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

P MARINE REVIEW. Commodore Melville, Engineer-in-Chief, U. S. Navy. ILLUSTRATION AND ARTICLE, FROM THE ENGINEER, NEW YORK. This gallant officer, whose portrait is given herewith, is probably bet- ter known throughout the world than any other American engineer, for he has not only made a brilliant record as an engineer but has established a reputation for heroism which thrilled every heart capable of appreciating bravery of the highest type. He was born in New York in 1841 and re- ceived his education in the public schools of that city. Intending to be- come a mechanical engineer, he served an apprenticeship in the machine COM. GEO. W. MELVILLE, ENGINEKER-IN-CHIEF, U. S. NAVY. shop of James Binns of Brooklyn, "Boss Binns" as Melville still affec- tionately calls him. At the breaking out of the civil war, when barely twenty years old, he entered the navy asa third assistant engineer and began his life work, From the very beginning of his naval career he dis- played the qualities which have made his reputation, absolute devotion to duty, dauntless courage and indomitable will power. There is no such word as fail in his vocabulary. After active service on several vessels on the blockade and asa volunteer in the torpedo flotilla under Admiral Porter, he was attached to the Wachusett, when she captured the Florida. Prior to the capture, information was desired concerning her battery. Melville volunteered for this dangerous service and succeeded in getting on board the Florida, but was driven off. He designed a torpedo for de- stroying her and was building it when the captain decided to make an attack by ramming. A conference of the officers was held before this decision was reached, and the chief engineer expressed a fear that the shock of ramming might fracture some of the steam pipes and cause the death of allin the engine room by scalding. Melville then volunteered to remain in the engine room alone and take his chances. After the cap- ture, he was detailed as the chief engineer of the Florida, and was also selected to insure her destruction in case there was danger of her capture. After the war, he saw much active service and was always ready to volun- teer for duty requiring the hardest work. When the Polaris relief expe- dition was organized, Melville volunteered and became the chief engineer of the Tigress. Under great disadvantages he kept the machinery in an efficient condition, enabling this little yacht in thirty days to go further north than Dr. Kane's expedition didin three years. In his official re- port, Admiral Greer, who commanded the ship, gives Melville the credit of securing the success of the expedition by his professional skill and energy. In 1879 he volunteered for the Jeannette expedition. Up to this time his reputation was confined to the navy; when he had completed his heroic work in connection with this expedition, it was world wide. From the very first he seems to have been the main reliance of the ill-fated De Long, whose journals sound his praises again and again. During the long imprisionment on the ice, Melville had many oppor- tunities to display his skill and ingenuity in the effort to save coal, so prescious to them. Whcn the Jeannette was crushed in the ice and the terrible retreat was carried out, Melville displayed his wonderful ability He had charge of the "working gang" which cut the roads and transported the sledges. This was work of the hardest kind and much of it was done by the men with bare feet on the rough foes Cheery words of encouragement for willing hands and a good "'cussing" for the idlers made each day show substantial progress. The story of the Jeannette is well known and space will not allow even an abstract here, but mention must be made of Melville's heroic self de- nial and fortitude. As soon as his party had reached a place of safety his thoughts returned to his comrades of the other boats, and he endeavored to go to their relief. He had been badly frozen so that he was almost helpless, yet, when word reached him that two "Americanishes" had been found in another village, he went to them immediately, learned the route they had taken, and at once started to the relief of De Long. Two natives went with him on whom he was absolutely dependent for every- thing. Hands and feet yet tender from the previous freezing: were soon again almost useless. In 1891 congress passed an act advancing Melville a grade for his heroism on the Jeanette expedition. He volunteered for the Greeley relief expedition and contributed greatly towards its success by his advice in its preparation and outfit as well as by his work as chief engineer of the Thetis. In 1886 Secretary Whitney became acquainted with him and impressed with his ability. In a conversation Mr. Whitney said that he was anxious to build some ships that would surpass the records then being made in England and asked Chief Engineer Melville if he could design machinery to accomplish this end. The reply was: "Yes, if I can have the necessary assistance." This was given him and the result was the machinery of the San Francisco, which has been an unqualified success. When Engineer-in-Chief Loring resigned in 1887, Secretary Whitney had Melville appointed to the position, which he still holds. His record during this period has been remarkable for its success. It practically covers the building of our new navy. All of his designs have been successful, and he has not been content to follow well tried plans, but has led in introducing new and progressive ideas. He advo- cated the use of tubulous or coil boilers and had them introduced on the Monterey, the first case of their use on large war vessels. Now, almost every country is adopting this policy. His bold step in using triple screws for the Columbia and Minneapolis has already been noticed. Com- modore Melville is a man of striking personality, who would be picked out in a crowd as aremarkable man. Like most brave men, he is mod- est and unassuming, and in factis retiring. His likes and dislikes are strong and displayed with thorough frankness. He likes directness in others and always shows it himself. His appreciation of his subordinates and his readiness to give them credit for their share in his success is re- markable, and has the effect of inspiring the greatest loyalty and zeal. Last year, at the World's fair, he was chairman of the marine division of the engineering congress, and by his executive ability and personal pop- ularity succeeded, without the aid of any engineering society, in making it one of the most successful meetings, and its proceedings one of the most valuable collections of professional papers ever published. as a leader. Wonderful Records in Loading Coal. In a previous issue we referred in a meager way the McMyler car dumping machine recently erected in Ashtabula, and we hope to be able to give shortly, with illustrations, a more detailed description of the machine and the railway plant connected withit. There is little doubt ofthe machine coming into general use in the handling of soft coal. The success attending its operation during the past two weeks would in- dicate that the improvement over all previous methods of handling coal is such that it will increase several times over the capacity of lake ports as regards the shipment of coal. Injust twelve hours on Wednesday the steel steamer Yuma was loaded with 140 cars or 3,350 tons of coal. Following is a record of work done with the machine during eleven days ending with Wednesday, the 8th inst.: Time of Amount of cargo, Name of boat. loading. net tons. Steamer, Mearsarge en. .icescsere mendes 16 hrs. 3,300 . CHOCtAW? teaccsenes aeneeeenaneedeecss aoe 2,200 s¢ PEASGi cen Rencnntee ee rane ass Sots 1,000 fs IW ET aKa Fas sasisiaceikcur oabeuanemenunaree On aes 1,421 « Maritanasci.2rateistes cata asicaese as IO Gs 2,500 se MAC OAS ccscmnerenan (cc tme en tee cas OF. . 2,000 f ee GUC ists et ce syeeseee cies Dace 1,950 sf BYAIITLAlgecece Monieeciesinceecccocesseiice TD ets 3,350 Reports on cargos loaded by means of the machine and delivered at upper lake ports are to the effect that the coal is in far better condition than that loaded by the bucket system. This is to be expected, as with the machine the loaded car is tilted into the hold of the vessel and the coal allowed to slide out in one mass, instead of being subjected to breakage first by shoveling and later by being dropped from the bucket. A British chart covering Lake Superior entire, including north shore can be had from the MARINE REVIEw for $1,