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Bits From the Log of Progress Events of Interest to Those Engaged in Operating, Constructing and Outfitting Yards and Ships HE importance of establishing a l coaling station midway between the United States and the Orient, to be used by the commercial and naval ships of the United States, was pointed out by- John Barton Payne, secretary of the interior, upon his return to Seattle fromatourof Alaskan waters recently. 'The coal would be supplied from the high-grade -Matanuska, Alaska, field. Under such a plan, each 8800-ton ship enroute to the Orient would be able to add more than 1000 tons to its cargo- carrying capacity. At this time the increase in the earnings of each ship would approximate $40,000 a round trip or about $200,000 a year on a schedule of five round trips. This profit would write off the initial cost of a ship of this type in 10 years. ee Oe PLANS FOR THE conversion of 40 wood- en hulls, now lying in Lake Union, Seat- tle, into oil storage tanks at a maxi- mum cost of $40,000 each have been placed before the shipping board. An acute shortage of oil storage facili- ties in the Far East and other parts of the world brought about the sug- gestion. oe * PRELIMINARY investigation with refer- 'ence to the proposed improvements of the Siskiwit river, Wisconsin, has been started by Lieut. Col. F. A. Pope, Unit- ed States engineer office, Duluth. He has sent requests for specific informa- tion to all interested parties, with a view to making a report on the pro- ject based on their opinions. ee Tue Unirep Srates Mail Steamship Co. has leased a portion of the main floor of the building at 45 Broadway, New York, from the Emergency Fleet corporation for a period of one year, dating from July 19, 1920, where it will conduct a passenger and freight steamship business. The building was originally used by the Hamburg-Ameri- can line for this purpose. The steam- ship company has made a 5-year char- ter contract. with the shipping board for the ships Grorce Wasutncton, Po- CAHONTAS, Mount VERNON, CaLLao, SUSQUEHANNA, PRESIDENT GRANT, America, Princess Matorka, AGAMEM- Non, Awnticone, Ampuion, ' FREEDOM and Mapawaska, Service has been in- augurated over the following routes: New York-Queenstown-Cherbourg-Brem- en, returning via Cherbourg-Southamp- ton; New York-Dover-Boulogne-Danzig ; Boston-Queenstown-Cherbourg - Bremen, returning via Southampton-Cherbourg. oe oR THE CHApPPAgua, the last of the 25 standard 7500-ton steel cargo vessels built by the Standard Shipbuilding Corp. at its Shooters island yard, New York, for the United States shipping board, has been delivered. The Standard cor- poration is now building four 8400-ton tankers for the Eagle Oil Transport Co., London. ee ox Propuction oF Dutch -- shipbuilding yards during 1919 amounted to 183 ships, 182 built of steel and one of reinforced concrete. Of these, 92 were freight steamers, averaging from 400 to 10,000 tons each; 23 were ocean-sailing ships; two were seagoing motor cargo vessels, 14 were steam seagoing tugboats; 12 were fishing boats; 39 were inland navigation vessels, and one was a mail boat. x ok * Tue Boston Engineering Co., Boston, has been incorporated under the name of the Boston Engineering Co., Inc. The company was founded 19. years ago by the late Alexander F. Bremner to do marine repair work. During the war many of the ex-German ships were overhauled and repaired at its plant, foremost on the list being the Amer- IKA, the largest ship ever entering Bos- ton harbor. The officers of the com- pany are as follows: Charles L. Serv- ice, president and general manager; Campbell T. M. Perley, vice president and general superintedent: G. P. Brem- . ner, treasurer; E. G. Innis, assistant treasurer; Starr Parsons, attorney. A oe Oe AS THE NEWLY authorized official classification agent for government ships, the American bureau of shipping has started to make surveys of the total merchant marine. These surveys are being carried out without inter- fering with the operations of the ships. The bureau now has surveyors in all American ports and plans to place surveyors of United States citizenship in all foreign ports where American 516 vessels touch. Already the bmeau has established its surveyors at Hamburg, Germany; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Havana, Cuba. A fourth surveyor is shortly to be sent to San Juan, Porto Rico. oe oe THE STEAMER Apus, the last of the five 9500-ton steel vessels built by the G. M. Standifer Construction Corp. yard, Vancouver, Wash., for the Green Star line, was launched on July 16, ee Tue Nortuwest Bridge & Iron Co., Portland, Oreg., recently laid the keel of the firsts of the seven 12,000-ton tankers on its construction program and will lay the second keel within a few weeks. ok Sk CoNTRACTS HAVE BEEN awarded to the Sparrows Point, Md., yard of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. for two foreign oil tankers. The ships will have the following dimensions: Length over all, 427 feet; beam, 53 feet; depth of hold, 31 feet; deadweight tonnage, 8400 tons. Their speed will be ap- proximately 11 nautical miles per hour. eo ee THE West Norranus sailed recent- ty irom. Port. Ludlow, Wash.,. with 2,000,000 feet of lumber for Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the second carrier in the shipping board's new service from Seattle and other west coast ports to the River Plate, South America. This ship, together with two others, the Rotarian and the WEstT Notus, has been added to the service because of the heavy volume of business coming over the route. Me eS < mk THE EXPORT department of the Oxweld Acetylene Co. has been removed from the company's factory, Newark, N. J., to the Carbidé and Carbon building, 30 East Forty-Second street, New York. The department has been reorganized and is in charge of R. G. Noble. A NOVEL banking service has been es- tablished on three Cunard liners, AQUI- TANIA, MAURETANIA and IMPERATOR, by the London Joint City & Midland bank, the largest private bank in the world. Considerable time and trouble can be saved under this arrangement by Amet- jean tourists.