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March; 1912 house, while the chief engineer and his assistants have been accommodat- ed in the after deck house and joining the engine rcom. The after deck house is also arranged for stew- ards, cooks, ete. and provided with suitably furnished mess rooms for officers and pétty officers, together with toilets, wash places, etc. On the lower deck aft 'on each side of the well are mess rooms for seamen and firemen, cold storage rooms and re- frigerating. machinery. The monkey forecastle is divided off into quarters ad--- THE MARINE REVIEW radiators in every living room on the vessel. St. Thomas and the Panama Brief notices have already appeared respecting the intention of the Dan- ish government to place the West Indian island of St. Thomas in a position to avail itself of the ad- vantages which must accrue to it by the opening of the Panama canal to maritime traffic. The bill asked for powers to gtant a concession to a 103 quay dues and other charges on shipping which it will be authorized to levy. On introducing his bill into parliament, the minister of finance explained that after the opening of the new canal (probably in the year 1914) the importance of Danish in- sular possessions in the West Indies will increase enormously, St. Thomas lying directly in the route which will be taken 'by the shipping traffic from Europe through the Panama canal to the. west coast of America, and this traffic will assume extraor- he 2 View oF ENGINE Room, SHOWING ONE OF THE Two SETS OF ENGINES Pee : seamen, firemen, oilers, store- rooms, wash places, carpenters' work- shop, etc., while nearby are located the quartermaster and boatswain. As the New Orleans will operate mostly in semi-tropical waters, the greatest attention has been paid to the sani- tary and vyentilation arrangements. and all living quarters and machinery places are well' supplied with both artificial and mechanical ventilation. In addition the vessel is lighted throughcut by electricity and is fitted with a very powerfui electric search- licht and a steam heating system is installed with individually opefated tor syndicate just formed for carrying out the necessary works for laying down. a free harbor in the said island. The concession (to cover a period of 99 years) includes the sole right of constructing docks of a modern type, together with store houses and pack- ing heuses in the harbor, and. the ultimate intention is to create an ex- tensive free zone--including the 1si- and of St. John as well as that of St. Thomas--into which merchandise of. all descriptions shall be admitted duty 'free. The syndicate, on _ its part, will be bound to hand over to the Danish state one-third of the dinary .dimensions. Not only that, the Panama canal will also come into competition with the Suez canal as far as regards the 'shipping trade between Japan and North China and the east coast of America, and, the minister of finance pointed out, the large steamers which will be put into the Panama canal traffic will prob- ably not find it convenient to stop for discharging at all the different ports, but rather to tranship at St. Thomas, which would then become a rival of New York. The works in contemplation at St. Thomas are of colossal proportions.