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18 larly with naval expenditures. What bearing the investigation by the sen-_ ate will have upon the results of the conference called by President Roose- velt for investigating the navy de- partment remains to be seen. President Roosevelt has sent a message to congress in which he recommends im- mediate legislation requiring that within reasonable limitation ocean-going steam- ships carrying considerable numbers of passengers carry efficient wireless tele- graph equipment. Capt. Pritchard, of the Cunard liner Mauretania, which has just recently resumed her service after having new propellers fitted, is quoted as saying "there are 28 knots in this boat and I propose to get them out of her." It is noted with interest by those who follow naval affairs that Com- mander Robert B. Higgins, at present attached to the New York navy yard, has decided to apply for a transfer from the line to the bureau of con- struction and repair. The Moran Co., Seattle, Wash., ex- pect soon to complete arrangements for building the submarines which are to be constructed at this yard. The report recently circulated in the newspapers that the Great Northern liner Minnesota was to be transferred from American register to British register is denied by the Great Northern Steamship Co. f ~ Commander A. L. Key, who was in charge of the scout cruiser Salem at the time of the recent accident to her machinery, has been called upon to fur- | nish an explanation concerning the mishap. The Salem was on her way to Havanna for the purpose of conveying Governor Magoon to Knight's Key, Fla., but on the run down the coast 'the machinery broke down and she _ was compelled to put into Charleston for re- pairs. At a banquet of the Peace and Ar- bitration league of New York recent- ly, senator James B. McCreary, of Kentucky, was the guest of honor and the principal speaker. In his address he outlined the program of the Peace and Arbitration League and laid par- ticular stress upon the clause which provides for the maintenance of a navy larger in power of resistance than that which any nation can detail from home waters and send against this country. Secretary of Commerce and Labor Straus has approved the regulations to take effect Feb. 1 next, prescribiny that tows of sea-going barges navi- gating the inland waters of the Uni+- ed States shall not exceed four vessels tandem, including the towing vessel, THe Marine REVIEW while the hawsers between them shal' not exceed 75 fathoms. In conse- quence tows cannot exceed about 2,000 ft. from the bow of the towing steam- er to the stern of the last barge in tow. The regulations also prescribe that in entering or leaving harbors the barges must be bunched so a% to reduce the length. The Merchants' & Miners' Trans- portation Co. is soon to start a line of steamships between Jacksonville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga. These ports have been without regular water com- munication for several years, although a decided demand has existed for a combined freight and passenger ser- vice. There are to be three boats a week and they will run from Balti- more. to. Savannah, continuing to Jacksonville. Secretary of the Navy Newberry re- cently sent a report to congress stating that it cost $109,856 to keep a first-class battleship in repair and good condition for one year. This figure does not in- clude extraordinary repairs incident to taking a ship out of commission, remod- elling or reconstructing it. The cost of coal used on: battleships for the fiscal year 1908 was $3,163,902 and this amount was increased by the transportation and storage charges to $5,544,945. The Toyo Kishen Kaisha's trans- Pacific service is to be augmented by the addition of a third steamship to be called the Kanyu Maru, which is now under construction and is to be ready for service by the end of the present year. She is to be similar to the Tenyo Maru and Chiyo Maru. The Osaka Shosen Kaisha is is now arranging for a loan of a million and a half dollars to complete the steamships for its trans- Pacific service in conjunction with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- way. The United States and Great Britain have reached an understanding concern- ing the Newfounaland fisheries dispute, which is to be submitted to The Hague for settlement. The tentative agree- ment, signed by Secretary of State Root and the Right Hon. James Bryce, am- bassador to the United States, contem- plates the interpretation by The Hague corurt of Article. 1 of the treaty of 1818 for an exact definition of the treaty rights of American fishermen. The Richelieu & Ontario Navi- gation Co., Montreal, Can., which op- erates lines of steamers on Lake On- tario and on the St. Lawrence and Saguenay rivers, passed through the season of 1908 with a decrease of only $63,220 in gross earnings and a gain in net surplus of $9,000. In its annual statement for the year end- ed Dec. 31, 1908, the company shows that after paying cut $156,600 in divi. dends, the net surplus remaining Was $35,305, the largest in ten years, Gross earnings for 1908 amounted to $1,241. 748, which though less than for the previous year, is well above the ayer. age for the last ten years. \ Cable advices from Yokohama give an interesting account of the. enor. mous sums of money advanced tg Japanese shipping. Since 1897 the Nippon Yusen Kaisha has alone te. ceived over $25,000,000. Adding the grants that were made to the com. pany in the earlier stages of its or. ganization, the total reaches $40,000,- 000. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha has a fleet of 94 vessels, built or building, with a total tonnage of 349,869 | is now proposed to increase these sub- sidies by $1,500,000 per annum. The net earnings of the Eastern Steamship Co. for the fiscal year end- ed Dec. 31 last are reported to have been slightly in excess of $500,000, an amount sufficient to meet interest and sinking fund charges and leave a balance equal to seven per. cent on the $3,000,000 stock. This com- pares with earnings for the stock in <1907- of about 5: per cent. and am 1906 of 8.9 per cent. The gro3s earn- ugs Of the past year were somewha. less than in 1927, but the manage- ment introduced scme radical operat- ing economies, with the result that the net earnings for the y ar showed a substantial increcse, Fields S. Pendleton, president of the Atlantic Carriers' Association, is authority for the statement that the building of the derelict destroyer Sen- eca by the federal government and the systematic searching for abandoned and disabled vessels, constitutes the first real help that the United States government has extended to the sail- ing craft interests of the Atlantic sea- board. Mr. Pendleton is one of the owners of the schooner Wm. J. Let- mond, which was abandoned off Cape Hatteras on Christmas day. She was picked up by the revenue cutter Onon- daga and towed to Norfolk. Mean- while the derelict destroyer Seneca had picked up the abandoned schooner Warner Moore and towed her to 4 point of safety. Ordinarily both of these vessels would have been the le gitimate prey of wreckers, or would have drifted about for weeks, a mem ace to all coastwise vessels. The fed- eral government charges nothing for this work of salving. The federal gov ernment, therefore, protects coastwise shipping in two ways. It protects it from competition and it protects t from excessive charges for salvage. y a