The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

26 THe MARINE REVIEW Launching the Eugene J. Buffington. The bulk freighter Eugene J. Buff- ington was launched at noon on Sat- urday Jast at the Lorain yard of the American Ship Building Co. The freighter is building for the Pittsburg Steamship Co., and is named in honor of the president of the Illinois Steel Co. She was christened by Mrs. Buf- fington. The day was an ideal one for a launching and all things con- spired to make the event a gala one. The launching party were taken from Cleveland to Lorain on a special car and returned immediately after. the Building Co., a circumstance from which he derived considerable banter. He proposed a toast~to Mrs. Buffing- ton and then called upon Mr. Buffing- ton to reply. Mr. Buffington acknowledged a deep sense of pride in having a steamer 'beat his name. He thought a ship to be synonymous of the dust qualities of man. She is entrusted with his treas- ures and plays a large part in the af- fairs of commerce. He realized. that the purpose behind the launching of a ship was that of service and when a THE BULK FREIGHTER EUGENE J. launching to the Union Club where luncheon was served. Of all the numerous functions that have followed lake launchings of late years this was one of the most enjoy- able. The dining room was beautifully decorated, the tables being strewn with roses. . James) H. Hoyt' was introduced as toastmaster by President James C. Whillace, of the American Ship Build- ing Co. It might be stated that Mr. Hoyt is counsel for both the Pittsburg Steamship Co. and the American Ship tl. f: BUFFINGTON LEAVING THE WAYS. thing designed for service had been named after him it carried with it a higher sense of duty, a larger service to mankind, Mr. Hoyt stated that the ship os- tensibly belonged to the Pittsburg Steamship Co., but that title still re- mained with the American Ship Build- ing Co., and would so remain until final payment had 'been made. This he felt bold to state as counsel for the American Ship Building Co. He there- upon introduced James C. Wallace, president of that company. the future. Mr. Wallace, in his remarks deal with facts. He referred to the Present depression in lake ship building ang felt that there was slight warrant for it. He did not think that the limit of size had been reached on the lakes by any means, saying that Harland @ Wolff are now building for the White . Star line two steamers, the Titanic and Olympic, to' be 1,000 ft. long, 93 ft. beam and 69 fit. deep. He felt that the time was rapidly coming when lake construction would approximate these figures and predicted a ship 800 ft, long, 65 ft. beam and 35 ft. deep. He felt that lake business was still in its infancy and would increase rapidly in Great as the commerce of tthe lakes now is he felt that it had only just started. He tbelieved the Buffington to represent 'the highest type of construction that has been turned out so far, stating that 'this company had had 'the British Lloyds send over men to investigate their methods of construction and that they had reported that they did not believe that anywhere in the world were ships so well constructed for their special trade as they were on the great lakes. He concluded by saying that the Buf- fington was the highest example of this special type and that the Ameri- can Ship Building Co. had taken her at so low a figure that they had lost money in her construction. Mr. Hoyt apologized for Mr. Wal- lace's loose business practices, saying that it wa's only through the enormous volume of orders, at those prices that they made any profits. He then intro- duced Mr. Coulby and expressed the hope as counsel for the Pittsburg Steamship Co. that it would surely get title to the boat by paying the re- mainder owing on the contract. Mr. Coulby 'stated that Mr. Wallace was clever in many ways, but that he shone in his specialty of rendering first aid to the injured. Occasionally a ship goes on the rocks and the com- pany fears that it may lose her. Ht is then Mr. Wallace appears and as- sures them that the ship can be saved. He takes her into dry dock and re- pairs her just as good as new. Then the (bill comes in and the company realizes that while it didn't lose the ship, it came pretty close to it. In his tribute to Mr. Buffington Mr. Coulby stated that Mr. Buffington 1S not alone president of the greatest and most modern steel plant in the world that has latterly been constructed on the sand dunes of Indiana, but has