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Bie to facilitate i By dredgings apis executed over' Se distance of 500. meters to widen the channel. While that work was going on. At was ascertained | by consultation with. the most eminent scientific 'authorities that the only means of removing such a. formidable obstacle was by» blowing it up. Preliminary measures were adopted to minimize, as far as possible, any damage, and the explo- sion took place on Sept. 28. Work was immediately be- The progress | of the dredgers employed in the work was constantly im- peded by pieces of iron, the removal of which. caused | gun to repair the effect of the explosion. sometimes delays of two or three hours. The excavations ~ on the yAfricai' side of the canal opened a 'passage of a width of 35 meters, and a depth of nine. result 18,000 metres cube of sand had to be excavated: and about, 400 tons of iron in pieces of a weight of from. t cwt. to 20 tons had to be removed. Between Oct. 8 and 12 all the vessels that had been stopped from the time of the explosion effected their passage. In four days 109 ships, 53 from the north and 56 from the south, passed. through the canal without incident of any kind. The accident to the Chatham not only. gave rise to great dif- ficulties, and for some days to keen anxiety, but it had the . happy effect of demonstrating 'the resources of the com- pany. It also brought to light the merit and devotedness of: thes company's staff. -- ' >The canal, as well:as the ciuinel of Port Said, was pre- served in a good state of navigability, in 1905, by the con- struction of 97,353 metres cube of dry embankment and 2,772,205 of dredging, of which 1,354,588 were in the canal proper, and 1,417,517 at Port Said.. To maintain the canal at its proper depth the dredging was carried to a depth of ro metres, and since the commencement of the present -year to 10% metres, to permit 'vessels of a. maximum 'draught of 8.23 metres to make the passage in safety. The company hoped at a not distant date to increase the maximum still further. The company had now.at its dis- posal two powerful hopper dredgers, the Puissante and the Ptoleme. The latter, which was built by Messrs. Lobnitz & Co.,; of Renfrew, had been in use since Sep- tember last and appeared likely to give every satisfaction. The board was authorized in 1901 to raise a loan of 25 million francs for works of improvement in the canal. At the end of December last only 12,867,000f. had been employed, but contracts had been entered into that would involve a further outlay of about as 'much, and share- holders were asked to authorize an increase of the limit of borrowing powers from 25 to 50 million francs. The development of the regular maritime services, due to the expansion of trade between the west and Oriental countries, had largely contributed to the increase of the traffic in 1905. In an appreciable measure, but less than in 1904, the traffic had also benefited by the exceptional elements that contributed to the activity of the movement during the preceding. year. Particularly the shipments of coal for the fleets engaged. in the Russo-Japanese war furnished an important item in the first months of last year. Another important element of the traffic in 1904-- the exportation of wheat from India to Europe--contin- ued in 1905, and to such a degree that the tonnage available was insufficient, and ships had to be sent north to south in ballast. The exportation of wheat declined in the sec- ond half of the year, and during the last quarter fell below the average. The traffic during the first. quarter of the present year showed remarkable activity. Due in great part to a normal extension of the commercial services, it was also accentuated by the repatriation of Russian troops. ' 'On May 24 the peace: affected by the reduction of 75c. To obtain that an "TRE MARINE REVIEW. departments of the government. for your protection) per ton since Jan. 1, showed a decrease of: 2,400,000f., but account must be taken of the fact that in the first four months. of 1905 they were exceptionally large. The daily average during that period of 1905 was 346,- ooof., but for the last eight months it was only 293,000f. The present situation, therefore, appeared quite satisfactory, and the known results, as well as those that might be reasonably expected, fully justified the de- cision to reduce the charge by 75c. in the tolls. Since the last general meeting the board had to deplore the death of four of their colleagues--MM. Boycard (one of the vice presidents), Armand Viellard, Jules Cambefort, and Darier. The board had appointed to the: vacant seats, subject to the ratification of the meeting, Vice Ad- miral Human, MM: Stephane Derville (former president . of the Paris Tribunal of Commerce, and chairman of the Lyons Railway Co.), Andre Lebon (formerly minister of the colonies, and now chairman of the Messageries Mari- times Co.), and Georges Devin (former president of the order of advocates to the council of state and court of cessation). The four directors who retired by rotation were MM. +E. Daubree, L. H. Ruyssenaers, M. C. 'Verge, and Sir Thomas oes 'They were. eligible for re- election, "OUR MERCHANT MARINE.* BY REAR ADMIRAL J. B. COGHLAN, ~ I wish particularly this evening to invite the atten- tion of you gentlemen to what I think is a very serious need of our country at the present time, from various points of view, and that is a merchant marine of our own. Of course it does not become a "naval officer to point ott a way by which we can have a merchant marine. That belongs, to the executive and legislative We can only say to you that from our point of view (and I think it. is our duty to study all the needs of the navy, as it is it is our duty to point out to you the fact that from a naval point of view we need a merchant marine. You must remember that we will hardly ever keep in active service at one time more than three-fifths of the total number of our war ves- sels. That three-fifths that we now have in com- mission almost exhaust the sailor men that we have in the country, and we are obliged to go away back and get fresh water sailors from the farms, at that, and bring them to our ships and make man-o'-wars- men of them. I will say, and I am very glad to say. it, that we do get some of the finest enlisted men from that source that any nation in the world can have. They are mostly young, bright, intelligent American boys who are amenable to discipline and can be instructed easily, and in the course of a couple of years they have the sea habit sufficiently developed to make them first rate men. There seems to be some- thing in the atmosphere of our country that teaches' straight when you get them looking over a gun or through a gun-sight. When they do that they look straight, and that is what we want. Perhaps some of you may have noticed this morn- ing in the. New York Herald a report of the result of our last .practice on looking straight through the them to. look gun-sights. Two..or, three years ago the. average of shots. from. our larger guns, 12 and 13 inch, was about one shot in two minutes, 45 seconds, this fall we averaged three shots per minute from each of those guns, and three hits. [ do not know--I may know, but L will. not tell if I do--what is the exact average of *Delivered at a banquet of the National Association of Manufacturers,