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4 THE MARINE RECORD. _ F. W. WHEELER & CO.”*8 WORK. | The Pere Marquette, built at the yards of F. W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay! City,:Mich., is probably the strongest car ferry steamer ever, built in the United States. Her length between perpendiculars is 331 feet, over all 350 feet, beam 56 feet, depth below main deck 19 feet 6 inches. The channels are spaced twenty-four inches amidship and four- teen inches forward. Channel beams braced vertically and horizontally span the hull at close intervals midway be- tween the floor and main deck, to resist the crushing pres- ” sure of ice-shoyels during the winters. The hull has six water-tight bulkheads for safety in case of collision. If any two of the compartments should fill with water the steamer would still be able to carry her cargo. The for- ward plating is three-quarters inch and double for a dis- tance of sixty feet back of the stem: The plating is also doubled on the between deck beam strake. The keelsons are close and extra heavy, and in the forward compart- ments they are almost solid. About 2,700 tons of plates and. angles entered into the construction of her hull, and steel rivets were used for fastenings. The model of the hull has gained the admiration of all who: visited the Wheeler yard during the time it was approaching com- pletion: .The engines of the steamer are two in number and of fore-and-aft compound pattern, with 27 and 56-inch cylin- ders and 36-inch stroke. They will turn twinscrews 11 feet The above-named mines can turn out 1,000,000 tons of ore annually, although during the «season of 1896 the amount of ore produced was only about 375,000 tons, Pickands, Mather & Co. operate forty-six vessels, includ- ing the American Steel Barge Co. fleet, the Interlake fleet and the Huron Barge Co.’s vessels. The American. Steel Barge Company will build another barge during the win- ter, One reason,why Pickands, Mather & Co. were se- lected to represent the Metropolitan Company was be- cause of the facilities which the firm "possesses. TWIN SCREW LIGHT-HOUSE TENDERS. As announced and advertised in these columns, the U. S. Light-House Board will have built two twin-screw light- house tendets, bids for which are to be opened on the 30th inst., and the construction to be complete. within ten months from date of awarding contract. The appropriation calls for $75,000, to be expended on each tender, and at that figure a very complete little steam- er can now be turned out. The dimensions of the sister boats are to be 164 feet over all, 155 feet between perpen- diculars, 30 feet molded beam, and 11 feet 10 inches depth, with five water-tight bulkheads. -~Engines—twin inverted surface, condensing diameter of cylinder 26 inches, with a stroke of 30 inches. Boilers—two multitubular straight- flued marine, 9 feet diameter and 17 feet in length; to have | _ the old books, erasing the word-“‘one”. preceding the word — “year where it occurs therein, and interlining the word — “five” instead, until such time as they shall receive the new license books. E oe a The act referred to also provides that, after the first day - of January, 1897, “no person shall be qualified to hold a license. as a commander or watch officer of a merchant — vessel of the United States who is not a ‘native-born citizen, cr v.hose naturalization as a citizen shall not have’been fully completed.” Inspectors will see that the law as here quoted is carried out, by refusing, after January 1, 1897,to » issue licenses except to persons qualified as therein stated, ae and should also demand for cancellation all outstanding licenses licid by persons not so qualified: 2a ONE The act referred to also provides for issuing one renewal of license to licensed officers engaged in-service outside the United States, upon receipt of an application in writing from the liclder thereof, for such renewal, “verified before a consul, er cther officer of the United States authorized. to administe1 an oath, setting forth the reasons for not: appearing in person.” rh Attached hereto will be above teferred to. found the full toad of the act JAS. A. DUMONT, Approved:. Supervising Inspector-General. W. E. CURTIS, fs ee Acting Secretary. in diameter. The shafting tubes for the wheels are con- structed as a portion of the hull and carry an inside cast steel tube in which the shafts run. Steam will be furnished by four boilers, each 13 feet 3 inches in diameter and 12 feet long, and allowed a working pressure of 130 pounds to'the square inch. Like all modern steamers, the Pere Marquette is supplied with steam steering gear, steam windlass and capstans. © She also carried a 16-inch lens search-light. The Pere Marquette will carry thirty loaded cars and 200 tons of coal on the draught of 14 feet of water, and: has a gross tonnage of 5,580. ‘The builder’s contract contains a‘guarantee of twelve and one-half miles per hour average speed, biit she ‘will be able to cover fifteen miles per hour easily. ~ Unlike the Ann Arbor and Shenango car ferries the Pere’ Marquette carries two pole spars, but like them hér ‘smokestacks are placed fore and aft. ; Mr. Robert Logan, marine architect and consulting en- gineer of Cleveland, designed and superintended the con- struction for the owners of the Pere Marquette, and much credit-is due Mr. Logan for the superior construction noted in the foregoing, ; A CONSOLIDATION. President S. S. Curry, of the Metropolitan Land and Iron Company, has issued a. circular announcing the ap- pointment of Pickands, Mather & Co..as general agents for.the handling and sale of ore produced by the Norris and Pabst mines. Mr. E. C. Pope formerly represented the Metropolitan Company in the capacity in which Pick- atids, Mater & Co. wift tow act. PLAN OF THE TWO NEW LIGHT-HOUSE TENDERS. two Fox corrugated furnaces of 42 inches mean’ diameter. The twin propellers are to be 7 feet in diameter. These tenders will be named the Mangrove and May- flower, one to be stationed at Boston and the other at Key West, Fla. If built on the lakes they are to be delivered on the Atlantic coast. We further note that they will be built according to the rules of the American Shipmasters’ Association, of New York, reference to which is frequently used throughout the plans and specifications. NOTICE OF CHANGE OF LAW REGARDING THE ISSUE OF STEAMBOAT OFFICERS’ LICENSES. Treasury Department, Steamboat-Inspection Service. Office of the Supervising Inspector-General. Washington, D. C., December 8, 1896. To Supervising and Local Inspectors of Steam Vessels, and others whom it may concern: An act of Congress approved May 28, 1896, chapter 255, First session, Fifty-fourth Congress, authorizes licenses to officers of steam vessels to be issued, after January 1, 1897, for a term of five years instead of one 'year’as heretofore, Inspectors will, therefore, after the date indicated, in is- suing original, or renewing old licenses, issue them for the term of five years. ; i New licenses for the purpose are being prepared, and will be furnished inspectors, it'is hoped, in time to begin their tse on the 2d of January, 1897. In case, however, the new license books should fail 'to reach any board of local inspectors by the 2d'proximo, they will issue licenses from A SCOTCH BUILT YACHT. The new steam yacht Varuna, owned by Eugene Hig- gins, recently arrived at New York from Greenock. She was built on the Clyde by A. & J. Ingliss from designs by G..L..Watson.. She is schooner rigged and has two masts with a small yard on the foremast. She is fitted with twin screws, driven by quadruple expansion engines. Her maximum speed is about 17 knots an hour. She is 1,574 tons gross and 595 tons net register. The yacht is fitted | with all the latest improvements and appliances, She car- ries a crew of 61 men, all told, The Varuna had a very — rough passage, but proved herself an able sea boat. f ltr Peal iests i “A GOOD RECORD. !: tidis The Goodrich Line passenger steamer., Atlanta,. Capt. Nicholson, was carried through the past season. in avery successful manner and handled by Engineer William. Jez: rome to the entire satisfaction of ‘her owners. _ ?he,. Ate, lanta made 113 round trips, and traveled: over a computed distance of 27,000 miles during the. season. The Grand Haven Daily. News speaks in the highest and most fulsome terms of Capt. Nicholson, whois certainly-one of ‘the most favorably known and. experienced. navigators ‘o: Lake Michigan. The chief engineer, William Jerome, i also given a most flattering notice in the same newspaper. Haven'people, ©). Roe ‘ ~