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10. THE MARINE RECORD, CHICAGO Nautical School, F. W. WHEELER & COMPANY, BUILDERS OF ALL KINDS OF 20 MICHIGAN AVE., CHICAGO. A Full and Complete Course of Instruction in Lake and Ocean Navigation. Candidates re- pared for Examinations before Local Inspectors. GREAT LAKES REGISTER PRIZES. TWO PRIZES, $50; SIX $25. Students may begin at any time. SEND FOR CIRCULAR. Iron, Steel, ana * Wooden Ships — FOR LAKE OR OCEAN SERVICE. West Bay City, Mich. @eaoq FP. W. WHEELER, Pres. H. T. WICKES, Y. P. J. S. PORTER, Treas. C. W. STIVER, Sec’y. PRONTIER IRON WORKS, Detroit Mich. MARINE ENGINES. Wm. Wilford’s ome ;, W. A. McGittis « Co. - Matchless Waterproot Cloth AND Societe Anonyme De Veluwe, Japan Paint. 57 WADE BUILDING. EDWARD A. BUNKER, Sole Agent, 20 Broad St., New York City. DREDGING. waa CLEVELAND, OHIO. CORRESPONDENCE. 4@s-We do not hold ourselves responsible in any way for the views or opinions expressed by our correspondents. It is our desire that all sides of any question affecting the interests or welfare of the lake ma- rine should be fairly represented in THE MARINE RECORD. SHIPYARD WAGES-—A CORRECTION. I have just received the following letter in reference to an item which appeared in last week’s correspondence to the RECORD, and as it is a pleasure to be set right on any subject which is susceptible of a misleading tenor we cheerfully pub- lish the letter together with the exact rendering of the in- vestigating committee, from which it can be seen that F. W. Wheeler & Co. have acted all through in a considerate man- ner towards their employes. West Bay City, Micu., March 7, 1898. Editor Marine Record: In your issue of March 3rd we notice an item in your De- troit correspondence, stating that the State Board of Arbitra- tion had reviewed the testimony taken in the matter of the strike of our riveters and had rendered a verdict to the effect that the ’97 rate is to be paid all employes; that riveters and setters’ wages are to be $2,50 for 10-hour day; that the rate offered by the company was $2.25 and that both sides had agreed to stand by the result of the arbitration. Your corres- pondent is evidently at sea in every statement made, as the enclosed copy of the decision will show. This decison corres- sponds in every particular with our offer to the men before the strike. Would also state that the board did not arbitrate this case; it merely held an investigation at the request of the men. They alone agreed to stand by the decision what- ever it might be. Our rate of wages at the present time is the same as be- fore the strike and is considerably in advance of the ’97 scale, Will you kindly make this correction in your next issue? Yours truly, F. W. WHEELER & Co., “ i Per.C. W. Stiver, Sec. : STATE OF MICHIGAN, The State Court of Mediation and Arbitration. In the mattter of the Wheeler Ship Yard Strike at West Bay City, in the county of Bay. DECISION OF THE CouR?T.—After careful consideration of the evidence in this case, and after an examination of the F. W. Wheeler & Co. contracts relating to boats Nos. 124, 125 and 126, we find: First: That the wages of the shippers and calkers should be 25c per hour. Second: That the scale of wage prices in the F. W. Wheeler shipyard for 1897 with a raise of 7 per cent. added thereto, as per offer of said company to their employes under date of January 20th, 1808, is fair and reasonable under all the circumstances, and all the company could afford to do for labor in the construction of the three boats above mentioned. Third: That the agreement referred to in the evidence in this case as exhibit 8, is not seriously objectionable, and can work no harm to the employes who are willing to do what is fair and right. Fourth: That no discrimination should be made against the employes or so called ‘‘strikers’’; but that all of them should be taken back and given work, subject of course to the right which all employers have, to decide as to the qualifications and competency of their employes. Dated Detroit, March Ist, 1898. CaRL, L,. SCHMIDT, T. H. ROBERTS, JEROME W. ROBBINS, Members of said Court. oor co SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT STEEL. The term steel signifies iron contaning a small percentage of carbon, which may vary from less than 1 to 15 per cent. In modern times steel signifies iron that has an infinitesi- mal amount of carbon in it, provided it is produced by the open hearth or Bessemer process. Meteoric iron is a close representative of nickel steel, and was used by the ancients. The majority of steel in the early times was obtained from wrought iron. Wrought iron is produced from cast iron melted in contact with iron cinder and iron ore, and when cooled and worked again heated in closed vessels with shavings of horn and similar material. Steel under the intense heat of a converter is as liquid as water. In 1878 another great advance was made in the art by Mr. Sidney Gilchrist Thomas, by which ordinary grades of iron ore were rendered available for steel making. The Thomas invention related to the addition of a quantity of lime to the charge, and the lining of the converter with special bricks formed of lime which absorbed the phosphorus in the cast iron. : The slag obtained by the Thomas process is found to be rich in phosphorus, and is used largely as a fertilizer. The Thomas improvement is the greatest yet made on the Bessemer process. E Following the Thomas discovery the next important im- provement in the process was that made by William Siemens in 1882, which consisted in burning the fuel so as to produce a gas which was burned in a peculiar furnace, obtaining thereby high temperature and great economy of heat. Steel in its hardest state is too brittle for most purposes, and the requisite strength and elasticity is obtained by tem- pering, which is performed by heating it to a certain color, dependent on the use to which it is to be put, and cooling 4 quickly, 2 The tensile strength of steel ranges from 75,000 to 96,000 : pounds. The average is about 86,000. A hemp rope 16.5 inches in circumference would be the equivalent in strength of a steel rope five inches in circum- ference.—From ‘‘Riehle’s Digest of Physical Tests.”’ or or or MILWAUKEE YACHTING. The Milwaukee Carnival Association will offer cash prizes to the owners of the winning yachts in the races which are - to be held on the bay on July 2, which has been set aside as naval day at that port. Ata meeting held a few days ago it was decided to vote $2,000 for expenses which might be in- curred in getting the yachts to Milwaukee. From this amount the prizes will also be taken. It is expected that yachts from Chicago, White Bear Lake, Cleveland, Detroit, Oshkosh, Neenah, Fond du Lac and several other cities will be sent to compete in the various events which will be arranged later. Commodore Coleman has announced that he expected fully 150 yachts would be entered, and it has been decided to divide these yachts into nine classes. The regular regatta will also take place on July 4. The program this season will surpass all former events, as it is expected that the yachts entered in the races to be given during the carnival will remain and compete in the events of the association. ee See