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RIVER STEAMERS FOR THE AR. GENTINE, Messrs. I. Thornyeron Ge Go. have recently delivered the S, S. "Paso de Obligado," the first of five river steamers of shallow draught and with other special features: for South American river service, which they are building at their Southampton yard. The steamers are building to the order of the "Marina Mercante Ar- gentina,' a company recently formed for developing navigation in that "TRAE Marine KEVIEW The arrangements generally are such that the boats are particularly adapted for working in the very hot climate met with in the northern parts of the rivers. All five vessels will be navigated to Buenos Ayres under their own steam and their fuel capacity is ample for such a journey. The "Paso de Obligado"® has al- ready arrived at Buenos Ayres. Her voyage was successfully made in 34 days notwithstanding the very bad weather which was met with from Southampton to St. Vincent. The RIVER STEAMER PASO DE OBLIGADO FOR: THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. and the surrounding country, and especially to tap the rich region through which _ the Parana, Uruguay, Paraguay and other rivers run. It is the culmination of the general desire by influential people in the Argentine to possess a line of steamers built for and maintained solely by themselves. The dimensions of the "Paso de Obligado" and her sister vessels are 220 ft. in length, 33 ft. breadth, 8 ft. draught, and a speed of 10 knots is anticipated under ordinary working conditions. The machinery is Thornycroft type twin screw, triple expansion, surface condensing; steam being supplied by two marine type return tube boilers. The hull is built throughout of S. M. steel, and the -vessel will be classed 100 Al Lloyds. To facilitate handling cargo several powerful winches will be installed on each ship, while to provide for the lengthy freights--such as timber, etc., --specially large cargo hatches have been made. fuel consumption was extraordinarily low. The sister boats "Paso de La Patria" and: "Paso de. Cuevas" have also left the Southampton works: and will shortly arrive at Buenos Ayres. NAVAL REPAIR ESTIMATES. Secretary of the Navy Newberry has sent letters to the house of repre- sentatives and to the senate in which he submits recommendations as to re- pairs of naval vessels for the fiscal year ending June 10, 1910. He reports that the following will require over- hauling to the extent of $200,000 or more: Battleships Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin; protected cruisers Chattanooga, Cleveland, Denver, Des Moines, Galveston and Tacoma. He also states that steel vessels which will require repairs during the same period, the repairs to which will ag- gregate--under all bureaus--in excess of 20 per cent of the total value of each of the vessels, and which should therefore be authorized by congress are: Gunboats Con- cord, Yorktown, Elcano, Para- aL. gua and Quiros; torpedo boat Rodgers, distilling ship Rainbow, sup- ply ship Supply and the cruiser Yan- kee. The wooden tug Lincoln is re- ported as likely to require repairs in excess of 10 per cent of the cost of a similar ship of the same size and design and like material. Secretary Newberry requests that the estimates of the board of con- struction, which accompany the com- munication, be iprovided for in the naval appropriation act for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910. The total of the board's estimates for these re- pairs is $4,154,500. In a later communication the sec- retary adds the name of the tug Apache to the list of vessels to re- quire general repairs. She will also be fitted with a new set of boilers at a total approximate cost of $21,500. LENGTH OF HAWSERS. The new regulation of the depart- ment of commerce and labor limiting the length of hawsers between towing vessels and sea-going barges and also between such tows on the inland wa- ters of the United States went into effect Feb. 1. Under this regulation tows of sea-going barges navigating inland waters shall not exceed four vessels, including the towing vessel or vessels, and hawsers are limited in length to 75 fathom. The regulations also provide that "tows navigating in the North and East rivers of New York must be bunched above a line drawn between the Statue of Liberty and the entrance to Erie basin. Where tows are entering Long Island Sound from the westward the lines may be lengthened out to the prescribed length after passing Fort Schuyler; and when bound for New York from Long Island Sound tows must be bunched before passing Whitestone Point." It is not unlikely that the result will be increased freight rates to points along Long Island Sound and New England. Representative Small, of North Car- olina, has introduced to the house committee on interstate and foreign commerce a proposal that instead of providing that the government pay rental with an option of buying after five years it should ray $2,000,000 for the proposed lighthouse on Dia- mond Shoals, off Cape Hatteras, N. C., as soon as it shall have been completed and approved, the con- tractors to receive no moneys while the construction is in progress. Rep- resentative Small is the author of the bill for the perchase of such a structure.