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THe Marine REVIEW biG. 4: SHIP BUILDING IN THELOWER MISSISSIPPI. Advices from Washington are to the effect that English capitalists are con- templating the establishment of a_ ship yard in the lower Mississippi in the vicinity.of New Orleans. As a site for a ship yard, the location is certainly one of great strategical importance. That part of the world is growing fast and is destined to become the cross roads When the canal is finished, the ships of all na- tions will visit the Caribbean sea and a ship yard, conveniently located, will be a prime necessity. The principal business of a ship yard is, of course, repair work and the south does not, as yet, possess a yard where a modern boat could be repaired. They all have to go to a northern port for dockage. Obviously this condition cannot last and it is not surprising that capital is turn- Ing its attention to the opportunities presented. phrey bill, the need of a ship yard in the vicinity of New Orleans will become acute. New markets will be opened up and new tonnage built to reach them. Ship building will be added to the list of the south's industries. In fact, the south possesses many natural advantages in shipbuilding and ship repair. To begin with, it is favored by low cost of material, as has been quite perti- nently pointed out by S. A, Trufant, 'president of the Merchant Marine League of Louisiana. The Birmingham district has been wonderfully favored by nature. Coal, iron ore and flux lie of the continent. Panama If congress passes the Hum- in contiguous hills. The coal is mined on the mountain side and carried by gravity to the lower level, where it is made into coke to find its way into the furnace, located in a bed of limestone at the base of the mountain, while from an adjoining gully comes the ore. Prob- ably nowhere else in the world do the three essentials of iron making lie so conveniently. These circumstances con- stitute a natural asset for a ship yard, for it means an unfailing source of material at low cost. The future will doubtless see many industrial develop- ments of interest in the south, and the first of these will be shipbuilding.. April, 191¢ STEAMER FOR CANADIAN Hy. DROGRAPHIC SERVICE. The twin screw steamer Gartier, ip- tended for the hydrographic service oj the Canadian government, recently underwent her trial trip. The steamer was built at the Neptune works of Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson from designs of R. L. Newman, of Victoria, B. C., who was present at the trial trip. : She is 164 ft. in length by 29 ¢ beam by 15 ft. depth, fitted with twin screw triple expansion engines, sup- plied with steam by 2 boilers working under Howden's system of forced draught. On the trial trip everything worked without the slightest hitch, and although the weather was by no means favorable a speed of over 114% knots per hour was attained. The equipment for her special work is very complete, including a Lucas sounding machine together with aq sounding poney. The chart room is. specially large, and thas a large table well adapted for drawing. For in- shore sounding 2 gasoline launches are provided and they are fitted with drawing boards. The accommodation is commodious and well furnished. It includes rooms for the officer-in-charge, hydrograph ers, ship's officers, engineers, etc., and there are large separate mess rooms for the hydrographic staff and for the. navigation staff. Steam heating is provided throughout the vessel as well as a highly efficient system of venti- lation, to provide for extremes of tem- perature. An electric light installation with electric projector is also fitted. Fic, 5;