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NOVEMBER 28, Igor. THE NEW DRY DOCK AT BALTIMORE. The opening of the Wm. Skinner & Sons Ship Building and Dry Dock Company of Baltimore. City will take place on Monday next. This dock is one of the largest in. the country, and is capable of docking any vessel of 600 feet in length and 70 feet beam, with a draft of 2214 feet. The basin of the dock is constructed of timber, supported on piling, and the entrance is of granite masonry backed with Portland cement concrete. The gate is a steel caisson, giv- ing an opening of 75 feet 8 inches at the low water line, with a depth of water on sill of 22% feet.» The dock will be filled through six thirty-six inch valves in the caisson, and emptied by three 36 inch centrifugal pumps. The lat- ter have a capacity of 105,000 gallons ber minute when all three are in operation, and will empty ‘the dock in 1% hours. To care for the leakage, a 14 inch centrifugal pump has been provided. The boiler plant consists of three 350 H. P. water tube boilers, which will furnish steam for the engines of the main pumps, and one auxiliary tubular boiler for the supply of the drainage and caisson pumps and the draft fan, also for the pumps furnishing water for wash- ng, out the dock and for fire protection. he principle dimensions of the dock are as follows: Length over all, 628 feet; width on floor, 62 feet; width at top of keel blocks, 69 feet; with at top of dock, 125 feet; entrance at bottom, 60 feet; entrance at top, 80 feet; depth of water on sill at low water, 2274 feet; depth of water on sill at high water, 25 feet. The head of the dock and the side slopes for about 60° feet from the head are protected by concrete filling back of the altars, and at the point of junction of the timber work and masonry a wall of concrete is built back of the slopes, but the filling back of the altars in the remainder is made of earth excavated from the bottom of the dock. The bottom and slopes of the basin are supported: by piles, and capped by 12x12 inch timbers running longitud- inally of dock. Upon these caps are placed Oregon fir, spaced every four feet, and support the keel and slide blocks. Every alternate floor timber is 70 feet long, the others being 14 feet. The slope timbers at each side are framed into the top of the long floor timbers, and between each main slope timber is an intermediate slope, framed into a filler which is also framed into the sides of the long floor timbers. The floor is made of four inch thick oak plank, spiked to joists which rest upon and are bolted to the longitud- inal caps of the piles. The surface of the floor slopes from the center to each side, and drains into the side drains of the dock. These again empty into'a main cross drain which leads to the tunnel under the: pumps. ‘In this man- ner it is possible to keep the floor always dry, making it suitable for working under the keel of a- vessel. There are four chutes for delivering material into the dock and for’ transferring material from one part of the plant to another. The plans and specifications were prepared and the work of construction superintended by James Ritchie and C. P. Ruple, civil engineers of Cleveland, Ohio; the specifica- tions and general plans of the pumping plant were prepared by C. L. Reeder, mechanical engineer, of Baltimore. Congressman Frank C. Wachter and Mr. William Skin- ner went to Washington ‘Thursday and extended! invitations to many prominent men and officials from the capital city. Among those who accepted and will be present at the launching are: Secretary of the Navy John D. Long; Ad- miral Endicott, chief of the bureau of yards and docks; Admiral Bowles, chief of the bureau of construction of the navy department; J. A. Dumont, superintendent of the in- spectors of steamships department; Capt. C. A. Shoemach- er, chief of the revenue cutter service, and Eugene Tyler Chamberlain, commissioner of navigation, accepted invita- tions to be present. io . MINNESOTA IRON ORE FREIGHT CASE. An interesting decision was made last week by the rail- road and warehouse commission of Minnesota. A year or two ago the former commission ordered a reduction of the rates on the shipments of iron ore over the Duluth & Iron Range railroad to the ore dock at Two Harbors, which were $1, 90 cents and 80 cents, according to length of haul, to 60 cents a ton, and over the Duluth, Missabe & North- ern railroad to the ore dock at Duluth from 80 cents to 60 cents a ton. This order was based on the contention that as the railroads in question are wholly within the state of Minnesota they are, therefore, subiect to the jurisdiction of the state railroad commission. The railroad companies concerned did not comply with this order, claiming the ore shipments over their roads were wholly destined to points outside the state, and that being, therefore, interstate com- merce their rates were not subject to the jurisdiction of the railroad commission. It is true, they admitted, that the railroads begin and end in Minnesota, but the railroads were only one of a series of connected instrumentalities for transporting the ore to points on Lake Michigan or Lake Erie. The docks and machinery were built solely for the purpose of transferring the ore to lake ships destined to those ports. It is dumped from the cars into pockets, through which it is carried into the ship’s hold. Moreover, each trainload and shipload of ore consists of many differ- ent. lots belonging to or consigned to different owners—in widely different quantities and of different grades. All these different separate lots, divided according to individ- ual ownership, are distributed among the pockets, the diff- erent ores being kept distinct. The same distribution of each consignment and each lot is maintained in the ship’s 000 square feet. THE:MARINE RECORD. ' hold. No other ore is carried over the roads or-handled on the docks except ore destined to ports outside the state. The present railroad’ commission reconsidered the ques- tion and last ‘week :made the: following decision: In. the matter of.the.filing of the Duluth & Iron Range railroad with the railroad and warehouse commission, it appears to the’ commission that all ore ‘shipped over said road from the mines, or stations along the line of railway, within the state to points without the state of Minnesota, is interstate commerce, and as to the tariffs the commission claims no jurisdiction, but as to all shipments of ore from the mines or stations along the line of said road within the state to the ore docks ‘at Two Harbors, destined to points within the state, is not interstate traffic, and over such shipments the commissioner claims jurisdiction. Therefore, it is hereby ordered by the railroad and ware- house commissioners that the said’ Duluth & Iron Range railroad, on or before December 3, 1901,’ file, in the office of the commission at St. Paul, Minn., a schedule of its iron ore tariffs and charges for the transportation of iron ore not interstate traffic from the several stations and mines along its line of road to its docks on Lake Superior at Two Harbors, Minn.;:and also keep said schedule for public inspection in every depot and station on the line of said railroad. The orders of the commission of November 9, 1900, and May 28, 1901, are hereby vacated. The order is made applicable to the Duluth, Missabe & Northern rail- road also. It is generally believed that the railroads, both of which are the property of the United States Steel Corporation, will appeal to the United States courts. or oo EASTERN FREIGHTS. Messrs. Funch, Eyde & Co., New York, report the con- dition of the Eastern freight market as follows: The unprecendented stagnation in steam freights con- tinues without abatement, and although the majority of prompt vessels, recently pressing on the market have been disposed of in various directions, this does not seem to have relieved the situation to any extent. The two grain fixtures reported, were to cover old trades, but shippers still find it difficult to effect new business, owing to the exinsting difference in prices, between themselves and buyers. Exportation of coal from this coast to the Mediterranean and Continental ports is fairly active, but this trade is somewhat restricted by the scarcity of transportation facil- ities from the mines to the seaboard. Cotton chartering has been confined within narrow limits, the tonnage pre- viously taken evidently being sufficient to supply imme- diate requirements. ‘Time charterers are going ahead very slowly, and show no disposition to commit themselves for any length of time, excepting at extremely low figures. Business in sail tonnage continues to drag in the same unsatisfactory way as for some weeks past, with rates de- pending largely upon the ideas of shippers. ‘The fixture of a ship with case oil to Calcutta at 13 cents, doubtlesss explains the situation of affairs so far as long voyage ves- sels are concerned. iio — GREAT IS SALT LAKE, Great Salt Lake, Utah, is in many respects one of the most wonderful bodies of water in the world. It is six times as salty as the ocean, and though four good-sized rivers are. constantly pouring their waters into it, it never ILses any proportion of its saltiness, and its level is never raised an inch. No one has vet discovered why all this fresh water does not reduce the salt, or what becomes of the fresh water, since it does not raise the lake level. It was at one time about as laree as Jake Huron and perhaps a thousand feet in depth; now it is about one hundred miles in length, with an average of about 27 miles and its greatest depth is 60 feet. 'But what a storehouse of wealth it is! Its area is 27,000 square miles or 75,271,680,- Allowing it an average depth of 20 feet, its contents are 1,505,433,600,000 cubic feet. Chemical anal- ysis has shown that one-sixth of this is common salt and sulphate of soda, say 250,905,600,000 cubic feet. Of this combined production one-eighth is sulphate of soda and seven-eighths common salt. A cubic foot of sulphate of soda weighs 50 pounds, and a cubic foot of common salt weighs 80 pounds; a simple calculation shows, therefore, that the lake contains 784,080,000 tons of sulphate of soda and 8,789,196,000 tons of salt. Allowing ten tons to a car- load, that makes 78,408,000 carloads of the soda and 878,- 016,960 carloads of salt. These figures are astonishing, to say the least, but the lake has other features that chal- lenge attention. For example, there are mountainous is- lands all over it varying in height from 3,000 to 5,000 feet. Antelope island, the largest, is about sixteen miles in length aud five miles in width, with a height of 4,000 feet. he scenery on the island is exquisitely beautiful. Luxuriant grasses flourish everywhere, and streams of pure water run down the sides of its mountains and its canyons. It has many improvements, too, including orchards, gardens, ranches and groves of trees. Its beach is of white sand and slopes in just the way to make it an ideal bathing re- sort. Thus it is possible to have a delightful sea bath one thousand miles from the ocean and 4,250 feet above the ocean level. Se All the German naval officers are receiving instructions in wireless telegraphy, and all ships of the German navy will be equipped with wireless apparatus. . SHIPPING AND MARINE JUDICIAL DECISIONS. (COLLABORATED SPECIALLY: FOR THE MARINE RECORD.)) Rights of Owner—Damages'by. Marine. Perils.—As. he- tween owner and: charteter the charteret’s. violation ofthe terms of the charter does not. make him. responsible for damages by marine perils in no way brought about by such violation. ‘The Ely, 119 Fed. Rep. (U S,) 563.. Liability of Charterer—Delay in Loading.—Kvidence held to sustain a claim for demurrage under the terms of a charter because of the failure of the charterer to have the cargo ready, and to load the vessel within a reasonable and customary time. Henningsen vs. Watkins, 110 Fed. Rep. (UU. S.) 574. it Shipping—Demurrage—Evidence of Waiver.—Where a : charter expressly provides the lay days for loading and discharging, and fixes the amount of demurrage to be paid for overtime consumed by the charterer, the owner cannot be held to have waived such provision, except upon cleur evidence. 574. Grounds for Compensation—-Benefits—Compensation may not be given unless a benefit is conferred by the saving of property, but any person whose aid has tended to this re- sult may be compensated, although he was compelled by pru- dence or necessitv to discontinue his assistance and leave the final rescue to others. The Henry Steers, Jr., 110 Fed. Rep: (U. $.) 578: & Liability of Charterer—Unauthorized Use of: Vessel.— The fact that a charterer puts the chartered vessel to a dif- ferent use from that specified in the charter, does not ren- der him liable to the owner for an injurv to the vessel, if it appears that the unauthorized use certainly did not cause or contribute to the damages. Sutcliff vs. Seligman et al.,110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 560. Salvage—Compensation—Negligence or Lack of Skill— - A salvor may be found guilty of misconduct, or gross negligence tantamount thereto, which may result in forfeit-— ure of the claim for salvage; and lack of skillful opera- tion, with or without injurious results, may diminish the award, while the presence of such skill may increase it. Tne Henry Steers, Jr., 110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.)-578. Injury to Salved Vessel--Damages.—Specified negligence proximately resulting in distinguishable injury to the ves- sel may be used in an action for salvage either to diminish or defeat compensation; and in an action by the owners of the property, when culpable negligence is - established against the salvor, resulting in injury, damages -thereof may be recovered. ‘The Henry Steers, Jr., 110 Fed. Rep. CUR S)2578: x Salvage—Skill and Care Required for Salvor.—While a salvor should exercise skill and care that a man of ordinary prudence and capacity in the same business would be ex- pected to use, yet in case of necessity a person without ordinary nautical skill may undertake a rescue on the sea, not assuming a knowledge which he does not have, but using in good faith such ability as he possesses. ‘The Henry Steers, Jr., 110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 578. Contributing Fault—Failure to Maintain Lookout. The fact that a schooner kept her course up to.the time of a collision with a steamer does not excuse her failure to maintain a proper lookout, since she is not, under all circumstances, justified in keeping her course, and such failure will be deemed a contributory fault, notwithstanding her privilege and the fault of the steamer, where, if such lookout had been maintained the collision might probably have been avoided by prudent navigation. ‘The Devonian, 110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 588. Construction of Charter—Where a written charter de- mising a launch contained no stipulation for the employ- ment by the charterer of any particular person as engineer, a parol agreement by the charterer to employ a “person requested by the owner did not become a condition of the charter, nor did his employment in accordance with such agreement preclude the charterer from rightfully employ- ing another competent engineer to run the engine on an occasion when the regular engineer was absent. Sutcliff vs. Seligman et al., 110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 560. Shipping—Subcharter—-Deviation from Charter—lLaw- ful Employment.—March 1, 1898, a British seamship was chartered for six months, to be employed in carrying “lawful merchandise and passengers,’ between American ports, not further south than the river Plate, South Amer- ica, the owner to provide officers and crew. May 31, she was subchartered to a newspaper company for one month, “to be employed in carying lawful merchandise (excluding all injurious and unlawful cargo) within the United States, West Indies, and Central America. It is under- stood boat is to be used as a dispatch boat, and to follow the fleet of the U. S. Navy as closely as prudent and safe.” There was no provision in the original charter forbidding a subcharter. Held, that the subcharter was valid, and one which the charterer was authorized to make;the use of the vessel contemplated thereby being within the terms of the original charter, lawful in itself, and not in violation of:the neutrality laws. The Ely, 110 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 563. Henningsen vs. Watkins, r10 Fed. Rep..(U. S.) .