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48 cago and Mackinaw. She will be a twin-screw with quadruple-expansion engines, developing about 7,000 I. , P., and 10 Scotch boilers. Her prin- cipal dimensions are 385 ft. over all, 360 ft. between perpendiculars, 50. TE. beam and 28 ft. molded depth, and is expected to maintain a sea speed of 20 miles per hour. She is several feet longer, and has one more deck than any screw propelled passenger steamer on the great lakes. There are six decks, viz: the lower, main, saloon, upper, promenade and shade decks; on the last four named are 341 staterooms and parlors with berths for 700 saloon passengers. Twen- ty-two of the rooms are parlors or brid- al chambers lettered from A_ to Z, omitting undesirable 'letters. The parlors on shade deck have bay win- dows from which a view ahead. or astern can be obtained, a private hal. cony all around those rooms, and each suite has private bath room. Hot and cold water will be installed as part of plumbing in every room on boat, elec- tric call bells, and sanitary couches in parlors in addition to. the brass framed beds. The vessel will be lighted throughout with 1,600 lamps. of 8, 16 and 32 candle and equipped with a powerful power 5,000 candle power searchlight pro- jector. The officers and crew will num- ber 256 souls, the quarters for crew being on lower deck forward and aft of the machinery and boilers. On the main deck, the whole forward portion ig occupied by galley and pantry, the after end by social hall, purser's office, cloak room and deck cafe. The mid- -ship portion of main deck is reserved for the stowage of about 1,000 traveling trunks. The saloon and upper decks, i ad- dition to their complement of state- rooms, show ample accommodation for _shelter and lounging on divans, settees and easy chairs. The promenade deck, in addition to the complement of state- rooms and parlors, has a wide sheltered promenade all around the vessel. The shade deck is reserved for only a few Choice parlors abaft the captain's room and chart room, and all the life boats, rafts and life saving appliances, in- cluding the Marconi wireless telegraph equipment. The dining saloon is en forward ena of saloon deck and extends across the full width of vessel by about 90 ft. long, with accommodations for 250. at one sitting. A system of artificial me- chanical ventilation has been laid out for dried air through nickel plated or- namental funnels, all easily adjusted to direct the current to any desired di- rection, or shut it off at will. The air THE Marine REVIEW is chaled to within 2 degrees of the temperature of the water through which it passes before delivery to spaces ven- tilated. The demand for a vessel of size, class and capacity is very press- ing for the Mackinaw route, and the plans to place such a vessel on that run show considerable enterprise on the part of The Northern Michigan Trans- portation Co. They at present own and operate among other vessels the S. S. Manitou, S. S. Missouri and S. > Titinew, (all 'fAret: class: steel. -pas- senger boats. The rapid strides in this company's business was very aptly ex- pressed by an old marine man recently when he said that it seemed but a short time since they used "red table cloths and paper napkins." A LAKE MASTER ON "THE STEERING OF THE SHIP". Editor Marine Review.--I was much interested in the article on "The Steer- ing of the Ship'. in the Review re- cently. The writer certainly understood steering gears, for he mentioned a num- ber of points that never occurred to me before but which I know are right and I am sure he knows what steering a ship is. I think it would be worth while if every watch officer and wheels- man too to read it carefully and re- member it. The explanation of slack or lost motion and its effects is fine and anybody can understand it and.I for one intend to overhaul my gear thor- oughly at once. It has been in service about four seasons now and I feel sure that a part of the poor steering I have been getting. the past two years is due to that very thing. I do not agree with the plan suggested for keeping. steady for I do not believe it can be done, but that is not important, we can soon find out whether it can .or not. Thé amount of broadside movement possible on a long course on account of poor steer- ing is no comfort, but I can see easily enough how it can be done, only I think that an average swing of one- eighth of a point is away below what is generally had. With the pilot house right up in the eyes of the ship it is pretty hard to catch the beginning of a swing and in thick or hazy weather you have only the compass card to steady by and I know from observing carefully in clear weather that a ship will often swing off an eighth before the card be- gins to move at all. What we need is some form of gear which will do away with all slack, like the old-fashioned hand-purchase, but of course worked by steam or power. If had a _ telemotor does away with this and it and the one year most of it wheelsman can feel his 'rudder all the time, but it is necessary to come amid- ships frequently to be sure the gear is central, and if there is the least leak- age past the pistons or anywhere you are in trouble every minute. Please : send me two or three extra copies en that article if you have them, [I -want my mates and wheelsmen to. keep it . handy. Very truly yours, LAKE Master, (Lake Master is mistaken ifn sup- posing that with the telemotor the wheelsman can "feel his rudder". What he feels is the resistance of the springs at the transmission end, and which gradually increases from the midship to the hard-over. position. It is not nec- essarily an indication of the rudder po- sition at all. While it is true that the telemotor eliminates a part of the slack, that existing in the parts between the transmission cylinder and the reverse- valve, in the righting gear, the lap of the valve, and the taking up of the chain, exist with it just as with other gears, and if the system contains any air whatever the lost movement may be in excess of other types of gear. The lost movement can in no case be less than that needed to overcome the valve lap, no matter what the type of gear, but that is so very little that if other losses were eliminated it would be practically a hand purchase gear in responding to wheel movement.--EDITOR. ) SHIP YARD AT ASHTABULA. Ashtabula has always been regard- ed as a desirable location for a ship yard. Latterly it has grown. even more advantageous owing to the enor- mous investments made there by the Lake Shore and Pennsylvania, rail- ways to develop the port as their ore terminal. During the past four years the railways have expended about $7,000,000 in developing the harbor. There is a reason for this--the haul to the furnaces. Ashtabula importance as an OF It follows obviously much inter- is shorter will receiv:ng that the railways are as ested as the sce companies in the proper care of vessels at that port. To be self-contained Ashtabula should Overtures have railways, 1 conjunction with the chamber of commerce at Ashtabula, to the Great Lakes Engineering Works of Detroit, to establish a shipyard at that point. While no has been oe ceived of the plans, it 1s generally regarded in well- informed circles that a shipyard will be estab- lished at that point. grow in port. shipyard. made by the havea been corroboration proposed