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"158 DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY INTEREST CONNECTED OR_ ASSO- CIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published monthly by Penton Publishing - Co. CLEVELAND. BUPEADO vies ese < 4 932 Ellicott Square. CHICAGO? 32-3. ee. .1328 Monadnock Blk. CINCINNATI..... First National Bank Bldg. NEW YORK......-.+-1005 West. Street Bldg. PITTSBURG... 3... 5 Oo 510 Park Bldg. SEATTLE ee en ie 942 Henry Bldg. Correspondence on Marine Engineering, Ship Building and Shipping Subjects Solicited. Subscription, U. S. and Mexico, $1.00 per "annum. Canada, $1.50. Foreign, $2.00. Single copies, U. S. and Mexico, 10 cents. Elsewhere, 15 cents. Back numbers over three months, 25 cents. : Change of advertising copy must reach this office on or before the first of each month. The Cleveland News Co. will supply the trade with the Marine Review through the regular channels of the American News Co. = European Agents, The International News "*- "Company, Breams Building, Chancery Lane, London, E. C., England. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, as Second Class Matter. April, 1910. THE COST OF WORK IN SMALL SHIP YARDS. A prominent shipping firm on the Pacific coast recently called for bids for the construction of a number of flat bottom wooden barges suitable for carrying coal, rock, or similar cargo in.smooth water. When the bids were opened they were found to vary over 100 per cent in their most important elements, price and time required. There were no unusual features in the design of construction of the barges and nothing extraordinary in the. spec- ifications. The work required: was simply to build and deliver completed at a specified point several ordinary heavy wooden scows, each about 120 THE Marine. REVIEW ft. in length and 40 ft. beam. ache tabulated. bids on this work appear as follows: ; : : Delivery, No. Amount. ee ae LOG 25. 200i ce pate wae es ee ee Re 2 DE0000 hak set neces eee ce va 3 D7 O00 ses, cei ns 6 eed ee : 4 AZ O00 veg ec ces oe ee te Ga Be BOL O00 S iert itate vies ieee ime ore eee tee toes on 6 AB-Q00 ps es oe ae ns me eee io 7 AA QUO 6 poe Cit ea eek cee ett 8 BIS 00r es cisco ae ee es 120 The discrepancy, it will be noted, is wide both as regards:the sums in- volved and the time required, and yet 'the Jaryine figures shown in this schedule are not at all unusual in bids for marine work on the west coast. "The condition disclosed by the above list which we wish to emphasize is not unique but was selected from sev- eral merely as an example, and is not at all complimentary to the ordinary ship builder. There were no extenuating circum- stances in the case under considera- tion. The prices of lumber, iron, and other materials were well known and the same to all; labor conditions and costs were practically | identical in each case. The work to do was com- monplace; thousands of similar, barges have been built in all. parts. of. the country. And yet on this job, hardly complex enough to interest the kin- dergarten class in ship building, we find that eight experienced builders, including some companies with assets of over $1,000,000, cannot agree within 100 per cent 'either on the price or the time required to do the work. Evidently there is' a screw loose somewhere. In spite of-all the educa- tional work that has 'been done during the past 50 years by the technical press, the engineering societies and uni- versities, in spite of the fund of data that has been compiled on the cost of doing work, and the improvements that have been made in cost account- ing, it is evident that an accurate knowledge of costs is wanting among a large proportion of those engaged in the class of work covered by these bids. : There are many properly organized institutions located on both coasts .and the great lakes that do know .what their work costs: but the great ma- jority of. men,. who individually . or April, 191¢ through small corporations build small vessels on contract, do not. If they did, such a schedule as that quoted above would be impossible. These 'men may be good mechanics, able to build staunch, well modeled vessels-- we happen to know that they are such--but there are many of them that have little more than a hazy knowledge of the factors going to make up an accurate cost account, If the actual inside financial history and "cost accounting" of the average small boat 'builders that fail every year--and there are a good many-- could be published and placed into the hands of the survivors, much good would be accomplished. To do this is manifestly impossible, but some work along these lines would be fea- sible and desirable. / Sat TRANSPORTING GOVERNMENT SUPPLIES IN AMERICAN SHIPS. There are now two resolutions be- fore congress having in mind the ac- complishment of the same end but with this striking difference--one of them is vulnerable and the other 1s invulnerable. The Frye senate resolu- tion is the weak one, the Hayes hotise resolution is the strong one. The Frye resolution reads: . That. Section 1 of the act approved Feb. 17, 1898, entitled "An Act to Amend the Laws Relating to Navigation' hereafter shall ex tend to merchandise transported for the' gov- ernment of the United States and _ property owned: by the: government .of the United States. Section 2. That in. any contract hereaf- ter made transportation by sea of material and equipment from the United States for use in the construction of the Panama canal shall be restricted to vessels owned by the United States or by the Panama Railroad Co., or to vessels .of the United States chartered by the United States or by the Panama Rail- road Co., or to vessels of 'the United States tended by the lowest responsible bidder, if any be tendered, unless the president shall in any case deem such 'bids or. tenders to be extortionate or unreasonable. The Hayes. resolution reads: That hereafter the transportation by sea of (a) materials, storés and equipment for the usé of the army or navy of the United States; of (b) the forces of the. United States; of (c) materials, stores and equipment from te United States for use in the construction © the Panama canal and (d) of all material and equipment. for use in construction of main tenance of fortifications, harbors, «navy yards, naval stations or other' works for account 0 the United States, shall be restricted to -ve% sels of the United States, and no others, an Such .transportation, when time will permit, shall be futnished by contract, after proper advertisement, by the. lowest bidder comply" ing with the requirements of the United States: Everyone who desires to conserve