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

Italian Line Sailings, Cruises Planned On Aug. 2, the CONTE DiI SAvora of the Italian line arrived in New York from Naples, Genoa, Nice and Gibraltar with 1137 passengers, and sailed on Aug. 4 on her return trip. The SarurNIA sailed from New York on Aug. 11 for Lisbon, Gibraltar, Algiers, Naples, Palermo, Piraeus, Bari, Venice and Trieste with 750 pas- sengers. After leaving New York, she made a stop at Boston. While in mid- ocean, eastbound on this trip, the SATURNIA had the distinction of taking on board a government official and party from a Portuguese cruiser, and then proceeding to Lisbon which is a regular port of call. According to the officials of the Italian line, this is the first time in history that such a trans- fer of passengers has been made in mid-ocean on the southern route to Europe. On Aug. 15, the Rex arrived in New York from Naples, Genoa, Nice and Gibraltar with 1465 passengers. Four cruises have been scheduled during the coming winter and spring, to the Mediterranean, Holy land and Egypt, using the Contr pi SAvora, the REx, CONTE GRANDE and SATURNIA, Two West Indies cruises have also been ar- ranged for the VULCANIA and SATUR- NIA, CONTE GRANDE, sailing on Jan. 26, 1935 from New York, will be the first of the four vessels to depart on the Mediterranean cruise, followed by the CONTE DI SAVOIA on Feb. 13; the Rex on Feb. 27 and the SATURNIA on March PALE The Rex sailed from New York Aug. 18 for Gibraltar, Naples, Nice, and Genoa with 900 passengers. It was on Aug. 16, 1933 that the Rex, flagship of the Italian line, passed Ambrose Light, 27 hours ahead of her regular schedule, having completed the 3181- mile from run from Gibraltar in four days, 13 hours, 58 minutes, with an average speed of 28.92 knots for the crossing. The Rex also beat the best time made on an eastbound crossing, 4 days, 16 hours, 15 minutes, with an average of 28.51 knots. Eastbound records are faster than westbound. Postmaster General Calls Mail Contract Inquiry On July 25 thirty two companies holding ocean mail contracts and four holding air mail contracts were notified by Acting Postmaster Gen- eral W. W. Howes to appear at the post office department in Washington on Oct. 1 to show cause why mail contracts held by them should not be modified or cancelled. This is in accordance with the executive order issued by President Roosevelt on July 11 directing the postmaster general to conduct such an investigation and to report on his findings on or before Janet Next; The procedure to be followed at the hearings has not yet been worked out. In his letter to the mail con- tractors, the acting postmaster gen- eral said: ‘‘At these hearings such evidence as may then seem pertinent concerning your contract will be con- sidered; and if any information in writing is required of your company before the date of said hearing you will be duly notified.” French Line’s New Terminal at Havre minal at Havre, one of the most gigantic passenger and “freight port terminals of its kind in the world, has been completed, and its formal opening is about to take place. The station is 1897 feet—well over a third of a mile—in length, 148 feet wide, covers an area of five acres, and its construction required 953,370 cubic feet of concrete, 4800 tons of steel and 9700 tons of cement. It was planned for greatest convenience and utility. Every possible modern mechanical device has been installed, which will result in saving much time in embark- ing and disembarking passengers, loading and unloading cargo. All fa- T HE French line’s new marine ter- Scale model of French Line’s new terminal at Havre. cilities are in duplicate, each side be- ing a complete unit in itself, the pur- pose of the builder being that two ships can be handled at the same time without interfering in the slighest with each other. The great passenger halls are pro- vided with news-stand; tobacco shop, florist, telephone-telegraph and cable office, post office and bar. Escala- tors, elevators and broad staircases expedite the passage from ship to the boat trains, right in the building. Ramps provide automobile circulation on three floors of the structure. The 280-foot tower of the terminal will be visible far out in the Bay of Havre. The side facing the sea will MARINE REVIEwW—September, 1934 have a device, luminous at night, which will show the movement of the tide. The French line and the State rail- way have combined in this project to further improve their service to their patrons. Among the features indi- cated in the accompanying illustration of a scale model of the new terminal are: both the NorMANDIE£ (scheduled to enter service June 1, 1935) and the Ine DE FRANCE at berth; special State railway boat trains for Paris leaving the train-shed; motor ramps which provide automobile’ circulation on three floors of the structure; and the 280-foot clock-tower, mentioned above. The Normandie and Ile de France at berth 23