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MARINE REVIEW. 9 In General, A Philadelphia dispatch credits the seagoing battleship Iowa with aspeed of 16.27 knots on her builders' trial. Her guaranteed speed was 16 knots an hour, for four hours, and her builders receive $50,000 for each quarter knot in excess of 16 knots. It had been intended to transfer Capt. Robley D. Evans, U. 8. N. who is now in command of the Indiana, to the light-house board, 6 relieve Capt. John R. Bartlett, whose term of shore service has expired, but Capt. Evans is desirous of remaining on sea duty and it is probable that his wishes will be consulted in the matter, During the recent Italian naval maneuvers numerous experiments were made in the employment of carrier pigeons. Highty of these birds were carried on the two flag ships. The birds were fed two hours before the time of their being let loose, and the messages were written on very thin paper inserted in the barrel of a goosequill closed at both ends, and tied around the pigeon's body. Under favorable conditions the flight of the birds was found to average nearly forty-eight miles an hour. On the Atlantic coast, as well as the lakes, there are reports of more active operations in ship yards. The Harlan: & Hollingsworth Co. of Wilmington, Del., has been awarded a contract by the Mer- chants' & Miners' Steamship Line, for the construction of a steel passenger and freight steamer to ply between Baltimore and New England ports. The new vessel is to be of 3,000 gross tons. She will Advices from Washington indicate that the revised international rules to prevent collisions at sea, which were formulated by the Inter- national Marine Conference, may go into effect on J uly 1. It appears that the officers of the state and treasury departments have been working to this end since the adjournment of congress, and that Great Britain is co-operating with the United States in securing the assent of the naticns which haye not as yet formally announced their adhe- sion to the rules. The nations which have thus far agreed to adopt the rules and enforce them after July 1 are Great Britain, Germany, France, Denmark, Russia, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Hawaii, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, Chili and Honduras. These nations, with the United States, control 22,000,000 tons, or more than five-sixths of the world's shipping, while the important nations whose assents have not yet been received are Norway, Sweden, the Nether- lands, Brazil and Turkey, controlling about 3,000,000 tons of ship- ping. Cargo and Speed Records--Lake Freight Steamers. Iron ore--Coralia, Mutual Transportation Co. of Cleveland, 5,088 gross or 5,699 net tons, Gladstone to Ashtabula, draft of 16 feet 10 inches. From Lake Superior--Steamer Sir Henry Bessemer, Bessemer Steamship Co. of Cleveland, 4,637 gross or 5,194 net tons, Ashland to Conneaut, draft of 15 feet 9 inches. Grain--Steamer Queen City, A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, 207,000, bushels of corn, equal to 6,210 net tons, Chicago to Buffalo, 16 feet THREE VESSELS OF THE BESSEMER FLEET be 270 feet long, 42 feet beam and 82 feet depth of hold. A river barge 190 feet long and 34 feet-beam, built for the Hartford & New York Transportation Co., was launched a few days ago at Gilder- sleeve's ship yard, Hartford, Conn. Until battleship meets battleship to fight to the death, there will continue to be big ships built by one country, and bigger ones by another; some full of small guns, others with a preponderance of large guns; some covered from head to foot in complete armor, others distributing it about in spots; some will steam at high speed, while others will be content to follow more leisurely; some will stow thou- Sands of tons of coal, others will carry only hundreds. Perhaps all these differences are of no real importance, for the untried factor which counts most in enabling a battleship to perform her duty best ls "'the man behind the gun."--R. Hunt in Engineering Magazine. If lake vessel owners who are adopting artificial draft in boilers of their steamers, with a view to economy of fuel, etc., are making a mistake, they will at least have the satisfaction of knowing that the big ship owners of England and Germany, who ought to be well posted in such matters, are following thesame course. The Cambrian, a freight steamer of 10,000 tons capacity and 4,000 horse power, just launched at the yard of Wm. Gray & Co., West Hartlepool, is to be fitted with the Howden draft, while the Ellis & Eaves system is to be applied, during the winter, at the works of the Vulcan company in Germany to the North German Lloyd liner Saale. The Russian ad- Miralty is also applying the Ellis & Eaves system to two or three naval vessels of that country. AT THE YARD OF THE DETROIT DRY DOCK CO. 8 inches draft; steamer Maricopa, Minnesota Steamship Co., Cleve- land, 191,700 bushels of corn, Chicago to Buffalo; steamer Zenith City, A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, 289,000 bushels of oats, Chicago to Buffalo. From Lake Superior--Steamer Queen City, 66,283 bushels of oats, 50,- 360 bushels of corn and 95,326 bushels of wheat, equal to 5,328 net tons, Duluth to Buffalo. ee wae Coal--S. 8. Curry, Hawgood & Avery Transit Co. of Cleveland, 4,535 net tons bituminous, Conneaut to Gladstone; Selwyn Eddy Eddy Bros. of Bay City, Mich., 4,252 net tons anthracite, Buffalo to Milwaukee. ct eee Speed--Owego, Union Line of Buffalo, Buffalo to Chicago, 889 miles, 54 hours and 16 minutes, 16.4 miles an hour; Centurion, Hop- kins Steamship Co. of St. Clair, Mich., Buffalo to Duluth, 997 miles, 65 hours and 10 minutes, 15.3 miles an hour. _ teal ee ee California is convenient. Comfort, speed and economy in rates are the distinguishing characteristics of the fast western express leaving Cleveland daily at 10:58 a. m. via the Nickel Plate road, and reaching Chicago at 9:00 p. m. same day, and our night express arriving at Chicago at 7:40 a. m. daily. Direct connections at Chicago with all the leading lines for Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. Through tickets and baggage checks. Sleeping car space and all de- tails arranged by any agent of the Nickel Plate road. Cleveland city ticket office, 224 Bank street. 380 Noy. 20 A photograph of the largest boat on the lakes, the Sir Henry Bes- semer, will cost you only $1.50. Write the Marine Review.