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TOWING MACHINES FOR THE PANAMA CANAL, In connection with the construction of the great dam at Gatun, there will be required a series of three large locks in order to raise and lower the vessels ibetween the sea level and the 85-ft. level of the proposd Gatun lake. There will also be a large spill- way for carrying away the excess water delivered by the Chagres and other rivers that will keep the lake full. In.the rainy season this over- flow may 'be of large volume; hence the necessity for strong construction of the spill-way to withstand erosion. The quantity of concrete to be used in the lock and spill-way construction will be enormous. One million bar- rels of Portland cement have already been contracted for, The concrete, of course, will be mixed on the works, and the problem of supplying the necessary sand and gravel is a. large one. There is -no sand or gravel on the canal zone, so it has to be brought from other parts .of the coast. The [sthmian Canal Commission has established a plant at Porto Bello, 40: miles away, and another at Nombre di Dios, 20 miles away, for supplying rock. The material brought from Porto Bello and Nombre di ported in large sea-going barges. The fleet for this work now consists of three tugs and fourteen barges, and it is expected that they will be taxed to their utmost capacity to keep the operations in full blast after the lock construction is under way, The weather conditions prevailing on the Atlantic coast near Colon are extremely trying for towing gear. There is nearly always a heavy swell rolling in from the. Carribean Sea, This swell plays havoc with the lines of the towing vessels, and when there is a "norther" blowing it is impossi- ble-to do any towing in the harbor of Colon. This swell is also a serious problem to the fleet of tugs and "clapets" which are engaged in tow- ing the dredged material from the sea level portion of the canal out to sea. A "clapet" is a self-propelled dumping barge, one of the many souvenirs of French regime that the Americans are using to good advant- age. This portion of the canal is to be about 9 miles long, 500 ft. wide and 40 ft. deep, so that the material removed will, of itself, be enough to keep a towing fleet busy with its disposition. Neither of these towing operations, either for the dredge or for the trans- portation of lock material, can afford to be disturbed by weather conditions. _ barge. Dios will be trans- -- "TAE MarRINE REVIEW Any delay in the lock construction especially would seriously interfere with the promised opening of the canal. on; Jan. 1, 1915. The. army officials, realizing the importance of being able to tow to the best ad- vantage in all weathers, have adopted automatic steam towing machines for this service. They are installing 12 'Providence' towing machines for this work on the Atlantic side. Each of the tugs will carry a machine and one-half the barges will also be equipped with the "Providence" towing machine. The makeup of the tows between Colon and Porto Bello or Nombre di Dios will consist of one tug and two 'barges, the second of the barges be- ing equipped with a towing machine. This arrangement allows an _ elastic connection not only between the tug and the first barge, but also between the first and second barges. The tow- ing machine on the tug will, of course, have the strain of towing both barges and will give and take as required by the plunging of the tug and first The line from the first barge is held by the second barge on its towing machine which is located for- ward. The second and third barges may thus plunge freely without danger of breaking lines. The use of towing machines for this work will not only allow the work to progress in all weather, but will increase the speed of the towing. Even when it was possible to tow with fixed hawsers, the shock of the heavily laden barges fetch'ng up on the lines caused the tug to be materi- ally retarded, or even stopped, so that it had to regain thheadway after the strain was relieved. The breakage of lines in this service has been enor- mous, and this, of course, was ac- companied by serious risk of damage and loss of life and property. The harbor of: Porto Bello also offers some trying problems, and it is necessary to have the vessel abso- lutely under control in entering or leaving. An instance of this was a recent loss of a dredge which broke adrift while being towed into the harbor. This feature of maintaining control,over the tows while entering and leaving the harbor is one of the most important wherever rough weather is encountered. The losses and difficulties in con- nection with the towing of the lock material on the Atlantic side at one time caused the en- gineers so much concern that they proposed to obtain all their ma- terial from the Pacific side and then ship it across to Gatun by rail. The large government 23 water on the Pacific side is compara- tively smooth. The installation of the "Providence" towing machines, however, has changed conditions to such an extent that the engineers need _no longer consider the expense and de- lay that would be entailed by taking material from the Pacific side. FORE RIVER CO.'S YEAR. President Francis I. Bowles of the Fore River Ship Building Co., of Quincy, Mass., in his annual re- port to the stockholders of that cor- poration says: "Additions to the plant and machinery were made dur- ing the year to the amount of $70,- 000. All items of repair and main- tenance have been charged .to ex- pense and the surplus has increased by $91,982. The cash receipts for the year amounted to $6,077,793. The following vessels were under con- struction on December 31, 1908: Battleship North Dakota, seven sub- marine boats, eight army tugs, three steel carfloats, one harbor 'transfer tug, two torpedo boat destroyers. During the year there have been com- pleted and delivered scout cruiser Birmingham, scout cruiser Salem, steel collier Melrose, steel freight steamer Altamaha, four steel light vessels, one steel harbor tug and four steel carfloats. : "We have continued to make reduc- tion in the cost of product and are prepared to meet the competition of other shipyards, which owing to the scarcity of work is at the present time most keen. The company has secured an exclusive license for the United States for the Curtis marine turbine, which has shown excellent results in the performance of the scout cruis- er Salem." The balance sheet as of December 31 last comipares with the previous years as follows: ' ASSETS. Dec. 31,. Dec. 31, 1908. 1907. Real: estate, buildings, etc.$2,327,218 $2,327,753 Machinery, equipment, etc. 1,258,428 1,293,237 Investments 90,000 24,762 Ce ee ee ee otal Se aon ees $3,675,646 $3,645,752 Less depreciation ........ 120,000 120,000 $3,555,646 $3,525,752 Reserve accounts receivable 168,508 143,956 Unearned: Ans. i sect 12,330 17,823 Unearned: taxes. seca ee aes es 8,223 Accrued interest ......... 199 8,171 Work in' process. ...3:.... 206,938 430,716 Materials on hand........ 267,013 306,896 Accounts receivable: .....- 338,866 307,874 Cash on hand asia. o es 864,164 281,262 Cote ok Mera ae $5,413,664 $5,030,673 umceact cr 000 $2,400,000 Pref d StOGK ins tas wee ' ' ' ' Comics stock 435 viet cas 2,400,000 2,400,000 Accounts payable, res..... 24,960 65,120 Unearned rentals .......-- 3,750 6,750 er taxes Oe oe ei be aes ks Uncompleted contracts res. y i eawis Accounts payable ........ 225,518 132,586 Surplus 02504 coe ce ee 118,199 26,217 Total (2555 es doe were $5,413,664 $5,030,673