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TAE Marine. REVIEW | - 23 tion, using the sizes and sections fitted in the best work of this kind, would show a most amazing confidence in steel and would probably deter the exact scientific engi- neer from competing in this line of work. The tow boat hulls are made much stronger than the packet boat hulls, since they have to stand much harder usage in every way, besides carrying much heavier machinery. Now let us consider a steel open boat or barge for the transportation of coal. The same principle is carried out here as in the case of the steamboat hull--viz.: the "backbone" and "rib" construction. But here we have to depend more on the sides of the boat or barge acting as the backbone or longitudinal girders, for the interior or hold space must be available for cargo. The ends are usually curved up to heavy end construction known as the head block, which takes the bumping and blows incidental to the rough ser- vice. This curved part is called rake by river men and is introduced to ease the passage of the boat through the water. At the foot of the rake at each end a watertight cross bulkhead is usually used for safety purposes. The framing of the rake must be of a very substantial charac- 'ter, as it is here that the barge suffers most. The cross frames or ribs are spaced about 2 feet apart in the cargo space and at certain intervals there are beams fitted across the barge to stiffen the sides. The barge is merely a shell and of course some judgment must be used in unloading or loading the cargo in order to place no undue stress on the structure. A type of steel coal barge of which a number have been built and are now in use has the steel plating all about %4 inch in thickness, and the cross framing or ribs consists of channels and angles fitted alternately, except the side frames, which are angles. A+ steel watertight bulkhead is fitted at each end of the cargo space and a steel handling deck is arranged from top end of bulkhead to head block. A heavy channel is fitted at top to the side plating for lat- eral stiffness, and strong beams are fitted across the open cargo space at the quarter block or hawser posts. As the clamshell or unloading bucket is used in taking out the coal a wood flooring or ceiling is laid on the channel floor beams, thus presenting a smooth surface for the unloader. These barges have given good satisfaction to the owners and are said to hold about 80 tons more coal than the. wooden barge of the same dimensions and draught. In the construction of steel deck barges care must be taken to make the internal framing sufficiently strong to care for the general longitudinal stresses and also for those that are local. The conditions of service met with in dredge hulls are such that usually the local loading and stresses are very high, so that we have to deal not so much with general as with local stiffening; but the gener- al construction of such hulls is identical in principle with that which we have already discussed. MAINTENANCE OF STEEL BARGES. In the matter of upkeep the preservation of steel plating and framing from oxidization is of the highest importance, and it is here that a great deal of trouble and expense is incurred. Due to there being so many manufacturing plants established on the banks of the rivers forming the Ohio large quantities of acid matter are drained into the water, giving rise to conditions which are highly injurious to the life of the steel river craft. The use of some good protective paint or covering is imperative, but such a paint is hard to find. There are, however, some' such coverings "which seem to hold in check this acid to a marked degree. At present the business of transportation on the Ohio river is a speculation, depending entirely on the stage of water. The government is working to improve this state of affairs by a series of locks and dams along the whole length of the river. In time it is hoped that an 8 or 9 foot stage of water will be available the whole year, but it is said that this work will cost nearly $100,000,000 and will 'require about. r00 years for completion. In the old days before the civil war the Mississippi and Ohio rivers were crowded with packets and freighters, and an enor- -mous river business was carried on, but the railroads have row taken over the most of this traffic and the rivers are lined with the decaying remains of this once vast fleet. -- OUR HANDICAP ON THE SEAS. » Just at this juncture it is well to draw the attention of congress to the fact that British. ship building in 1905, -- was a record breaker, and that, therefore, more and more American goods, produced and bought, will be carried in British ships. This is unavoidable, to our heavy loss in freight moneys, while American ship building for foreign trade, is refused the protection afforded to other American industries, of no greater importance. i Note the largely increased tonnage built in British yards in 1905, compared with 1904: . 1905. Increase over 1904. Vessels. Tonnage- Tonnage. Higlish: yards t.. 7: 793 1,073,309 253,827 -pcotch yards. 3.44 412 '587,032 : $25,702 drish: vatds 214.3 42 149,427 91,877 © otis 4 1,247. 1,810,668 471,496 "Here is a production in a single year by British yards of more than twice the tonnage of our ocean-going marine, with an increase over 1904 production of more than half that tonnage. In addition, the British colonies turned out 10,800 tons of new shipping in 1905, making in all, 1,821,468 tons for the British Empire. The following table shows the shares of the principal ship building countries in the world's output of new ship tonnage of 3,000,000 tons in 1905: British Bimpive: co. 2. ~ 1,821,468 Germany 2,06; oe eee 312,400 PYONCe ese cea. 101,073 Against this large production, almost all for oversea work, all we have to offer in new tonnage is 368,800 tons, and that was nearly all for use on the great lakes. The world's increased ship construction in I905 was 447,000 tons, but we only shared in it, counting all ships we built, irrespective of purpose, to the extent of 43,625 tons. Great Britain also had, December 31, many more ves- sels under construction, of which 500,000 tons has been partly launched since January 1, and all of which will be fully launched early this year. It is because of the activity in British ship building above noted, that the London Times is pleased at being able to say, "The American market has been good, with an active demand for tonnage at freight which compare handsomely with some past records. Undoubtedly the American market has been the great redeeming feature of "most of the past year," That's just it. Amencag trade, without American ships is a "redeeming feature". year after year, for every ship-owning country in the world. The Liverpool ship, Glenelvon, has just completed a highly creditable performance in making the passage from Yoko- hama (Japan) to Los Angeles (California) in the remark- ably short time of 26 days. She left the Japanese port on Dec. 14, under the command of Capt. E. E. Robbins, and arrived at the American port on the oth inst., and as the dis- tarice between the two ports is approximately about 5,000 miles, the Glenelvon would average about 200 miles a day. This may not be the record passage for this particular route, but it is one of the fastest that has been made for some time past. The Glenelvon is a Port Glasgow built ship, and is owned by Messrs. G. M. Steeves & Co., of Liverpool.