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12 THE MARINE RECORD. NOVEMBER 9, 1899 FD, Chicago Pautical School 1513 Masonic Temple, CHICAGO. W. J. WILSON, (Late Lieutenant U. S. Navy), Principal. A full and complete course of instruction in lake and ocean navigation. Also special branches taught those desiring to qualify themselves for better positions in the marine service, $200 in prizes (Great Lakes Regis- ter) awarded annually to students. Students taught by correspondence. Students may begin at any time. Send for circular. ESO} VALUELESS SHIPBUILDING TESTS. Regarding the recent yacht races in which the Shamrock failed to wrest the America cup fromits holders, after the expenditure of hundreds of thousands of dollars, the only observable result shows that a sailing machine built in the United States succeeded on three separate occasions in going over a given course in a few minutes less time than a similar machine built in Great Britian. It is observable that neither the Columbia nor the Shamrock are of any value whatever from a utilitarian standpoint. Neither of them can ever be used for any useful purpose, not even for yachting, and the fact that one of them can, under certain circumstances, make a little better time than the other, cannot be utilized in any practical manner, This mania for making records which have no value is criticized by a writer in The American Machinist who, writing just previous to the recent yacht races, said: The international yacht races for the cup the America won a generation and a half ago are just about to come of, and I would have reason to be ashamed of myself if I was not considerabiy interested, not so much as to who wins as in the means by which the cup is to be held or regained. The designing and the construction of the racing machines and the manipulation of them are, in every detail, in the line of the mechanic’s and the engineer’s daily and constant occupation. They embody completely the problem of the application of certain available forces to the accomplishment of a certain purpose. The thing about the whole affair that can be re_ garded only with dissatisfaction is that the races when finished will have demonstrated or accomplished nothing of any discoverable practical value. The yachts are worthless for pleasure, for the oyster business, or for anything else, and the success of the one or the other will help us not in the least toward the building of better boats for any service. We do not know everything yet about either the building or the sailing of boats in the lines of service where all such avail- able knowledge is most desirable, but these yacht races apparently add nothing to our available knowledge. Speed tests of all kinds, the writer says, offer great tempta- tions to ignore practical conditions. Not content with learn- ing the ordinary possibilities of the bicycle, we must suck a cyclist along behind a locomotive at a milea minute; instead of inquiring how fast a steamboat may go while retaining its “usefulness, we throw away all use and try to build boats that are all engine and nothing else. He thus sets the seal of his condemnation on the modern torpedo-boat, which he regards as a case in point: as Ican not but think that our government, following the lead of other admiralties, is throwing away a lot of good money upon torpedo-boats and torpedo-boat destroyers. The other day I had the pleasure of seeing the completed engines for one of these boats, and also of looking over the hull, not yet launched. No onecan realize how far the process of cutting down the weights upon these things has been carried except by a personal inspection. The engines are the per- fection of workmanship in every detail, but they suggest also throughout weakness and unsafety, and when these engines break down on trial, as they usually do, and itis lucky if some of the men are not killed, neither the work- manship nor the material is the place to look for the fault. The hull was such as a sight of the engines would suggest, To call it an eggshell is inadequate. Here wssa boat about 180 feet long, I think, to carry engines of 4,000 horse-power, MARINE REPAIRING AT MANITOWOC, WIS. The Goodrich Transportation Co. are prepared to do all kinds of Repair Work to Machinery, Also Joiner Work. Goodrich Transportation Company’s Repair Shops include complete Carpenter and Joiner Shop. New Modern Machine Shop. Blacksmith Shop, including Steam Hammer, Punch and Shears, etc., Brass Foundry. Repair Shops are adjacent to Dry Dock and are equipped with best Modern Machinery. Porta- ble Electric Drills, etc., complete Electric Power Plant for supplying motors on board ships, and lighting. Night work a specialty. All work in charge of experienced and skilled mechanics. Charges moderate. Twenty-one feet of water alongside of shops. and the plating of the hull a trifle over 1-8 inch thick and not a double shell anywhere. The decks also were single, and a little over one sixteenth inch thick, and buckled under my feet as I walked, and everything in proportion. If any- thing touches this hull it must be crushed, and it can not take long to rust it through—and then where are we? We may strain for fine points far beyond the line of profit. There are many things that it is easy enough to get excited about, and in which wetry to beat all creation, but after we have done it we often find that it costs more than it comes to. ——— or CHINESE COURTESY. Wu Ting-Fang, the Chinese Ambassador at Washington, addressed the Commercial Congress at Philadelphia on the 1gth ult. He commented on the firmer commercial relations existing between the Pacific coast and his own country, and said that the United States is now in a favorable position to increase her trade with China. The American commercial man, the Ambassador added, will always be welcomed by the Chinese. On the other hand, the Chinese are just waking up to the fact that it is to their advantage to foster commercial unity with the United States. The Ambassador, referring to the exclusion of Chinese from the Philippines by General Otis, condemned that act, not as contrary to international treaties, but as being suicidal on the part of the United States. His remarks were hailed with great applause. After this meeting the Ambassador was entertained at an impromptu reception. TD rr EASTERN FREIGHTS. There has been a fair amount of chartering for grain car- goes by steam during the week, but unfortunately at the expense of rates, which have continued to decline. The re- cent rather heavy list of arrivals has, however, been fairly well disposed of again, and freights for later fixtures should naturally show an advancing tendency, were it not for the handicap of the continued car famine, under which charter- ers are afraid to commit themselves for later periods. Cot- ton shipments in the Gulf and at the Atlantic ports have not yet shown any activity, and rates continue dull and de- pressed, the article moving in small parcels only. Business in other commodities is not very active either; the lack of rolling stock, now mainly devoted to domestic purposes, ex- ercising a depressing influence on export trade generally. Our market for sailing vessels remains in the same strong position as of late, but the business accomplished has been of alimited character. The only object of interest is fur- nished by the fixture of several vessels for case oil to the Far East at full rates, in some instances presenting an advance of one-half cent to one cent. —__ oo aee It recently became necessary to take a steamer from St: Petersburg, Russia, to the Caspian Sea. ‘The vessel was the twin-screw steamer Meridian, which had been especially designed for service in those waters, but was of too great a draught for the channel of the route necessary to be followed, viz., the Marinski canal system and the Volga river. The feat was eventually accomplished by means of a system of pontoons secured to the vessel by chains carried underneath, and shored by wooden shores to the edges of the shell plat- ing of the vessel, This buoyed ‘the vessel up the required shallowness of draught, and the passage was successfully accomplished. drive a small boat or shop. Know Your Own Ship is a book valuable to the Vessel Owner, Mas: ter, Naval Architect, and, in fact, all inter- ested in vessel handling and construction, A simple explanation of the stability, con-— struction, tonnage and freeboard of ships Specially arranged for the use of ships’ offi- cers, superintendents, draughtsmen and others. By Thomas Walton, naval architect lecturer to ships’ officers, government navi gation school. Fourth edition greatly en-— larged. Illustrated; cloth, $2.50, by express prepaid. ‘ THE TARINE RECORD, Third Floor, Western Reserve Building, Cleveland. LITERARY NOTICES. Harper & Bros. are to start an illustrated monthly, devoted — ; to travel and adventure, to be called the Franklin Square Magazine. One of the most disastrous and picturesque storms that ever visited the New England coast was ‘‘The Great November Storm of 1898.’ The full story of its far reaching effects and te many incidents of stirring human interest has been written for the November Scribner’s by Sylvester Baxter. The pic- tures by H. W. Ditzler, who was there at the time, are vivid realizations of some of the scenes along the shore. : “Pen and Pencil Sketches of Shipping’”’ by R. T. Pritchett, the marine painter, which will shortly be issued by Edward Arnold, 37 Bedford street, Strand, London, may be consid- ered a unique work, and one that will appeal to all lovers of thesea. Mr. Pritchett has enjoyed exceptional opportunities of cruising all over the world, including voyages in the fam- ous Sunbeam, with Lord Brassy, to whom the volume is ded- icated. Among thecraft sketched will be found animmense variety of vessels, large and small, commencing with the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert, and ending with Malay proas at the Murray Island in the Antipodes. Great care has been taken to reproduce Mr. Pritchett’s exquisite draw- ings with fidelity, and the descriptive letterpress is en- riched with many a yarn from the author’s world-wide experiences. The Slide Valve Simply Explained. By W. J. Tenant, Revised and much enlarged by J. H. Kinealy, D. E. Spon & Chamberlain, 12 Cortlandt street, New York. 1899, Size, 5 by 5%. With 41 original illustrations. Cloth, $1.00. This work is based on notes and diagrams which were pre- pared by the writer originally to help his railway students toward the obtainment of clear general notions upon the _ important subject of the slide valve. Instead of using the — complicated valve diagrams and formulz, he has endeavored to simplify the matter by a system of cardboard diagrams — in which the successive positions of valve and crank can be closely followed. All the different working conditions of valves and effects of alterations to the same are discussed. — The book is nicely illustrated, and different styles of modern valves are shown and their action described. Small Engines and Boilers. A manual of concise and — specific directions for the construction of small engines and boilers of modern types, from 5 horse-power down to model — sizes, for amateurs and others interested in such work, by Egbert P. Watson. D. Van Nostrand Co., 23 Murray and 17 Warren street, New York. 1899. Size, 53¢ by 8%. Pages, 108. With 30 working dimensioned drawings. Cloth, — $1.25. This book is intended chiefly for amateurs and students, on the assumption that those who need a guide of this kind have some actuatntance with ordinary machine work, The plans of the different size engines and boilers are carefully drawn, and have correct dimensions, and are so designed that they may be built with a limited number of small tools and still be mechanical jobs. The work con- tains hints on lathe work, or vice work and finishing metals, which will be of service to those who have but a limited experience. The author lays particular stress on good workmanship in comparison with the tinker work which is too often employed in making working models. Several of the engines and boilers described are of sufficient size to