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NOTES FROM LAKE SHIP YARDS. As the ship yards of the great lakes are employed to full capacity in building sixty-one ships, valued at more than twelve millions, and-all but six of them steel, there is little in the way of new orders—no orders, of course, for delivery during the present year, as it would be impossible to get out in 1900 a single vessel other than those under construction. But for delivery in the spring of 1901 there is still an occasional new order. Within a few days the Jenks Ship Building Co. of Port Huron has closed a contract with representatives of the Minch estate of Cleve- land for a steel freighter that is to carry about 6,500 gross tons, and which may possibly be out late in the coming season. The steamer is to be managed independent of the Minch and Nicholas transit companies, in which the Minch family is largely interested. It will be a duplicate of the steamer Capt. Thomas Wilson, built a short time ago at the same yard— 420 ft. keel, 440 ft. over all, 50 ft. beam-and 28 ft. hold. The engine is to be a triple expansion, with cylinders of 23, 38 and 63 in. diameter and 40 in. stroke. Steam is to be furnished by three Scotch type 12xl2 ft. boilers. At Buffalo the steamer Bulgaria is receiving a new apron, stem, bows, rail, pilot house, part of new main deck, two sets of hatch coamings, hatch covers and nine plank in topsides aft; the steamer City of Venice 600 ft. of rail, crown steel arches and some plank in top sides; the steamer John F. Eddy new keel and garboards; the steamer Ramapo two keel plates aft and bow plates; the steamer George Spencer part new keel and some new plank. General repair work has been done on the steamer F, L. Vance. GREAT LAKES TOWING CO. . (Directors of the Great Lakes Towing Co., which controls nearly all the harbor tugs of the great lakes, did not elect officers at the annual meeting in New Jersey several days ago, but finished their work at a meeting in Cleveland Wednesday. It is. understood that as regards certain matters of policy in the management of affairs of the company there was quite a warm discussion at the directors’ meeting, b t it was not of a kind that need be made public. All the old officers and members of the execu- tive committee were reelected. Mr. W. E. Fitzgerald was made a vice~ president and therefore a member of the executive committee. Officers of the company and members of the executive committee are: President and treasurer, Mr. T. F. Newman, Cleveland; vice presi- dent, Capt. James Davidson, West Bay City; second vice president, Capt. A. B. Wolvin, Duluth; third vice president, Mr. Edward Smith, Buffalo; fourth vice president, W. E. Fitzgerald, Milwaukee; general manager, Capt. W. A. Collier, Cleveland; secretary, Mr. M. H. Wardwell, Cleve- land. Executive committee—Gen. G. A. Garretson, chairman, Cleveland; Capt. James Davidson, West Bay City; Capt. A. B. Wolvin, Duluth; Mr, L. M. Bowers, Mr. C. E. Grover, Mr. H. G. Dalton, Mr. T. F. Newman, Cleveland; W. E. Fitzgerald, Milwaukee. General counsel, Mr. James H. Hoyt, Mr. Harvey D. Goulder, Cleveland. AROUND THE GREAT LAKES. Secretary C. H. Keep and Treasurer Geo. P. McKay of the Lake Carriers’ Association are.in Washington mainly for the purpose of trying to secure in the sundry civil appropriation bill sufficient funds to care for lights that are now maintained by the Association. They are, of course, also looking after other matters of legislation. The United States light-house inspector at Buffalo asks for bids be- fore March 9 for the maintenance of buoys in St. Lawrence river and Lake Ontario and Niagara river until June 30, 1902. Proposals are also wanted as follows: For the year ending June 30, 1902, for provisions and fuel for vessels and stations in the fourth district, Pennsylvania; the same for the second district at Boston, and the tenth district at Buffalo. Nothing has been done as yet in hull insurance for the coming sea- son, although the Buffalo and Chicago agents have in some cases been visiting the vessel owners within the past few days. They say they are quite sure that notwithstanding the satisfactory outcome of the past two seasons from an insurance standpoint, the English interests will hold to about the same rates and same conditions of policy for another season and that this is also true of the American companies, Publishers of the Iron Trade Review of 'Cleveland. announce that on March 1 the paper becomes the property of the Iron & Steel Press Co. The same company has also purchased The Foundry of Detroit, the well- known monthly publication which occupies a unique position in relation to the foundry industry. Bothi journals will have their publication office in the Rose building, Cleveland, and will be directly represented also through editorial and business offices in Pittsburg, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. More power to Messrs. Gardner and Findley. For some time past they have been publishing the most reliable of all the trade journals in America of an iron and steel kind. Even the vessel men of the lakes who are well acquainted with Mn J. C. Gilchrist cannot realize that he is acting entirely on his own ac- count in the matter of buying up all the best of the wooden vessels of the lakes, especially as he goes on making new purchases every few days, notwithstanding the unsatisfactory freight outlook, at least as far as the next season is concerned. It is true, however, that Mr. Gilchrist has no great money interest and no special shipping interest back of him. He simply figures that no more vessels of the kind he is buying will be built and that he will eventually find profitable business for them, espe- cially in the coal trade. A few days.ago he added the wooden steamer George F. Williams to his fleet, purchasing the vessel from H. A. Haw- good of Cleveland. The Williams was built by F. W. Wheeler at Bay City in 1889 and carries about 3,000 tons of ore. F. H. Clergue of Sault water power fame is certainly getting into a multiplicity of enterprises in Canada. A ‘Montreal dispatch says he. is planning to take over the entire undertaking of the Conners elevator syndicate and conduct the elevators and warehouses at Montreal which the syndié¢ate has ‘failed to provide. This is an undertaking involving large terminal facilities for the accommodation at ‘Montreal of an extensive business which the Canadian canals are expected to give to. Montreal. Mr. Conners and his associates have been a long time trying to finance MARINE REVIEW. 21 the scheme. They say they are still at work and know nothing of Clergue in the matter. Clergue has wonderful influence with the dominion gov- ernment officials and their confidence in him would very probably result in concessions that have not been given to Conners and his associates. Mr. Clergue is also engaged in establishing a marine and fire insurance company in Canada to be known as the St. Lawrence Lloyds Co.. This is an outcome of difficulties encountered in getting insurance for vessels navigating the lower St. Lawrence. In this enterprise the names appear- ing are those of the Douglasses and others of Philadelphia who are associated with Mr. iClergue in the water power projects at Sault Ste. Marie. The capital of the insurance company is to be $5,000,000. ANOTHER DEGREE FOR! ADMIRAL MELVILLE. The University of Pennsylvania a few days ago conferred upon Rear Admiral George Wallace Melville, chief of the bureau of engineering, the title of doctor of science. George Melville was born in New York city on Jan. 10, 1841, of — Scotch ‘parents. Almost his entire life has been spent in the public service. He received a public school education and early showed a lean- ing toward engineering, entering, before he was nineteen, the engineering works of James Binns of East Brooklyn and acquiring a practical knowl- edge that stood him in good stead in later years. When not quite twenty-one years old, on July 29, 1861, he entered the navy as an officer of the engineer corps, and saw much active service. He was attached to the Dakotah when Farragut made his brilliant passage up the Mississippi river. Then young Melville joined the side-wheeler Santiago de Cuba, and latterly the Wachusett, being on the last named vessel when she captured the Florida, the confederate cruiser, in the harbor of Bahia, Brazil. Then he was on torpedo boat No. 6, when Porter took Fort Fisher, and when he joined the gunboat Maumee in the James river that vessel cut and rammed her way to Richmond on the day of that city’s evacuation. When the war had ended Melville was ordered to the Tacony and with her served in the Mexican gulf during the French occupation and evacuation of Mexico. Later he joined the gunboat Penobscot, then cruised to Brazil in the flagship Lancaster, then to the Arctic in the steamer Tigress, then to China and Japan in the flagship Tennessee, again to the Arctic in the steamer Jeannette, and yet again in the Thetis for the relief of the Gree- ley expedition. The latter duty. with a short term on the Atlanta, closed his service afloat, which, after the war, was interspersed with brief details to the various navy yards. An incident that shows the unflagging disposition of Melville and his grim persistency is related in connection with his search for De Long and Ambler, members of the ill-fated Jeannette Polar expedition. Mel- ville, with arctic winter coming on, left Bulun, one of far north settle- ments, with two natives, two dog teams and five days food. He was gone twenty-three days and covered more than 1,000 miles before he returned to Bulun. Melville early became disabled. Inured to the cold as they » were, his men flagged often in their march, but by entreaty, by argument, by intimidation with the sight and sound of fire arms, the half frozen,’ helpless but dauntless leader, kept them moving. Once they mutinied outright, saying: “We have no food. We cannot go. We shall die!” The only answer was: “I will go on. We shall eat the dogs first, and after that, I will, if necessary, eat you Yakutsk, but I will go on.” Rear Admiral ‘Melville has been honored with the following degrees and orders: Gold medallist, by act of congress, for heroic service in the Arctic; honorary member of the Royal Swedish Society of Anthropology and Geography; Institution of Naval Architects, Great Britain; Franklin Institute, Philadelphia; Ameérican Society of Civil Engineers; American Society of Naval Engineers; vice president American Society of Mechani- cal Engineers; vice president Society of Naval Architects and Marine En- gineers of the United States; member of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; of the General Council of the General Com- mandery, Naval Order of the United States; Grand Army of the Repub- lic; National Geographical Society. Washington, D. :C.; National Acad- emy of Sciences, Washington, D. C.; Philadelphia Academy of Sciences; LL. D., from Georgetown University; master of science, from Columbia University of New York; doctor of engineering, from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N. J. SECRETARY LONG TO ADMIRAL HICHBORN. Secretary Long has written the following commendatory letter to Rear Admiral Hichborn upon: the occasion of the latter’s retirement as chief constructor of the navy: ‘“My Dear Admiral: I cannot let you retire from the department with which you have been connected so long and so efficiently, without a part- ing word of both regret and of benediction. Your official service has been such, and our personal relations have been so agreeable that I write at once as a friend and fellow official. You have been in the construction bureau of the department during the transition time from the old navy to the new, and during a large part of that period have been the head of the bureau of construction and repair. This term of service covers the remarkable increase of our navy in which you have borne so conspic- uous a part and which, in place of the old and now obsolete types, has substituted the torpedo boat, the gunboat, the protected cruiser and bat- tleship. These stood tke test of the recent war with Spain and put our navy in the forefront. I never lose the opportunity of testifying that the credit of all this is due not only to the men who fought the ships, but the chiefs of bureaus who constructed, equipped and armed them; and as one of these chiefs you, too, have a share in the victories of Manila and San- tiago. You retire from the navy in the fullness of its glory, and I con- gratulate you upon the fact that, although you have reached the age ot retirement, you do so in full vigor and health of body and mind, and with the prospect before you of many years yet of useful and happy life. With every good wish and with kindest regards, I am, Yours truly, Washington, D. C., Feb. 25, 1901. JOHN D,, ZONG,;, 4 The Atlantic Works, Incorporated, of Philadelphia last week shipped to the: Townsend & Downey Ship Building & Repair Co. of Shooters’ Island, N. Y., one of their heavy swing saw machines and also a universal. saw table.