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and the. buildings and machinery. are to be put in repair. This plant has been shut down since the construction of the liners Dakota and Minnesota for the Great Northern Steamship Co. several years ago, which vessels were the only ones ever constructed there. The names of the men forming the syndicate have not as yet been made public. . DESTROYER CONTRACTS AWARDED. The contracts for the' construction of five torpedo boat destroyers. for the United States navy were awarded Sept. 20 to the following bidders: William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., two ships at $585,000 each; Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me., two ships at $624,000 each; the New York Ship Building Co., Camden, N. J., one ship at $645,000. The hulls of all these vessels are to be on plans prepared by the navy de- partment and the machinery on plans , provided by the bidders. Turbine ma- chinery of the Parsons type is to be installed in all the vessels. NEW YORK-BOSTON TURBINE SERVICE. On Sept. 18 there was inaugurated by the Metropolitan Steamship Co., of New York, the new 15-hour, outside service between New York and Bos- ton by the sailing of the steel tur- bine steamers Yale and Harvard, the former from Boston and the latter from New York. That there will be no difficulty in -maintaining the 15- hour schedule was demonstrated by the fact that the Yale was inside it by 15 minutes on her first trip. The establishment of an all-water route passenger service between these ports by the Metropolitan line is a notable event in transportation his- tory. Boston business man can leave either port at 5 p. m. He can enjoy a re- freshing night's sleep and arrive at his destination. at 8 o'clock the fol- lowing morning ready for the day's business. There is abundant evidence of dis- criminating taste in the decorations of both vessels. The colors of the universities whose names the vessels bear have been adopted in the decora- tive scheme of each vessel, the Yale being decorated in blue and the Har- vard in crimson. A keen perception of the possibility of blue and crimson as a decorative color scheme has been the 'through Vineyard Sound, It is expected the New York and. - which, TAeE Marine REVIEW realized by .the designers of the sis- ter ships. The Yale and Harvard each afford accommodation for about 800 passen- gers. There are 40 beautifully fur- nished parlor staterooms, each with a double brass bed; 30 of these have tiled bathroom attached. The designs of the Yale and Har- vard were made by Mr. Andrew Fletcher, president of the W. & A. Fletcher. Co., Hoboken, N. J., con- tracting builders. The hulls of the vessels were built at Roach's. ship yard, at Chester, Pa.; the machinery was built by W. & A. Fletcher Co.;: Charles M. Englis, of Brooklyn, de- signed and built. the wood trim. The general dimensions of the Harvard, as well as of her sister ship, the Yale, are as follows: Length over all, 407 ft.; breadth over guards, 63 ft.; draught of water, loaded, 16 ft.; accommoda- tions for passengers, 800; express freight capacity, 1,000 tons; motive power triple-screw Parsons steam tur- bine, 10,000 horsepower. The route followed by the vessels is by way of Long [sland Sound and thence out upon the Atlantic Ocean near the southern extremity of Cape Cod; then through Nantucket Sound out on the Atlantic Ocean, around Cape Cod and on to Boston, covering 322 miles. SHIP BUILDING REPORT. ' The Bureau of the Census has just published a report on ship building, prepared under the supervision of Mr. William M. Steuart, chief. statistician for manufactures. The statistics in- cluded in this bulletin, which is a part of the census of manufactures of 1905, cover the calendar year 1904, with the exception of the data for Michigan, which relate to the year ending June 30, 1904. According to these statistics, 1,097 establishments, exclusive of those conducted by the government, were engaged im iron and steel or wooden ship building. The combined carital of these establishments was $121,623,- 700. They employed, on an average, 50,754 wage earners, paid $29,241,087 in wages, used materials costing $37,- 463,179, and manufactured products including. repair work, were valued at $82,769,239. Although the number of vessels of five tons and over launched during 1904 was less by 167 than the num- ber launched in 1880, the tonnage had increased 40.5 per cent during the period, and the average tonnage of the vessels launched, 50.9 per cent. The average value of the 2,415 vessels launched in 1880 was $7,961, whereas as in 1905 the average value of the 2,248 vessels was $32,683. Of the total net tonnage launched for the merchant marine during 1904, 67.9 per cent was destined for the lake and river traffic. There is little building for foreign trade. Of the total - net tonnage launched for the merchant -- service, only 5.2 per cent was destined for foreign trade. The fact that vessels for the coastwise, lake and river ser- vice are required by law to be Amer- ican boats has made it possible for ship building to maintain a footing in this country. Of the total net tonnage of mer- chant vessels launched during 1904, 64.8 per cent were built in the ship yards of the New England states and New York, New Jersey and Pennsyl- vania, and of the production of these states 59.6 per cent was intended for the lake and river trade. The ship yards in the Atlantic and Gulf district launched vessels which aggregated a greater tonnage and value than the combined output of the ship yards in the other districts. _ Within the last fifteen years the in- creasing importance of iron and steel in ship building has been especially marked. As an item of expense in 1890 the cost of iron and steel was less important than the cost of fum- ber, but in 1905 the cost of the for- mer constituted 41.2 per cent and the cost of the latter only 17.9 per cent of the amount paid for materials. NEW SIGNAL SYSTEM ON ST. LAWRENCE. | The Canadian department of ma- rine and fisheries. has just added a telephonic marine signal system for the safety of large ocean vessels be- tween Montreal and Quebec, a dis- tance of 180. miles.. This service provides a system of communication between ships and shore and enables the owners and agents to know of the progress of ships between these cities. It will also enable the captains of vessels to learn of the condition of affairs in the river and to avoid any unusual or unexpected danger. The 11 sta- tions are situated at the following points: Montreal, Longue Pointe, Vercheres, Sorel, Three Rivers, Bas- tiscan, Cap a la Roche, Portneuf, St. Nicholas, Cap Rouge, and Quebec. These stations will command a view of the river and the channel and may | be easily communicated with from _ "passing vessels. Six of the stations will be in operation day and night, the others being day stations only.