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12 THE RIVERSIDEIRON WORKS, S.F.HODGE&CO. Among the oldest of the establishments that have been continuously engaged in business in whole or in part con- nected with the marine interests is the Riverside Iron Works, conducted at present under the title of Samuel F. Hodge & Co. The original firm, established in 1863, was Cowie, Hodge &Co. That partnership lasted two years, when a new one was formed under the name of Hodge & Chris- tie, which continued till 1872. The business was then con- ducted under the sole name of Samuel F. Hodge. In 1883 it was incorporated under the present firm name, which it has since retained. Since its incorporation in 1883 the \ompany has more than doubled its plant, which now consists of foundry, ma- chine shop and pattern shop.. The company builds both marine and stationary engines, and the shops are well equipped for jobbing work, especially of the larger class, having large capacity in both foundry and machine shop. Each of these shops is furnished with a 25-ton electric crane, and the rest of the equipment is on a proportionate scale. The shipping facilities are excellent, having both water front and convenient railroad sidings. In the early days Mr. Samuel F. Hodge, who estab- ‘lished the business, did a great deal of mining work; this was done when there was practically nothing in the upper peninsula to go by. Each new mining venture presented problems of its own that had to be worked out, and there was need of a good deal of originality as well as. general knowledge and mechanical skill. The mining branch of the business was kept up as an important one until it was grad- ually overshadowed by the growing marine and local sta- tionary interests. . With the rapid growth of the lake navigation interests in the ’7o’s and ’80’s the company worked more and more into building marine engines, and probably has more of these running today than any other builders on the lakes, notwithstanding the fact that some of the yards which build the large freighters also build their own engines. No more severe test could be made of the fertility in resource of a firm than has been demanded by the varying require- ments of the marine service, and the deevlopment of the modern stationary engine. The methods of construction twenty, or even ten years ago, would not at all answer pres- ent needs. It is a high tribute to this company that it has not only kept up with the demands of the times, but that its ingenuity has, in many cases, anticipated them. Some of the work of this company went into vessels that became historic. It furnished the machinery for the fa- mous whaleback Wetmore, the first vessel of that type that went to the coast. That vessel created quite a stir in Liver- pool shipping circles, afterwards in Brooklyn, and again at San Francisco and other points on the Pacific coast, which she reached by passage through the Straits of Ma- gellan. They also supplied the engines for the Christopher Columbus, equally famous as the huge passenger whaleback which ran on the route from Milwaukee to Chicago and carried hundreds of thousands of excursionists during the great exposition in the latter city. Among engines which the company recently built for ocean service are those for the Mae and Porto Rico, the former intended for the Cuban and Porto Rican trade, and the latter running from New York to southern ports. The company has also built a number of yacht engines of the larger class, among others the Enquirer, built for Con- nors, of Buffalo. This craft was sold to the government during the war, went to the coast and was afterwards re- turned to the lakes, where she is now in charge of Col. Lydecker, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., of the engineers’ department. M. B. Mills’ yacht, the Cynthia, and the Sea Fox, formerly the Azalia, built for the Henkels, but. now owned by the Brush estate, were also supplied with ma- chinery by this firm. Tn the revival of the marine prosperity that commenced last year the company’s business has shared, and its managers see good prospects ahead for - the coming season. - rrr THE first electric launch to be made on the canals of Ven- ice has recently been delivered there from London. A syn- dicate composed of a number of local gentlemen has taken the matter up and secured this first launch as a type of what they wish to run for passenger traffic on the canals, subject to the approval of the local authority. The launch, which is called Alessandro Volta, provides accommodation for about fifty passengers. It length is about 56 ft. and width toft. It is equipped with roo accumulators, and its ‘main speed will vary from seven to nine miles per hour. THE MARINE RECORD. SAGINAW RIVER LUMBER OUTPUT. There was manufactured on Saginaw river last year 224,- 660,135 feet of lumber, the smallest output since 1865. At the close there was in manufacturers’ hands 77,798,930 feet, all of which is practically sold: The yards on the Sagi- naw river are carrying about 220,000,000 feet. There was manufactured 17,280,000 shingles and 27,848,- 000 pieces of lath. Lumber advanced an average of $5 a thousand during the year. Mills suffered shortage of stock by reason of Canadian prohibitive laws, only 42,575,000 feet of logs coming to Michigan last year as compared with 238,- 000,000 feet in 1808. The total product since 1851 has been 23,472,187, 157. on or con BATH’S SHIPBUILDING. It may surprise some people in shipbuilding circles, re- marks an exchange, to learn that Bath, Me, is again as pre- eminently the shipbuilding center of the new world as she has ever been. That, nevertheless, is the fact. During the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1899, Bath built more ton- nage (merchant vessels, of course) than any other cus- toms district in the United States; and, more, she built more tonnage than was turned out in any whole state, out- side of Maine. Only three districts in the United States turned out more than 20,000 tons of vessels. They were: No. of Gross Vessels. Tons. Bathe si cae ee irae en We citecinG ae eats 43 46,693 Philadeiphliaca. ccc ost anne tare evoea a7 37,625 Guvyatiogas( Cleveland) si2io ees aret 13 34,467 The district of Cuyahoga, which ranks third, is that in which Cleveland, the principal shipbuilding city of the Great Lakes, is located. In all, there were built in the United States during the year 1,273 vessels of 300,038 tons gross register. In proportion to population, Bath, Me., is the leading ship-owning city of America, there being 12 tons of shipping per person owned in that city. Duluth comes next, with 5.3 tons per person. The total number of vessels owned in this country is 22,728, with an aggregate tonnage of 4,864,238. (922. -_____ DETROIT & CLEVELAND NAVIGATION CO. While other passenger steamboat lines on the lakes have furnished the conveniences for pleasant all day excursions in different directions, the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, known the lakes over as the D. & C. line, has given a much wider extent to its operations. Its fine, mag- nificent steamers cover the whole stretch of lake and river route from Cleveland to Mackinaw, traversing the west- ern half of Lake Erie, Detroit river, Lake St. Clair and . the river of the same name, and the whole length of Lake Huron. The cities reached by the line are Cleveland, De- troit, Port Huron, Harbor Beach, Oscoda, Alpena, Cheboy- gan and St. Ignace. The pleasure resorts touched or passed are the islands of Lake Erie and Detroit river, the Flats and the adjacent resorts, and near the northern ter-. minus of the line is the emerald gem of the lakes, the island of Mackinac, famed throughout the country in his- tory and romance. The service of the D. & C. line will be, in 1900, as it was the past season, in three divisions. Detroit and Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit and Mackinac, and Cleveland, Put-in-Bay and Toledo. The third and shortest of these, operated jointly by the Detroit & Cleveland and the Cleveland & Buf- falo lines, consists of night service from May 1 to December 1, and of day service from June 10 to September 10. The night boats leave Cleveland at 10 p. m. and Toledo at 10:30, arriving at their destinations at 6 and 6:30 a. m., respec- tively. The day boats are timed so as to give from 2 to 3 hours at Put-in Bay on a single day’s excursion. — oro THE SAULT AND SUEZ CANALS. The lake tonnage that passes through the Sault canal is not only immense in itself, but is vastly greater than that which passes through the famed Suez canal. The following is the record for 1898, the Sault canal being open 248 days, and the Suez canal the whole 365 days: Number of passages Suez canal, 3,503; tonnage 12,962,622, Number of passa- ges, Sault locks, 17,761; tonnage 21,234,664. In the latter case the tonnage was almost all American. In the former the record shows only four American vessels with total tonnage of 3,161. The French, who dug the Suez canal, stand third in the number of passages through it, while the British stand first, with more than two-thirds of the whole. JANUARY 18, 1900. THE MICHIGAN YACHT AND POWER CO. One of the old plants in the city of Detroit that had been for a long time vacant has recently started again with very extensive additions. The Michigan Yacht & Power Com- pany have taken 200. feet front on Jefferson avenue, extend- ing back 1,000 feet to the channel bank of the river, direct- ly opposite the Detroit Boat Club property on Belle Isle. The tract includes a substantial structure, which has been put in thorough repair. A number of new buildings have also been erected. The plant now covers a warehouse 25x85 feet, a paint shop 70x30, a shop for small boats 160x 40, a planing mill and woodworking shop 60x60, a place 120x40 feet for building iron and steel launches. The whole plant is furnished with the best of modern ap- pliances, and is unquestionably one of the finest boat build- ing plants in the country. It is equipped with all the fa- cilities for quick repair work, and for fitting out and refit- ting craft. So far as new work goes, the company is pre- pared to build anything from a canoe to a 200-foot yacht, and to equip them with gasoline or steam engines. Another feature of. the business will be the leasing of water front and dock privileges for yachts and launches, and the river front is being improved for that purpose. The still water on either side of the dock will furnish excellent anchorage and mooring places. The company, though comparatively new, has in its su-" perintendence and management, men of large experience. In fact, there is not, in a responsible or important position, in any of the departments, a single unsuccessful or inex- perienced man. The president and general manager, O. J. Mulford, has been building boats for five years, and has been a yachtsman for 15 years, his experience in the latter capacity having given him a practical knowledge of the working requirements of different classes of craft. The super.ntendent of the works is the veteran designer and builder, Albert Seymour, known by all yachtsmen, and who has been in the business for 35 years. He has built more small boats and yachts than any other man on the lakes. He has-been for the last 12 years superintendent of the Detroit Boat Works, and still has with him in the construction de- partment men who have worked with him for that length of time, and they all speak well of Mr. Seymour, as indeed every one else does who has had anything to do with the competent and genial superintendent. or A MECHANICAL STOKER. The American Stoker Company, of 141 Broadway, New York, in a circular, states that ‘‘the modern steamship of to-day seems to have reached the zenith of mechanical genius and skill, its every function has been improved or wholly revolutionized, but the one all important thing re- mains the same, and has since the beginning, i. e., the man behind the shovel. He is the uncertain quantity; there is 25 per cent. difference in his work. He is indifferent to all except one thing, the steam pressure carried. The dollars and cents that he unnecessarily shovels in the fur- nace, concern him little.” The purpose of the American underfeed stoker is to per- fect the introduction of coal to the furnace. It feeds the coal to the fire from underneath, and may be considered a gas producer and burner combined. The coal is fed into the hopper, carried by the conveyor into the magazine, which it fills, “overflows” on both sides, and spreads upon the sides of the grates. The coal is fed slowly and continuously, and, approaching the fire in its up- ward course, it is slowly roasted and coked, and the gases released from it are taken up by the fresh air entering through the tuyeres, which explodes these gases and de- livers the coal as coke on the grates above. The continu- ous feeding gives a breathing motion to this coke bed, thus keeping it open and free for the circulation of air. So much interest was manifested by government engi- neers and others as to the practical working of the Amer- ican stokers in the steamship. Pennsylvania, that a series . of tests was ordered and was made by Lieuts. B. C. Bryan and W. W. White, U. S. N., and which proved most satis- factory. A full report of these tests was published in the Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers for August, 1899, comprising in all about 35 pages. -- Sa WARRANTS have been sworn out at Philadelphia for the ar- rest of eight seaman, deserters from the British steamer Archtor, on the ground of violating the new ruling of the Treasury Department which declares that foreign seamen leaving vessels in United States ports, must be regarded as immigrants. %