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"June, 1909 care. There are over eighty auxiliary engines on 'board, (besides an extens- ive plant in connection with the water tight doors, 37 in number, controlled from the bridge. All water tight doors can be closed in an instant in case of accident. Great credit is due to the designers of these wonderful monuments. of naval architecture, by whom the best of material and workmanship possible to obtain were secured to place suc- cess beyond all doubt. The whole civilized world scan their newspapers and converse gibly of these ships and their much vaunted records without ever a thought for the men who are creating them--the marine engineers, who being out of sight are likewise out of mind. The chief engineer and his staff have no time for attitudiniz- ing on deck like old "Bettys" and worrying night and day for fear their ship will go to the bottom of the sea. There is no necessity for such a want of confidence, 'because in the construc- tion of these ships what is.aimed at is absolute perfection. The enterpris- ing newspaper man sometimes gets aboard, and is usually misleading in his statements, apparently (believing that marine engineers are tbut shovel- ers of coal and slingers of oil; men who are most illiterate, rude of speech and boorish in manners, but it must be admitted that such ignorant critic- ism affords much amusement. The engine department, although having so much under 'their control, are always capable of keeping the machinery running and doing the necessary overhauling in port, making ready for another voyage, and when breakdowns do occur, are always suf- ficiently resourceful to complete the voyage in safety--this is what no other department on 'board can boast of, It must be admitted that the en- gineers are a most important and de- serving section of the personnel of the merchant marine and to whom the nation is indebted for much of its material prosperity. LADDER DREDGE OPERATED | BY A PRODUCER GAS ENGINE. The Faris-Kesl Construction Co., Boise, Idaho, are operating on drain- age work a ladder dredge having buckets of 9 cu. ft. capacity driven by a 150-H. P. producer gas engine, op- erating on pea size anthracite coal. The connections to the various parts of machinery are through a belt frem the engine to a line shaft, thence by Sprocket chains to various counter TAE MarRINE REVIEW 133 STEAMER Ropert FuLton Leavinc For Her Buipers' TriaL TRIP, shafts driving the digging ladder, hoist- ing and swinging winches, etc. The digging ladder has 66 buckets pitched 26 in., center' to center, and the con- veyors are of the metal pan type, 85 ft. center. to. center. STEAMER ROBERT FULTON. Herewith is published a photograph of the steamer Robert Fulton of the Hudson River Day Line on the 116th day after the first plate of the keel was laid at the yard of the New York Ship Building Co., Camden, N. rr. Exactly 126 days from the laying of the keel the boat. started to New York under her own steam unattend- ed. The steamer was designed for a speed of 23 miles an hour. For a whole hour on her maiden trip she made 24 miles an hour. She was very steady enroute to New York, around the eapes of the Delaware. She cuts the water beautifully and raises very little swell in the shallow. - channels in the upper reaches of the © Hudson. She was designed by Frank E. Kirby, consulting engineer, and J. Olcott, W. Millard, naval architect. Ee. president and general man- ager of the Hudson River Day Line, says that the company considers her in every way the greatest possible success, The principal dimensions of the Robert Fulton are: Length over hull, molded, 346 ft.; breadth of hull, molded, 42 ft.; breadth over guards, molded,' 76 ft.; depth, base line to top of deck beams at side of hull at lowest point of sheer, 12 ft. 4 in, The Fulton is fitted with a beam engine 75 in. diameter of cylinder by 12 ft. stroke,. driving feathering paddle wheels 30 ft. in diameter. y The board of trade of St. John, N. B., has just put out an attractive state- ment of the export trade of that port. During the six months beginning No- vember, 1908, and ending May, 1909, the exports amounted to $24,564,840. As ' showing the relative growth of the port of St. John its export trade in 1898 amounted to' $7,063,992 as compared with $61,117,703 for Montreal. Its trade last year was $20,668,517.