The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

é MARINE REVIEW. Nine New Lake Carriers. The first supplement to the Inland Lloyds' Register for 1892, date of May 1, contains the names of nine new vessels, eight of which are steam and one sail, and all are among the largest class of carriers on the lakes. These boats are given an insurance valuation $1,330,000 and their net aggregate register- ed tonnage, custom house measurement, is 13,438. These figures will tend to show the extent of shipbuilding on the lakes during the past winter. The number of vessels still on the stocks to go into commission within the next month or six weeks is even larger than the fleet shown here. 'I'he new vessels contained in this first supplement, with their tonnage, class, value, name of managing owners and port of hail, are as follows: Name of vessel. Class Dee Value. | Owner and port of hail. PATI ASTOs:-stsecoccctses teens ere Ashacees Al 1,256 $150,000 ' |Lake Superior Iron Co., Cleveland, O. Colgate, J. Bu....c.cccsseseccereueeeserees Al 1,372 150,000 |American Steel Barge Co., Buffalo, N. Y. Mather, Samuel.............scesecreeeee Al 1,372 150,000 |American Steel Barge Co., Buffalo, N. Y. IVA TD OS A esetsessts eee reset eshes<seceesez- Al | b-1,950 _ 225,000 Minnesota St'mship Co., _ | Cleveland, O. Mitchell, Samuel...............:0.ee Al -1,800 190,000 ee Cleve- an TOVOTIOGIP .chicoucsncacconensdeocouec dios noccny Al b-1,200 115,000 |Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Cleveland, O NANG ee ese ece es iconarecemeanse Avs 1,709 130,000 |James McBrier, Hrie, Pa. Wilson, UPNOMASE te skaciececssstesceeacne Al 1,372 150,000 |American Steel Barge Co., f Buffalo, N. Y. a--Fitzpatrick, J. C................08+ Al® 1,207 70,000 |J. C. Fitzpatrick, Cleve- land, O ING GOS stoves Sotesec secs noceoseceosses 13,438 $1,330,000 a--Wooden vessels; all others steam. b--EHstimated. The consort John C. Fitzpatrick,to tow with the George T. Hope, is the only sail vessel in the above list. The Andaste is of the monitor type and the J. B. Colgate, Samuel Mitchell and Thomas Wilson are whalebacks. These has been some comment about reduced values on new boats going into the register, but it is very probable that in all cases values noted above are about equal to cost. Naval Appropriations--Other Washington Matters. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Wasuineton, D. C., May 5.--For several years the officers of the naval engineers corps have been struggling to secure the enactment of legislation that will in a measure place them upon terms of equality with other naval officers. The Senate committee on naval affairs has reported bills looking to ' the accomplishment of this object, but for some reason they have encountered the opposition of the line officers of the navy and have failed of enactment into law. The struggle has been renewed in the present Congress, and the engineers have secured a fayorable report from the Senate committee on naval affairs on a bill to increase the efficiency of the corps through the bestowal upon them of absolute rank instead of relative rank as at present. The line officers have returned the attack, and a few days ago Commodore Ramsey and Commander Davis addressed the House committee on naval affairs, before which the bill is pending, in opposition to it, The point of their objection was that there was no necessity for the legislation. But Commodore Melville, the chief of the bureau of steam engineering, and Passed Assistant Engineer Bennett took the opposite position and made arguments to show that conditions of the service have changed within the last few years, owing to the enormous extended use of machinery aboard modern war vessels,so as to greatly increase the importance of the engineers' department and enlarge the responsibility of the officers. Commodore Melville also dwelt upon the mutual benefit that would accrue to the navy and to the great technical schools of the country through the operation of that feature of the bill which permits the appointment of graduates of these institutions to places as cadets in the engineer corps. The nayal appropriation bill was reported to the Senate a few days ago by the committee on appropriations, and contained some news items of national interest not included in the bill as it passed the House. The most important amendment provides for the construction of a number of new vessels in ad- dition to the two authorized by the House. These are: One seagoing coast- line battle-ship, designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ord- nance, with a displacement of about 9,000 tons, to have the highest practic- able speed for vessels of its class, and to cost, exclusive of armament and premiums for increased speed, $4,000,000; -one harbor defense double-turreted ship of the monitor type, with 7,500 tons displacement, to have the highest possible speed of its class, and to cost, exclusive of armament and premiums, $3,000,000; four light draught gun boats from 800 to 1,200 tons displacement, to cost $450,000 each, and six torpedo boats to cost $110,000 each. Not more than two of the torpedo boats are to be built at the same establishment. The the. other at $1,400. provisions of the naval bill of 1886 giving the secretary of the treasury dis- cretion in building vessels are made applicable to the construction of vessels authorized. The committee inserted a proviso that for experiments, making tests, and development of torpedoes, projectiles, sub-marine guns and other instruments of sub-marine warfare and American armor, and for the use of nickle as armor the secretary is authorized to use $150,000 of the appropria- tion of $1,000,000, authorized by the last Congress for the purchase of nickle ore and nickle matter. The committee also added to the bill an amendment providing that here--- after orders of the secretary of the navy employing officers on shore duty shall state that such employment is required by the public interests, but he need not state the duration of the service. The bill as reported from the Senate com- mittee carries $24,223,778 ,or $2,960,866 less than theestimate,and $8,317,881 less than the appropriation for the current fiscal year made by the last Congress. The amount on account of new vessels in the current law is $17,607,000. The bill re- ported carries for new vessels $10,142,000, a reduction on account of new ves sels of $7,465,000. A civil service examination will be held on May 18 i in Washington, and if necessary in other large cities, to secure eligibles for the position of computer in the nautical almanac office; where two vacancies exist, one at $1,000 and The examination will include the subjects of algebra, -- geometry, trigonometry and astronomy. The census bureau has just issued a bulletin presenting statistics relating to the insurance business in several states of the Union, one of which is Wis- consin. These statistics show that in that state in the year 1889, the last year considered by the census, there were eight companies handling the insurance business relating to inland navigation and transportation. Risks to the number of 1,212,585 were written and renewed; $7,832 in premiums and assessments were received in cash, and losses were paid in cash to the amount of $95,583. The average amount of premiums received for each $100 of risks written was .4563, and the average amount of losses paid to Se one dollar of premium received was .7065. : The House committee on railways and canals has authorized a favorable report to be made on Repr esentative Dalzell's bill appropriating $40,000 to pay the expense of a survey of a route for a ship canal to connect the waters of Lake Erie, from a point at or near Erie, Pa., with the Ohio river at or near Pittsburgh. Canadian Harbor Notes. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Krneston, Ont., May 5.--The steamer Cibola went into the new dry dock on Monday, the 2nd. She is the first large steamer that the dock has received. James Wilson who acted as clerk of works during the construction of dine dock, has been appointed dock master. The river canals have been opened and the twenty-five grain laden barges that were lying here awaiting the opening have passed on to Montreal. Not- withstanding that considerable grain has been coming along since navigation opened, there have been no detentions to speak of. The charters so far will utilize all the available bottoms for transportation, hence the preparations for river work is on a greater scale than ever before. It is expected that this sea- son will be the busiest in the history of this city. The Hon. John Haggart, minister of canals, is threatened with blindness He is now confined to a dark room. On Wednesday last the new steamer Columbia, building at Chester, Pa., for the Richlieu and Ontario Navigation Company, was launched. Several of the directors went from here to see the launch. Capt. G. Batten will com- mand her. The new propeller being built at Hamilton for Capt. Fairgrave will be called the Arabian. She will be launched on June 1 and will be commanded by Capt. Chestnut. _ Fifteen spar and platform buoys are being laid in the harbor. They will mark off the shoals very distinctly. Already two large rafts of timber have been forwarded to Quebec en route for England. A1l possible haste will be used in carrying lumber this season so that the boats can secure a portion of the fall grain trade. The New York, U.S. N., the new twenty-knot cruiser has 16,500 horse power in a hull of 8,155 tons displacement. The Pirate, U. S. N., so-called at present, the new triple screw cruiser, has 21,000 horse power in a hull with 7,470 tons displacement, and is to make (it is hoped) 21 knots. This is to say that calculations show that in order to get one more knot per hour, 4,500 horse power are required on a vessel which has 685 tons less displace- ment than the twenty-knot vessel. In view of these facts the statement that some slight alterations in the machinery of the City of Paris haye increased her speed nearly a knot an hour must be taken with some allowance.--New York Engineer. The editor of the MARINE REVIEW has examined Patter- son's Nautical Dictionary thoroughly, and with pleasure recom- mends it to any one having any connection with marine affairs.