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Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail. Matter. aes Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry-Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Co. Vou. XXV. -- SHIP BUILDING AT PHILADELPHIA AND VICINITY. Philadelphia, Jan. 29.--The new freight steamship Chester was launched last Saturday from Roach's Ship Yard, Chester, Pa. The vessel is building for the Chester Shipping Co. and the sponsor was Dorothy W. Sproul, the little daughter of State Senator William C. Sproul, who is well known in ship building circles. The launch was of unusual interest to shipping men in this locality and was attended by a large delegation from this port. Dimensions of the Chester' are: Length, molded, 140 ft.; length over-all, 151 ft. 9 in.; beam, molded, 27 ft.; width over guard rails, 28 ft. 8 in.; depth, molded, 10 ft. 6 in.; depth of hold, 10 ft.; rig, one steel mast; with cargo derrick; engines, compound, jet condensing, 86 and 26 in. diametet of cylinders with 18 in. stroke; boiler,' steel, 11 ft. 6 in. diameter by 13 ft. long; two furnaces, 48 in. in diameter; working pres- sure, 110 lbs.; propeller, cast steel, 8 ft. 6 in. diameter, 12 ft. pitch; speed, 15 miles per hour. The next launch in these waters, and by far the most important, will be that of the big International Navigation Co.'s liner Kroonland, set for Saturday, Feb. 8. She is a sister ship of the Finland, and both have been building side by side at Cramps Ship Yard for the past two years. They will be the largest vessels ever built on the Delaware and probably the finest examples of the ship 'builders' art yet to emanate from an' American yard. Clement A. Griscom, president of the International Navigation Co., said that the vessels are specially constructed to meet the wishes of that portion of the traveling public to whom a day more or less is not a matter of supreme importance on an ocean voyage. Except in point of speed, the Kroonland and Finland will be the equal of any passenger liner afloat. The principal dimensions of these vessels are: Length between perpendiculars, 560 ft.; breadth, 60 ft.; depth, 42 ft.; gross tonnage, about 12,000. They will run on the Red Star line between New York and Ant- werp in conjunction with the steamships Vaderland and Zeeland, built at the yard of John Brown & Co., Ltd., of Clydebank, Glasgow. The Neafie & Levy Ship & Engine Building Co. is making .active preparations for the maiden dip of the sheathed protected cruiser Denver, which is now about 50 per cent. completed. It is desired to put down the keel of the sheathed protected cruiser St. Louis on the launching slip now occupied by the Denver, and owing to the progress made on the work in connection with the St. Louis in the shops the company is now anxious to begin the real operations of building the vessel. Naval Constructor J. H. Hanscom and his assistant, Mr. Robinson, will remain in charge of the government work, both at this yard and at Cramps'. The recent rumor in local ship building circles regarding the transfer of both officials is pro- nounced without foundation. -It may be of interest to mention that there is an unprecedented de- mand for skilled labor in connection with the work under way in Dela- ware river ship yards. The trades particularly in demand are those of marine erecting hands, boiler makers for heavy work and machine hands. It is difficult to explain the sudden and wonderful revival of the machinist business after so long a period of stagnation. The same situation is re- flected on the railroads centering here and is illustrated by the fact that machinists are paid $2.40 per day where four or five years ago their pay was $2.00. The Cramp yard is paying up to 30 cents an hour for machine hands and even better figues for those on the boats installing machinery. SCHWAB ON THE FUTURE. Mr. Charles M. Schwab, president of the United States Steel Cor- poration, was in Berlin during the fore part of the present week. While there he received a number of bankers and manufacturers who were quite anxious to meet the managing head of such vast capital. It is understood that Mr. Schwab's observations in France, Italy and Austria have con- firmed his belief that their external markets will inevitably become the United States markets and that all they can do in their trade contests 1s to 'preserve their domestic markets, through tariffs, the Americans ap- propriating the rest of the world. Whether Germany puts up her tariff or not'it does not count for much in Schwab's general survey of the inter- national situation. : : "Naturally," he said, "it is to America's interest that the German tariff should not be increased, but I do not think we can expect Germany not to increase her tariff, so that it will really protect her home market from our competition. If Germany does not raise the tariff, it means that our highly finished goods, as well as our coarser products, will take this market. American exporters quite expect Germany's tariff to go up. It is not in Germany, France or Austria that we can sell largely, but in Eng- land, Russia, Turkey and China, and all the free markets, where Germany and England find outlets. Time is the only element, and it will not be a very long time, either, until they are all ours." A TORPEDO BOAT STATION. A dispatch from Norfolk, Va., says that the report, current during the summer months that the St. Helena property, or a portion of it, would be made a torpedo boat station, seems about to be verified as correct. Con- tracts have been made with Clement Walker of Norfolk for the dredging of seven slips and the construction of the necessary piers. Six of the slips, or docks, are to be each' 296 ft. in length, and one will have a length of 4,000 ft. They will all be dredged to afford a depth of 15 ft. at low water. The piers which separate these docks will be about 24 ft. in width. The work will cost $109,000, and its purpose is to afford berths for the torpedo boats of the navy. Comparatively speaking, these boats are deli- cate affairs, and require such care and maintenance that it will be nec- essary to take them from the docks about once a month. Asa cole means of protecting them, it is the purpose of the department of yards an docks to build sheds, or roofs, over these docks as soon as the necessary appropriation can be secured. CLEVELAND, O., JAN. 30, 1902. Rorelat LEW. oo Subscription $3.00 a year. =. => 4 . 4.50ayear. ..., ,.No.-5 . "Single Copy." 1 centa" 7-7 = ond PRY ig hast eli Zora i ; DANISH WEST INDIES CEDED. The treaty ceding the Danish West :Indies to the United 'States has been signed and transmitted to the senate. This consummation of pro- tracted negotiations which will put the United States in possession of the strategic key of the Caribbean and relieve Denmark ofa steady drain on her resources, came unexpectedly after hope'*had almost been abandoned. The convention follows closely the'terms of the treaty of Paris of 1898 between the United States and Spain as regards:the status of the inhabi- tants of the islands, their property and citizenship 'and it is understood that the compensation to Denmark amounts to $4,500,000. It is regarded as a strong point by the framers of the treaty that the people of the islands are to have a voice in the question of cession: The treaty itself contains no reference to a plebiscite, but the Danish government has given notice that before it ratifies the treaty it will submit the question of cession to the people of the islands. Not much objection.is expected from these people, as the treaty is so framed that they are not called on to surrender their Danish allegiance and they may remain Danes in fact and in name while enjoying whatever advantages in a commercial way: may result from a transfer of the islands to the United States. The plebiscite will not be controlled in any sense by the United States. Se ie uy The Danish West Indies comprise three islands, St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix, all within sight of each other. "They cover about 127 square miles, and the population is estimated at about 30,000. 'Denmark has been the possessor of the islands since 1671, but they have never been a great source of revenue, and for many years it has cost Denmark much money in excess of the revenue to maintain them. Charlotte Amalie is the largest place on the island of St. Thomas. There are comparatively few whites on the islands, not more than 15 per cent. of the population. The blacks are of a superior class and have the same rights and privileges as the whites. There i$ no such thing as a color line there. Education ig com- pulsory, and all the children, white and black, go to school between the ages of seven and thirteen. In the churches there is also' an absence of all distinction as to color, and there is no line drawn in business:' Inter- marriage between natives and whites is nothing unusual, and clergymen of the various denominations never refuse to perform the marriage cere- mony between white and black men and women. There seems to bea misunderstanding as to the language used by the people in the Danish West Indies. The fact is that everybody speaks English, and although the official language is Danish, English is used in the schools as well as in the court of justice. > St. Thomas has little agricultural importance. A few onions and other vegetables are raised there, but not enough to supply the 10,000 inhabitants, and nearly everything that is used at the table is sent from this. country. Charlotte Amalie has a fine harbor, large coal wharves and a dry dock, and among its larger buildings are the government house and a hotel. The stores and shops, as well as the houses of the inhabitants, are nearly all one-story buildings. The old structures are built of stone, but the modern houses are of wood, and all are of the old Spanish style. The roofs are tiled and flat, and so arranged that they shed the rain into cis- terns, where it is kept for drinking purposes, there being no other water available. oe On the island of St. Croix, Fredericksted and Christiansted are the chief towns. These places have a population of about 1,000 each. They have stores and shops like those of St. Thomas, and the population is made up of the same elements. There are Episcopal, Moravian, 'Catholic, Dutch Reformed and Methodist churches and a synagogue, and there are two Masonic lodges in the island, one French and one English. In each of these there are as many black as white members. One of the deacons in the Dutch Reformed Church is a fullblood negro. Denmark has maintained an army on the islands of about 250 men. These are volunteers recruited from the veteran corps in the home coun- try, and sent to the islands for a term of six years. He There are thirty-two sugar estates on the island of St. Croix, the pro- duct of which goes to one concern in New York. But in order to protect growers who are not in this combination the Danish government estab- lished sugar stations, where growers bring their cane for sale. It is ground in the mills, which were built and operated by the Danish govern- ment, and the producer receives pay based on the New York prices. A sail of half an hour from the east end of St. Thomas takes one to St. John, which has a population of about seven hundred. There is much grazing land on this island,.and with a small investment profitable stock farms might be established there. The inhabitants of this island are nearly all blacks. The chief judge of the island fills several other important offi- ces. He is the chief of police, the postmaster, the head of the truant school which is situated on the island, and wharf master and custom house officer. The police department over which he presides has two members. In consequence of the success of the turbine steamer King Edward, another and larger vessel of that type has been ordered. She will have a speed of 21 knots against the King Edward's 20%. The Parsons Steam Turbine Co. will supply the engines. The company is also making the machinery for a new turbine destroyer of the same speed as the Viper, but designed to consume less coal. The company 1s also making turbine machinery for three large yachts for Mr. McCalmont, Sir Christopher Furness and Mr. A. L. Barber of New York. The annual meeting of the Morse Iron Works & Dry Dock Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., was recently held and "the following officers were re- elected for the ensuing year: E. P. Morse, president, treasurer and gen- eral manager; C. G. Street, vice-president and secretary. The directors are: C. G. Street, W. L. Chapman, E. P. Morse, J. J. Detwiller and S. F. Hayward.