The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

February, 1916 ties for inspection and attention given to the work. During the year the motor vessel TARRAGON was employed along the New England coast during the sum- mer and in the oyster fleet in Chesa- peake Bay during the winter. On the waters covered by the Tarracon it is estimated that she was able to inspect approximately 5 per cent of the ves- sels. The. effect: of the: work last year, however, is apparent. At that time approximately one out of every three vessels inspected was found without some item of equipment. During the year 1915 the average was raised so that approximately one out of every five. was without some item of equipment, an improvement of 66 per cent. In some districts this av- erage is very much better. A material improvement in the condition of the crews was observed from the work in the oyster fleet. The quarters were protected better from the sea and weather, and the food furnished more abundant and of better quality. During the year the bureau employed 61 navigation inspectors to prevent the overcrowding of passenger vessels. These inspectors served in connection with the regular customs inspectors, 5,061 counts involving 1,439,273 passen- gers, being made by the navigation inspectors while the customs officers made 5,586 counts of 1,619,445 passen- gers; total, 10,647 counts of 3,058,718 passengers. In addition to this work the navigation inspectors reported 999 violations of the navigation laws, work never before undertaken by these men. The total number of © seamen shipped, reshipped and discharged by the shipping commissioners was 414,- 744, compared with 378,772 during the previous fiscal year, the increase be- ing attributable almost wholly to the ship registry act. Motor boat builders are taking much interest in the navy department’s efforts to develop fast motor driven patrol boats to be carried on the decks of battleships ‘and used against submarines. Four build- ers have submitted bids to construct the first boat, which will have a speed of 41 land miles an hour, a cruising radius of 150 miles and will carry an 18-inch tor- pedo tube and a one-pounder quick-fire. gun. Prices range from $18,000 to $60,- 000. Similar craft have been used ef- fectively by Great Britain against Ger- man submarines. San Francisco news dispatches state that the American steamship CoLon, formerly under the Mexican flag, has been sold by Bennett & Goodall to the Pacific Commercial Co., San Francisco, for $75,000. -on a much larger scale. THE MARINE REVIEW HE annual report of the superin- ; tendent of the United States coast and geodetic survey to the secre- tary of commerce discusses the work ac- complished during the year, and the con- ditions and needs of the survey. Refer- ence is made to the inadequacy of the present offices and the need of new build- ings, properly designed and equipped. A graphic description of the hydrographic work is given on four maps whereon the work already completed, the work partly finished, and that remaining to be done, are shown in different colors. The lack of suitable vessels for the work of the survey is dwelt upon at length. Three of the old vessels have been condemned during the year as no longer safe, on account of age and structural weakness; two others are for the same reasons only fit for service in sheltered waters; only one vessel now in commission is altogether fit for work offshore; and she is in the Philippines. The report urges the building of two additional vessels of. suitable size and equipment to take up offshore work in Alaska and elsewhere as required. Much of this work is needed off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington. The wire-drag work has hitherto been carried on at a great expense with char- tered launches ill adapted for the purpose. It is hoped to remedy this unsatisfactory condition by providing vessels and launches suitable in type, size and equip- ment for the work they are to perform. Two types of vessels are therefore needed; one for offshore work, and an- other for inshore and inside hydrography, and wire-drag operations. Six new ves- sels of the smaller type, suitable for wire_ drag work and for one-party inshore hydrography, are needed on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and six more on the Pacific coast. The building of the two large vessels will perimt the survey to take up the offshore work on the Pa- cific coast which is greatly needed. Sounding Methods Revolutionized As a result of the increased appro- priation last year, it was possible to place four wire-drag parties in the field, instead of two. The results prove the wisdom and necessity of doing this work The use of the wire drag has revolutionized hydro- graphic surveying. It has been realized that soundings with the leadline, no mat- ter how carefully and closely spaced, were not infallible, and that submerged’ rocks and ledges were often missed, as has been demonstrated by numerous wrecks, and frequent damage due to striking unknown rocks in surveyed 77 oast Survey waters; but with the development of the wire-drag hydrography these sub- merged dangers have been discovered and charted. The importance of having the geodetic work of the country done by the gov- ernment rather than by individual states is dwelt upon at length, with the con- clusion that our government should com- plete the general program which is be- ing followed by the United States coast and geodetic survey. This plan is, briefly, that the primary triangulation scheme, and the precise level net should be so extended that there will be no place in the United States 100 miles distant from a primary triangulation sta- tion, or a precise level bench mark, Besides this work in the interior of the continent, triangulation is needed in the interior of Alaska, across the Alaska peninsula, and from the Dixon entrance to White pass. The purchase of Dutch harbor, Alas- ka, as a government supply base in west- ern Alaska is advocated. This would greatly benefit the coast and geodetic survey, the bureau of lighthouses, and the coast guard. Retirement for officers of the coast and geodetic survey, similar to that given to the coast guard service, is recommended. Will House Canal Officers Authority has been granted for the erection of a 3-story concrete building alongside the new docks at _ Balboa, Canal Zone, to serve as a canal terminal office building. It will house the offices of the captain of the port on the third floor, offices of the receiving and for- warding forces of the Panama railroad on the first floor, and the second floor will be available for lease to the repre- sentatives of steamship lines, or other maritime interests, or for the use of other departments of the Panama canal which may require offices on the water front. The project calls for between 3,000 and 3,600 square feet of floor space on each floor, exclusive of porches. The preliminary sketches provide for a building 146 feet long by 42 feet wide, over all, with porches along the front and ends. The general features of con- struction will harmonize with those of the shops office building, which is now housing the offices of the port cap- tain, customs officers, and representa- tives of the supply department, in addi- tion to the offices of the mechanical division, for which the building was erected. The canal terminal office build- ing will be readily accessible.