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M At Rot Ne was the cost. Now we can build ships in this country--the only obstacle is the cost. In the matter of tin plate manufac- ture congress removed the obstacle to American production of tin plate--why can it not remove the obstacle to the build- ing of ships? ce "You compelled the foreign tin plate that entered into com- petition with our own to bear a duty equal to the difference in the wages paid to foreign and American workingmen. Why can' you not compel the foreign ship that competes with an American ship to pay a tax equal to the difference-of. her construction and operation in competition with an American ship? Why is the man who makes tin plate desetving of protection and the man who makes ships undeserving? That is what the Brotherhood of Boiler Makers & Iron Ship Build- ers wants to know. "You have got to apply the protective principle to our ships in the foreign trade in order to build up American shipping in that trade. For reasons that we cannot understand con- gress has endeavored to evade its plain duty to American shipping in the foreign trade. Congress has left our ships unprotected while it has protected every other industry that is subject to foreign competition. All of the other industries that are thus protected prosper--American shipping alone, which is unprotected, shrinks. "T do not believe that there is a member of this commission who desires to force American workingmen to accept less than the American rate of wages or live differently than other American workinginen live. Either. we must do that, or congress must protect thé' product of our labor against for- eign competition, just as it protects every other product of American labor against foreign competition. '"For nearly half a century congress has refused to do for American ships what it has done for every other American industry. During that time American shipping has shrunk to but one-third of what it was in the beginning. We are building n6 ships iow for the foreign trade of the United States. For nearly three years not an order has been placed in an Amer- ican ship yard for a new steamship. for- the foreign trade. The few ships that are being finished in our ship yards, now, were built in the expectation that congress was going to give protection to' them. Their owners are facing a great loss because of their trust in the justness of congress. "You understand the situation--the remedy is in your hands. Were the higher cost' of construction removed as a factor, you know that the higher cost of operation would still re- main a factor. You know, in short, that the only way to build up otr shipping in the foreign trade is to give it protection equal tothe difference in cost of construction, cost of operation and foreign' aids to foreign shipping. That done American capital will enter into the construction and ownership of ves- sels for our foreign trade, American workmen will be able to build and American citizens will be able to command, officer and man the ships. That left undone, and foreign ships, for- eign masters, officers and men will continue to build and to operate the ships employed in our foreign trade. "In closing I again wish to repeat that the upbuilding of American shipping in the ocean trade is a question that con- certis labor more than it does: any other class of our citizens. If relief is not given American labor will suffer." Mr. J. Bruce Ismay is expected to arrive in this country some time during the present month and it is said that his coming will be marked with some radical changes in the operations of the shipping combination with especial reference to the schedule of sailings. At present a' hard and fast schedule is adhered to without consideration as to whether business justifies the sailings or not. Of course, this has ad- vantages from the passenger's standpoint but the drain upon the exchequer of the company is frequently very heavy. Rog Vv Po byw 7 MODERN TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES. Notable tendencies in transportation at the present time are towards obtaining improved facilities for safe and rapid trans- portation, together with improved facilities at terminals for direct and economical interchange of large volumes of freight traffic between railroads and vessels. The economical freight carrying vessel is constantly increasing in size. Ten years ago the economical carrying vessel on the great lakes was a 3,000 to 4,000-ton vessel Today the economical carrier is a 8,000 to 10,000-ton vessel. Harbor and docking facilities must be improved to permit the free and rapid passage of these vessels. This necessitates the removal of obstructive center-pier swing bridges which are fundamentally wrong in priticiple because they occupy and' 'fill the middle and best part of a navigable channel and retard both railroad and vessel traffic; in many cases ab- solutely blocking modefn vessels. Swing bridges give two- inadequate side channels where one adequate center channel is required. If they are single-track or double-track structures they must be discarded and removed whenever one or more additional tracks are required. They must be kept narrow. so as not to fill and block too much of the channel. All of these difficulties are overcome by the modern type of Scherzer rolling lift bridge, which, through improvement and development, is now also more economical in construction than a swing bridge. The great advantages of the Scherzer 'rolling lift bridge have been recognized by the engineers . of the principal railroad companies at home and abroad which has led to its rapid and extensive introduction and substitu- tion for swing bridges. The first bridge of the Scherzer type | was completed in 1894, for the Metropolitan' Elevated Rail- _ road Co. of Chicago. It is a four-track structure, composed of two double-track bridges placed side by side, operated either _ jointly or separately, as desired. This bridge proved so satis- factory that its construction was followed by other ,railroad . bridges larger than any heretofore constructed, notably: The six-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railway Co. at Boston, Mass., completed in 1899, and the eight-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge for the railroad company of Chicago. The dottble-track, double-leaf 275-ft. span Scherzer rolling lift bridge for the G. T. T. Railroad Co. at the entrance to the Grand central station, Chicago, the longest span bascule bridge ever built. One single-track and one double-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge were also constructed for the Big Four railroad at Cleveland. The latter was erected in its open position and when completed was closed and placed into service without delaying or diverting railroad traffic. The first dotble-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge for the Central Railroad Co. of New Jersey was placed into service ; several months ago and the second is now in process of con- struction. The four-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge constructed at Bridgeport, Conn., for the New York, New Haven & Hart- ford Railroad Co. was completed and placed into service early this year. This bridge is composed of two double-track bridges, placed side by side and operated singly or jointly, as desired. Somewhat similar four-track Scherzer rolling lift bridges are now in process of construction for this company at Cos Cob, Conn., and-also at Westport, Conn., and detail plans are now being prepared for a four-track Scherzer rolling lift bridge for the same company to span the navigable channel of the Housatonic river. These new bridges replace and super- sede double-track swing bridges and form a part of the very extensive improvements of the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway. designed to expeditiously and safely handle their greatly increasing traffic. A notable Scherzer rolling lift bridge now near completion