, Runcorn being included within its limits. The com- bined value of the imports and exports at the port during the decade ending with 1904, inclusive, was as follows: 1895, | 13,223,726; 1896, 16,351,845; 1897, 15,987,410; 1898, 17,381,504; 1890, 109,647,052; 1900, 23,984,221; IQOI, 23,161,519; I902, 25,- 931,208; 1903, 29,576,320; 1904, 33,392,211. Manchester has now passed the following British ports in respect of its im- port and export trade: Barrow, Blyth, Boston, Bristol, Car- diff, Dover, Fleetwood, Folkestone, Gloucester, Goole, Grims- by, Hartlepool, Harwich, King's Lynn, Maryport, Middles- brough, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Newhaven, Newport, Plymouth, Port Talbot, Southampton, Sunderland, Swansea, Weymouth, Aberdeen, Ardrossan, Dundee, Grangemouth, Granton, Greenock, Kirkcaldy, Leith, Belfast, Cork, Dublin and Lim- erick, i