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"TAE MARINE. REVIEW 27 iron»ship spikes; 2,000 lbs. of special crane chain; 8,000 lbs. of. marine ship glue and two complete sets of diving apparatus. SNAGBOAT E. A. WOODRUFF The United States snagboat E. A. Woodruff, now in use on the Ohio river, was designed by Capt. W. H. Christian, who drew up the plans for the boat thirty-two years ago, and who has been in active command for the last twenty-seven years. She is a powezful piece of float- ing machinery, and is built to withstand almost any strain. Her hull, which is lined with steel, is 220 ft. long, 48 ft. wide, with a depth of 7% ft. She is 73% ft. wide over the guards, and has twenty-six watertight apartments. She has two propelling engines of 20-in. bore and 6 ft. stroke; a steam steering apparatus, four rotary steam capstans and four wrecking engines. She has a great many auxil- jaries, one for almost every emergency, and a total of twenty-six cylinders. She carries a crew of forty per- sons, including the captain and first mate. "The E. A. Woodruff is the only snagboat on the Ohio," said Capt. Christian. "She has been in operation under her own steam for the last twenty-nine years. Two years of that time I was connected with the boat as head engi- neer, after which I was made captain. We operate under orders from the government, wherever we are told to go. We usually begin at the head of the river and gradually work our way to the mouth, a distance of about 1,000 miles, removing snags and other obstructions wherever we | find them. We are generally busiest in the spring, right after a break-up of. the ice. This past spring we were busier than we had been before in years." Referring to his trip down the river from Cincinnati to Louisville, Capt. Christian said that the channel was almost entirely free of obstructions. 'We had little or no work to do," he said, "between here and Cincinnati, but expect considerable work between Louisville and Cairo. I don't know how long it will take to complete this trip, everything depends on the amount of snags and wreckage we encounter on our way down." When viewed from the front, the Woodruff looks as though she were built on two separate hulls, each coming to a sharp point and forming a V where they come to- gether. Projecting from these points is a huge derrick, attached to the end of which is a mammoth steel beak, resembling that of an eagle in shape. By means of this beak wrecked boats and barges are torn to pieces, which are carried down the stream by the current, thus remov- ing the obstruction to navigation. Othe: implements, such as those used in pulling snags, may be attached to this derrick. One of these is a huge piece of steel, re- sembling a wedge, with prongs curving upward. This steel wedge is driven into the snag until the upward- curving prongs become imbedded, when it is an easy matter to lift the snag from the bed of the river by means of chains and pulleys, no matter how deeply imbedded it may be. "No two snags are treated just alike," said Capt. Chris- tion. "On some we use the steel wedge, and on others we use the grappling hook. In some cases we merely use a log chain, dropping it until it drags the bottom, and then coming ahead by means of ropes and pulleys." The grappling hook used on the E. A. Woodruff is a mammoth affair, weighing in the neighborhood of two tons. In many instances this is dragged over sunken boats and barges for the purpose of tearing them to pieces. : ' COAST SURVEY STEAMER EXPLORER The new United States coast survey steamer Explorer is at work on the eastern Maine coast waters on her 'first northern cruise, having been turned over to the govern- ment last fall, and sent south this spzing. The Explorer is one of the finest vessels in the coast survey service and was built by the Pusey & Jones Co., of Wilmington, Del. The Explorer is schooner rigged, with two pole masts, the small sail area being intended to steady the ship rather than to add to her speed. The main deck is flush, with a slightly raised poop, and pipe railing.. The num- ber of boats carried is five, including a steam launch. Ample quarters have been provided below the main deck fo: a complement of seven officers and thirty men. These include lavatories, bath rooms, and closets, all of which are connected with a sanitary pumping system. Steam heat and electric lights are provided. throughout, and special attention has been given to the stowing of her surveying outfit and to a well lighted drafting room. The dimensions. of the vessel follow: Length over all, 147 ft.; length between perpendiculars, 130 ft.; extreme beam, 27 ft., and depth, 14 ft. 6.5 in. The displacement on a mean draught of 8 ft. 7.5 in. will be-450 tons. While the greater portion of the vessel is of wood, iron and steel have been used whenever lightness and strength could be gained without defeating the purpose of the wooden hull. The hull is entirely of wood, with the exception of the knees, bulkheads, coal bunkers and the casing around the stack on the main deck, which are of iron. The keel, main keelson, stem, sternpost, deadwood, frames and breast hooks are of white oak, and the side keelsons, clamps, deckbeams, decks, planking and ceiling of yellow pine. All fastenings driven from the outside are of composition metal; all others of galvanized iron. The hull is coppered to about 1 ft. above the load water line. The vessel is propelled by one vertical, inverted, direct- acting, open-hearth, surface condensing fore-and-aft com- pound engine, with cylinders 13 and 26 in. in diameter by 20-in. stroke, driving a four-bladed, phosphor bronze propeller, 7 ft. 6 in. in diameter and 9 ft. pitch. The condenser forms part of the framing of the engine and is fitted with the customary pumps. Steam is furnished by a steel boiler, 10 ft. 6 in. in diameter outside of shell, and 11 ft. long, from outside to outside of ends, with tubular steam drum 36 in. in diameter by 5 ft. long, having 160 3.75 in. tubes and two Morison corrugated furnaces, each 41 in. in diameter. The working pressure is 150 lb. A donkey boiler, 48 in. in diameter and 7 ft. high is. connected with the main boiler and the auxiliary ma- chinery, fire, bilge and sanitary pumps, the distilling machinery, and the heating plant. In addition to the above machinery, there is a steam windlass, a steam winch, an electric generator of 7.5 K. W. capacity, which in addition to lighting the ship operates a 1I4-in. 20- ampere searchlight; and a distilling apparatus with a capacity of 1,200 gallons in twenty-four hours. It is formally announced that the chief of engineers of the United States army will not make any estimates for river and harbor impzovements for presentation at the next session of congress save for the continuing con- tracts which have been authorized by law. The appor- tionment of the funds appropriated by the river and ha:bor bill last winter has been so arranged as to obviate the necessity for a river and. harbor bill at the coming session of congress.