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miral Blake, and shows that the former, though inferior in tonnage, is in speed and as a fighting machine vastly superior to the Blake. In the same way this writer com- pares our war ship Indiana with the English ship Re-- nowp, and demonstrates that while the latter, consider- ing weight and cost, should be superior, she really is in- ferior, and that in a contest with equal management the American would win. Admiral Meade’s criticism has caused much feeling, but his ability is undoubted and the discussion must re- sult to the advantage of our naval and mercantile marine. OEE er A CHICAGO OBSTRUCTION. We have learned this week that. the superstructure of the two and one-half mile crib off Twelfth street has been torn down by the contractors and the crib below the water still remains intact. As there is no light on the crib at night nor a buoy in the daytime, the crib presents a dan- gerous obstruction to navigation fully as bad as the Hyde Park reefs and more dangerous than the reefs be- cause its location is not known. The crib lies about two and one-half miles from the shore otf Twelfth street and a mile and one-half west of the four mile crib, which has a light. Wonder why the Lighthouse Board can’t take cognizance of some of these things. rr 0 og AT the launch of the St. Louis, at Cramps’ yard in Philadelphia, Mrs. Cleveland, wife of the President, as is customary on such occasions as the naming of a ship, broke a bottle of wine on the bows. It was American champaign, and if the custom is to be kept up, and we certainly cling to worse ones, it is better that American “wine should,be used than the foreign element. Yet, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union is up in arms at ‘‘the barbarous use of wive” under the cir- cumstances named, and they aver that Mrs. Cleveland could have named the vessel without this part of the ceremony. The W. C.'T. U. is an excellent organization, but we much fear it is expending its energy in this mat- ter, where it cannot get the sympathy that goes out to many of its other efforts. The loss of the wine is not complained of ; it is the custom, but custom is the basis of all our common law. It is the lex non scripta of this country. But even from a temperance standpoint, is it not better to spill it than todrink it? And furthermore, the ladies are going entirely out of their latitude to ob- ject to the christening ceremony over the production of which they are not known. re 0 i THERE is evidently something to be found out relative to the tonnage that lays up at Chicago for winter storage of wheat. The following circular has been sent out by general agents of insurance companies. An invitation to insurance agents to meet at Detroit, Nov. 26 to corsid- er the inspection of vessels which are to take on grain for winter storage has been sent out by Chicago agents. They say that every winter much grain is damaged by being stored in vessels on account of the boats being out on commission. They would remedy this by requiring a certificate from the underwriters’ inspector that they are fit to receive grain before being allowed to load. The lines of insurance are being drawn tighter and we will soon learn that vessel owners will protect themselves by entering into a mutual marine insurance system whereby some of the most expensive traits of carrying on a general office will be avoided. ———— rrr aaa THE LAKE ERIE BOILER WORKS. To make pretensions of excellence is one thing, to gain and maintain a reputation through a series of years for the manufacture of a high-classed specialty is another. The Lake Erie Boiler Works, Messrs. Ham- mond and Coon, principals, have succeeded in winning renown from end to end of this continent and are still improving on their standard of merit in the construc- tion of marine and stationary boilers. The trite old saying, ‘‘In time of peace prepare for war,’’ has been appreciated by the Lake Erie Boiler Works and during the slack times they have been mak- ing very extensive improvements in their already un- surpassed facilities for the manufacture of modern marine boilers. The additional new machinery fitted at these works consists of a heavy flanging press, capable of flanging plates up to 2 inches in thickness, with heating and annealing furnaces, two of Hammond’s improved three spindle drilling machines for drilling the boiler shells THE MARINE RECORD. and other parts, after the plates are formed in place, two of Hammond’s improved universal joint radial drills, two 50-ton hydraulic cranes, 40 feet lift, two 10-ton hydraulic jib cranes, and one of Hammond’s im- proved portable hydraulic riveters for pressing rivets up to 2 inches diameter at 250 tons’ pressure. This machine can be easily handled by one man. In addi- tion to the above large machines, they have placed a variety of smaller machines, such as portable drilling and tapping machines, mechanical caulking and bead- ing tools, etc. The capacity of the works has been further increased by the addition of an erecting shop 150x65 feet, so that they are now better than ever prepared to handle the heaviest boiler work that may be required, for lake or ocean service. The Lake Krie Boiler Works were the first in America to build large marine boilers with hydraulic machinery for riveting, flanging, hoisting and handling, as they were also the first to drill the rivet and brace holes after the plates were formed in place, by multiple spindle hydraulic drilling machinery; the boilers being suspended from hydraulic cranes for this purpose. There are four of these machines now in use. Each machine is capable of drilling three holes at one time 1% inches diameter, or two holes 2 inches diameter, or one hole 2% inches diameter. The hydraulic cranes for suspending the boilers over these machines, while the holes are being drilled are each capable of lifting 50 tons. Among the more notable steam vessels equipped with the Lake Erie Boiler Works boilers are the following: oy NAME OF ST#AMaR. Type | No.|Diameter | Length. pe ne Susquehanna, Anchor Line, Buf-|Sin. esd fallow? water ctcn sok actin Scotch | 4 {13 ft 12 ft 120 Car Ferry and Ice Breaker, St |Dbl end : TS MACE Rees sss samc creat ta sce Scotch.| 3 |11 fi. 6 in.]18 ‘* 160 Steamer Harlem, E & W.T, Co. |Sin. end Buffalowy sci culc cin ibee ss tie 2 1b 6 118 160 City of Detroit, Detro.t, Mich Np ee Tis 4640 125 Chemung, Buffalo, N Y (aie Os Mee cea We 165 Owego, Buffalo, N.Y. ........., Gh eee alge 165 George Jay Gould, Buffalo, N. Y . bb Wi Deeaabes Ota for bE 165 Brazil, Buffalo, N. Y.......0..... #e CDRS ee hace DG 3 165 Codorus. Anchor Line, Buffalo ,, (a 2 |14 ‘ TOS 165 Thomas Maythem, Buffalo, N. Y. Kg 9 {12 * 1D 165 Arthur Orr, Buffalo, N. Y. ...... i Dalbocss A? 165 Side-wheel Str. Plymouth, Kall Riveritiine Nas ek es cf, SrildiseeOy es SES 175 Side-wheel Str. Michigan, Chica- G0; Ae ere e nahin ecto ree ie 418% 14 * 190 Newport News Shipbuilding & D. D. Co,, Newport News, Va.... : DOL Ole: By 185 N.N.S. B. & D. D. Co., Newport INGWS VAs so euingey oan os nes Ss 2 {11 “ 125958") 160 Str. Concho, N. T. & Texas S. S. Cox. New Work: 23 ias sien se iv 6 |13 Te Gy Sh 1 165 Str. Algiers, Morgan Line, N. Y « flava Ose 6: 165 New York, Morgan Line, N. Y..| ‘‘ SBE Se eats Namah Opa aoa sy aeat 165 D.R.1.S, B. & Engine Works, Mhester, Paces wsrsokesteeees s 8 tae" BICEE Sh 180 Two Steamers for Old Dominion Steamship Co; oic2 vanestesaees etal eeara litgeveterest utateleltttersic o\eiaeteis [ie aren este Manhattan Ry. Co., New York., i De bat 9 6 125 Yacht Kanapaha, J. Pierpont : Morgan, New York,..........-. 2 {11 ‘ cal ella eh Sk Rio Grande, N. Y. & Texas S. S,| ConNew Yorker ero | os 4 |12 °° DR) 120 Str. Morgan, Sonthern Pacific Co., New Orleans, La. ........ te abel 18 65 Str. Gussie, Southern Pacific Co., New Orleans, L ..... Sutera dota ss Ll 21 65 Pizzatti, New Orleans, La ...... ie DeOEt 6 SG > 6 65 Monarch, N. W. Transportation Cox,Sarnia, Ont: 3.0.0 we cesar Bs Dg Hit ee fae ree 170 U.S. S. Michigan, U.S, Navy..| — “ Oe fais dt hs TOROS? roma Ban crofthicce. 2 edges aecves ees Gunb’t| 2] 8‘! 8“ [17 160 Hundreds of other boilers have of course been built and they have furnished boilers for nearly all the great whaleback steamers built by the American Steel Barge Co., Superior, Wis. Among these built but not owned by the Steel Barge Co. are the following steam- ers, Pathfinder, Pillsbury and Washburne, each fur- nished with three Scotch boilers, 11 feet 8 inches diame- ter, 13 feet long, for a working pressure of 165 pounds. The Lake Erie Boiler Works very pertinently assert that they are in the lead in building large Marine boil- ers, and intend to keep it, and claim to have the best equipped plant in America, thus being in a position to give their customers the benefit of valuable experience and high-class equipment. —— STAGE OF WATER AT ST. MARY’S FALLS CANAL. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, WEATHER BUREAU. Depth of water at the St. Mary’s Falls Canal for the week ending Nov. 22, 1894: Noy. 158 a. m., 14 feet 10inches. 8p. m., 14 feet 9 inches 66 16 “6 14 *§ 9 6 6“ 14 * 9 66 66 17 “6 1446 5 6 “e 14 « 6 66 “6 18 é 14% 9 “6 <6 15 ** 1 66 “ 19 6 14 * 6 66 ee 14 * 8 6s 6 20 sé 14% 4 “e se 14 + 7g “6 se 21 sé 14 ee 8 se se 14 oe 7 ee ‘ 22 ae 14 oe i .s oe ANNUAL MEETING OF U. S. NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND MARINE ENGINEERS. The second annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers began at the rooms of the society in New York on Thursday last. The hall was well filled with well known engineers and naval of- ficers. Among those in attendance were William H. Webb, William H. Jaques, Harrington Putnam, Francis Tiffany Bowles, Frank L, Fernold, U. S.N., Clement A. Griscom, Jos. Feester, U. S. N., Edward A. Steven, Wm J. Baxter, U. S. N., Edwin S., Wm. M., and Charles H, Cramp, Frank L. De Braque, Wm. Frederick Duran!; Andrew and Wim. H. Fletcher, Wm. Gardiner, John S. Hanscon, H. S. Heyward, Philip Hichborn, Jno. D. Hoover, U. S. N., Charles E. Hyde, Jos. H. Leonard, Walter M. McFarland, U.S. N., Charles H. Manning, George W. Melville, Wm. McIntyre, U. S. N., Lewis Nixon, John F. Pankhurst, Horace See, A. W. Stahl, Sinclair Stuart, Wm. H. C. Swenson, John G. Tawnsey, Saphen Taylor, Andrew Gray Wilson, Frank B. and F. A. Kirby, Gilbert N. McMillen and C. B. Calder. The officers who served last year were all re-elected and president Clement A. Griscom, after taking the chair, made a short speech, in which he thanked the members for the confidence that they had placed in him, and pointed out to them that it was the obvious duty of the society tocreate a public interest in a large navy and merchant marine for this country. He then introduced Rear-Admiral Mead, who read a paper entitled: ‘‘ Some Suggestions of Professional Ex- perience in Connection with the Naval Construction of the Last Ten Years.’’ Admiral Mead stated at the out- set that though he had suggestions to make in regard to the navy he had no intention of picking flaws or to seriously find fault with recent naval construction. He then spoke of the great necessity of arousing public’ interest in the navy and told of the Opposition there had been to the first steel ship in the United States Navy. That ship was the Dolphin, and the Admiral remarked that in 1883 many naval officers had objected to steel ships, saying that wooden ships and smooth- bore guns were preferable. - “Tt is hardly possible in 1894 to convey an idea of the intense prejudice on the part of a majority of our navy men (seamen and constructors) in favor of wood as against iron. So powerful was this ‘conservatism’ that not until 1883 could anything be done in the way of progress. “In that year there fortunately came a ‘boom’ in naval matters, and in due course of time the Dolphin, Atlanta, Chicago and Boston appeared as the pioneer ships of the ‘New Navy.’ But the innovation was strenuously resisted, and so late as 1886 I heard conserv- ative men arguing in favor of wooden ships and smooth- bore cannon. ‘‘ The vessels that seem least satisfactory to the prac- tical men of our profession,” said he, ‘‘are the Colum- bia, the Minneapolis and Detroit class. And they are unsatisfactory for these reasons: The smaller vessels cannot cruise in time of war except in home waters, and as to the larger ones, such as the Columbia, it is feared that vessels like the Majestic and Teutonic, for in- stance, may laugh at our three-screw racers, which can- not cross the ocean at the same speed these commercial greyhounds maintain year in and year out.” The Admiral also said that he very much doubted if the fighting qualities of the Columbia would equal those of the Atlantic line merchant steamers, New York or Paris were the later suitably armed and manned. He strongly recommended the building of rams and tor- pedo boats and armored battleships. Fast cruisers, in his opinion, were practically useless, as they would be bested by ocean steamers in time of war. Mr. E. A. Bertin read a paper on ‘‘The Use of Small Models for the Determination of Curves of Stability.” He gave a general description of the method and also recounted the historicsl development of the subject. A paper setting forth the ‘‘Obstacles to Ship Building and Owningin This Country”? was then read by Mr. George W. Dickie. He said that the lack of interest in naval matters displayed by the people and the men high in office was the thing which had done a great deal to keep the United States from becoming a stronger mari- time nation. He told how in England launching of battle ships and naval manoeuvres are made public functions, and how the youth in the British school is taught to regard England’s naval supremacy as the