The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"THE Marine Review THE BALTIC REACHING PORT WITH THE RESCUED PASSENGERS FROM THE REPUBLIC AND THE FLORIDA ABOARD. services as were necessary for the safety of the ship were. performed, and the boiler rooms were flooded to a depth of over 3 it.,- that the en- gineers and firemen climbed the lad- ders to the deck, Never, since the first installation of a Marconi wireless system of teleg- raphy aboard ship, has the value of the system been so efficiently demonstrated or _ its usefulness appreciated as on this oc- casion. The Republic, in addition, was fortunate in carrying an operator possessed with an unusual amount of courage and energy, combined with a strong sense of what might be ex- pected of him. From the striking of the vessels until the power died out of his storage batteries J. W. Binns, the operator, never once left his instru- ments. Messages were continually go- ing forth to the shore stations and passing between the Republic and the vessels "standing by" to assist the doomed liner. It was the Marconi apparatus that sent forth the call for help, bringing vessels over 100 miles of water to render assistance. The Republic left New York on Friday, bound for Mediterranean ports. She carried 211 first class pas- sengers on a tour through southern Europe, 250 steerage passengers, and supplies for the United States bat- tleship fleet, in addition to freight. At 8:30 p. m., Sunday, she was slowly returning to the mainland ine tow of the revenue cutter Gresham and the derelict destroyer Seneca, the liner Furnessia being fast astern for steering purposes. The picked crew had earlier in the evening been or- dered aboard the Gresham by Captain Sealby, who remained behind' with his chief officer. . While the search- light of the Gresham was kept on the Republic it was seen that she was settling by the stern, and at 8:40 she disappeared. No losing fight could have been braver than that made by Captain Sealby in trying to save his vessel. That he refused to recognize the fact that circumstances were against him makes his endeavor all the more com- mendable. The conduct of the officers and crew throughout was_ splendid, and no person contemplating a trans- Atlantic voyage need hesitate at placing his life in the hands of such as manned the White Star liner Re- public. The: steamer. building. for. & -2&. Ranney, of Cleveland, at the yard of the Toledo Ship Building Co., will be launched March 10, MERCHANT MARINE BILL The Illinois Manufacturers' Asso- ciation in session at Chicago, Jan. 22, went on record in favor of the pas- sage by congress of legislation now pending for the development of a larg- er American merchant marine. The action was taken at a luncheon given at the Auditorium hotel, following ad- dresses by John Barrett, director of the bureau of international republics, and James T. McCleary, of Minnesota, former assistant postmaster general. The resolutions adopted declared that without a larger American commer- cial. fleet the Panama canal will be only a subsidy to foreign vessels, which in time of war may prove dangerous as an auxiliary to foreign navies. Mr. Barrett asserted that the Unit- ed States was losing billions in South American and oriental trade by neg- lecting the development of its mer- chant marine, and Mr, McCleary de- clared the country's postal profits should be applied to shipbuilding. Mr. McCleary also declared that while American citizens were applaud- ing the spectacle of the battle ship fleet cruising around the world the country was the laughing stock of the old world's naval officials because the American fleet was accompanied by a convoy of foreign auxiliary vessels,