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'TAE Marine REVIEW 19 more vital part of the installation, such as the fans and fan engines, furnace-fronts, etc., are supplied, in every case, by the inventors and patentees themselves, Messrs. James How- den & Co., Scotland street, Glasgow. LIVERPOOL SHIPPING LETTER. Liverpool, Jan. 29--In the British Admiralty Court on Friday, Jan. 19 Mr. Justice Deane gave judgment in the salvage case of the owners of the steamship Lucigen and others, against the owners of the steamship Bremen, cargo and freight, which was a claim for remuneration for salvage service rendered to the Norddeutscher liner Bremen in the North Atlantic in September last. In the course of a voyage from New York to Bremen with cargo and 160 passengers, the Bremen became disabled owing to the breaking of her tail-end shaft. She was picked up by the Lucigen, bound from the Tyne to Philadelphia; and by that vessel towed to Halifax, a distance of 280 miles. The total value of the salved property was $1,197,520. The judge, in giving judgment, said that the Bremen was in such a condition that it was absolutely impossible for her to do anything to restore her power so as to enable her to get to port without assistance. As to the services themselves they were of an ordinary char- acter, but he thought that the vessel was exposed to con- siderable danger when maneuvering off Halifax waiting for the fog to lift. He should award the plaintiff $25,000, giving $17,500 to the owners of the Lucigen, $2,500 to the master and $5,000 to her crew according to their rating. The Dominion Government has renewed for five years the British and Canadian mail contract with the Allan Line, with the option of further renewal for a period of five years on conditions that certain improvements in the service are introduced. Some interesting public tests are being made at the various British ports with a new salt water soap about to be put on the market by Sopon, Ltd. which promises to become _ shortly an important factor in advancing the efficiency of modern liners. One of the tests included the washing in cold sea water, aboard H. M. S. Asia, of engine-room clothing, pieces of canvas and old hammocks and whatever else was deemed unwashable. To roundoff the trials, a stoker, with hands blackened with dirt and grease, tried the ordinary naval yellow soap with slight effect, but he succeeded at once in cleaning his hands when he used the new soap. The boon of the invention will be understood when it is stated (1) that the hitherto unsuccessful efforts to produce a satisfactory soap for salt water date from the year 1771; (2) that men aboard torpedo destroyers and kindred small craft, which can only carry encugh water for drinking, are often unable to thor- oughly wash themselves or ciothes for months together; (3) that a liner has to carry about $35,000 worth of napery, and the passengers excessive supplies of linen because a_ ship lacks one feature as a floating hotel in that she has no laundry; (4) that to distill a gallon of sea water consumes 17 lb. of coal. In order to afford Liverpool shipping men an opportunity of judging the value of this soap for use in a ship's laundry, such, for example, as the almost unique one on the hospital ship Renown, a demonstration has just been made at the Cunard company's laundry in Liverpool, when about 400 tablecloths, serviettes. and towels from a liner were washed in sea water by the new soap. The lather produced and the results attained were pronounced excellent. The many sanitary and economic advantages of being able to pre- form laundry work at sea needed no exposition to the Cunard's laundry hands. That the laundry bill and the gen- eral importance of linen on shipboard is considerable may be gathered from the fact that on many large ocean-going steamers as much as 50,000 to 100,000 pieces of bed and table Jinen have to be carried because it is essential to have an equipment for the whole voyage. Moreover a. considerable collection of dirty linen on a liner, especially when: passing through the tropics, must be obvious: to all. The: experiments have created much interest in shipping circles throughout Britain. In an alternative form, the new soap is applicable to the cleaning of galleys and. cooking utensils as well as for washing a greasy deck, floor or ironwork. It is gathered also that the new soap has been tested on some of the Dominion and Leyland liners. It is said to have met with unexpected success, and the importance of its use on such vessels may be gathered from the fact that nearly 5,000 tons of water which are carried on some of the long voyage steamers for cleaning purposes only, will be almost entirely dispensed with by drawing salt water as occasion arises, and using this new soap. King Edward has decided to launch the new battleship Dreadnought, now building at Portsmouth, on Feb. 6. This vessel will displace 18,500 tons of water, will be twice as powerful so it is said, as any man-of-war now afloat, and will have a speed of 19 knots. She was begun as recently as Oct..2 last, and is to be completed for sea within 16 months. The British Motor Boat Association has decided to hold the annual speed and reliability trials on the Mersey this year, the date fixed being June 8 and 9. In addition to the speed contests there will be a long race for cruisers, and another event will be for motor boats under 25 ft. in length, also a race for dinghys. At the close of these there will be what is sure to prove a most attractive feature of the regatta, the "flying mile." It may be added that after the Liverpool regatta the boats will proceed to Belfast, and thence to the Clyde, and their appearance will doubtless confirm the im- pression that the motor boat has come to stay. It is announced this week that the Chesapeake & Ohio, Norfolk & Western and the Southern Railroad Cos. of America have undertaken to ship all their foreign freights from the ports of Newport News and Norfolk by the Furness-Withy Line to Liverpool and London. Sir Christo- pher Furness has, it is furthermore stated, purchased the interest of the Chesapeake Railway in the Chesapeake & Ohio Steamship Co., and has also purchased the Neptune line of steamers running in connection with the Baltimore & Ohio Railway between Baltimore and Rotterdam. The British Marine Insurance Companies are just issuing their annual reports. The following having already declared dividends-as under: The Sea Insurance Co., 25 per cent for the year, carrying forward a balance of $515,220 to next account; the Reliance Marine Insurance Co., 12% per cent for the year, carrying forward $168,555 to next account; the Maritime Insurance Co., I0 per cent for the year; the Merchants Marine Insurance Co., 6 per cent for the year; the Union Maritime Insurance Co., 17% per cent for the year; and the Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance Co., $2 per share, carrying forward $250,000 to the reserve fund. The second of the new Cariadian-Pacific liners Empress of Ireland, is to be launched by the Fairfield Ship Building Co., Jan. 27. The new steamers will provide very keen com- petition for the Allan Line, the keenest it has yet experienced, but there is no likelihood of any war on rates. It will rather be a competition in the way of providing the best possible accommodation and the highest practicable speed. Of course, Allan turbine liners, will always have a certain attraction that ordinary vessels are without, but judging from the work that is being put into the first C. P. R. boat at Fairfield, the two railway steamers will be very hard to beat in luxuriance of accommodation. There is no definite word yet of the additional Allan turbine steamers which were spoken of re- cently although it is generally understood that they are com- ing in due time.