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34 : APPROVE OF NEWBERRY'S PLAN. A board made up of persons who ' have tbeen prominently identified with the navy department who were ap- pointed for the purpose of conferring regarding the proposed reorganization of this branch of the service, has re- cently completed its task and report- ed favorably on the changes made and proposed by Secretary of the Navy Newberry. This board did not make public its proceedings but stated that it had ap- proved of the changes already effected and had made certain suggestions to the president of which he did not then choose to speak. The reorganization measures which Secretary Newberry has in view in- clude the increase of membership of the general board of the navy and of the board of construction and repair, making them more thoroughly rep- rensentative of the naval service than is now the case and a plan to se- - cure more complete co-ordination than was possible under the old system. Secrtary Newberry has also con- templated the probable merger of the bureau of construction and repair with the bureau of steam engineering, thus avoiding to some extent duplication and unnecessary work, as the inter- ests .of the two bureaus are closely related in ship construction. It was for the purpose of overcoming this difficulty that Secretary Newberry as- signed Admiral Washington L. Capps at the head of the bureau of con- struction. and repair, to act in the 'same capacity for the bureau of steam engineering. DECREASED ATLANTIC COMMERCE, The foreign commerce of the United States decreased during the year 1908, as compared with the year 1907, by approximately $500,000,000, according to the report issued recently by the department of commerce and labor at Washington. © .A noteworthy feature of the re- port is the showing made by Atlantic ports, at which a falling off of $400,- 000,000 in the value of imports and exports is shown to have occurred. The imports of the Atlantic ports in the calendar year 1907 were $1,107, 000,000, while the exports were $1,156,- 000,000, as compared with an approx- imate import total in 1908 of $860,000,- 000, and an estimated export total of $1,050,000,000. New York port imports fell from . $777,000,000 during the first 11 months -astora. Ore. | Mr: ' The MARINE RevIEW of 1907 to $582,000,000 during that period of 1908, while its exports fell from $617,000,000 to $578,000,000. Cor- respondingly, Boston fell in imports from $116,000,000 to $81,000,000 and in exports from $95,000,000 to $76,000,- 000; Baltimore from $34,000,000 to $22,000,000 in imports and from $90,-- 000,000 to $70,000,000 in exports; Phil- adelphia from $76,000,000 to $52,000,000 in imports,. and from $99,000,000 to $88,000,000 in exports, and New Or- leans from $42,000,000 to $37,000,000 in imports and from $137,000,000 to SL SLi 000,000 in exports. ORDER FOR LARGE BOILER. The Commercial Boiler Works, Messrs. Fox & Jenkins, proprietors, Seattle, have received an order for one of the largest marine boilers ever built on the Pacific coast. The boiler will develop 1,100 horsepower and will be 16 ft. ih diameter by 11 ft, 8 in. long. It will be of the Scotch marine type and is to be in- stalled in the British tug Lorne, owned by the Puget Sound Tug Boat Co., Seattle. The boiler will be completed within 60 days after the receipt of the material. PERSONAL. William C. Ennis, formerly super- intendent of motive power and mas- ter mechanic of various railways, of late connected with the American Lo comotive Co., and now located at 543 Broadway, Paterson, N. J., has been appointed by the Falls Hollow Stay- bolt, Co. as eastern traveling represen- tative. Edward M. Cherry, son "of the late P. L. Cherry, has been appointed British vice consul, Lloyd's agent, agent for the San Francisco. Board of Marine Underwriters and for three German underwriting associations at Cherry was for many yeats associated with his father at Astoria and is one of the best known young men in shipping circles om the Pacific coast. - The Chicago Nautical School, Ma+ sonic Temple, Chicago, W. J. Wilson, principal, has the largest class in the history of the school this winter. The school has a class of 28 engin- eers this winter with additional en- trice weekly. It has a class of 15 officers of the naval reserve and last week organized a class of 25 yachts- men and power boat owners. Mr. Robert Curr, who has been in the east for several weeks investigat- ing floating derricks for the Victor R. Browning Co., has returned to Cleveland. Mr. Curr made a com- of all work involving floating .name for that association. plete study while in the 'coast. ci chinery. Rear Admiral Washington L, Car chief constructor of the navy, has appointed as acting chief of the bureay of steam engineering as well by Pregj dent Roosevelt. Be OBITUARY. Joshua Rhodes, the veteran. stiel manufacturer of Pittsburg, well known in the great lakes district, died at his home Jan. 5. Capt. Albion A. Shepard died at El Paso, Tex., last week. He was formerly well known on the lakes, hay- ing built the steamers, Fred Kelley and Mary Jarecki and the barges M., R. Warner and Bessie Smith ,in the 70's. J. A. Cuttle, managing director of the Montreal Transportation Co. Montreal, Que., died on a train near San Francisco, Cal. Dec. 202° Ma Cuttle was for many years a promi- nent figure in Canadian inland wa- terway circles and was a member of both the Montreal corn exchange and board of trade. Capt. William S. Batchelor, aged 60, a widely known marine engineer and an active worker for the improvement of the inland waterways of the country, died at his home at Monaca recently. From boyhood until a few years ago he had charge of river craft on either the Ohio or Mississippi, and was widely known at every river port between Pittsburg and New Orleans. Capt. Batchelor was a member of the Dravo Waterways Improvement Association of Beaver county, and suggested the He served several times as a representative at "On-to-Cairo" conventions, and re cently was appointed a delegate by Col. John A. Vance, of Columbus, O., to represent Beaver:county before the rivers and harbors' committee at Washington, D. C. (Continued from page 19). pulling steamer Yale down river at Buffalo; fireman drowned; tug raised. : Dec. ..--Str. Vivian, owned by Morris M. Wheeler, Messena,*N. Y.; sank at Waddington. Dec. 21--Tug American Eagle, owned by L. S. Sullivan, Toledo, O.; burned to water's edge in Toledo harbor. Dec. 22--Car ferry International, owned by Pere Marquette railroad, Ludington, Mich.;' collided with sand sucker McKerchey. in . St Clair river; not injured. Dec. 22--Tug Thomas Fryant; burned: to water's edge while tied up at the dock at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for the winter. Dec. 23--Sand sucker McKerchey, owned. by John M. McKerchey, Detroit: collided with cart ferry International in St. Clair river; port bow stove in. : Dec. 30--Car ferry Pere Marquette No. 17, owned by Pere Marquette railroad, Ludington, Mich.; ran ashore in thick fog and_ stormy weather near Big Point Au Sable, Lake Huron, 7