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THE MarRINE RECORD. THE SAD STORY OF THE SHARK AND THE BUOY. 2. . Carle Smithin Harpers Young People. “7 think,” said'the shark, as he sharpened his tooth, * «That whistling buoy doth whistle too much. The tune that he whistles is very uncouth, “And might have been writ by a man in Duluth, Whose knowledge of mus’c is heavy and Dutch. «He whistles all night, and he whistles all day. He hangs on one ote ’til he drives me nigh mad. He whistles it too in the dreariest way, And pays no attention to what we all say— I think him a strangely rude sort of a lad. “ Complaints by the whale he has always ignored ; The ctitical shad he has ever disdained. The whale of thé sea is the monarch, the lord, The mind of the shad with great learning is stored— * His treatment of these the whole ocean has pained. And I have resolved that the nuisance must end ; r The whistling Buoy must whistle no more. His proud iron will to our wishes must bend— His manners disgusting I’ll force him to mend. V’ll bite him in two—nay, I’ll bite him in four !”’ The shark then swam out where the big Buoy stood, To chew him all up and to make him behave, He opened his mouth just as wide as he could, . He snapped at the buoy, as he said that he would, Then sank out of sight ’neath the rippling wave. Poor Shark! All his teeth—evyery one, good or bad— Broke off as they struck on that Buoy so red. . The Buoy went on with his whistling sad ; The shark neyer spoke, for the voice that he had Could utter no word now his molars were sped. And strange to relate, now his mouth’s so misshaped, No sound can he utter except a small hoot, Which, when from his throat it has fully escaped, And oyer his pa'ate and tongue it has scraped, Is just like the Buoy’s sad tootling toot. EDP OO + oe THE DIAL OF A WATCH AS A COMPASS. _ A correspondent writing to Fairplay, London, calls at- tention to the rule of thumb inaccuracies, contained in an article widely published, wherein a watch is made to do duty for an adjusted compass, as regards time and bearings. The fallacy of the statement was pointed out some time ago in these coluinns, yet the educational features contained in the following excerpt are worthy of repro- duction. The writer says: “I fear the methods are not reliable, from the fact that no reference is made to the sun’s declination: and it is asswmed that the sun is east at6a.m.,and west at6 p.m. Itis true that the sun is south every day at apparent noon only, no matter what his declination is, but only twice a year is he east at 6 a. m., «nd west at 6 p. m.,i.e., at the Equinoxes, 20th and 2ist March, and 22d and 23d September, by apparent time, or in o'her words, at these dates only the sun rises true E. at 6 a.m.,and sets true W. at 6p.m. But at these dates the watch, if set to local time, will be found seven minutes fast and seven minutes slow, respectively, at sunrise and sunset, and the only dates in the year when ibe watch time and sun time fairly agree are about 165th of April, 14th of Juve and 24th December. Butas the sun is constantly changing his declination, or distance from the Equator, it would be found that the watch, in the middle of June, at 6 a. m., or 6 p. m., would be about an hour wrong; while in our latitude the sun, from the end of September till. beyond the middle of March is never either east at 6 a.m. nor west at6 p.m. Iflam correct in this, the ‘method’ is faulty, as applying to the watch to obtain direction. Nevertheless, with a good ~ compass, the approximate error of the watch may be found at any time by the sun’s azimuth, when that lu- minary can be seen as by a sundial.” Se dete BOILER PITTING CURED BY GRAPHITE AND OIL. In the American Machinist of July 28, Mr. T. T. Parker, has a very interesting column article regarding pitting in boilers. Besides some clever theories, he has this to say from a practical point of view: ‘*A boiler of the porcupine persua- sion pitting was found in the mud drum. Acting under advice, the drum was cleaned and scraped, after which it was painted with graphite mixed with cylinder oil. Measurements of the depth of the pits were taken, and six months after they were found no deeper, and no new ones had shown up. Other parties have since tried this experiment in mud drums, but it js too early as yet to give the result, However, knowing the - ehapacter of plumbago, if the interior of a boiler could be painted with it in such a way that it would stay it may be this would provejaremedy, I am satisfied also that the person doing so would kill two birds with one stone, as the scale could be easily detected, In a pair of cylindrical boilers 42 X 28 occasional applications of cylinder oil (mineral) and plumbago has kept back corrosion on a trial of six months, Boilers were new when plumbago was used, The boilers — which the new ones replaced were thrown out rotten from corrosion. The feed was mine water as nothing else could be { had.” In addition to Mr. Parker’s remarks we add that, Messrs. Harig, Koop & Co,, Louisville, Ky., afier experiencing more or less trouble from rust and scale in the mud drums of their boilers, applied with great success graphited oil, purchased from the Joseph Dixon Crucible Co., Jersey City. The mud drums were cleaned out and the graphited oil applied with swab, brush or anything handy to the joints and parts where the water enters the drums. Every four or six weeks this process is repeated with the most gratifying results. Dr ee A NOVELTY IN STEAM WHISTLES. The illustrations herewith show anew improvement in steam whistles, As will be seen by Fig. 1, the central stem is done away with, and instead of the usual square top with acorn, isa dome shaped. The bell or domeis securely fastened at its Fic, 1. lower end to a three-armed prong or spider, the stem of which is threaded to admit of being screwed into the base and there held secure by a jam-nut. Owing to this construction the lower edge of the bell is always exactly in line with the slot in the base through which the steam escapes, insuring best re- sults, and a perfect, clear andloud tone, The bell can be raised and lowered to suit the steam p.essure by screwing it up or down, and when properly set is fastened by the jam-nut. It has been proved by practical tests that the prongs to which the bell is fastened do not in any way interfere with the volume or quality of the sound. Referring to Fig. 2, this whistle known as a Combination or Fire Alarm Whistle, is provided with a piston that can be moved up or down within the bell or tube, thus changing the interior length of same, and consequently also the sound of the whistle, When the piston is not operated the whistle gives but one sound like any ordinary one, but when pulled up or down, a series of howling, penetrating sounds is produced. When placed above the roof of a building an extension rod Fi, 2, must beattached to the piston and a rope or wire to the whis- tle-valve lever, These whistles (Figs. 1 and 2) have an im- portant advantage over the old style with central stem, for, being securely fastened at its lower edge, it is impossible for the tubes to crack, These whistles are patented and are manufactured by the Tunkenheimer Brass Manufacturing Co., of Cincinnati, Ohio, A NEW PASSENGER STEAMER FO! LAKE ONTARIO, Mr. John Foy, manager of the Niagara Navigation Co. ronto, Ont., is having plans and specifications drawn out a handsome new steel passenger steamer, to be ready for bi ness on Lake Ontario next summer. The length of the new — steamer for which the plans are being prepared is 310 feet, with a guaranteed speed of twenty miles an hour. Mr. Frank E, Kirby, naval architect and consulting engineer, Detroit, has been engaged looking over the requirements for such a steamer and when the entire plansare completed, the new contract will, it is said, be given out to a Lake Ontario shipbuilder, although it is questionable if there is a plant in that vicinity capable of constructing a high class modern steel steamer of such dimen- sions, a PROPOSALS. U. §. ENGINEER OFFICE, HICKOX BUILDING, 185 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, August 15, 1892. Sealed- proposals for dredging in straight channel through Maumee Bay, for Toledo Harbor, Ohio, will be re- ceived at this office until 2 0’clock p. m. of Thursday, September 15,1892, and then pub- licly opened. Specifications, blank forms, and all available information will be furnished on application to this office. Jarep A. Smiru, Lieut. Col. Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. 9-1-15 U. 8. ENGINEER OFFICE, 34 WEST CONGRESS ST., DETROIT, MICH., Aug- ust 17, 1892. Sealed proposals for: 1, Dredg- ing Black Riyer, at Port Huron, Michigan: 2, Dredging mouth of Black River at Port Huron, Michigan, will be received at this office until 2 p.m. September, 16, 1892, and then publicly opened. Specifications, blank forms, and all available information will be furnished on application to this office. O. M. Poe, Colonel Corps of Engineers, etc. 8-18-9-8, U. S. ENGINEER OFFICE, DETROIT, MICH., August, 16, 1892. Sealed proposals for: 1. Dredging bar at mouth of Saginaw River, Mich. 2. Dredging Essexville bar near mouth of Saginaw River. 3. Dredging west channel along West Bay City, Mich. 4. Dredging channel of Saginaw River above Bay City, Mich., will be received at this office until 2 p. m. September 15, 1892, and then publicly opened. Specifications, blank forms, and all available information will be furnish- ed on application at this office. O.M, Poe, Colonel Corps of Engineers &. 8-18-9-8. U.S. ENGINEER OFFICE, 366 MIL- WAUKEE SY., MILWAUKEE WIS., Aug. 12 1892. Proposals, Harbor Improvements, Luke Mich. Sealed proposals for Green Bay Harbor, Wis., Dredging 120,000 cubic yards, more or less. Sheboygan Harbor, Wis., Pier Extension 200 feet with Superstructure. Port Washington, Harbor, Wis., Pier Extension 100 feet with Superstrucrure. Harbor of Refuge, Milwaukee, Wis., Extending Break- . water 5u0 feet, and 300 feet of Superstructure, Milwaukee Harbor, Wis., Cutting down and rebuilding 200 feet of Superstructure; repair— ing 250 teet of piers, and taking out and replacing with new 264 protection piles, Rucine Harbor, Wis., Pier Extension 250 feet, and repairs. Kenosha Harbor, Wis., Pier Extension 150 feet. Waukegan Harbor, lll., Pile Pier 876 feet, will be received at this office until 12-0’clock, noon, Monday, Sep— tember 12, 1892, and then publicly opened. Specifications, blank forms, and all available information wil be furnished on application to this office. James F, Gregory, M jor of s Engineers, U. S. A. 8 18-9-8. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE of General Superintendent U 8, Life-Saving Service, Washington, D. C,, August 18, 1892. Sealed proposals will be received at this of- fice until 2 p. m. of Saturday, the 17th day of September, 1892, for furnishing supplies re- quired for use of the Life-Saving Service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893; the sup- plies to be delivered at such points in New York City, Grand Haven, Mich, and San Francisco, Cal., as may be requirec; and in the quantities named in the specifications. Tne supplies needed consist of Beds and Bed- ding, Blocks and Sheaves, Cordage, Crockery, Furniture, Hardware, Lamps, Lauterns. ete.; Lumber, Medicines,ete,; Paints, Oils, etc.; Ship Chandlery ,Stoves,ete, ;Tools and Miscellaneous articles, all of which are enumerated in the specifications attached to the form of bid, ete., which may be obtained upon application to this office, or to the Inspector of Life-Saving Stations, 24 State street, New York City; Superintendent Eleventh Life-Siving Dise =~ trict, Grand Haven, Mich., and Superintend- ent Twelfth Life-Saviog District, Appraisers’ New Building, San Francisco, Cal, Enve- lopes containing proposals should be ad- dressed to the ‘General Superintendent U, 8. Life-Saving Service, Washington, D, C,” and murked on the outside ‘‘Proposals for Annual Supplies.’ Tbe right is reseryed to reject any or all bids and to waive defects, if deemed for the interests of the Government. 8, I. Kruparn, Gen. Supt. 8.25-9-8 ~