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PUBLISHED EVERY ‘THURSDAY BY THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., GEORGE L. SMITH, President. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, WESTERN RESERVE BUILDING, ROYAL INSURANCE BUILDING, FOURTH FLOOR. i : ROOM 308. C. E. Ruskin, MANAGER. W. L. McCormick, : EDITOR. Tuomas WILLIAMS, Chicago, ASSOCIATE. SUBSCRIPTION. One copy, one year, postage paid, One copy, one year, to foreign countries, Invariably in advance. $2.00. $3.00. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office. THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CoO., FOURTH FLOOR, WESTERN RESERVE BUILDING, CLEVELAND. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as Second-Class Mail Matter. see eee ————————————E CLEVELAND, O., MAY 14, 1896. eer eeeeeeeeeeeel THE House of Representatives has very properly given a black eye to the practice of Americans purchasing yachts abroad by excepting such American owners from the privileges extended to bona fide foreign pleasure: craft, of immunity from tonnage tax and the annoyance of entering and clearing. This simply carries out the idea of protection which has been extended to merchant shipping and covers up a loop hole of which some Ameri- can Anglomanians have been taking advantage. = rrr 9 a It is a genuine relief to know that, after all the rumpus that has been raised in the Senate this week over the River and Harbor Bill, the Solons came to their senses, and recognized the bill as a measure of crnscientious aid to the general commerce of the country, and notasa law providing for the distribution of spoils, at which everyone should feel privileged to have agrab. With the heavy affirmative vote which the river and harbor bill has received in both houses of Congress, President Cleveland, notwithstanding his known views on the sub- ject, will hardly veto it. The circumstances will warrant him in allowing it to become law without opposition, although he will hardly attach his signature to the bill. ED OD EE THE prospect is excellent for the completion of the large new American lock at the Sault, and now only the problem of dredging confronts the navigators and the engineers. The dredgers have the entire season in which to complete their work, but admit that by making an effort they can finish much earlier. It has been proposed that the Secretary of War should offer bonus enough to make it interesting for the contractors in case they would push the work. It isa question whether the Secretary could make a large expenditnre for this purpose on his own authority; but if it can be done, it would certainly serve agood end. Beside the delays thas would thus be obviated, the vessels will be able to increase their car- goes: very materially, as the shallows at Sailors’ Encamp- ment will have been dredged out by that time, thus wip- ing out all distinction between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior draft. ELD a TOLEDO has been chosen as the meeting place for the great international regetta. Toledo did not have the facilities afforded by seme of her competitors, but she has two yacht clubs, and the ‘‘ hustling” qualities which are calculated to get almost anything these days. There isone feature about Toledo’s action that is to be regretted, and that is the offer of a money prize of $1,500. Yacht- ing has always heretofore been kept off a mercenary basis, and has therefore been pre-eminently a gentleman’s sport. It would have been much better had the money THE MARINE RECORD. been put into cups, and the benefits to yachting would have been more lasting. Toledo has shown the right spirit of generosity, but if the form of prize can yet be amended, we hope it will be done. We believe also that the yachtmen will assent to such a proposition. There are, of course, two sides to the question, and the young men who are at considerable expense with their yachts are entitled, in the opinion of many, to some reimburse- ment for their outlay; but the putting up of money prizes is certain to be demoralizing to the sport, and this will be demonstrated before many seasons. $$$ rr 0 0 cg IN MEMORY OF CAPTAIN RICE. The funeral of Capt. John Rice, whose sudden death was announced last week, took place in Buffalo Saturday, and was attended by a large contingent of the marine men with whom he had been so closely associated for so many years. Capt. Rice was born at Hunter’s Point, on Lake On- tario, in New York State, January 6, 1834. His father’s family lived at Youngstown for a number of years, but when he was 13, Capt. Rice went to Buffalo and began to sail on the lakes. When he was 19 he was master of a vessel, and in the same year became master of the brig Clarion. A few vears later he came into the employ of the New York Central Railway Company, sailing the passenger Rocket and other vessels of the old People’s Line, plying between this city and Chicago and Green Bay. ‘This line is now the Western Transit THE LATE CAPT. JOHN RICE. Company. Hecontinued to sail these steamers until 1862, when, at the solicitation of the late Dean Rich- mond, president of the company, he accepted the position of fleet superintendent for the Same line, with head- quarters in this city. At about the same time he formed a partnership with the late Robert Mills and Patrick Walsh in the dry-dock and shipbuilding business at Ganson street and Buffalo Creek. later the firm was incorporated as the Robert Mills Dry-dock Company. At the time of his death and for a number of years previous, Capt. Rice was presi- dent of the company. He was also for many years en- gaged in the marine insurance business with the late F. B. Fortier, and he was regarded as one of the best in- formed men connected with the business; in fact, he was considered an almost infallible authority in such matters. He will be very greatly missed by many vesselmen who have been in the habit of relying on his advice and judgment in insurance mattters. At the time of his death he was one of the managing owners of the Red Star Line of lake steamers. Capt. Rice wasalso very prominently identified with the Lake Carriers’ Association, in which he always held important places.on standing and special committees. On October 9, 1878, he married Miss Frances Mitchell, daughter of Judge William 'T. Mitchell, of Port Huron, Mich., who with one daughter, Minnie Godfrey Rice, survives him. SHIP BUILDING AND REPAIRS. Fibs. LAUNCHES OF THE WEEK. Cleveland distinguished herself as a ship building . port once again on Saturday last, by launching two 400- footers within a few minutes. i THE SIR HENRY BESSEMER. The first steamer of the Bessemer Steamship Co.’s_ new fleet, the Sir Henry Bessemer, was launched at the Globe Iron Works Co.’s shipyard promptly at 2:30 o’clock. ‘The christening ceremony was performed by Miss Kate B. Crowell. Her main hull dimensions are 432, 412x48x28. She has the same outward appearance as the Coralia, and the construction is mnch on the same order, the only difference being in favor of even greater strength. All plating is of open-hearth mild steel, tested, according to the specifications, as follows: Tensile strength not less than 54,000 and not exceeding 62,000 pounds per square inch; limit of phosphorus not to exceed .08; elongation to be not less than 24 per cent: in 8 inches, and radiation to be not less that 45 per cent. Plates not to be run over or under theoretical weight more than 2% per cent. Rivets of first-class quantity of iron rivet-material of not less than 50,000 tensile strength. Materials to be tested at maker’s works to these requirements by a disinterested party to represent both steel maker and ship builder; provided, that in case’ of angles, channels, beams and Z bars, the certified re- ports of tests made at the laboratory of the Pencoyd iron works will be accepted by the owner. } The steamer has main deck beams, but no laid deck ~ except at the forward and after ends; also a forecastle _ deck forward, and one steel deck house forward, as well as asteel pilot house. She has also a steel deck house on the spar deck, aft, with galley and dining rooms on main deck, aft. Accommodations for such of the crew _ as are not Housed in the after deck house are provided in the forecastle. Engines and boilers are placed aft, between decks, the boilers athwarthships, with fire room between them. The boiler house is of steel, and the coal bunker located between decks, next forward. of the boilers, is also of steel, carried up to the height of the boiler and deck house aft. The double bottom, which is five feet deep from colli- sion to engine bulkheads, is divided by center keelsons and solid floors into eight compartments, for water bal-. last, and is built on the cellular system, solid longitud- inals extending from the bottom plating to the tank ; top, continuous fore and aft. The vessel’s hold is di- vided into four compartments by three screen bulk- heads, extending to the spar deck. ‘The spar deck is of steel complete, without wood covering except inside the houses and on the forecastle deck. ‘The engines are of the usual inverted triplex type, 25, 41, and 66 by 42 inches, the thickness of metal in the high pressure cylinder being 134 in., the intermediate 1% in., and low pressure 136 in. The high pressure cylinder is operated by .a valve of the piston type, the other two being double-ported slide valves. ‘The valve gear is the usual link motion, with twoeccentries. The piston rods are of the best forged steel, and are 5% inches in diamter; the connecting and eccentric rods are of wrought iron. The condenser and air pump are placed at the back of the engine, the latter being worked from the crosshead of the intermediate cylinder. The boilers are of the Scotch type, four in number, 11 feet 2 inches in diameter and length. Each boiler has three 36-inch furnaces, with a total heating surface for the four boilers of 6,300 square feet. The boilers are allowed a working pressure of. 175 pounds. The screw is 14 feet in diameter by 16 feet lead. The ship has one. steam capstan aft and two amidships, and a steam capstan-windlass forward. She has a full auxiliary. equipment, including electric lighting system. She car-. ries two pole spars. : The Bessemer will be out in June, with Capt. EK. M. Smith in command, and Mr. Richard Morton as chief engineer. THE QUEEN CITY. The Steamship Queen City, in course of construction at the Cleveland Ship Buildings Co.’s yard, for the Zenith Transit Co., of Duluth, was launched within five minutes after the whistles were heard to salute the Sir Henry Bessemer at the Globe yard. ‘The Queen City, named in honor of Buffalo, was christened by Miss Jes-