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62 MARINE REVIEW MERCHANTS & MINERS TRANSPORTATION CO. PIERS 18 AND 20 SOUTH DELAWARE AVENUE, PHILADELPHIA boat hoists. One of the life boats is powered with an oil engine and is capable of towing the remainder of the boats in case of necessity. The S. S. CHATHAM was launched Feb. 3, 1926 and started her maiden voyage from Baltimore to Savannah and Jacksonville May 18, 1926, with Capt. Thomas P. Pratt formerly on the ALLEGHANY, in command and with J. H. Rudolph as chief engineer. The S. S. DoRCHESTER was launched March 20, 1926 and sailed on her maiden voyage from Philadelphia to Boston July 20, 1926 with Capt. C. C. Jones formerly on the BERKSHIRE in com- mand and with E. L. Blaisdell as chief engineer. The third and last of the sister ships, the S. S. FAIRFAX was launched June 12, 1926 and sailed on her maiden voyage Sept. 7, 1926 with Capt. W. J. Bond formerly on the ONTARIO in command and with J. Oliver as chief engineer. All three of these fine coastwise ships were built by the Newport News Ship- building & Drydock Co. and are a credit to the builders and to the man- agement of the owners. Together with the ALLEGHANY and BERKSHIRE the three new steamers constitute one of the largest and finest passenger fleets operating in the coastwise trade. In addition to these five new vessels the company is also operating a number of well equipped passenger ships on its many routes along the Atlantic seaboard. In De- cember 1925 three shipping board vessels of the ‘‘Lake’”’ type the S. S. WYOMING and S. S. UpsHuR and S$. 8S. VOLUSIA were purchased and made suitable for freight service. Later still another “Laker” the S. S. York was acquired. A complete list of all of the vessels now owned and oper- ated, 20 in all, is given in Table II, page 16. The company also owns three tug boats (listed in Table III) and 46 open and covered lighters. Of January, 1927 these lighters, ten are in Boston, twenty-two in Norfolk, ten in Balti- more and four in Jacksonville. Termi- nals are owned by the company at Philadelphia, Norfolk and J acksonville. Automobiles of all types are car- ried, open and enclosed, on all ships of the company. For the convenience of the traveling public the company has established a travel bureau at head- quarters in Baltimore. The bureau was opened Dec. 1, 1924 under the direction of Mrs. J. W. Freeman as~ manager. This bureau has been very successful in supplying the traveling public with full information not only about the company it represents di- rectly but also about connecting lines. All expense tours for passengers are arranged by the bureau. For instance tickets may be purchased from Balti- more to Montreal including all ex- penses of the entire trip and return. Personally conducted tours are also arranged for. Branches of the bureau were established Sept. 15, 1926 in connection with the ticket offices at Philadelphia, Washington and Pitts- burgh. Ports Served by the Company The accompanying map of the At- lantic seaboard, page 14. shows at a glance the ports served by regular scheduled sailings of the company. Terminals and offices are of course, maintained in each one of these ports. Off-line offices are also maintained at New York, Pittsburgh, Washing- ton, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa and St. Louis. Excepting at Washington and Orlando which are ticket offices the others are combination passenger and freight offices. It has been pointed out that no section of the country is better served by efficient railroad systems than the Eastern seaboard and adjacent in- Ss. S. JUNIATA AND TWO OTHER OF THE OLDER STEAMERS OF MERCHANTS & MINERS TRANSPORTATION CO. ALONGSIDE THE COMPANY’S PIER AT FOOT OF FAHM STREET, SAVANNAH, GA.