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re UNIFORMITY IN STEERING. At the special meeting of the supervising inspectors of steam vessels in Washington this week the old question of uniformity in the steering of steam vessels on the lakes will again be taken up and it is probable that a ruling will be made on that score. No doubt a great many accidents have occurred on ac- count of the two methods, known as crossed and_ straight chains, which are in practice on the lakes. In the so-called straight-chain vessels the wheel in the pilot house is rolled in the direction opposite the word of command but in the direction in which the ship's head is to turn ; with the crossed chains the -- reverse is the case. Of course a wheelman going from a straight- chain vessel to one of crossed chains or vice versa is very liable to make mistakes and such mistakes prove disastrous under criti- cal circumstances. This is the argument in favor of uniformity Then, too, there is complaint from the ship builders who say they are often subjected to annoyance on account of the two methods, with aggravation of the trouble in cases where indicators are used. " Will the indicator on the pilot house stand point for- ward and represent an imaginary tiller on the forward side of the rudder stock or point aft and represent the rudder blade ?" This is one of the ship builder's questions. In the case of the passenger steamer Tionesta, built recently at Detroit, the chains were changed three times while the builders were getting ready to turn her over to her owners. Time was, and not so very long ago at that, when a launch on the great lakes was made the occasion for chartering special trains, purchasing huge armfuls of flowers, holding a big banquet in the mold loft, delivering speeches galore and playing gallant to the fluttering thing whose duty it was to say "I christen thee Edward Smith No. 2." A launch was a social event to which a variety of persons looked forward anxiously for weeks, But those days have gone by. The multiplication of vessels dropping off the stocks every other week has made the business common. Vessels latterly have been dismissed with pretty scant ceremony. On one occasion lately a girl stenographer was requisitioned for the occasion; but it has remained for the past week to send them into the world without any sponsor whatever. The George C. Howe, one of the Wolvin canalers, slid off the stocks at South - 1903. MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. a Chicago without even so much as a fair typewriter to do the steamer honor. Almost at the same time the steamer James H. Reed, building for the Provident Steamship Co. at Detroit, went by the self same road. A map showing the entire water front of the city of Buffalo has just been published by Mr. Henry P, Jones: of 855 Niagara street, Buffalo. It is necessarily very large, as it is made to a scale that brings out details along the whole stretch of the city's shore-line and harbor. It is compiled from the latest government, state and city surveys. The scale is 400 ft. to the inch. The ter- ritory covered is from the Lackawanna steel plant and city line on the south to O'Neil street and city line on the north and from a quarter of a mile to a mile inland. Depth of water in Lake Erie, Niagara river, Black Rock harbor, Erie basin, Buffalo har- bor, Buffalo river and the city ship-canal are all shown as are also name, location and capacity of all grain elevators, principal manufactories, railroad connections, property owners, harbor lines, the proposed ship-canal through Black Rock harbor, fluctu- ation in level of Lake Erie during past five years, etc. The chart is undoubtedly the best thing of its kind ever published on the lakes. It is on cloth and sells at $7. It may be had from the Marine Review. The steamer New York of the Hudson River Day Line made the run between New York and Poughkeepsie last week in 3 hours, 2 minutes and 27 seconds, the distance being 75 miles. This is 13 minutes faster_than the run of the Mary Powell which has stood for fifteen years. In Philadelphia shipping notes, issue of May 21, it was stated that the cost of operating the 1,000 candle power lamps of the Automatic Incandescent Light Co. was 6 cents per hour. The sentence should have read 6 cents per night. Tri-weekly tourist car service by way of the Nickel Plate road. Every comfort of modern train service is provided at very small cost. Berth rates less than half the price of regular Pull- man service. Get particulars from nearest agent, or from E. A. | Akers, C. P. & T. A., Cleveland, O. 66 June 12 for good news articles. Photographers HE MARINE REVIEW is desirous of obtaining at all times interesting photographs of a maritime character. be stranded, should an unusual repair job show up in a ship yard, the MARINE REVIEW will pay substantial sums of money for any such photographs. Many a man in a dry dock, in a ship yard or aboard ship has a camera. Possibly the master or the superintendent has one. a written description (merely facts; we'll furnish sentences, spelling and punctuation), so much the better and so much the more profit for him. The REVIEW pays well Undoubtedly hundreds of extraordinary repair jobs are going on which would interest naval architects and marine engineers, but which are never published because they are known only to those who are working upon them. This invitation is open to everyone. Attention! Should an accident occur, should a ship If he can accompany the photograph with MANUFACTURERS OF AND DEALERS IN ALBERT C. JAHL, General Manager, 100 William St., New York, U. S. A. United Marine Mfg. & Supply Co., ELECTRICAL MATERIAL FOR SHIPS AND FORTIFICATIONS. eee