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88 THE MARINE REVIEW March, 1912 Great Industrial Activity at Seattle The Seattle Construction & Dry Dock Co. is Preparing for the Commercial Development Which is Certain to Follow the Opening of the Panama Canal EATTLE, March 6--With $1,250,- 000 available for improvements and alterations, the Seattle Con- struction & Dry Dock Co., former- ly the. Moran Co, has ~ inaugu- fated a program which it is' éx- pected, when completed, will make this plant the most modern and up to. daté' on this coast. Président J. V. Paterson already has his plans well under way and has a large force work- ing on the new steel drydock, which is the most important unit of the im- - provements authorized. This will be a 10,000-ton dock, 460 ft. in length and 110 ft. in width. It will consist of six pontoons and, will accommodate ves- sels up to 12,000 tons and 500 ft. in length. It is now under construction at the company's yards and it is ex- pected to have it in operation in eight: months. Its location will be south of the present mold loft. On this site the company has already commenced a large dredging contract involving the dredging of about 300,000 cubic yatds. A large channel will be ex- cavated giving a depth of between 40 and 50 ft. and at the head of this channel the new dock will be located. This plant will have electrically-driven pumps of about 18-in. capacity and in every respect it will be modern and complete. Its cost will be about $500,000. The company will retain in service its present small wooden dock, length 299 ft., capacity 3,000 tons. However, this may be removed from its present site to one close to the larger dock. Two New Concrete Piers In addition to the new steel dock, the improvement plans include two long concrete piers at which ample berthing space will be provided for steamers which come alongside for boiler, machinery and other repairs not requiring docking. These piers will be modernly equipped with cranes, tracks, shear legs and every. other necessary facility for doing work rapidly and economically. The plans for these piers are not yet definitely worked out. The company's foundry is also to be remodeled. Additional equipment in the form of modern machinery and tools will make this one of the best on the coast. Throughout the plant additional tools are being installed and when this program is finished the plant will be thoroughly equipped with modern appliances' replacing many tools which had become obso- lete or worked out. The machine shop has lately been equipped with Lodge & Shipley lathes. Another important improvement which is shortly to be undertaken is the construction of another building slip south of and the same size as the present slip. This will add space for | laying the keels for additional vessels. Recently there has been a large num- ber of contracts undertaken and in consequence the present slip is seri- ously crowded. It has not been de- cided whether the new slip will be built under cover or not. The present slip is under a shed roof.. This large plant is at present employing 1,100 men, Personnel of Company Under the reorganization, J. V. Pat- erson holds the same offices as be- fore, president and general manager. C.'B. Lamont is assistant to the. pres- ident. Holden' A. Evans, until re- cently naval constructor in the United States navy, has become second vice president of the shipbuilding concern. Mr: Evans' last assignments in the navy were at the Mare Island yard and later at the. Moran plant super- vising the construction for the navy of submarines F3 and F4. He re- signed recently to accept his present position. H. W. Kent 'continues as treasurer of the new company. 'Among the contracts under way at this plant are the five whalers, six submarines and passenger steamer Solduck,. the latter for the Inland Navigation Co., as described in the January issue of THe Marine Review. During the past month.a contract was awarded this yard by the Inland Navigation Co. for a steel passenger steamer to be called the Potlatch. This word is derived from an Indian name signifying a big feast. Seattle has an annual fair called Potlatch, and in commemoration thereof the new steamer is to be ready for launch- ing during Potlatch week, beginning July 15, next. The Potlatch will: cost about. $150,000, and is designed es- pecially for the tourist and passenger traffic to picturesque Hood canal, an arm of Puget Sound. The dimensions of this steamer will be: Length 168 ft., beam 28 ft. and depth 10 ft. She will have steam radiators in each state room, hot and cold water with tolding porcelain wash basins, and cabins designed largely after the modern Pullman cars. Promenade deck and observations have been given special attention. The Potlatch will have a speed of 13 knots. The main engines of the Potlatch will be open-fronted, triple-expansion, three: crank of these dimensions: 15- in., 24-in., 38-in. x 24in. The- direct pressure of steam will be 180 lbs. at engines and 200 lbs. at boilers. There will be two main, Seabury water-tube boilers, with a total heating surface of 3,000 sq. ft. The indicated horse- power will be 650. One unique fea- ture is that all the pumps, air, feed, circulating, condensor and donkey, will be independent. The Potlatch will burn fuel oil and the direct. pressure atomizer system will be adopted, with either Dahl or Schuette - Koerting ' burners. The Seattle Construction & Dry- dock Co. last week completed its con- tract for repairing the steamer Vir- ginian, of the American - Hawaiian line, which was damaged in collision with the lumber laden British tramp Strathalbyn between Seattle and Ta- coma last month. On the coasting steamer City of Puebla this firm has also completed a remarkable contract which included the casting of an 18- ton high - pressure cylinder. The Puebla blew out her high-pressure cylinder in local waters Dec. 18, and it did serious damage in the engine rooms. Experts expressed doubt if a duplicate cylinder could be cast here but the local company offered to do the work and after nearly a month of preliminary work the cast was successfully made. Extensive Remodeling On the Alaska liner Victoria, of the Alaska Steamship Co., the Seattle Construction & Drydock Co., has work well under way. This is a very large contract involving the expenditure of about $150,000 in practically 'remodel- ing the old steamer. -Two of the largest double ended boilers ever built on the Pacific coast have been installed in the Victoria as well as cil burning apparatus "and ° tanks. Much of the upper house and cabins has been rebuilt and remodeled, hatches enlarged and_ overhauling throughout. This vessel will be re-