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The quarter Kingdom. returns .. for, . the indicated a decrease 100,090 tons in the work in hand, and those for September a further decrease of 1140.0 tons. A slight increase has s nce taken place, and at the present time the tonnage under construction amounts to 764,520 tons, however, is only 54% per cent of the total for June, 1906. The total warship tonnage under con- struction in the country is now 219,271 tons displacement, as compared with 208,/i/ "at the. end: of 1007. COLONIES AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES. It appears that there have. been built abroad during the year 882 vessels of 903,617 tons (550 steamers of 791,609 tons and 332 sailing ves- sels of 112,008 tons). These figures show a decrease of over 265,000 tons as compared with those for 1907. Among foreign couniries the leading places are held by the United States of America (304,500 tons), Germany (207,800 tons), -France (83,400 tons), Japan (59,700 tons), Holland (58,600 tons), and Norway (52,830 tons). March of over which, The. total. output of war. wessels (91. of - 235,503 .tone displacement) shows an: increase .of about 49,000 tons displacement on the figures for the preceding: year. UNITED STATES. The total mercantile tonnage report- ed from the United States (304,543 tons) is 170,000 tons smaller than that of the previous year; the decrease in the tonnage built for service on the great lakes being no less than 111,- 000. tons, .The figures for this dis- trict include 17 steamers of over 5,000 tons, the largest of which were the James Corrigan and the Daniel B. Meacham; of 6,971 tons each, both launched by the, Great Lakes Engin- eering Works of Detroit, Mich. The largest sea-going merchant steamer launched was the Oklahoma, of 5,853 tons, built. at Camden, N. J., the only one of over 5,000 tons launched on the coast during the year. There were also launched, at Bath, Me., three wood sailing schoon- ers of over 3,000 tons each. Mention may also be made of two large fleet colliers, the Vestal and the Prometheus, of about 12,500 tons displacement each, launched at the navy yards at New York and Mare Island, Cal., respectively. GERMANY. The returns show a decrease: of over 67,000 tons in the shipbuilding output as compared with last year. During the years 1900-1904 the aver- age yearly output was about 204,000 tons. In. 1905,. 255,000 tons. were TAE MaArRINE REVIEW launched, and in 1905, 318,000 tons. Since then there has been a _ consid- erable decrease, the présent figures (207,800) being 110,009 tcns less than two years ago. It should be stated, however, that these figures do not include vessels launched on the upper rivers, the total to over 18,000 tons. The largest steamers launched in the ccuntry during 1908 were the George Washington, of about 25,000 tons (this being the largest steamer launched in the world during the year), and the Cincinnati, of about 20,000 tons. Five other steamers of between 6,000 and 10,030 tons were also launched, and two of bétween 15,000 and 20,000 tons. oA Belgian training ship, the steel four-masted barque L'Avenir, of 2,738 tons; was. also launched in Germany during 1908. of waich amounts aiso FRANCE. The tonnage larnched in. France, which had shown the striking decrease of 157,000 tons irom 1902 40. 1900, has since steadily increased. The fig- -ures for 1907 were 25,0)0 tons better than those for 1906, and the present total. (83,400: tons) . is:.-22,000 = fous larger than' that of 1907. This increase dozs not apply only to the amount of tonnage produced, but is also apparent in the size of the vessels launched. The figures in- clude six steamers of 6,000 tons and upwards, the largest being the Oues- sant and the Corse, of about 8,500 tons each, both launched at St. Na- Zaire. JAPAN. The figures for Japan (59,725 tons) show a slight decrease as compared with those of 1907. They include four steamers of about 8,600 tons each. At the present time there are under construction nine steel steamers of over 72,000 tons, the largest being one of 13,500 tons, to be fitted with turbines, HOLLAND. The total tonnage (58,604 tons) launched in Holland during the past year does not include vessels known to be exclusively intended for river navigation. The figures show a slight decrease on those for 1907. From returns received from that country it appears that the tonnage of barges, lighters, .and other fiver vessels launched during 1908 amounts to over 28,000 tons. NORWAY. The total output of Norway (52,839 | tons), is slightly below that recorded for 1907, and, as in. that year, \a large proportion of the steamers are be- 1 tween 1,000 and 1,500 tons. The pres- ent figures, however, include two steamers over 3,000 tons each:--The Texas, of 3,632 tons, and the Noruega, of 3,546 tons. : The returns under review show that the general increase which had taken place during 1907 in the output of most of the other countries has not been maintained in 1908. With the exception of Austria-Hungary, where an increase of about 15,000 tons has taken place, there has been a consid- erable reduction in the total tonnage launched. SUMMARY OF WORLD'S OUTPUT. The total output of the world dur- ing 1908 (exclusive of warships) ap- pears to have' been 1,833,286 tons (1,/05,179 steam, 127,107 sail). Ace cording to the latest returns received by Lloyd's Register, the tonnage of all nationalities totally lost, broken up, etc., during the 12 months amounts to about 794,000 tons (557,000 steam, ' 237,000 sail). The met increase of the world's mercantile tonnage at the end of 1908 is thus about 1,039,- 000 tons. 'Sailing tonnage -has been reduced by 110,000 tons, while steam tonnage has increased by 1,149,000 toys. Of the tonnage lautiched during 1908, the United Kingdom has ac- quired over 30% per cent. Of the total merchant tonnage output of the world during 1908, 5034 per cent was launched in the United Kingdom; but, if only sea-going steel steamers of .3,000 tons gross and upwards be taken into account (thus excluding vessels trading on the North American lakes), out.of the total of 1/9 such Gteam- ers, of 1,050,741 tons launched in the world, over 6314 per cent of: te tonnage -has been launched in the United Kingdom. VESSELS CLASSED BY LLOYDS REGISTER. Of the vessels launched during 1908, 406 of 764,146 tons (including 70 vessels of 153,558 tons launched abroad), have been built under the society's inspection with a view to classification in Liloyd's Register book. In addition, nearly 100 vessels of less than 100 tons each, t0 De classed with Lloyd's Register, were. launched. The citizens of Birmingham, Ala., presented a silver service and a lov- ing cup to the scout cruiser Birming- ham as she lay at Mobile Feb. 1. The presentation was made by Gen. R. L. Rhodes, editor of the Birming- ham News, who made a plea for the American merchant marine. His re- marks were frequently applauded.