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- | MARINE REVIEW. Description of a Lake Wrecking Plant. With the appliances that have been added of late to the wrecking appa- ratus of the Swain Wrecking Company, controlled in the office of Parker & Millen of Detroit, that company now has an equipment that is fully repre- sentative of the best wrecking practice on the lakes. The wrecking steamer Favorite, shown in an engraving on this page, is not a new craft to lake men, but the appliances which she carries make her an object of considerable inter- est to anyone acquainted with the important undertakings sometimes resorted to by wrecking expeditions for the early release of stranded ships, when a few hours of delay might result in heavy loss to underwriters or owners. The Favorite's station is Cheboygan, Mich., one of the ports in the Straits of Mackinac, and a location best suited for short runs to the dangerous channels where accidents are most numerous. Ese iat In addition to the numerous appliances for lightering, temporary repuirs, etc., required in a vessel of her kind, the Favorite, of which Capt. Martin Swain is wrecking master, has four steam pumps, ten 100-ton jacks and three hawsers. One of the pumps is a coal and ore pump, another is a 14-inch Worthington, and three throwing 12-inch streams are of the rotary type. The three hawsers are 12, 10 and 9 inches thick. The Swain company's equip- ment is not, of course, contined to this boat, as they have similar apparatus at Detroit for work on the rivers, but the Favorite's outfit is suited to the most important work on the lakes. Light Influence of Head Winds. The performance of the White Star steamer Majestic during one of her recent passages from New York showed, in a curious and interesting manner, how little influence a head wind and sea, short of an actual gale, has in bring- ing down the speed of vessels of her class, possessed of great tonnage and power. It goes to prove, also, that in a ship carrying no square sail, a fair wind and sea is of much less advantage than are the same conditions from ahead. Less than twenty years ago when 14 knots was considered fast work, a fresh breeze from ahead very quickly brought down the speed fully two knots in square-rigged ships. In one of her last runs eastward, the log of the Ma- jestic records a handsome day's work of 454 miles with a 'fresh breeze from the east,' but on the day following the big ship did not do more than 455 miles with a "strong wind and rough sea from §.8.W. to W.S.W., or nearly right aft. With "a strong to hard gale and heavy westerly sea," the next day's work is reduced to 452 miles, or two miles less than when wind and sea were ahead. Certain differences of this nature were observable in the Ger- manic and Britannic fifteen years ago, when their best runs were done in moderate beam winds, but not nearly to the same extent as in the more power- ful Majestic and her sister-ship.--Nautical Magazine. nt Of Interest to the Fishermen. By the terms of a law passed by the legislature of the state of New York some time ago, fishing in certain parts of Lake Ontario otherwise than by rod and line was prohibited, and in one case which came before the courts the game and fish protector of the state seized and destroyed some nets found in the lake. Ina suit brought to determine the validity of the law, the court of first instance pronounced it unconstitutional, but this decision was reversed in the higher courts of New York, whose action has just been affirmed by the su- preme court of the United States. A dissenting opinion, however, has been filed, in which the legislation is condemned as authorizing the destruction of property without judicial process. Trade Notes, The sale of the steamer St, Paul, libeled at Detroit, was adjourned to to- day, the 17th. Two large schooners building for H. M. Bean, at Camden, Me., will have their complete outfits of boilers, engines, windlasses, pumps, piping, etc., from the American Ship Windlass Company of Providence, R. I. As a result of success with the 'Cincinnati'? automatic steering gear on the steamer John K. Speed, Capt. Laidley has placed an order with Messrs. Crawley & Johnson of Cincinnati to place one of their gears on the new steamer City of Louisville. Within the past week the Roberts Safety Water Tube Boiler Company has taken orders (among many others) for two large boilers for the new twin- screw steel steamer being built by Marvel of Newburgh; also a boiler for the new 85-foot yacht being built by the Gas Engine and Power Company. The large boiler for the steam yacht Restless of Buffalo is well under way, and the boiler for the quarantine steamer State of New York will probably be shipped this week. The main office of this company has been removed to larger quarters in the Taylor building, 39 and 41 Cortland street, New York City. a rey ene