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M A. KR ton 2 the White Star liner Oceanic left the Belfast yard of Messrs. Harland & Wolff in 1899. A notable Atlantic vessel was the Scotia, 3,871 tons gross register, which, with engines of 4,900 H. P., steamed 14.4 knots, her record for the voyage from Liverpool to New York being about 8 days, 22 hours. The Scotia, which was launched in 1862, was the last paddle steamer built by the Cunard com- pany. Five years afterwards, with the steamer Russia, of 2,900 gross tons, the: same company demonstrated the efficiency of the screw propeller as compared with the paddle by steam- ing 13 knots on a coal consumption of only 90 tons per day, while the Scotia, with her paddles, was burning 159 tons per day to achieve the same speed. In 1871, the White Star liner Oceanic--first' of that name--commenced plying across the Atlantic, and soon occupied a leading position. The Servia, the first of the Cunard fleet to be built of steel, was launched in 1881; and the same year saw another notable link in the chain of evolution, the Allan liner. Parisiai, one of the: first vessels to be fitted with bilge keels. The ever-popular Umbria and Etruria followed in 1884, each with a speed of 20 knots.. These Cunarders were in 1889 eclipsed in size by the splendid Teutonic and Majestic, of the White Star Line. With the advent of the yacht-like City of Paris (1889) and City of New York (1888); we saw the first twin-screw At- lantic liners, and the Atlantic passage reduced to less than six days. The Cunard sister-ships Campania (launched 1892) and Lucania (launched 1893), with their speed of 22 knots, again lowered the Atlantic records to a few hours over five days--records which are yet unbeaten by British-owned steam- ships. Of the more recently built Atlantic greyhounds, the White Star Oceanic is 685.7' ft. long, 68.3 ft. broad and 44.5 it. deep, and her speed is returned at 21 knots. In regard to speed, she therefore falls somewhat short of the Campania and Lucania. The famous Kaiser Wilhelm IJ, built in 1902 for the North German Lloyd Co., is 678 ft. long, 72 ft. wide and 44 ft. deep. Her speed, according to the official informa- tion given by Lloyd's Register, is 23% knots. The Hamburg- American Co.'s Deutschland, the vessel which at present holds the Atlantic speed records, is 660.9 ft. long, 67.3 ft. beam and 40.3 ft. deep, her speed being 2314 knots. The largest steamer yet constructed on the North-East coast, the Cunarder Ivernia, built at Wallsend in 1900, is 582 ft. long, 64.9 ft. broad, and 41.5 ft. moulded depth; the Leyland liner Hanoverian, turned out from the Hebburn yard of Messrs. R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. in 1902, being the next largest. The full particulars of the new Cunard flyer about to be laid down at Wallsend cannot, of course, be made public, but we may mention that the length will be 760 ft., the breadth 87 ft. 6 in., and the depth moulded over 600 ft. Local readers not versed in ship building will have conveyed to them a more adequate idea of the size of the mighty liner than can be done by the recital of the foregoing figures, when it is pointed out that, in the very unlikely event of our city fathers in Newcastle desiring to transport the Earl Grey Monument to New York, the dimensions of the new vessel will be such that the monument may be stowed say in the forward stokehold, and the figure standing on the capital of the column will be able to look over the captain's shoulder as he examines the compass on the top of the wheelhouse; the total height of the monument, from the base to the head of the figure being 133 ft. This latest addition to the Cunard fleet will have accommodation for a grand total of about 2,900 first, second and third class passengers and crew. A speed of 24 to 25 knots an hour is guaranteed, which will in ordinary Atlantic weather enable her to traverse the distance of about 2,900 knots from Daunts Rock Lightship (Queenstown) to Sandy Hook Lightship (New York) in rather less than five days. A noteworthy fact in conhection with the liner is that she will be fitted with turbine propelling machinery, on the Par- R- £4) 3 Ew 19 - a on emcee sera en sons' Marine Steam Turbine Co.'s principle, to be constructed by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Co. The commit- tee of experts appointed by the Cunard company some months ago to consider the question of the engines for the new ves- sels, after exhaustive research, reported in favor of turbine en- gines against those of the reciprocating type. Such a de- cision may be regarded as a triumph for the turbine, as the horse power of these engines will be enormously in excess of that developed by the machinery supplied to the new Allan liners, or any of the other mercantile or war vessels now being» engined on Messrs. Parsons' principle. From the foregoing it will be seen that the new Cunarder will be the largest and most important craft ever put. into the water from a Tyneside yard, and indeed from any ship yard; and the reputation of the River Tyne as a ship building center will be greatly enhanced by the building of such a liner. In the past the Tyne has been responsible for many successful vessels--battleships, cruisers, destroyers, icebreak- ers, cable steamers, vessels for the conveyance of frozen meat and fruit, specially equipped colliers and cargo steamships of great size--and now Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Ltd., will, we trust, add to their notable and varied record in naval architecture the successful construction of an Atlantic mail and passenger vessel which, with her Clyde-built' sister- ship, will be greatly in advance of anything afloat. 'TRIAL TRIP OF GENERAL McCLELLAN. The new steamer General McClellan built by the Gas En- gine & Power Co. and Chas. L. Seabury & Co. consolidated at Morris Heights, N. Y., for the dock department was given trial trip on the Hudson river last week, and as all the con- ditions imposed in the contract have been satisfactorily com- plied with, the boat has been accepted by the department. This new vessel is 50 ft. in length, with to ft. 8-ins. beam, and draws 5 ft. 4 ins. of water. She is a trunk cabin steamer with pilot house forward. The boat is very strongly built, and the materials used in her construction are yellow pine for the hull planking, with deck beams of white pine. All clamps, keelsons and planksheer are of white oak, with white pine deck planking. Watertight -bulkheads are ar- ranged fore and aft. The interior of pilot house is fitted with seats at the sides, and the finish is in white ash and cherry, with floor of white pine. The trunk cabin aft is finished in a similar manner. For the crew there are lockers and berths provided in the forecastle. The after cabin is fitted with transom seats at the sides, and windows in this compartment are arranged to raise and lower into pockets at the sides of the house. Toilet and lavatory service is also provided. The machinery in the boats consists of one compound vertical engine with cylinders 6 in. and 12 in. by 9 in. and Seabury water-tube boiler of latest pattern. The finishing touches are now being put on the boat by the builders. Capt. J. H. Andrews, one of the pioneer masters in the Lake Superior trade, who has, during the past ten years, been living in Florida, visited Cleveland last week. Capt. An- drews sailed the lakes for over fifty years and in a recent issue of the Review related the experience of his early days. He started in 1843.and quit in 1893. The schooner Nellie Red- ington, of which he was part owner, was the last vessel which he sailed. Though Capt. Andrews is over seventy- five years old he is still active and intends to take a pleasure craft from New York to his home upen his return. The tug Nellie J., owned by the Fall Lake Lumber Co., was sunk July 18 by running on a rock a little above Winton, Minn. The boat is thirty-six years old and is said to be the first boat owned by the Standard Oil Co. She will be raised by divers.