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20 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. PHILADELPHIA SHIPPING NEWS. Philadelphia, Sept. 30--The keel of the Washington, the first armored cruiser to be built in New Jersey, was laid last week at the New York Ship Building Co.'s yards, Camden. The keel was laid without ceremony of any kind and was witnessed only by officials of the ship building company and representatives of the government. The time limit of construction by the government is forty-two months and the contract price is $4,035,000. The Washington's general features and dimensions are: Length on load water line, 502 ft.; breadth, extreme at load water line, 72 ft. 10% in.; displacement on trial, not more than 14,500 tons; mean draught to bottom of keel on trial displacement, 25 ft.; maximum displacement, full load condition, with coal bunkers full, full sup- ply of stores, ammunition on board and water in boilers, 15,950 tons; mean draught at maximum load, 27 ft.; coal carried on trial, goo tons; total coal bunker capacity, 2,000 tons. The Washington will have a speed of 22 knots. The ammunition and shell rooms are so arranged that one-half the total supply of ammunition will be carried at each end of the ship. The engines will be the ver- tical, twin-screw, four-cylinder, triple-expansion type of a com- bined indicated horse power of 23,000. 'The steam pressure will be 250 Ibs. and the stroke 4 ft. The engines -will be located in two separate watertight compartments. 'The cruiser's hull is pro- [Oct. x, went well he would make Genoa within a month. The vessels will touch at St. Michaels, Fayal and Gibraltar. The training ship Hartford has reached League island and will be dry docked and repaired. The cruiser Minneapolis wij] go into commission Oct. 5, all repairs on her having been finished, She will be assigned to service as the flagship of Rear Admiral Wise, commanding the Atlantic training squadron. The battle. ship Maine left League island last Friday and proceeds to south- ern waters for trial tests of her new boilers, propellers, guns, ete, At a meeting of the board of directors of the Maritime Ex- change, Monday, resolutions were adopted endorsing the work of securing a 35-{t. channel in the Delaware from this city to the sea. The following resolutions on American shipping were also adopted : : "Whereas, The present low estate of the United States mer- chant marine engaged in transoceanic commerce is viewed with alarm by this exchange; and "Whereas, The experience of years has demonstrated the im- possibility of successfully operating ships under the American flag in foreign trades under present conditions; therefore, be it "Resolved, That the Philadelphia Maritime Exchange heartily indorses the object of the New York Maritime Exchange in its efforts to arouse the country to the necessity of urging. upon congress the importance of enacting some measure that will en- The Greatest of the Lake Superior Iron Mines, the Fayal on the Mesabi Range, owned by the United States Steel Corporation. tected by a 5-in. belt of armor extending from 5 ft. below the normal water line to the upper deck in the wake of 6-in. guns; the armor extending completely to the bow and stern near the water line to form a water line belt. Extending from the gun deck to the protective deck are bulkheads of 5-in. armor. Between the gun and berth decks are similar bulkheads. Above the gun deck 2-in. nickel steel will be fitted. The 10-in. turrets aré protected by g-in. of armor. The armament will be: Four 10-in. breech load- ing rifles and sixteen 6-in. breech loading rifles. The secondary battery will have twenty-three 3-in. rapid-fire guns, twelve 3- pounder automatic guns, two I-pounder rapid-fire guns and a number of similar guns of smaller caliber. Matters at the com- pany's yards are in excellent shape for rapid prosecution of the work of the cruiser's construction. The large steamer Man- churia is almost ready for launching and it is quite likely the steel keel of the new battleship Kansas will be laid on the stocks now occupied by that vessel. The plans for the Kansas are keeping the force of draughtsmen busy. The steel tug John F. Lewis was launched Saturday at the Dialogue ship yards, Camden, Mrs. John F. Lewis being sponsor. The tug was built for Hughes Bros. of Philadelphia, and will be used in river and ocean towing. Capt. R. E. Wilson will be her master. The Lewis has a steel hull and steel deck house, is 100 ft. long, 21 ft. beam and 12% ft. depth of hold. She carries 85 tons of coal and will have every modern improvement necessary for coast towing. It is expected at the Dialogue yards to com- mence work soon on am extra large car float and another large tug. The tug Titan, towing the Italian bark Erasmo, steamed down the Delaware river last Friday bound for Genoa, Italy, where the Erasmo is being taken for repairs that her owners say can be made cheaper in that country than this. This is one of the long- est towing contracts ever made by a tug out of this port. The tow is over 4,000 miles and the outcome of the trip will be watched with interest. Capt. Baker of the Titan said that if all able Americans to build and operate American ships in compe- tition with the world." The exchange decided to earnestly co-operate with all other organizations in support of the resolution. The following new members of the exchange were elected: Matteson & Drake, naval architects and consulting engineers, 706-08, Bourse; Lit Bros., department store, 8th and Market; Leo J. Tierney, coal, 367 Bourse; Beech Creek Coal & Coke Co., miners and shippers of coal, 700 Reading terminal; the North American, newspaper, Broad and Sansom sts.; Rochester & Pittsburg Coal & Iron Co., 727 Reading terminal, bituminous coal miners and shippers; the Provident Life & Trust Co. of Philadelphia, banking, 4th and Chestnut sts.; Pennsylvania Co. for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities, banking trusts, etc., 517 Chestnut; Baker Transportation Co., transportation, 421 Chestnut; C. Halyburton, ship chandler and engineers' supplies, 217 Walnut; F. W. Munn, towing and transportation, 31144 Walnut; S. J. Goucher, ship broker and lighterage, 226 Dock; Bouger & Bishop, groceries and vessel supplies, Richmond st. and Columbus ave.; Philadelphia- Keystone Plaster Co., plaster, Chester, Pa.; Tidewater Steel Co., steel, Thurlow, Pa.; Seaboard Steel Casting Co., steel foundry, Chester Pa.; Tice Towing & Transportation Line, towing and transportation, 17 Battery place, New York city. Philadelphia Section No. 4 of the Navy League of the United States has been organized in this city with the following officers: Alexander Van Rensselaer, chairman; Dr. George C. Stout, treasurer, and Charles O. Bond, secretary. The purpose of the league is to awaken co-operation in all matters tending to improve and develop naval forces and equipment. Ex-Secretary of the Navy Tracy is national president of the association. The local league proposes to interest Philadelphians in the objects of the association and predicts a successful outcome. The George V. Cresson Co. of this city, manufacturers of power transmission machinery, have received a large order for machinery from Mexican parties.