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ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. E, RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. ee SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - $2.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, = = $3.00 Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, 0. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., NOVEMBER 23, 1899. THE City of Wheeling is to be the nameof the new river _ steamer 165 feet long and 34 feet beam, to be built the coming winter by Mazingo Bros., Clarington, W. Va. : a Boynton & THompPson have let the contract for rebuild- ing the wrecked steamer Harlem to the Craig Ship Building _ Co. of Toledo. The steamer will not be lengthened. oO Oo MARINE men are commencing a campaign against the Portage Lake bridge, between Hancock and Houghton, which is becoming a dangerous obstruction to the navigation of modern freighters and especially tows. aie Ree ” THE Bureau of Navigation at Washington has been inform- ed that the Norwegian ‘‘flag law’’ of 1898, which in effect - removes the symbol of union between Sweden and Norway _ from the Norwegian merchant flag, will gointo force on December 15, 1899. ; oor oo A CONTINUOUS toot of whistles. say four or any number ‘above that, is an alarm, danger or distress signal, as under- _ stood on the lakes. The U.S. S. Michigan passes a vessel _ blowing such a signal and then claims ignorance of the com- mon practice as an offset to her non-attention. OOO SO _ WE are now rapidly approaching the period of the year ; when the actual consumption of iron and steel in many branches of the industry falls off quite heavily, but prepara- tions are usually made during this time to accumulate a supply for the spring trade, always the largest in volume of the year. OS _ THE business men’s association of Traverse City have for- warded to the Michigan senators a series of resolutions _ urging the construction of a breakwater to protect the harbor that city. For some time past the subject has been agitated mong local trade organizations, and all lake vessel interests _haye cordially approved the movement. y —— Oe oe ee Mr, ALLEN, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, submits very brief report this year on the work of the naval militia. -prefacing that of Lieut. Comdr. Southerland’s. He urges the adoption of a bill for a national organization. Lieut. Comdr. Southerland gives a table showing in detail the strength of each organization. The totalis 492 officers and ,302 men, a considerable increase over the previous year, New York leads with 59 officers and 932 men; Illinois is next with 52 officers and 775 men, and Massachusetts third with 14. The allotment of $56,000 was made in proportion to the State strength of each organization. Attention is called the failure of Congress to adopt a scheme for the enroll ent and organization of a national reserve, and the necessity is urged of such legislation to place the State Naval Militia on a more solid basis. THE MARINE RECORD. NOVEMBER 23, 1899. SOCIETY OF NAVAL ARCHITECTS. At the seventh annual meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers held in New York Novem- ber 16 and 17, very interesting papers were read on a variety of subjects. Spencer Miller, in treating of the coaling of vessels at sea, discussed various plans such as Lowry’s, Bell’s, Tupper’s Low’s, Walsh’s and Niblack’s, in all of which he found defects militating against their success. The difficulties of coaling at sea during the Spanish-Ameri- can war and recent French experiments were dwelt on and Mr. Miller explained his device for coaling in which, he claims, a sea anchor maintains a constant tension on the endless cable. Rear Adml. Melville, in a paper on ‘‘Causes for the adop- tion of water-tube boilers in the U. S. Navy,’”’ though declar- ing that such boilers are ‘‘bad in principle,’’ said that it was with some misgiving that he considered water-tube boilers tactical necessities for warships. He hoped to see the day when boilers would have fire tubes and all the advantages of water-tube boilers. Though op- posing until now their adoption by the Navy he thought the water-tube boiler must be used if we wished to keep up with other nations. The battle of Santiago, Admiral Melville believed, showed the necessity of water-tube boilers. Had the New York possessed them she would have gained three knots in speed and ‘‘the Navy would have been spared a controversy.’’ John Hyslop said better ways of launching ships’ boats were imperative as no boat could be launched today with the speed required to make them efficient safeguards against loss of life. George W. Dickie explained how complications in warships are increasing and thought a central working pass- age for interior communication would operate in the direc- of simplification. H.F. Norton, in a technical paper dis- cussed beam formulas, applied to vertically stiffened bulk- heads. Naval Const. Lloyd Bankson, U. S. N., submitted notes on the sheathing of the U.S. S. Chesapeake. W. I. Babcock explained the system of work in a lake shipyard, a Chicago institution being selected for illustration. Overhead cranes and appliances were discussed by James Dickie; Rear Adml. Hichborn, chief constructor, U.S. N., in treating of the Denver class of cruisers, took occasion to say that the New Orleans is essentially a ‘‘show’’ vessel and her design is not one “‘that would be found emanating from the British Admir- alty or from our Navy Department.” Asst. Nay. Constr. R. M. Watt, U.S. N., illustrated exist- ing novelties in ship fittings and Prof. Cecil H. Peabody told of the progressive speed trials of the U. S. S. Manning, Lieut. A. P. Niblack, U. S. N., discussed the technical con- siderations involved in torpedo boat design. Bow torpedo tubes he regarded asa folly and favorably viewed the sug- gestion of Lieut Comd. Kimball, U. S. N., that a large depot steamer be used as a base for a group of seagoing torpedo boats. Prof. Wm. F. Durand read a paper on the action of the rudder. These essays were accompanied with diagrams and illustrations. Interesting discussions followed the read- ing of these papers. The proceedings closed with a ban- quet on Friday evening. i or LAKE TONNAGE. The annual report of the Commissioner of Navigation for the fiscal year ended June 30, last, shows that the total docu- mented tonnage on that date comprised 22,728 vessels, of 4,864,238 gross tons. Of this the proportion sailing on the Great Lakes is well maintained, the report showing the number of vessels to be 3,169 as against 3,256 for the pre. vious year, a loss of 87. The tonnage increased, however, from 1,437,500 to 1,446,348 gross tons. Commissioner Chamberlain explains that the decrease in the number of vessels is due to the efforts of some owners on the lakes to take their vessels to coast ports. Other vessels have been lost and replaced by a smaller number of greater tonnage and consequently of greater carrying and earning capacity. The average size of vessels on the lakes is shown to be al- most double the average of those in other portions of the country. The average measurement of the lake vessels is 480 tons; on the Atlantic coast 160 tons; on the Pacific coast 260 tons, and on the rivers 200 tons. ‘ Shipbuilding on the lakes enjoyed a boom during the fis- cal year. Fourteen steam vessels were constructed and put in service. One was a side-wheeler of 747 tons, and thirteen were screw boats. They aggregated 42,891 tons. Cleveland leads in construction with ten vessels of 34,266 gross tons. Two were built at Detroit with an aggregate measurement of 4,402 tons. Port Huron registered 4,936 tons. Three sail- ing vessels, aggregating 10,488 tons, were built. These so- called sailing vessels are barges, ordinarily towed, but fitted with sails so that they may be navigated in event that they go adrift. The documented vessels on the lakes are distributed by states as follows: New York, 852, of 271,301 tons; Pennsyl- vania, 57, of 39,257 tons; Ohio, 440, of 393,263 tons; Michi- gan, 1,022, of 400,782 tons; Illinois, 245, of 72,817 tons; Wis- C consin, 319, of 89,565 tons; Duluth, Minn., 204, of 175,377. tons. —.]$$ aa ee Att, of this talk about bad canned beef is chestnutty—we don’t mean that the beef is chestnutty, but the talk is. In the over-sea merchant service it is always expected that after opening a case or two a few cans are to be thrown overboard. The simple question lays in the fact of the tins being her- _ metically sealed or not, sometimes, and we presume from a mechanical failure or the oversight of a workman, the seal- ing is not perfect ; air penetrates, and later a moderate ex- plosion ‘occurs, or at least the tins become blown, hence, they are thrown over the side without any more ado. It is possible that some of our younger soldier boys and youths, tenderly reared, should have had nurses sent with them, in fact it was at one time suggested that a regiment of women should be sent to attend to their laundry, etc., but the pro- posal did not seem to carry full weight. War, naval or military, is not a charming picnic at any stage of the pro- ceedings. —— ae Sa Tue Civil and Military Gazette, of India, thinks that Ad- miral Hichborn’s invention of an illuminated life buoy de- serves greater publicity than it has received. ‘‘It would seem well worth the while of the large passenger steamship companies,’ says the Gazette, ‘‘to adopt such a useful life- saving device at sea, and it is, perhaps, a proof of British backwardness in availing ourselves of the inventions of other nations, that a couple of years should elapse before such an appliance is brought to public notice.’’ It is also as well to observe that illuminated life-buoys are about half a century ahead of the present time, or in other words, the suggestion is about fifty years old and the device has long ago been perfected. A life-buoy thrown overboard at night can now Show its location for several hours, so that the India Gazette simply points out its ignorance of this maritime sub- ject. 5 oo or or AND now a number of journals are springing the old cus- tom of salting wooden built vessels as an innovation. In the name of shipbuilding, in the fresh or salt water trade, where would unventilated timber be without salt? The firm of Troops, Nova Scotia, learned that salt eats away the fastenings and, therefore, tried the life of a wooden ship without salting her, they had the fastenings but had to get another hull to put them into. A case of cutting up a new pair of pants to mend an old pair with. Wood should be preserved, iron and steel can do with cement and paint in either fresh or salt water, but more necessary in the latter, in fact absolutely required. : ro or oo THAT British cruiser off Delagoa Bay seems to be exer- cising the right of search without any declaration of a blockade to justify such a course. Wonder if the Britishers assume that the Africanders have the right to wage war, or is it only an insurrection. Britain seems not to have declared war but that country is as busy at war as it is pos- sible tobe. The territory of South Africa may possibly be subjugated under certain modifications. On the other hand it should be remembered that this is rathera land than a sea fight. The Britishers are surely a power on the sea but several nations could probably defeat them on land. -e OS. ee A NEw record in the building of warships has been made at the Devonport (England) dockyards. The first-class battleship Bulwark, of the most formidable class in the British navy, was ready for launching in seven months after work was begun on her. In that time over 5,500 tons of steel were built into the ship. She is 4oo feet long, 75 feet beam, displaces 15,000 tons, and will havea speed of 18 knots, qo oe THE International Pneumatic Tool Co., has been incor- porated at Chicago, with a capital of $2,500 to manufacture pneumatic tools and other tools and machinery. ‘The incor- porators are Francis J. Sullivan, Agnes Sugnue and Webb _ P. Matthews.