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16 hand only needed for driving, as against one foot and two hands, and 'no discomfort to the operator owing to drip from ropes;-(5) great saving in cost of ropes, one wire rope fixed to a Clyde capstan will last two years or-more; (6) no wear upon capstan head; (7) reduction of repairs to a minimum. HARBOR OF MANZANILLO. The Republic of Mexico has proba- bly spent more money in opening new or perfecting existing ports, than any country of its size and population in the world. It has always been part of the policy of President Diaz to pro- . vide the necessary funds for this im- portant form of enterprise, and as evi- dence of the energy with which it is pursued it may be said that quite re- cently the Mexican government under- took to expend no less than £6,500,- 000 on new port works, this being in addition to what had already been ex- pended, which may be put at another £5,000,000 or £6,000,000. Among the more important undertakings of this character are the port works of Man- zanillo. Manzanillo is a great natural harbor, but in order to render it suitable for the accommodation of ships, and to afford them shelter and protection dur- ing storms, it was necessary to enclose | it more securely, constructing a break- water as an extension of a natural pro- montory, sheltering the harbor on the west side, while, to provide safety dur- ing loading and unloading cargoes, ex- tensive sea walls had to be built with- in the tranquil area "of the harbor. The waters of the neighboring la- guna, having no connection with those of the ocean, except, perhaps, through the medium of occasional overflows resulting from the prevalence of storm- tides in the ocean, during the dry sea- son evaporate rapidly, exposing the bottoms and margins of the laguna to a depth of more than one metre be- low its flood-line level. The heat of a tropical sun beating on these areas of saturated and decomposing animal and vegetable matter, have in the past given rise to an intensity of pestilential effluvium which, poisoning the atmos- phere by the extent of surface over which it is generated, has been botne through the whole locality by every wind and breeze- which blows from ysouthwest to east and northeast. Therefore as a preliminary measure sanitary works had to b@ undertaken, and these necessarily occupied a con- siderable time. The plan was simple and yet ef- fective. It was decided to flood the TAe. Marine REVIEW pestilential marshes with fresh-water from the river Arenas, and with tide- water from the sea. In order to do this, a dam and a canal had. to be constructed, the former being known as Tepalcates and the latter as Ven- tanas. The canal introduces and dis- charges about one-fourteenth of the volume of water impounded in the la- gunas during the rise and fall of each tide, while the dam divides the larger lagoon for the purpose of protecting the salt industry of Cuyutlan, which is situated on its western shores, thus ef- fecting an enormous improvement. Apart from its low latitude and cli- matic disadvantages, Manzanillo would almost appear to have been chosen by nature for the great port of Mex- ico's western provinces, and there are those who believe, with good reason, -that Manzanillo may yet become the San Francisco of Mexico. It is 861 kilometres distant from Mexico City and, when the railway now being con- structed by the Central is completed, it will take but 24 hours to reach .Manzanillo from the capital city. -The writer spent some two weeks in Man- zanillo examining what had been done, and the intentions of the government of Mexico were explained to him. New contracts have been signed with the Minister (Senor Fernandez) of the department of public works for the final completion of the breakwater, while a sufficient assignment has been provided for continuing the work of general improvement of the harbor, including a large amount of dredging. All this will be undertaken during the current year, and it is the express in- tention of the. government to continue the same annually until the entire work is finally completed. The most important and expensive part of the Manzanillo construction has been the breakwater and sea-walls. The writer believes he is correct in stating that the Manzanillo breakwater is the heaviest that has ever been built, exceeding in both height and width the proportions of the great sea walls at Plymouth and Cherbourg. No less than 1,500,000 tons of blue granite from the Colomo_ quarries, which are, fortunately, close by, were employed, the greater portion being sunk for the foundations of the break- water. This breakwater extends a dis- tance of 600 metres (1,968 ft.) into water 18.5 metres (60 ft.) deep. It is unnecessary to point out how costly such a work as this would be any- where; but at Manzanillo, where ce- ment costs 45s. per barrel, laid down at the port, and labor is both expen- sive and' unskilled, the cost of the undertaking was enormously increased. Stones of varying sizes from 2.5 to 3 tons form the foundation of the breakwater, and these, when quarried, were conveyed on railway flat cars to the brink of the sea, and there allowed to fall, the traveling steel crane in use being capable of handling 50-ton blocks at a time. On the seaward side the breakwater, is protected by huge blocks of granite weighing 30 tons each, while on the inner side the blocks weigh from 3 to 15 tons, and those destined for the lower slope from 10 ot 25 tons each. Four years were required to bring the work on the breakwater to a point where the crown 'of cement concrete could be put in place. For this the government engineers passed very stringent rules, and every portion of the work, as well as all the material used, had to pass their closest test. As in the case of the famous Galveston jetties, the sea slope of the surface of the breakwater at Manzanillo, cov- ered with its granite coating, presents a resisting obstruction to the waves which slide over the masonry wall, and during the prevalence of heavy storms and high seas expend the energy of their impact obliquely, displacing no materials, the great weight of the blocks and the solidity of the sur- face resisting the immense force of the seas. The Manzanillo harbor covers about 160 acres, and is one of the most se- cure and convenient for shipping to be found in the world. Here a hun- dred sea-going vessels may ride at an- chor with the most perfect safety. From the inner end of the breakwater a sea wall, or, as it is called in Span- ish, "malecon," has been built out for a distance of two kilometres along the line of beach. Here also will be con- structed the splendid range of wharves which the Mexican government will build and equip, and which will have a total frontage of five kilometres. This sea-wall, like the breakwater, is of the most solid construction, being of blue granite throughout, and _ fris- ing three metres above mean tide. At -the "back of -- the = wall - the space is filled in with immense stones. In addition to these two walls the contractor was called upon to dredge the anchorage grounds and the western part of the harbor to a depth of 8.5 metres below mean tide, which depth will probably be increased to 12 metres. ; If Manzanillo port and harbor has cost a great deal more than the gov- ernment intended to spend, it will, in the opinion of the writer, amply com-