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THE MARINE RECORD. Marcu 8, 1900. CAPT. ALEX. McDOUGALL—MISSISSIPPI RIVER COMMERCE. The people of St. Louis believe that the old palmy days of the Mississippi river are to be restored, and through the in- vention of a Duluth shipbuilder, Capt. Alexander McDou- gall. The St. Louis Republic of Saturday contained the fol- lowing article, which will be of interest to lake people gen- erally : “The long-cherished dream of St. Louis shippers of a light draft steel barge line between this city and New Orleans is about to be realized, and the last dollar needed to put the plan in practical operation has been raised, and a company formed to push the enterprise. “Ata meeting held Thursday afternoon at the Noonday Club the company was formally organized and plans discuss- ed at some length. Alexander McDougall, of Duluth, Minn., the inventor of the whaleback steamers on the lakes, exhibited a number of models and explained his ideas in re- gard to adopting modern methods, machinery and appli- annces in river transportation. He demonstrated the feasi- bility of operating barges between St. Louis and New Orleans at all stages of the river. After carefully going over the plans it was decided that the company would erect its own plant and build both its barges and towboats in St. Louis, and a commit- tee was appointed to select a suitable location. “Henry S. Potter, who was instrumental in rais- jng the money and or- ganizing the company, was elected president, Alexander McDougall, vice-president and gen- eral manager, and D. R. Francis, John Scullin, Festus J. Wade, I. H. Lionberger,. Rolla Wells, Howard Elliott, James Campbell, John Fowler, Henry-S. Potter and Alexander McDougall directors. ; “The company will be _ named the St. Louis Steel SMEnrg , hind the scheme decided to wait developments, and the mat- ter was allowed to rest. “Henry S. Potter, however, started a quiet’ investigation on his own account, and in company with Mr. McDougall made a number of trips up and down the river between here and New Orleans, making charts of the channel and investi- gating the feasibility of the plan. By hard and persistent work Mr. Potter finally succeeded in overcoming all obsta- cles and raising the necessary amount of money to put the planin operation. He interested the Burlington railroad officers in the idea, and they will not only furnish their share of the money to put the plan in operation, but will do much to bring the grain and other freight to St. Louis to make the barge line a financial success. ‘‘The inauguration of the barge line will insure an all- water route between St. Louis and New York, as well as the leading Mexican Central and South American and European ports, and when the Nicaraguan canal is opened will give St. Louis an all-water route to the ports of the world. This will mean an immense adyantage to St. Louis merchants over their competitors in other cities, and will revolutionize freight rates to and from this city.’’ Capt. McDougall confirms the foregoing, he says he shall prob :bly give up his vessel agency in Duluth and his business partner, W. A. Thomson, will go to St. Louis in connection “yj bo ae. Qe Okan ae O. Vo Bae Barge Company, and will A as be incorporated for $110,- Wy a) ooo, but the capital stock _will be increased as soon Mf a Bio ° Si verse B ° x as the bargelineis putin _ operation. Work on the barges and towboats will be begun at once, and the - company expects to have a towboat and two barges completed in time to han- dle the new crop of grain. “Mr. McDongall, who has had many years’ ex- perience in steam naviga- tion, intends to inaugurate several new features in connection with the barge line, which promises to revolutionize river navigation. “Instead of using paddle wheels the towboats will be gperated by large screw propellers on shafts, which can be raised or lowered to suit the varying depths of water and at _ the same time obtain the greatest possible propelling force. Each barge will be equipped with independent steering ap- paratus, so that in passing through a narrow channel they can go in single file. A number of other innovations will also be adopted, among which will be the pulling of the tow _ as is done on the lakes, instead of pushing it, as is now done _ in river navigation. . “A number of attempts have been made to organize a steel barge line, as it was admitted by grain men and shippers generally that the inauguration of a line of light draft steel barges that would practically insure an all-water route to the _ Gulf throughout the entire year would prove the salvation of the grain trade and jobbing interests of St. Louis, but heretofore all attempts have failed. ; _ “Just before the breaking out of the war with Spain ar- _ rangements were made by Web. M. Samuel to form a com- | pany, but when the war was declared the moneyed men be- and 23.6 feet draft. 2 fF 8 ‘C= ° ° ° ° oO ° ASG SS My oe ILLINOIS.’’ Under construction at the yards of the Newport News Ship Building Co. Displacement, 11,565 tons. Dimensions, 368 feet in length; 72.214 feet beam U. S. S. BATTLESHIP with the new river steamboat company. The captain says that the gentlemen in the new company are among the wealthiest and most progressive men in St. Louis. He has recently bought the machinery of the shipyard at Everett Wash.,and Robert Patterson of Duluth, is now there for the purpose of shipping it to Collingwood, where it will be used in the new shipyard in which Captain McDougall is inter- ested, the Collingwood Ship Building Co. rr rr MARINE PATENTS. Patents on marine inventions issued Mar. 1, 1900. ported especially for the MARINE RECORD. Complete copies of patents furnished at the rate of ten cents each. 644,093. Marine air compressor. J. F. Place, Glen Ridge, N. J. 644,405. Bascule lift-bridge. J. P. Cowing, Cleveland, O. 644,457. Dredger. W. B. Pless, San Francisco, Cal., assignor of one-half to P. F. Dundon, same place. 644,480. Device for preventing ships from sinking. F. L. de Villa, Guatemala, Guatemala. 644.508. Propeller reverse-gear. York Nu V.o/- 644,521. Rotary dredging and excavating machine. Den- nis Jordan, San Francisco, Cal. F. A. Errington, New Ae SATA BAY Tonnage, 5.144. Twin Screw, 10,000 I. H. P., 16 knots. Re-. A WHALEBACK MODEL FOR A BATTLESHIP. The armored battleship Henri Quatre, recently launched at Cherbourg, France, is built on the plan of the whaleback steamers familiar to the commerce of the Great Lakes. The displacement of the vessel is 8,948 tons. She has a high freeboard forward, with a long, high superstructure amid- ships, and a low freeboard aft the foremost turret. She has a belt of 113/-inch armor at and above the water line, and above this a belt of 4-inch armor. The armor of the two turrets is 113/ inches thick, and the deck armor is 2 inches thick, extending downward and inward, below the belt armor, with the idea of affording some protection against ~ torpedoes. The vessel will have triple screws, driven by en- gines aggregating 11,000 h. p., and the estimated speed is 17 knots, Her normal coal supply is 725 tons, with provision for carrying 1,100 tons inevent of emergency. Her crew will number 435 officers and men. Her main armament will consist of two 10.8-inch guns, each in a turret, forward and aft, and seven 5.5-inch, quick-firing guns. Four of the lat- ter will be protected by 4 inches of armor, while the other will be under a shield high enough to permit the gun to fire over the roof of the after turret. DOS Ir 1s not so long ago that some enterprising genius sug- gested that, for quickly stopping vessels at sea when in danger of col- lision, a form of marine brake might be used which in its essentials, should consist of large wings or vanes hinged to a ship’s sides below the water line, folding closely to those sides when not in use, but capable of being swung out at right angles when needed, in which position their resistance to the ship’s forward movement would be in- stantaneous and highly effective. A few discour- aging attempts were made with a contrivance model- Gy jij Me Fe ed somewhat after this LOI LAS. CS Ze Lia pattern, but it is interest- ing to recall that more than 30 years avo sub- Uftjt XO fp was embodied in a patent for a railway train brake granted in Great Britain. The brake proper in that case consisted of a large vane,extending across the roof of a railway coach, and so hinged that it could be raised to an up- right position by means of ropes anda large nut traveling along a screw, which latter could be turned as desired by a train attendant. The vane, in its upright position, of course, added in a more or less appreciable degree to the atmospheric resistance en- countered by the train, and upon this the theory of its action was based With over a quarter of a century’s progress in railway brake development to look back upon, this early winged contrivance seems like the outcome of a childish fancy, but even at the time of its proposal there appears to have been no evidence to show that it was ever put to trial. —Cassier’s Magazine, for February. ed THE Kearsarge, the largest and most powerful warship owned by the United States government, is to become the flagship of the North Atlantic squadron, to take the place of the cruiser New York. It is said the change will be made as soon as the squadron returns to the North from its cruise in the tropics. Preparations are now being made at the Brooklyn navy yard to make the change, an order with this object in view having been received from Washington. The New York has been the flagship of the North Atlantic squadron since before the Spanish-American war. The reason given for the change is that the cruiser is in need of repairs. eee W1..6 stantially the same idea .