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types of steamers of modern 22 UNLOADING RECORDS OF THREE TYPES OF STEAMERS. 'Mr. J. E. Savage, superintendent at Ashtabula for the Carnegie Steel Co., has compiled a statement for the P.tts- burg Steamship Co. showing the unloading records of three construction, namely, the steamer Charles R. Van Hise, W. K. Bixby and Lyman C. Smith. The Van Hise represents the old form of construc- tion with hatches spaced 24-ft. centers with opening 8% ft. fore and aft, the W. K. Bixby represents a more recent form of construction with hatches spaced 24-ft. centers with open- ing measuring 12 ft. fore and aft. The Lyman C. Smith type has been the popular type on the lakes for the past three or four years, and a great majority of vessels now un- der construction are of this type. There are only two other vessels of the Bixby type in existence, the Eugene Zimmer- man and the David Z. Norton, though the Cambria steel. Co. is now building two like her. The three records tabulated below represent unloading operations on each type without any special effort at record making. The results, therefore, show fairly the comparative merits of the three different types of construction, . Supt. Savage expresses himself as very well pleased with the hatch ~ arrangement of the Bixby and regards it as superior to the ~ ordinary 24-ft. center hatch, where the hatches are only 8 or 9 ft. wide, but says nevertheless that the machines cannot take out quite as large a percentage as can be taken out of a 12-ft. center hatch vessel, as will be noted by 'the record, A larger percentage, about 5 per cent more, could have been taken out of the Bixby and the Lyman C, Smith had they been left at the Hoover and Mason unloaders a little longer, but they were taken away on account of other vessels wait- ing, and the Brown machines being idle, STATEMENT SHOWING UNLOADING RECORDS OF THREE TYPES OF VESSELS OF MODERN CONSTRUCTION, NAMELY: gates for his work in the* conference. THE Marine REVIEW aft--that she possesses a sturdiness of construction that is likely to stand for many dollars in the upkeep account as the years go by. FREIGHT SITUATION. After the elimination of the question of recognitjon of the mates' union. by the Lake Carriers' Association from the conference between the dock managers and the Longshoremen's association, no difficulty was experienced in reaching an agreement satisfactory to both sides. It is really the most advantageous settlement to labor that has been made on the great lakes in years. The longshore- men were granted their demand for a ten-hour day and will receive the same wages that they got last year for work- ing eleven hours. Moreover, this agreement was made for two years instead of one, so that the men are assured of uninterrupted employment for two years. The long- shoremen had asked for an advance in wages but waived it when the dock managers offered to agree to a ten-hour day and enter inte contract for two years. ~ President D, J. Keefe was complimented by the dele- As soon as the settlement was reached lake commerce took its second start for the season. All the docks at Lake Erie ports "were badly congested with vessels, but they have been handled with excellent dispatch, so that normal conditions will obtain at the end of the present week. The April movement of ore was 1,477,386 tons or 252,- 213 tons greater than the movement of April, 1905. Experts figure that the movement this year up to June 1 will probably be 500,000 tons less than the movement up to June 1, 1905,-owing to the twelve days' delay caused by the longshoremen's strike. This will be doing STEAMERS CHARLES R. VAN HISE, W. K. BIXBY AND LYMAN C. SMITH. Comparing the Bixby with vessels of the Van Hise class, Supt. Savage says that fully ro per cent more ore can be taken out automatically at good speed. The Hoover and Mason machines, as will be noted, unloaded 98.77 per cent of the Smith's cargo at an average rate of 138 tons per hour per machine, as against 85.8 per cent of the Bixby's cargo*at an average rate of 130 tons per hour per machine, and as against 77.6 per cent of the -Van Hise's cargo at an average of 125 ¢ cluding the elements, to be met with in lake commerce? tons per hour per machine. It is generally admitted that from the ship standpoint, structurally considered, the bulk freighter with hatches spaced 24-ft. centers and 12 ft, fore and aft is the ideal vessel; but from the dock standpoint, the 12-ft, center ship is the more advantageous. The point to bé considered, therefore, is: Is the 12-ft. center ship suffi- ciently rigid to safely withstand the varying conditions, in- , The Pittsburg Steamship Co. is definitely of the opinion that it is. The steamer Wm, E. Corey bore the full force of the great November storm on Lake Superior, Experts were sent to make - -a thorough examination of her from stem to stern to ascertain whether any possible weakness could be traced to the 12-ft. center construction. They made an exhaustive ex- amination of every part of the vessel and reported that the storm had in no way affected her. Had the report been other- wise, the four 600-footers now building for this company at the yards of the American Ship Building Co, would not be of 12-ft. center construction. There is this to be said, how- ever, of the 24-ft. center hoat with hatches 12 ft. fore and thes rae, ae Average tons oe time, |Percentage of| Average tons| Gross tons | Total gross : ea at Hoover. eer hour otal time cargo un- | per hour per at Brown time Name of Kind of M. load.| Per machine. from start loaded at machine hoists. unloading. vessel. ore. Cargo. -- untoad-| (net time) "hee ao Brown hoists.| (net time) (hours) (hours) » Von Hise. ..: Group No. 2 6,442 77.6 125 93 ' 3 WK Bixby...... Group No.2} 7,827 85.8 130 115 so . 35 iN 16 Lyman C. Smith |Group No. 2 9,046 89.7 138 20% 14% 10.3 17 5M very well indeed, but it must be understood that notwith- standing the strike a considerable volume of ore was handled, particularly at South Chicago and Buffalo. The utmost good feeling prevails everywhere and it is ex- pected that with two shifts working ten hours each, the ore trade at lower lake ports can be conveniently handled. 'The. dock managers have fixed the unloading charge to vessels at 20 cents per ton, which is the same as last year, 'Naturally with so many carriers. for nearly two weeks, cargoes are now more plentiful than ships in the coal and ore trades, though the grain trade has not recovered from the diversion caused by the strike. Rates are steady all around and the strike has had the effect of giving firmness to the vessel market, though. no ad- vance in rate is expected, --$__--_--~ Superintendent of Public Works Franchot has awarded the contract to construct three movable dams in the Mo- hawk river, west of Schenectady, to the Eastern Contract Ca of Troy and Pittsburg, for $1,433,817. He also awarded the contract for constructing a part of the Erie canal near Cohoes to the Fort Orange Construction Co., of ae for $1,359,475. The lon. Steamship Co., San Francisco, reports that its office and furniture were destroyed during the earth- quake but that otherwise it escaped without injury.