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

Mariners in the Making, Sea Scout Activity No merchant marine can ever flour- ish without an _ intelligent, well- trained, hardy personnel having the basic qualities of character, initiative and courage. Every encouragement should therefore be given to all efforts - in preparing the youth of the land for duty at sea. An important part in this work is being taken by the merchant marine training schools and _ ships sponsored by several of the states such as New York, California, Massachu- setts and Pennsylvania. These insti- tutions are maintained to give prac- tical and technical training to boys who have decided on a career at Sea, while the sea scout program, within the boy scout movement, gives an Op- portunity for boys all over the coun- try to develop any natural aptitude or attraction they may have for life at sea. The sea scout program is eSsen- tially for older boys after they have had preliminary training as boy scouts. Its activities are concerned with swimming, sailing, rowing, sea history, seamanship, life aboard ship, rules of the road at sea, foreign com- merce, navigation, piloting, signaling and cruising. Sea Scout Training It is an all year round activity. The weekly meetings throughout the late fall, winter and spring prepare the boys so that they are better fitted for life on the water in the summer activi- ties. There are many successful sea scout ships in the country. An example of the effective work done by this movement was the selec- tion of eight sea scouts as the crew for a sailing yacht bound to the Arctic ocean on a scientific expedition—a dif- ficult, dangerous and exciting adven- ture. These boys were selected be- cause the leader of the expedition found that they had all the essential qualities necessary for this arduous duty. These qualities, it is fair to say, had been fostered and developed and tested during the years that these boys were engaged in sea scout activities. Furthermore, they had what is rare nowadays, a knowledge of seamanship and the ability to handle a sailing ship. The success of the enterprise and the unstinted praise of the leader of the expedition proves the practi- cal value of the training. At the last motorboat show, held at New York, the sea scout committee of Manhattan council was responsible for the exhibit of the work of the sea scouts. With the co-operation of com- panies interested in nautical supplies, and first-aid equipment, such as the Plymouth Cordage Co., Johnson & Johnson, and various other manufac- turers, materials were obtained for use by the boys in demonstrating such activities as the making of knots, knot boards, sea bags, ete., as indicated in 20 the accompanying illustration. The S. S. MANHATTAN, one of the two largest, finest and newest of American built merchant ships, is the flag ship for region No. 2 of the sea scouts in that area. As organized units, trained in nauti- cal and marine affairs, the sea scouts have done excellent service in helping to maintain order and in serving as guides and messengers. Units are now established in many parts of the country. That it is not a program for the sea coast only is indicated by the fact that the majority of units are located in interior sec- tions of the country, where the activi- ties are carried out on rivers and lakes. The sea scout program is open to all boys who are 15 years of age Sea Scouts demonstrate training or over, but it is recommended that none but first class scouts be regis- tered as sea scouts at this time. Suit Is Dismissed The court of chancery of Great Britain has dismissed the suit brought by the International Mercantile Ma- rine Co. to enjoin the merger of Cun- _ard and White Star line fleets. The merger was opposed by the American company on the grounds that it did not conserve the interests of minority stockholders. Stock of the Oceanic company which operates the White Star line is held as collateral by the International Mercantile Ma- rine Co. for money due in the sale of the Oceanic company to a British group in 1926 for $35,000,000. The British court’s decision appar- ently rests on the fact that the I. M. M. company is not the owner of stock in the Oceanic company; that it is merely an unpaid vendor; that it had no lien on the shares of stock and that it had agreed that these shares be vested in trustees. What further action the Interna- tional Mercantile Marine Co. may take in this matter is not yet established. MARINE REVIEW—June, 1934 Performance in Service of Ferry Steamer Delmarva Latest reports from the Virgina Fer- ry Co.’s twin screw steel ferry steam- er DELMARVA, upon completion of her first 25,000 miles of service, indicates a most interesting performance and business record. Articles describing this vessel will be found in the Janu- ary, February and April issues of Ma- RINE REVIEW. The DELMARVA was delivered on Jan. 5 by her builder, The Pusey & Jones Corp., Wilmington, Del. and placed in service betwen Norfolk and Cape Charles, Va. on Jan. 7. In this period to May 14 inclusive, she delivered 25,- 480 service miles. Under all conditions, the DELMARVA readily makes the 26-mile run in her scheduled time of 1 hour 45 minutes, though on one leg of her trip she has two turnings to make and must pro- ceed under half speed for approxi- mately 6 miles of the 26. She has no difficulty, in fact, in making her scheduled time with only one of her two Babcock & Wilcox boilers deliver- ing steam. While preliminary estimates on fuel consumption called for 1 pound of oil per shaft horsepower per hour, actual consumption has been comfortably be- low that figure. Actual fuel oil con- sumption for all purposes has aver- aged 4500 gallons per 24 hours. The Skinner unaflow engines have proven free from trouble of any kind and ex- ceptionally low in lubricating oil con- sumption; in maneuvering, officers of the vessel find them nimble and re- sponsive and more satisfactory than ordinary triple expansion engines. The DELMARVA, since her introduc- tion, has enjoyed a steady increase in business. Comparing April with the initial month, January, passen- ger travel has increased 50 per cent and vehicles 80 per cent. River Towboat Converted The New Orleans plant of the Todd Shipyards Corp. recently completed an elaborate remodeling and recon- ditioning of the steel river towboat ILttiInots for the Federal Barge line of the Inland Waterways Corp. Trials, after completion of the work, indi- cated that her conversion from stern wheel to screw propulsion and from pulverized coal burning to oil burning had been a complete success. Her twin propellers operate in tunnels and each propeller is direct connected to a steam engine developing 1200 horsepower. Dimensions of the ILLINOIS are: 231 feet in length overall; 58 feet in beam; 8 feet in molded depth; 6 feet in draft; and the displacement on this draft is 1790 tons. The ILLINOIS is sa‘d to be the most power- ful towboat on the Mississippi river.