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

THE MARINE RECORD. S SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRS. COMING OUT RAPIDLY. The new ships are rapidly approaching completi t the various yards. leave on Saturday evening light for Escanaba. Jaunch of. the Sir Henry Bessemer, the first Rockefeller fleet, is set for Saturday, May 9, and Super- intendent Curr, of the Globe shipyard, does not anticipate any difficulty in getting her ready in time. The first record ever made at this yardon a ship, from laying the keel to launching was four months and twenty days, the boat being only 290 feet in length. In this case nearly the same record will have been made with a ship 432 feet long. This is a good showing, and ‘reflects great credit upon Mr. Curr, who has occupied his posi- tion but a few months. The yard is working about 1,100 men. The second of the Rockefeller boats is well along, the interior work being kept well in advance vith the shell plating. Work on this ship is not being’ pushed just now, forces being concentrated on the Bessemer. The launch of the steamer E. W. Oglebay will occur during the first few days of May. Barge 137, consort of the Frank Rockefeller, will go into the water about May 9. : : General Manager Newman, of the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co., received a letter from Mr. G. W. McMillan, of the Detroit Dry-dock Co., stating that he did not see why the big steamer could not be delivered some time next week. The plumbers have about finished their work, and the furniture is coming aboard. Theinterior is assuming an aspect which tends to show just how magnificent the boat will appear when finished. In the dining room the sideboard extends the whole length of the bulkhead, and the decorations are in quartered oak. The cabin is finished in white with shell-pink and sky-blue tints. \ - In addition to this interest in the W. & M. car ferries and the three boats chartered to Philip Munch aad Palmer & Co., Capt. James Davidson will have thirteen boats in commission, most of them new, including the two wooden steamers and three tow barges now build- ing, all of which will be ready for use before August 1. The names of the steamers have not been announced. The schooner, which was to have been launched yester- day, will be known as the Armenia, and her sister ships as the Abyssinia and Algeria. : Hill Bros.’ new tug boat, built at Fish Creek, on Green Bay, last winter, is ready to be put into the water. Her engine is in place, and the boiler will be put in position as soon as it can be fished up from the bottom of Green bay, where it dropped while being transported over the ice from Sturgeon Bay six weeks ago. It lies in about eighteen feet of water, and it is thought, can be easily raised. ; The new steamer which the Betram Co. are bullding at Toronto for the Niagra Navigation Co. will be named Cavanar She will be launched the first week in June. The newly organized St. Joseph River Transportation Company have closed with Capt. Petersou, of St. Joseph, acontract for a $34,000 steamer of light draft, to be ready for work by June 1. The price of the two Rockefeller steamers building b; the Detroit Dry-dock Co. is given out as $256,000 each. | There was launched from the marine ways at Cin- cinnati, recently, the new schooner Virginia of the Pittsburg & Cinclnnati Packet Line. She is 235 feet long by 40 feet beam, and 7 feet depth, with a carrying capacity of 1,200 tons. She has two compound engines, the high-pressure cylinder of each being 34 inches in diameter by 7 feet strong. Her water wheel is of the divided pattern, 24 feet in diameter, the length of the blades being 30 feet. She has stearn capstain, freight hoists, pumps, and automatic steam waterworks pumps. The cabin finish is very complete. The panels are ornamented with reliefs of lincrusta walton. The upper panels of stateroom doors are bevel-edged plate glass mirrors, and the main salon is lighted with 100 incandescent electric lamps. _ ‘The chances seem especially good for an appropria- tion for another revenue cutter for the Great Lakes, to be constructed during the next fiscal year. Senator Wm. P. Frye deserves the credit for this. The new cut- ter will be designed and equipped so that she may be converted into a cruiser at afew hours’ notice. Work on the Walter Q. Gresham, at. the Globe shipyard, is moving slowly. LAUNCHES OF THE WEEK. fu The steamer Frank i ockefeller was launched at the American Steel Barge-Co.’s yard, West Superior, last Saturday afternoon. About 6,000 people witnessed the launch, which was set for3:45p,m. Five minutes be- fore that time the bow became released, either from the tigger dropping or the lines parting. There was a scramble among the men, but the launching signal was given instantly, the stern line was cut, and the danger was averted, the big ship plunging into the water with- out any unusual incident other than carrying the for- ward ways into the water. The Rockefeller measures 384 feet long by 45 feet beam and 26 feet depth. Her triple-expansion engine, 23, 38, and 63 by 40 inches, and her three Scotch-type boilers, 12 x 13 feet, with: three 38-inch furnaces, and al- lowed 175 pounds working pressure, were furnished by the Cleveland Ship Building Co. She has a Bath wind- lass and a Globe steam steerer. Her wheel is 13% feet in diameter with 16 feet lead, and with the power fur- nished will drive her 14 miles per hour. Her capacity will be 4,000 tons or about 135,000 bushels of wheat on 14% feet, or over 220,000 bushels of wheat on 20 feet draft. In the construction of the Rockefeller the bulb-angle system of framing is used, and the builders are so well pleased with it that they will undoubtedly continue the system. Her water bottom is 48 inches deep and is con- structed on the McIntyre principle. The compartments will hold 1,600 tons of water ballast. The hull departs somewhat in appearance also from the other whaleback steamers. ‘The deck has less crown and the topsides are straighter. The pilot house is sep- arate from the main cabins, the intervening space of 34 feet being occupied by fueling hatches. The old plan of placing engines and stacks in separate tunnels has been abandoned, and in the Rockefeller one large tur- ret protects the whole of the space. This greatly improves the ventilation of both engine-room and stoke hold. The boilers are placed higher than has hereto- fore been the practice, affording additional cargo space There are eleven center line cargo hatches, each 12 x 8 feet, and ten side hatches, each 6x 4 feet, the latter located upon the port side of the ship, this arrangement allowing 21 ore spouts to be lowered into the vessel at oue time, thereby reducing the time required for loading. The cabins are finished in quarter-sawed oak and are both handsome and commodious. Capt. John McArthur will command the Rockefeller, with Irwin Marshall as chief engineer. The improvements in design of the Rockefeller over her predecessors in the line are chiefly the work of her designer, Mr. A. C. Diericx, who was greatly assisted by Supt. Joseph Kidd. The Rockefeller will be operated as the property of the American Steel Barge Co., and should not be con- fused with the boats of what is known as the Rocke- feller fleet (Bessemer Steamship Co.,) one of which is under construction. The schooner Connelly Bros., building at Alex An- derson’s shipyard, Marine City, for Connelly Bros., Buffalo, was launched Thursday afternoon, and willsoon be completed. She measures 201 feet on the keel, 36 feet beam, and 19 feet 5inches depth. She will tow behind the steamer Wotan. GENERAL REPAIR WORK. CLEVELAND.—Boats are rapidly finishing up and getting away. The Waverly, at the Cleveland dry-dock has received a good deal of new planking in her bows to repair last fall’s ice damages. The schooner Southwest, which loaded coal at Fairport and began leaking badly on her way up, is in the dock to have her bottom calked. The little steamer Riverside is in the Ship Owners’ dry- dock and the Globe Iron Works are enlarging her rudder surface. The G. W. Roby had her rudder repaired and got anew wheel. The A. P. Wright is in the dry-dock. DrErrorr.—At the foot of Orleans street there are sev- eral boats lying for. repairs and 200 men are thus given work. In the engine works there have been made during the winter eighteen boilers, as follows: Six for the City of Buffalo, two for the Wolverine boat, one ior the Jones boat, three each for the Rockefeller boats, one for the Progress, one for the Ranney. In the shops 150 men have been emyloyed all winter. At Wyandotte there have been used 7,000 tons of steel in construction. The big dock at the foot of Orleans street has been occupied by damaged boats ever since last December. The steamer Iron Age arrived here Wednesday with a cracked boiler, said to have resulted from a cold water test made at Buffaloa week ago. The Iron Age will | probably remove or uncouple her wheel and tow behind one of the other ‘‘Iron” steamers until the damage is repaired. The R. P. Ranney is getting a new boiler, and the tug Wales a new rudder. CuIcaAGo—At Miller Bros.’ shipyard the steamer KE. BE. Thompson is in dock for a practical rebuild. The schooner Clara is having her bottom calked, and will receive a new mizzenmast. Thé scow Kellogg is in for repairs and calking. SUPERIOR—The Clyde Iron Works are doing repairs on nearly every ship in the harbor, including the North- ern Steamship Company’s passenger boats, the whale- backs Trevor and Mather, the City of Duluth anda good many of the tug boats. The Singer tug Abbot has been in the boxes receiving a new wheel. The tugs Mariel and Fish, also of the Singer fleet, have been out of the water to receive caulking and general repairs. STURGEON BAay.—The reconstruction of the Jos. L,. Hurd is rapidly nearing completion. The new quarter deck has been put in complete, likewise new decking be- tween the old deck and false sides. The stringers and railing have been put on and nearly all fastened. This rail is 5x17 inches, while the outside stringers are 4x11 inches, and the inside ones 3xllinches. The iroa used for fastenings is 34-inch, which is used exclusively. In edge-bolting the rail to the stringers iron 3% inch by 27 inches long was driven between every stanchion. A solid oak timber-head 16-16 inches has been put in aft for towing purposes. The upper works around the texas have been put on and the carpenters are now at workon those around the after cabin. The fender strake is also being put on—she will not have a wale strake, The second-hand boiler recently put in the tug Aimes, formerly J. C. Perrett, is not proving a success, and as soon as the W. & M. Co.’s new tug Fischer goes into com- mission a new boiler will be put in the Aimes, SavuurT STE. MARIE.—Among the boats launched re- cently at Pullar’s shipyard, where they had been for repairs, were the Lake Superior Power Co.’s tug Jessie; Hingstone & Wood’s tug Alice Campbell, P. M. Church’s tug Pioneer, Robert H, Lucke’s tug Gazelle, and Capt. W. P. Stirling’s steamer Northern Belle, and two scows. Form 40 to 40 men have been employed at. Pullar’s shipyard during the past two months. —_—_—_- > — 0a —0— i MASTERS’ AND ENGINEERS’ DIRECTORY. THE RECORD will issue next week a list of masters and engineers of lake steamers, and of masters of lake schooners and barges, which should have a place in the office of every broker and owner, as well as of all dealers in ship supplies. The names will be arranged in alpha- betical order, so that no time can be lost in looking up names. While not reaching absolute perfection, the list will be the most complete and up-to-date directory of this character ever published. We would be. glad if any names not covered in our columns to-day or hereto- fore, would be sent in by Monday next, with the names of master or engineer filled in its proper place. It will be a handy book throughout the season, and masters and engineers should take the trouble of enabling their friends to locate them when desired. The books will be issued in handy pocket form, and will sell for 75 cents esch. Advertisers and subscribers will be charged 50 cents per copy. Mr. H. F. J. Porter, western sales agent for the Bethlehem Iron Co., with headquarters at Chicago, was in Cleveland Monday, to confer with Mr. Walter Miller, who is now the local representative of this company. The Bethlehem Iron Co., is getting right into the lake marine trade, and will increase its share of this as the popularity grows of soft steel forgings as substitutes for iron. The success the company has had in government work for this and foreign countries is a sufficient guar- anty, ifany were needed, and both owners and builders are beginning to appreciate this. 4 OEE ae There is now 17 feet 4 inches of water in Conneaut Harbor, with part of the channel deepened to 18 feet.