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M of oR ft oN Ue SITUATION AT BUFFALO Buffalo, May 16.--Situations continue to come and go in marine matters quite as fast as they used to when the days following the appearance of the steamer Onoko in 1882 set the people to watching the rise of the metal hull, which was given such a send-off by this "floating boot box" as some people who viewed her no-beauty lines were wont to call her. She carried the broom for a long time easily and even when she began to fall into second class I recall being told by her master, Capt. Trinter, who brought her out I think and was the commodore of the fleet to which she belonged for a long time, that he was not at all alarmed as to her leadership. He could load more grain than any of them yet and he was going to show her ambitious rivals that he could some day when things came right. We are now looking with some confidence for the 600- footer, being quite close enough to the mark to warrant ib) but what are our poor harbors going to do with them? We are trying to get Buffalo to deepen Buffalo creek a few more miles and kill two birds with one stone, by also abating the early floods that prevail in that district. JI asked some one who understands the situation if it would be possible to pro- vide a winding place up stream for the big craft and he said no, it would take a great part of the township that was ask- ing flood relief, and he was not a tug owner either. The improvement is now looked on as pretty certain to happen and I would beg leave as an interested amateur to suggest that all lake vessels built hereafter be two-enders, like the New York ferry boats, so that they can swap fore and aft at a moment's notice. It would all be very easy after that. There are new things at the Buffalo ship yard, too, of late, especially since the fire of a month or so ago. Fires are sad destroyers, but they so often pave the way to improve- ments that the town or institution that is entirely fire proof would be left out of sight in the race in a short time. For some time after the building of the great traveling crane at the Buffalo ship yard it was the wonder of common people and met the entire approval of experts, but now it is found that it is not just the appliance that is most needed. This opens a chapter in trade unionism, which need not be elaborated here, but it is a fact that the ship yard authorities have been so annoyed and have lost so much money by strikes in late years that they do not dare to do much 'build- ing here. All this is a sad state of things and it is really more of a loss in its way to the workmen than it is to the builders, for they can set up their ships in towns that are not tainted with the strike spirit and poor Buffalo gets left, town as well as workmen. So it appears that this port is pretty nearly con- fined for the time to repair work in marine matters, and it cannot be denied that this branch of the business has been made 'the most of lately, though I have no figures with which to make comparisons with other ship yards. Some day, when the men can be depended on to finish a job they undertake, new craft may again be created here safely, but not till then. So it is the plan, possibly not yet fully matured, to take down the big ship building crane, so long the pride of the dry-docks, and build in its place a locomotive crane, as it 1s called, which is suited to heavy carrying from the shop to all the four dry-docks and will save a great amount of the work now needed to cover them. As the present crane is only suited for handling heavy stuff between the shops and a vessel on the stocks its usefulness is really too limited, con- sidering its cost. Then there are new notions to be introduced in the re- built shops that. would appeal mostly to a workman up in that line, but they show the utility of fires and the great secondary importance of fire insurance companies, which are R FE. VY foe © so ,obligingly ready to pay a round sum for all sorts of things that were fine a few years ago, but are so entirely out of date now that it is really a loss to use them any longer and prove after awhile a decided handicap to anyone who will consent to keep them in use. We are watching now the hopper-bottomed lake vessel. Buffalo has some ideas in that line and it is claimed that they have lately gone into use without leave of the inventor of them, so that there is likely to be after proceedings in the case. It is confidently claimed that this idea is capable of elaboration till there will be no need of a man in the hold for either loading or unloading bulk freight, no matter what it is. If it is used it may supersede the Ogdensburg sweep- ers, which are here and have been all equipped for more than a year, but are not thought to be well enough intrenched for -any set-to with the scoopers just at present, so they are merely held in reserve. Joun CHAMBERLIN. ----__--___ SUMMARY OF NAVAL CONSTRUCTION The monthly summary of Naval construction shows the customary progress upon naval vessels with the interesting in- formation that the lead of the Louisiana over the Connecticut is but little over 1 percent. Following is the summary: Degree of comple, tion, per cent. Apr.1,705. May 1,'05. BATTLESHIPS. Virsa yoo es Newport News S. B.& D. D. Co.83.74. 85.53 Nebraska: 155.4) Moran Bros. Covi. 4 69.31 70.890 Georgia | eas Bath, Irom Works aici. ies 76.44 77.78 New jersey rn, Fore River Ship Building Co..79.4 1.1 Rhode Island ....Fore River Ship Building Co. .84. 86. Connecticut "4.5; Navy Yard; New York 4.0%. 70.24 73.50 Loutsiana: 527 Newport News S.B.& D.D. Co.71.90 74.83 NVetmont. yo. Fore River SB. Go. 3. ere 454 0 472 Kansas .....New York Ship Building Co. ..48. 51.4 Minnesota .......Newport News S. B. & D. D. Co.61.76 63.18 Mississippi; . 20... Wim.oCramp & Sons, 075.03. 24.39 27.04 LGRG: oo ke. Win Cramp & Sons. sc 22.27 24,09 New Hampshire..New York Ship Building Co... 1.5 a2 ARMORED CRUISERS. West Virginia ... Newport News S. B. & D.\D. Co.99.95 100. Caliiopnia. 9.4 Union Iron: Works. cy Gece te ge a Maryland .......Newport News S. B. & D. D. Co.oo. 99.95 South Dakota. :/Union. Iron: Warks. 257.0... Wi 3 <7 Oe Tennessee ..... ov Wim. Gratip. 2 Sons, 6) is 69.45 71.80 Washington ..... New York Ship Building Co...70.2 74.2 North: Carolina... Newport 'News 5. B: & D. D.Go. 215. 425 Montana 004, 04. Newport News S.B.&D.D.Co. 2.01 3.20 PROTECTED CRUISERS. St Powis. icue Neafie & Levy S. & E. B. Co..606 63. Milwaukee ...... Union Iron Works... -.....4.-. 69.8 72.4 Charleston ......Newport News S. B.& D. D. Co.92.56 93.78 GUNBOATS, Dubuqies 20.404 Gas Engine & Power Co....... 90.9 94.28 Paducah: ....; 1..Gas Engine & Power Co... 3: 82.8 83.9 TRAINING SHIPS. Cumberland"... ..: Navy. Yard, Boston 3.60.05. 95. 05. Intrepid Navy Yard, Mare Island: ...v.. 95. 07.5 : TRAINING BRIG. BOOT eee Navy Yard, Portsmouth... 99.5 100. TORPEDO BOATS. Goldsborough ...Wolff & Zwicker.............. 99. 99. O'Brien oy LQTS NIKORs caves eee a a 00. (00. COLLIERS. Brie: 67.5 va: Navy Yard, New York.......<. O ) -- A 4,600-ton caisson, specially constructed for raising the French armored cruiser Sully, sunk in Along bay, Tonquin, in February last, was launcked at Hong Kong last week and will be taken to Saigon.