The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1903.} SHIP BUILDING VERY DULL, But a Fairly Prosperous Outlook in the Steel Industry if not Interfered with by American Competition--Such is the Repert from the Other Side--Glasgow Letter. Glasgow, Sept. 21--Referring to what has been.said in these letters about the condition and prospects of ship building and ship- ping, attention continues to be more and more keenly bent on the iron trade. At the approach of the last quarter of the year this presents a picture brighter than one could contemplate at the end of the second quarter. In the early summer everything pointed to a gloomy industrial winter. It was believed that the American demand for British iron and steel had come to an end, and that it would be followed by the collapse of our markets. As it happens, the American demand has actually ceased but our pig iron market has gone up instead of down. For some twelve months or more the prosperity of our iron markets seemed to be dependent on the apparently insatiable consuming capacity of America. During the eight months ending August the pig iron shipments of the last three years to the United States were : 1901, 27,957 tons; 1902, 211,317 tons; 1903, 297,050 tons. But in the month of August alone the shipments were: 1901, 4,563 tons ; 1902, 69,972 tons; 1903, 17,354 tons. Thus while up to now the shipments to the United States have this year exceeded those of last, the movement has practically ceased. Yet just after the stoppage of the exceptional demand which had so long upheld our - market, smelters advanced their prices one shilling per ton be- cause of the pressure upon them from other quarters. This is the significant feature of the situation. We are no longer dependent on America to take away our surplus, and the expected rush of the American surplus to our shores is not yet within sight. It will come some day, no doubt. As to the consumption of crude iron in this country, the expected has not happened. The ship building industry has-been steadily declining but with its decline extreme depression in the steel industry has not occurred. A new demand for steel material has been growing, although that for ship building material has been decreasing. 'This is the en- couraging feature for the steel trade, because a revival in ship building must occur sooner or later. What has happened in the engineering industry has also happened in the steel industry. There is a great decrease of activity in the building of marine engines, but this has been compensated by a growing activity in electrical engineering and in motor-car production, so that over- head the industry is ina good condition. There is a great de- crease in the demand for steel ship building material, but this has been compensated by an increase in the demand for struc- tural steel, and for steel material' for new applications. And thus our industrial condition is better than a few months ago it was expected to be. a The prospects in thé ship yards and in the numerous small trades that depend on'them are, no doubt, anxious. The excess of launches over new orders month by month during most of this year points to an early array of bare poles on the river banks, and much of the prosperity of the whole Clyde district depends on thé activity of the ship building industry. The worst. of it is that hope for a revival of the demand for new ships is dimmed by the highly unprofitable character of the shipping in- dustry as a whole just now, and by the fear that further addi- tions to the world's fleet of ocean tramps will only still further depress the freight markets. The placing of a few more admi- ralty contracts would, no doubt, help our ship building without hurting shipping. The foreign orders for new ships have, how- ever, declined proportionally even more than the orders of Brit- ish owners. In the eight months ending August our expofts of new ships were to the value of only £3,155,103, as compared with £4,273,875 in the corresponding portion of 1902 and with £6,126,202 in the corresponding portion of 1901, but these figures do not include the value of second-hand ships sold to foreigners, which have been numerous. While ship owners have no cause to de- sire immediate revival in ship building, they cannot foresee any reasonable prospect of a further reduction in the costs of build- ing new ships. : : The position in America is, of course, of enormous import- ance to us. There the productive capacity of pig iron is enor- mous, and this will again play an important part in our pig iron trade. At present the price of American southern pig iron is still relatively about $3 a ton higher than the class of iron against which it could compete in this country, and as the demand on your side is reported fair, it is thought that not for a few months yet will there be any imports from your quarter, although as the cotton season advances some iron may come over at ballast rates. Canada may be sending iron here before the United States, but yet there is no word of anything coming from the ominion, although recently there were rumors that shipments would take place before the season finished. Some, indeed, is being sent from here to Canada. Germany is a more uncertain quantity to deal with than the United States and Canada. She has benefited extensively from the American demand, and there has been a certain revival of trade there which has helped to give things a somewhat brighter appearance. But it is uncertain if the improvement will be maintained. ; TURBINE STILL ATTRACTING GENERAL ATTENTION. 'The further improvements reported in connection with the turbine are attracting much attention amongst steel makers. Un- der the latest invention in this connection it is claimed that all the objections which ship owners have urged against the adoption of the turbine have been met, and if this should turn out to be MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD, 19 correct, important developments in the transatlantic service may be looked for. In fact, some assert that the turbine will ulti- mately bring about quite a revolution in the marine engineering trade. The importance of this to the steel maker is great. _ In the matter of turbines it may be noted that the Velox has just been delivered to the admiralty, and with the view of thor- oughly testing her system of steam turbine propelling machinery special trials will now be undertaken by a special! staff from the admiralty. To ensure the fullest and most precise data water tanks and measuring appliances will be fitted so as to determine the amount of water evaporated and the quantity of steam. used for a given speed. With the data possessed at the admiralty, as a result of tests of other torpedo boat destroyers, it will be possible to make a thorough comparison of steam efficiency, and the results will be valuable. The unfortunate Viper was fitted with all the appliances necessary for similar tests, but the trials were postponed until after the manceuvers during which the ves- sel was lost on the Channel islands. As a result of the expe- rience gained, the Velox has, in addition to the turbines for ahead and astern driving, reciprocating engines for working at low cruising speed, the belief at the admiralty being that at low power the turbine is not so economical as at high power. STRENGTH OF TORPEDO-BOAT DESTROYERS. Ihe report of the admiralty committee on the strength of torpedo-hoat destroyers has now been drawn up and awaits pub. lication. The appendices include an elaborate record of the ex- periments carried out on the torpedo boat destroyer Wolf, and a comparison as to how these approximated to the theoretical cal- culations of strains of a ship under certain conditions of sagging and hogging in. a seaway. "This question was thoroughly inves- tigated by the committee, which is a scientific one, comprised of Admiral, Fitzgerald as chairman, Dr. Inglis, Prof. Biles, and Messrs. Archibald Denny arid Henry E. Deadman, four of them experienced naval architects. The report is,' I understand, not so unfavorable to those responsible for the design of the turbine boat Cobra as was the court-martial over her loss, and the work of the committee will tend to restore confidence in torpedo-boat destroyers generally. The trials have been completed of the second-class cruiser Challenger, which was laid down in December, 1900, at the Chat- ham dock yard. Her length is 355 ft. and her displacement 5,880 tons. The interesting. feature of the trials is that she is the largest power vessel yet tried in the British navy with the Babcock & Wilcox boiler. 'The trials were in every way a suc- cess. On the 30-hours' trial at the power corresponding to con- tinuous sea speed the power indicated was 8,972 H. P., and on the full-power trials of 8 hours duration, the mean was 12,781 H. P., while the contract was for 12,500 H. P. The speed was practically 21 knots. eters e NATIONAL MOTOR BOAT EXPOSITION. --_--- The first exposition designed to recognize motor boats.as a maritime quantity will be held in New York next February. -- It will be known as the National Motor Boat Exposition and will be held under the direction of Mr. Robert Taylor in the Herald Square exhibition hall at the junction of Broadway and Thirty-fourth street, from Feb, 8 to 20. The popularity of the motor boat, which.may mean anything from a dory with a gas- oline engine to a high-speed yacht, is attested by the fact that Mr. Taylor has a list of about 1,300 concerns which manufacture motor boats. The. utility of the motor boat is unquestioned. Its economy commends it to the man.of moderate means and its adaptability to anyone who has anything to do with the water. It is a favorite method of locomotion on rivers and sheltered waters. " Abroad races of power boats have attracted a vast amount of attention and interest. 'The first international motor boat race for a cup, a handsome trophy put up by Mr. Alfred Harmsworth, took place July 11 in Queenstown harbor. The conditions limited the length of competing boats to 40 ft. The first motor boat race. in France was at Poissy-Melum, 30 miles north of Paris. The. French call them automobile boats. A fleet of hundreds of boats. darted about the scene and, the novelty, life and quick action of the race and scene satisfied the most volatile of Parisian spectators. : In New York the first to recognize motor boats as a sep- arate faction in sport were some gentlemen who organized the American Power Boat association. Its secretary is Mr. John H. McIntosh, No. 32 Broadway. The first open race of the association was held June 20 under the auspices of the Columbia yacht club on the Hudson river, Since then several power boat races have been held, one of the most interesting being a special match between perhaps the largest recognized type power boats, the Standard, owned by E. A. Riotte' of New York, and the Adios, owned by J. H. Leighton of Syracuse. Both are high- speed gasoline launches. The Standard suffered a temporary breakdown, but the Adios, racing through a heavy sea, cut through the water at a 24-knot gait. The preliminary prospectus sent out by the management. of the motor boat show brought quick responses expressing the in- terest of makers' of motor boats, motors and auxiliaries, and the prospect is bright not only for a first show of motor boats but for its annual repetition. Among the oddities which have been suggested as an exhibit is a motor canoe, invented and built in Newport on the lines of the famous flying proa. The Newport 'canoe's main hull is about 2% ft. beam and she has made 13.43 miles an hour. a