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without breaking bulk. The general dimensions of the vessel will be, length, 200° ft.; beam, 45 it.; depth 27 tt. John F. Cahill, of St. Louis, will un- dertake to organize a company to build such a vessel. Provision has recently been made by the French senate for the construction of a dry dock and basin at Havre capa- ble of accommodating the largest liners. The cost of this work will approximate $20,000,000. Representative Calder, of New York, has introduced a bill in the house which provides for the co-operation of the life-saving service of the Unit- ed States jwith such companies as possess vessels equipped with life- saving appliances and wireless tele- graph apparatus. The bill empowers _the life-saving service to co-operate with these companies and to notify them of all wrecks which may occur on the Atlantic coast, but specifies that the United States government shall not: be liable for any recom- pense which these companies may give in saving human life or insuring the safety of vessels. The United States senate is soon to take up the bill of Senator Hop- kins, of Illinois, which authorizes the issuance of $500,000,000 worth of Panama canal bonds for the comple- tion of the Panama canal. The sub- ject of bonds, whether for the canal or for other purposes, has always been dealt with by the committee on finance, and it appears probable that the canal committee will do little more than recommend the reference of the measure to the finance commit- tee. Senator Kittredge is inclined to favor issuance of bonds by the sec- retary of the treasury after appro- priations have been made by con- gress, rather than to provide now for the issuance of so. large an amount of bonds. Winter passengers. on the new giant liners crossing the Atlantic are coming to know that if they wish to avoid sea-sickness it is best to choose cabin space on the lowest possible deck, instead of on_ the promenade deck, usually considered the most desirable. An added inter- est attaches to the fact that the lower deck cabins are considerably less expensive. The explanation hinges on the principle that it is the tip of the pendulum that gets the most swing and as the big liners' upper decks are from 50 to 100 feet out of water they are bound to make the wider. arc. The old objection to lower deck rooms on the. score of ventilation is of no consequence on THE Marine REVIEW the modern ships and in bad weather the lower deck is quite likely to have even better ventilation than the upper ones, Owing to the~ necessity for closed port holes and doors, both of which are depended upon for ventila- tion on those decks. _ The Bermuda-Atlantic Steamship Co. inaugurated its new service to Bermuda last week with the sailing of the steamer Prince George with a full passenger list... This new service means much to Bermuda and is the culmination: of four years 'Of effort on the part of Philip Manson, general manager of the company.. The Ber- muda-Atlantic Steamship Co.- pro- poses to increase the service later with sailings from -Boston, Phila- delphia and Baltimore as well as to give to New York what will practical- ly amount to a daily service. The people interested in the new steam- ship company. control the leading hotel property in Bermuda and addi- tions have been made to these hotels to care for the increased business expected this winter. The house committee on foreign af- fairs has reported favorably on a res- olution introduced by Representative Moore, of Pennsylvania, by which the secretary of state is authorized to invite the permanent International Association of Navigation Congress- es, of which the United States is a member, to hold the congress in this country in 1911. No appropriation is asked for as the expense entailed by the entértainment of the delegates is borne by the city in which the congressis held. The resolution names Philadelphia as the proposed meeting place. The purpose of the navigation congress is to bring representatives of the various powers together to discuss questions connected with in- ternational navigation as related to commercial and industrial enterprises. These congresses are always attended by the foremost waterway and en- gineering experts of Europe. A bill has been introduced in the New York senate by Senator S. B. Cronin, of Brooklyn, which is en- titled a bill "to promote and improve the terminal facilities of the harbors of New York, Buffalo, Oswego and Whitehall." The bill provides that within ten days after the passage of the act the speaker of the assembly and the lieutenant governor shall ap- point a committee of five members, consisting of three members of the assembly and two senators, who with the state engineer and the surveyor and the chairman of the advisory board of consulting engineers, shall 15 be authorized to select sites for terminals in the above-named cities. The sum of $10,000 is appropriated for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the act. The members of the committee are not to be paid for their services but will be reim- bursed for actual expenditures. Rear Admiral Charles S. Sperry has upon his formal request been relieved from duty as commander-in-chief of the Atlantic battleship fleet. He is succeeded by Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder. Rear Admiral Sperry was offered the presidency of the Naval War College, but declined, preferring to serve in a subordinate capacity there. Major, Knight, corps of engineers, United States army, has sent his re- port to the board of review of the army and it will soon be submitted to congress. He recommends the improvement of the Jamaica Bay waterway, New York, by tthe ex- penditure of $3,000,000 for dredging channels, part of which sum is to be paid by local authorities. The report also embodies an item calling for a survey for a deep water channel in Sheepshead Bay, Long Island. The directors of the Quebec Steam- ship 'Co. have begun a rate war, with the Bermuda-Atlantic Steamship Co., which is the first company to enter into competition with the Quebec Co. 'during its quarter of a century ser- vice from New York to Bermuda. The new Bermuda-Atlantic Steam- ship Co. made a rate of $40 for the round trip on its fast steamer St. George and now the Quebec Steam- ship Co. has reduced its rate from $45 to $30 for the round trip on the twin-screw steamships Bermudian and Trinidad. A 'brief has 'been filed with the inter- state commerce commission by shippers of cement to the port of Philadelphia, in which is embodied a complete expose of the discrimination enforced against that port by the railroads. The cement rate from the Lehigh district is made the focus of the complaint since the rate from Northampton, Pa. to Jersey City, a distance of 95 miles, is 80 cents a ton of 2,000 pounds, whereas to Phildel- phia, a distance of 74 miles, it is $1.35. Thus for a distance of 32 per cent less the rate is 70 per cent higher. The Pennsylvania railroad has recently made a reduction in its rate for cement for export and coastwise shipment, but this was not sufficient for the complainants, who are contending that the development of this traffic at Philadelphia demands a flat rate such as that quoted to Jersey City.