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VoL. XIX. > centage of lives and property lost was less. - were saved and 7 lost. . of water-tube boilers. \' ‘a a“ UN ESTA BLISHED 1878. NO. 49. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE U. S..LIFE-SAVING SERVICE. “The report of S. I. Kimball, general superintendent of the life-saving service, for the fiscal year ended June 30, exhibits the most satisfactory results yet accom- plished by the service. Although the total number ‘of disasters was greater than any previous year, the per- At the close of the year the department comprised 256 stations. The number of disasters to documented vessels within _ the scope of theservice was 437, involving 4,608 persons, ‘of which 4,595 were saved and 13 lost. - value of the vessels was $8,880,140, and of the cargoes $3,846,380, aggregating a total of $12,726,520. Of this The estimated amount $1,432,750 was lost. The number of doct- mented vessels totally lost was 67. There were also during the year 243 casualties to undocumented craft. sailboats, rowboats, ete. Of 594 persons on board 587 The value of thé property in those casualties i is estimated at $119,265, of which $114,- 915 was saved. The total number of persons succored at stations was 613. The total number of days’ succor _ afforded was 1,436. Other persons on board vessels to the number of 82 were rescued from drowning, all of whom would probally have perished but for the vigi- lance and prompt assistance of the life-saving crew. ’ During the year the crews saved and assisted to save - 472. vessels, valued, with their cargoes, at $4,853,110. Of.this number 318 were saved without outside assist- ance, aggregating, with their cargoes, a value of $977,- 495, with loss of only $11,713. In the remaining 154 instances the life-saving crews assisted other agencies in saving, property valued at $3,599,775 out of a total of $3,875,615 imperiled. rendered to 167 other vessels in distress. -Less important assistance was The patrol- men also ‘warned from danger by their night signals 210 5 vessels and by day signals 19. The loss of life and property averted in these 219 instances of course can not be estimated, but the circumstances under which a large portion of the warnings were made indicate that it-must have been very considerable. . The cost of main- taining the service for the year was $1,401,805. Attention is invited to the inadequacy of the compensation of the superintendents of life-saving districts and their crews. WATER-TUBE VERSUS CYLINDRICAL BOILERS. The Navy Bureau of Steam Engineering has been making tests for some time past of two different types The question of the water-tube boiler is one that is absorbing the attention of the de- signers of naval machinery, and the aim is to geta boiler which, while being reasonably light, shall be capable of easy repair in case of a ruptured tube, and codtain so much water that a slight derangement of the feed apparatus will not result in burning out the boiler. ‘The tests made by the Engineering Bureau were on steamers on the Great. Lakes. The. first steamer ex- perimented with was fitted with Belleville boilers, the second with Babcock & Wilcox boilers. For the pur- pose of comparing the results in. the latter, case with -what might be -expected from ordinary cylindrical ‘boilers under similar conditions of service a like test was made on another steamer, identical with the one “equipped with Babcock & Wilcox boilers, in every re- spect alike except the boilers. As a result of these tests - it was decided to put a Babcock & Wilcox boiler in the Chicago for one-half her power, 4,500 indicated horse- _power. Subsequent to the award of the contract the ‘department approved the request of the contractors for a ‘the consttuction of gunboat No. 10 and for gunboat No. ‘16, to supply this type of boiler instead of the cylin- iu | <a eng Latif) mn : Wal { \ j Me c—) CLEVELAND— -DECEMBER 3, 1896— 5—CHICAGO. drical one cf the Sachipitedn design, ‘The ssineele of this boiler in the two classes of gunboats will furnish a good opportunity to demonstrate its value as compared with the cylindrical boilers fitted in the other gunboats of the same class. + + GERMANY’S MERCHANT MARINE. U.S. Consul Monaghan, writing the Department of State Irom Chemnitz, on Germany’s merchant marine, says that since 1871 it has greatly developed. The num- ber of shipsis less, but the tonnage increased froin 982,000 to 1,550,000, or over 58 per cent. The number of sailing vessels decreased from 4,372 in 1871 to 2,622 in 1895, a de- crease of 40 per cent. in number, and in tons 239,000, or 26 per cent. The increase in steamships is more no'e- worthy. In 1871 there were but 147, and in 1895 about 1,013. ‘Their tonnage in 1871 was. 82,000, and in 1895 about 893,000. A comparison of these figures with Great Britain shows that England’s merchant marine is much CAPT. HENRY W. STONE, MASTER OF THE “NORTH LAND.” Photo. by John H. Ryder, Cleveland. (See Page 7.) larger than that of Germany, but it shows greater de- velopment in the marine power of the latter. The in- crease in tonnage for 1896 promises to be much larger than for any year since 1871. Inthe growing capacity to meet any increase in commercial activity, as well as a rapid growth along the lines hitherto held almost ex- elusively by England, France and Holland, Germany sees much encouragement. rrr 2 + i TO FACILITATE CARRIAGE BY WATER. Plans for the construction of a waterway connecting Lake Michigan with the Grand Calumet river at Ham- mond, Ind.,- have been submitted to Maj. Marshall, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., stationed at Chicago, and a movement has taken definite form to present a bill to $2 PER RYEAR. 100. SINGLE COPY the general <ssembly, which will meet at Indianapolis in January, which will authorize North township to issue bonds for $200,000. - The project inyolves the construction of inland “har- bor basins in Wolf and George Lakes, for which the last Congress appropriated $8,000. If the Indiana legislature takes’ cognizance of the work the harbors will be completed speedily, j The plans provide for a canal 300 feet wide from Lake Michigan south through Wolf Lake toa point one mile east of Hammond. There is ample room at the lake for large industries and several manufacturing concerns are se solo negotiating for sites. ante ro 0 THE MONTHLY MEAN FOR DECEMBER. The following data, covering a period of 25 years, have been compiled from the Weather Bureau records at Clevaland, Ohio. During the month of December, for - 25 years, the mean or normal temperature was 32°, The warmest month was that of 1889, with an average of 42°, and the coldest month was that of 1876, with an average of.20°. The highest temperature. was 68° on December Sy 1875. The'lowest temperature was 12° on December Wignt8 02 « ig aaa (rain and melted snow).—Average for the month, 2.70 inches. Average number of days with -01 of an inch or more, 17. ‘The greatest monthly preci- pitation was 550 inches in 1873, The least monthly precipitation was 0.84 inches in 1871. The greatest amount of precipitation recorded in any 24 consecutive hours, was 1.87 inches on December 12, 1873. The greatest amount of snowfall recorded in any 24 consecu- tive hours (record extending to winter of 1884-5 only) was 6.6 inches on December 3, 1893. ; Average number of clear days, 3; partly cloudy days, 9; cloudy days, 19. The prevailing winds have been from the scuthwest. The highest velocity of the wind was 45 miles from the west on D.cember 11, 1878, and on December 12, 1894. j : SEO Sie ges So beads : THE SHREWDNESS OF SHREWD MEN. The consolidated New York and New Jersey Pilots’ Association of the port of New York, in order to in- crease the efficiency, of their service, have recently given orders for a new steel, steam pilot boat which was designed by the eminent naval architect, A. Cary Smith, and which is not only to embody all the most modern im- provements known to the art of. the marine architect, but all the material entering into her construction is to be of specified chemical purity, free from phosphorus or sulphur, and is to be tested physically by samples cut from the plates, angles or shapes, before the material is used. /The specifications require each’ strake of plates to be of stated weight per square foot; each plate will therefore have to be weighed in order to prove that the plates have not been scanted in thickness by being rolled lighter than the specifications call for; which not only insures a vessel of standard weight, but one of assured strength as well. ‘The vessel is to be built and the ma- terial is to be tested in accordance with the rules of the American Shipmasters’ Association, as published in the Record of American and Foreign Shipping. The vessel will be required to class *Al for twenty years in that association. EE DD Oe EE WE are pleased to note that the article on ‘‘Triple Screw Vessels,’’ published on page 7 in our issue, of November 26th as the opinion of Prof. Carl Basley, of the German navy, was an editorial translation from the original for publication in the Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, the original paper of course, being contributed in the German.