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Be ember, 1909 tics is the thinnest. It was wrong, how- ever, to accuse the department of ulter- ior motives in hesitating to send the battleship the river to Natchez. It was sheer cowardice born of incapacity. What under heaven will our officers do in the Panama Canals at they couldn't negotiate the lower reach of the Mississippi river? Mississippi up Cost of the Connecticut. The.Journal once more holds up the Connecticut as a sample of navy yard work. I have 'heretofore paid' my re- spects to the Connecticut and see no reason to modify my views. The less said about the Connecticut the better. We know what the Louisiana cost, less her armament, but no man on earth knows what the Connecticut cost, al- though we know the figures' that are given for it. As to building record, hers was not remarkable; nor even creditable, as every builder knows, whether the. editor of the Journal does or not. The Journal's discussion of this subject..is . that of. the layman, 14 it were not,the statements regarding "lay- ing off men in slack times,' "break- ing in thousands of unskilled men," etc., would not find space. It is not the truth, anyway. I say again that no ship building plant in this country, at any time, produced such a beggarly out- put for the investment and equipment as in the case of the Connecticut. What about the Vestal? And the Prome- theus? Says the Journal: "That the longest cruise ever undertaken by a fleet was successfully accomplished should make stich diatribes: as this impossible." The "longest cruise" will probably displace "the war' as a reference date in the navy, and it is certainly being worked for all it is worth and more. the world shouldn't it be successfully accomplished--in 14 months? What were the ships built for? However, bearing in mind the time the fleet spends in navy yards and at anchor and how averse the officers are to being out on the water after dark, the opinion is not so ill founded after all. I apologize. It was wonderful. Might Have Spared Us That. The Journal winds up with the reitera- tion of the assurance of good will on the part of the navy for the merchant marine. It might have spared that. If it was the truth these letters might never have been written. It was the attitude of the naval administration towards the merchant marine that prompted them, as already announced. There is going to be a determined fight made on any and all appropriations ever. Why in "TAE MARINE. REVIEW for the navy until something is done to rehabilitate our shipping. Without the latter we have no business whatever with the former. and still less when its: ad- ministration is so rotten. "For the de- fense of the country,' needs revision. The country needs defense against the navy and its clamorous crowd of spend- ers more than any other one thing in the world, These letters contain numbers of spe- cific statements and charges. They are either true or they are not true. They have been called muck raking, which is neither defense, answer nor argument, but if it is the best the friends of the navy can offer, so much the worse. But there is not a solitary charge which can be refuted. The evidence is there, and mountains besides.' An Investigation Needed. © What the country needs and the navy needs is an investigation. Not an in- vestigation by a board from the de- partment at the bar. nor by senators aor congressmen, but by a board of prac- tical ship builders ~and manufacturers of kindred lines. There are men of high standing, with no. existing affilia- tions, who have had abundant experience to pass upon every phase of navy yard operation, men who are in touch with naval development and modern progress and who have carried the responsibility for big institutions and for their results who will deal fairly with all questions, and who are a-dozen times over better qualified to pass upon the economic needs or methods of our navy yards than any officer or member of the de- partment. Congress can do no. bigger, better deed than appoint such a board and see that they get what they want. This tin navy has dominated the country too long. We want a navy and will have one and a good one, but 'we want its administration clean and efficient. DOMINION LIGHTHOUSE TEND- ER NO. 21. The twin screw steel steamboat, No. 21, which is being built at the Dominion government ship yard, Sor- el, Que., was launched there recently and named Montmagny. She will be used in the lighthouse service below Quebec for carrying material and men for lighthouse construction, in dis- tributing supplies for the various sta- tions and for inspection work. Fol- lowing are her principal dimensions, pe: Length between perpendiculars.... 212 ft. 8 in. Length over all ...+-+---- Sues sate 222 3 ee Beam. molded -.....-2--seeeeeeres 34 oe Depth molded to upper deck... .% 3 ae Displacement to 1. We Vcsewlas cone eas ne 4 pay Draught of water (loaded)....... ret 505 Cargo at load draught .......... 0 a Coal' at load eanehe BOS ees ees one sf _ Reserve feed tank at load draught. 25 F resh water tank at load draught.. DOE cs Capacity of -fore: peak tank. ;...5.. LS Capacity of after peak tank....., f 45.58 Capacity of double bottom........ 120 es Capacity of trimming tank ....... oP vial Estimated speed (loaded) ....... 11% knots. The vessel is built of steel and is of the flush deck type, with two pole masts. There are three steel decks: the upper one sheathed with wood throughout, the main and lower ones are sheathed with wood only in the way of accommodation. There is a double bottom 3 ft. deep extending through machinery space, and ibunk- er divided into three watertight com- partments, that under the boilers forming the reserve feed tank. There are 6 watertight sulkheads.. The whole of the steel scantlings are not less than required for Lloyds highest class. The two lower masts are of steel to the hounds, with pitch pine top masts. The steam. winch for the forehold is arranged with suitable derrick and gear for lifting 12 tous with a purchase of two double blocks or 3% tons direct from the barrel. The after winch will lift 2 tons di- tect) trom the barrel. "There is 4 steam and hand windlass for lifting the anchors, also a steam warping ' capstan aft. The boats include 2 life boats, 3 surf boats, 1 gasoline launch and 1 dinghy. On the boat deck, which extends the length of the midship deck house, is a wheel house and chart room, with a navigating bridge on top. The steam steering engine is placed in the engine casing, with one wheel on the bridge and one in the wheel house, there is. also screw hand: gear aft. The vessel is lighted throughout with electric light including signal lanterns and is fitted with wireless telegraph apparatus. The machinery consists of twin screw ttriple-expansion engines, hav-. ing cylinders 15 in. 24 in. and 39 in. diameter. 'by 24 in. stroke, supplied with steam from 2 boilers of the ma- rine return tube type, 14 ft. diameter by 10 ft. long each, having three furnaces 3 ft. 3 in. diameter and 272 3 in. tubes. The working pressure is 180 Ibs. per square inch. There is a donkey 'boiler of the vertical type, 5 ft. diameter by 9 ft. 2 in. high; working pressure, 125 Ibs. The auxiliaries include a feed pump, ballast pump, general service and fire pump, feed heater, sanitary and fresh water pumps, also ash inject- or. A "navy" type hand pump is placed in the casing and connected to the general service pump for use when steam is not available.