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1902.] , MARINE REVIEW. MERCHANT MARINE AS A CAREER. Mr. Clement Acton Griscom, Jr., manager of the American line, con- tributes a very interesting article to the July number of Success. The subject is the "American Merchant Marine as a Career,' and Mr. Gris- com, of course, addresses himself mainly to young Americans but he also refers briefly to the question of ship subsidy. He regrets the failure of the government to render assistance to foreign trade shipping but still thinks that all signs of the times point to a rapid upbuilding of our mer- chant marine. "It cannot be believed," Mr. Griscom says, "that a nation that is taking its place as the greatest producing and greatest trading nation in the world is long to allow its products to be carried in foreign bottoms. Unless the rapid commercial development of this country is to be checked by a miracle, we are entering upon a great ship building era, and the time has come to direct young Americans to seafaring careers. .It is not my intention to take up the discussion of our shipping laws. I believe that prejudice will not blind the nation's lawmakers much longer to the needs of our merchant marine. But I want to recall an incident in recent his- tory. Nine years ago, under a special act of congress, two English-built ships were admitted to American register. It was believed that this marked the restoration of the United States flag to the seas. When the late Benjamin Harrison raised the American flag over the New York on a Washington's birthday during his term as president, he said: 'I have felt, both as a citizen and as president, the mortification that every Amer- ican must feel who examines into the standing of the United States in the merchant marine of the world. I believe that we have reached an epoch in our development when we may successfully recover our fair share of the carrying trade of the world. ' We lift the flag today over one ship--a mag- nificent specimen of naval architecture--one of the best afloat on any sea. That event is interesting in itself, but its interest to me is in the fact that be ship is the type and precursor of many others that are to float this ag.' "What have we done since then? As Senator Depew said in con- gress, in a recent debate, in ten years we have invested two billions of new capital in American railways, three and one-third billions in American manufactures, but nothing in American shipping! Why? For the rea- son, as Senator Depew stated, that there could not be brought forward any figures to show that the investor could get his money back, much less any return for his money. We have just built, in an American yard, the passenger steamship Kroonland, the largest express steamer ever built in this country. If we should place her under the British flag, we could save $30,000 a year in wages. Between the English Campania and the American St. Paul, there is a difference of $3,000 a month in wages in favor of the foreign ship. American registry costs our ships $200,000 a year. We have carried this burden through a decade with the hope that the government would encourage the American merchant marine. With- out this government backing we cannot expect to compete with foreign ships, and we are now making ready to put the American liners under the British flag, should congress refuse to act. Our navigation laws, as every seafaring man knows, are ridiculous. We sail the 1200-ton steamship Kroonland under the same laws that governed the 600-ton sailing vessels of the eighteenth century. For more than a century our navigation laws have been unchanged, and they are now so antiquated that no one has the courage to take up the task of brushing the cobwebs from them. But, with the upbuilding of our merchant marine, wise legislation must fol- low. The boulders illustrated in this photograph are now at the ship yard of the Detroit Ship Building Co. They were picked up in stranding and found embedded in the bottom of the steamers when 'docked for repairs. : IRON PRODUCTION IN NEW SOUTH WALES. Orlando H. Baker, consul at Sydney, New South Wales, contributes to the state department the following article upon the manufacture of iron in New South Wales: , "The revival of the discussion as to the practicability of making iron at Sydney from native ores, in sufficient quantities and variety to meet the demands of the market, has led me to investigate the attempts made in the past to develop the iron industry in New South Wales. The first attempt to smelt iron ores in this state, of which I find a record, was at Mittagong, 77 miles south of Sydney, about 1850. The works shut down in 1855, owing to the operations not being profitable, and remained idle, with intervals of activity, until 1865, when the foundry produced a numb r of cylinders for a bridge, and girders for houses in Sydney, cast direct from the blast furnace; but the works were again shut down, because the cost of production exceeded the value of the product. The pig iron pro- duced cost at one. time $24 per ton. The property changed hands several times, and various efforts were made to produce iron, but the works were finally abandoned, owing largely to the lack of good and cheap fuel. A seam of coal 8 ft. 11 in, thick was found at a depth of 642 feet. The Esk- bank Iron Works are near Lithgow, ninety-six miles west of Sydney, and were first charged in 1877. The blast furnace was of the best class, and it produced 100 tons of pig iron per week. Coal and 'clay band' ore were -- adjacent to the furnace. The brown hematite was brought by rail seventy miles; red siliceous hematite and limestoné, fourteen miles. The company had also a foundry and all necessary appliances for converting pig iron into bar iron. "Pig iron has not been produced by these works since 1882, but the rolling mills have been operated continuously, making bar iron from scrap. I am informed that no other experiments in iron making have been made in all Australia. There are twelve varieties of ore enumer- ated as occurring in this state, in widely separated districts. The govern- ment recently appointed Mr. Jacquet to carefully examine all the princi- pal deposits, in order to determine the feasibility of entering upon a new smelting experiment. So far as examined, the Mittagong field appears to contain less than 1,000,000 tons. There are 1,000,000 tons about Picton and 1,500,000 tons about Goulburn. Mr. Jacquet, however, has reported that other deposits within reasonable distance of Lithgow show that there is sufficient material available to justify the establishment of the iron industry in this state. Probably the most extensive deposit of iron ore in New South~ Wales is near Cadia, 192 miles west of Sydney. Mr. Jacquet estimates the deposit near Orange to be about 39,000,000 tons, and believes that it could be mined and transported ninety-five miles to Lithgow, where the coal is. found, at 10s. ($2.48) per ton; the cost of smelting would be £2 10s. ($12.16) per ton of pig iron, making a total cost of £3 ($14.59). The ore is thought to be suitable for the manufacture of Bessemer steel. There are many foundries in New South Wales, but the supply of pig iron is greater than the demand. The price ranges from 72s. to 90s. ($16.54 to $21.89) per ton. Labor is perhaps the largest item in the cost of iron, and there is a strong tendency at present in this col- ony to fix the price of labor artificially. It is now proposed that the goy- ernment shall undertake the development of the iron resources of New South Wales, with the hope of success under somewhat altered condi- tions." : - CAPT. W.W BROWN. Accompanying this article is a portrait of a young man who has made great strides in this narrow world during the past three or four years. His career simply shows that the door of opportunity is never closed to those who have the courage and ability to enter its portals. Capital is always seeking the man who is able to be its master. A few years ago, not more than six or. eight, Capt. WoW. Brown, who had been master of a vessel, came ashore and took charge of the old Cleve- land dry dock. Hitherto his experience had been confined to sailing. But he was so closely in touch with the affairs of own- ers and builders ashore that he had hardly reached the point of commanding the large type of freighters when his ability was gen- erally recognized in vessel circles. In the dry dock business his fitness for large en- terprises was developed. He had studied lake commerce very thoroughly and _ be- came convinced that its future was a grow- ing one. When the dry dock was ab- sorbed by the consolidation of lake ship yards he started out on his own account. He has since succeeded in interesting capitalists of Syracuse (N. Y.) and other places in several large steamship enterprises. Within the past year he has placed orders with the American Ship Building Co, for eleven steel freight steamers that will be worth in the aggregate nearly $3,000,000. Five of these steamers are in commission and orders for the other six were placed within the past ten days. SHIP BUILDING AT PHILAD. LPHIA AND VICINITY, Philadelphia, June 28.--The sheathed protected cruiser Denver, which was launched from the Neafie & Levy yards a week ago and christened by Miss Roberta M. Wright, daughter of Mayor Wright of Denver, Col., will be the first vessel built on the Delaware to be equipped with the Marconi signal system. The Denver will have two steel masts, the wire- less signaling apparatus being strung on the foremast. All the Denver's machinery was on board when she slipped into the water. With her length of 292 ft. and draught of 15 ft. 9 in. she has been christened "the baby" by workmen in the yard. The Denver is intended for service in the Philippines. The finishing touches are being placed on the new Maine at the Cramp ship yard in preparation for her trial trip, which is scheduled to take place within the next week. Little time is being lost at the Neafie & Levy plant. In the place vacated by the Denver they are already laying the keel for the armored cruiser St. Louis for the United States government. She is to be 100 ft. longer than the Denver and will be completed in three years. The torpedo boat destroyers Stringham and Hopkins, built by the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., are in Chesapeake bay for their trial trips, which will be run in close succession. Within the month the Neafie & Levy Co. have secured contracts to build nine new tugs. Three of these are intended for a New York firm, four for the Standard Oil Co., one for Gulf Port, 'Miss., and one for the Central Railroad of New Jersey. The Middlesex, a side-wheel passenger steamer built for the Weems Steamboat Co. of Baltimore, will be launched from Neafie & Levy's on Thursday. Miss Forbes of Baltimore is to be sponsor. The Middlesex is 207 ft. long, 62 ft. wide over the guards and 13 ft. deep. She is fitted with a diagonal compound engine with feathering wheels. The main saloon is finished in quartered oak. There are forty-two staterooms. The lower deck is fitted with pipe berths for second-class passengers. Freight only will be carried on the main deck. The Middlesex will ply between Baltimore and points on the Rappahannock. ;