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

September, 1909 ing ferry Saratovskaia Pereprava. The latter was fitted with a hydraulic eleva- tor for raising and lowering railway carriages, trucks, etc., to suit the various great differences in the heights of water in the river Volga. Both were built in sections to pass the canal locks, In 1899 the famous ice-breaker Ermack, with engines of 12,000 horsepower, and propellers at each end, was delivered to the imperial Russian government, Train-ferry steamers of large size and high speed have also been construct- ed, the latest being the Drottning Vic- toria, 354 ft. by 51 ft, gross tonnage 3,053, which attained a mean speed of 17% knots on a four hours' trial. The steamer was built by Messrs. Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Ltd., for the Swedish government. As a matter of detail reference may be had to the system of joggling shell plating, which was introduced by Messrs Dox- ford and has since been largely adopted. The Mauretania. The Cunard quadruple steamship Mauretania, turbine driven, is one of the largest productions of the northeast coast. Her performance has been re- markably regular, and a!most as punctu- al and reliable as a mail train, there having been a difference of only two hours five minutes steaming east, and three hours 35 minutes steaming west, between the fastest and the slowest of the 12 consecutive runs just now con- cluded extending over three and a half months, the distance steamed during that time being 34,958 nautical miles, and the average speed 25.56 knots over that mileage in all weathers. The district has led the way, in inod- ern times, in the introduction of im- proved machinery and appliances, such as overhead crane gantries, large glazed sheds for ship building with e'ectric cranes working on and inside the roof, wire rope transporting gear to convey the material to and over the building berths with electric adjusting and hoist- ing machinery, etc. The Blue Ribbon. As is generally known, the northeast coast has been for a long time past the largest ship building district in the world. The district is maintaining its prepond- erance as a ship building center. From 1877 to 1908, a period of 32 years, the "blue ribbon" for the largest individual output has been won by the northeast coast builders 15 times (47 per cent), and the second place 20 times (62 per cent). ; The variety of types of vessels pr@ duced is probably greater than in any other district; and it is only on the "'TAE Marine Review Tyne that in one great company's es- tablishment the guns are made in addi- tion to building battleships and cruisers, and in another the finished steel is made and the ships and engines built by the same company. Those who have most to do with the designing and superintendence of warships, large and small, and cargo and passenger steam- ships of the highest grade, know best to what a remarkably high standard of excellence in work and success in design ship builders and marine engineers of the northeast coast have attained. Education, A great improvement has been made in this, as in other districts, during the last half century, in the training and education of ship builders, especially during the last 25 years. The best theo- retical and practical teaching is now avail- able at the Armstrong college, Newcastle, and other institutions. The supply of com- petent naval architects and engineers is sufficient for any demand, and _ ship building and marine engineering are now exact sciences. Fifty years ago it was not so. It might then have been truly said of those engaged in building mer- chant ships, as it was said 50 years earlier still of those employed in royal dockyards, "Few have much education ;" "as apprentices they serve seven years, 309 institutions as are here represented; :n which theory and practice go hand in hand to the betterment of both, and the advancement of science and of the world. Attached to the paper was a table showing the total tonnage returns of the northeast coast, compared with the out- put of the United Kingdom and abroad (including men-of-war) :-- Gross tons WK. OeS., and Gross tons France to 1881, North-East thence the Per- Years. coast. world's output. centage. 1859-1863.... 403,800 2,915,300 16.0 1864-1868.... 666,900 3,924,000 17.0 1869-1873....1,103,900 3,629,900 30.4 1874-1878... .1,230,600 3,998,600 30.7 1879-1883... .2,264,300 4,822,600 47.0° 1884-1888... .1,480,400 3,246,000 45.6 1889-1893... .3,045,100 5,895,400 BL 1894-1898... .3,094,300 6,178,110 50.0 1899-1903....4,184,100 8,124,100 5155 1904-1908. ...4,133,600 7,994,500 51.7 The great rise in the output immedi- ately following the five years ending 1868 is probably due to the opening of the Suez canal in 1869, and the con- clusion of the Franco-German war in 1871. Since 1897 the figures include the tonnage of the shelter decks and erec- tions, which probably gives a_ better idea of the amount of work turned out than the board of trade gross tonnage does. A further table shows the builders who have secured the blue ribbon for no care is taken to teach them anything tonnage output during the past 32 during that time, but their business as years :-- First. Tons. | Second. : es Pe Os Oe as 16,235 Mic Millan? oe irre i eo eae e o's slate ens 15 a eC wee Se 24.722 a 24,174 196) Palners eecosecnccgs QBUky Jahn Elder @ Gover etroe $3,262 {paar 0,192 . Gray (Coster. le pies ; 1882 Po ee 60,379 John. Elder. BR Oe oe 31,686 ee eee 61,113 aitfield. 0CGi ose aac) iv sche scds ce AO isd read Co oe ee 32,400 Ruséell & OO 32,120 1885 Russell) & Co...... ccs ne eter ec' 40,866 Palmers .epeeecsccecereveree seers a ee Re Ee nee Gu > Wo Gey eee Be oe & We ee 47,076 Armstrong, «Mitchell 9. 0: .% 1255.45 32,541 B60 Ses Le ae 64,669 Harland & Welk oe 56,430 1900 Russell (Re Coss oe a ae 70,370 "eGeay: & Cas an. > : 04,253 1891 Harland & Wolff......-.+.+e+-. 92,429 W., Gray & "Co. oy 1892 Harland & Wolff......-.-+-.e0- 68,614 Wi Gray sCOtiig aac ernvracealy sapere ee ee ee oe ee es te 1508 Wo Gen - ee 63,086 Harland & Wolff 58,093 ioe ft & Wolff 2 eee ees ra ove G. eee abe ee ae Re AVioltts ee te ee ce 84 240 Go. S. swan & Hunter... 02.0... ; eae Sea . Seg ee 72,323 c. S. Swan & Hunter....... aes 68,696 iad weld. 82,634 . pray. COW oso wie aes iamale oa ; 1900 We Guy & Se Sets a 81,794 Harland & Wolff oO eee 73,897 Peland Re Wolh (32 es 92,316 . Gray ICO. ais Slee hein : te: Foteed & at ese ou 79,497 Workman, Clark & (Co..-reeeeees 75,932 an Hocead R OW Oli ries se ea 10,463 Swan, "Hlanter «&) Go. acti. oe oo i Buccal BCG. Sieve yo Sas aie' 73,689 Swan. Eunter. he Co. cay ces p38 oe W. D xford & SonsS...--+--+-++- 86,632 Marland (& Wolfs, :..... tee eeeees 85,287 ie Sian Sianier Se COS eee ieee 7 See SS suis. eae Eee cone 3 SONS oon eye eee 91,254 wan unter Diasec oes vee : 1a Wi Ported Serer aor 106,528 Swan, Hunter & Co......-.+..-4. 61,580 shipwrights." Merchant ship building The legislature of the state of was then carried on chiefly by "rule of Washington passed the Duwamish thumb," science and mathematics were river improvement pill August 13. ; . . *. . * but little applied, great mistakes were This bill provides for extensive im- made, and progress was slow. Serious mistakes and failures are now almost unknown, and progress is rapid and sure. Doubtless we are largely indebted for the dissemination of knowledge to such provements to the Duwamish river and the harbor of Seattle. The work con- templated includes dredging and straightening about 10 miles of river channel and providing turning basins.