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MARINE REVIEW. National Convention of the Marine Engineers. Specially reported for the Marine Review. Washington, D. C., Jan. 23.--When the National Association of Marine Engineers met here a year ago, they had a big question on hand. They were dealing with congress and the treasury department in the matter of a law making engineers officers of steam vessels. Through the efforts of the officers of the national association this law was passed. Success in this matter has prompted the engineers to take up other legislative questions, and their deliberations this year had reference mainly to bills before congress, none of which were as 1m- portant, however, as the one passed by the last congress. But after all the executive officers of the association are entrusted with most of the congressional work, and there was one measure. brought up at the present meeting that will, if it is pushed by President Uhler and his associates, cause quite a bitter struggle. This is a bill which pro- poses that all steam vessels of the United States of 1,000 tons or more shall haye one engineer and one helper on watch in the engine room at all times while under way, and that all vessels continuously under steam for more than ten hours shall carry two licensed engineers. If this measure is to be pushed, the full policy of the engineers regarding it will probably not be known until the opening of the next congress. There is no probability of its passage by the present congress, which has little more than a month to serve. Sessions of the convention were held during five days, Tuesday to Saturday inclusive. All of the national officers were present, the list including Geo. P. Wilson, past president; Geo. Uhler, of Philadel- phia, president; John J. Searey of San Francisco, vice-president; Thomas F, Dowd of Chicago, secretary, and John J. A. Williams of New Orleans, treasurer. It may as well be noted here that at one of the late sessions,all of these officers were again re-elected to serve dur- ing 1897. W.J. DuBois, chairman of the committee on credentials, 'was not long in passing upon the admission of delegates during a recess that was taken for that purpose, and then followed the appoint- ment by the chair of the various committees to undertake the work of the convention. Considerable time was given to the reading and dis- cussion of the reports of national officers, which continued into the second day's session. At this second day's session, Secretary Furn- seth of the Seamen's Union submitted a communication to the engineers protesting against the action of the senate committee on commerce, which is said to have inserted various clauses of a kind detrimental to the welfare of sailors in bills now pend- ing in the senate. The engineers were asked to use their in- fluence against the adoption of the committee amendments. An- nouncement was made early of the passage of the law which provides that all vessels of 15 tons or more propelled by naphtha, electricity, etc., and which are engaged in carrying passengers or freight for hire, must be inspected by the steamboat inspectors and officered in ac- cordance with laws governing steam vessels. This bill, together with recommendations from General Dumont regarding it, was ordered printed. : _ Two other matters in which the engineers seemed very much in- terested were also brought up early and disposed of before adjourn- ment. One of these necessitated a conference between a committee of the association and officers of the civil service commission, who have of late been exercising supervision over appointments in local | boards entrusted with the inspection of steam vessels. The committee . made arrangements with the civil service commissioners whereby itis -- expected that engineers in all parts of the country will hereafter be fully | informed as to all examinations for positions in branches of the gov- ernment service for which they are suited. The other matter had re- ference to a modification of rules governing the admission of sick and -- disabled engineers to marine hospitals. The present regulations are based entirely upon recommendations from captains or owners of vessels. The engineers are of the opinion that there is too much red tape and loss of time in the present practice, which should be simpli- fied. 'Surgeon General Wyman of the marine hospita! service gave a very cordial reception to the committee that called upon him, and promised that their suggestions would receive consideration, but asked that they be put in writing. The association also recommended the extension of the steamboat inspection laws to Alaska, where, it is said, more than 100 boats are now in the merchant service, manned by un- licensed persons. In their efforts in this direction the engineers ex- pect to have the assistance of the supervising inspectors of' steam veils, Among resolutions introduced and referred to committees was one by Mr. Sturtevant providing for assistance to the smaller associations in order that they may be enabled to send delegates to the nationa] convention; another calling for arrangements with some mechanical paper to act as official organ for the M. E. B. A. under some plan that would prove beneficial from a financial standpoint to the associa. tion; another inserting in the regvlar order of business a provision for remarks by the president and vice-president; and still anothep providing that some plan be devised to assist district deputies so that they make frequent visits throughout their districts. It was decided by vote that all members of the M..E. B. A. must hereafter attach themselves to the subordinate association within whose jurisdiction -- they are residing and employed, when such residence shall have existed one year. It was also decided that in future an applicant for a license as engineer must furnish to the association which he desires to joing certificate from some member of the M. E. B. A., setting forth that the applicant has had the necessary experience to entitle him to con- sideration. The national president will hereafter spend thirty days of the year among gulf associations, and the good-standing button sug- gested by Secretary Dowd will be the official button of the organiza. tion. The constitution of the national organization, with ali changes to date, will be printed shortly, and in future a page in the journal of proceedings will be set aside for suitable reference to the memory of any representatives in the national organization who may die during the year. The per capita tax will be $1.25 as in the past. The advis- ory,board for the coming year will consist of Representatives Sterritt, Brown and Brooks. Although senate bill 3,223 (Elkin's discriminating measure), which provides that a duty of 10 per cent. shall be assessed upon all goods imported in ships other than American ships, has met with approval from only a small part of the merchant shipping interests of the country, and has no chance of passage in the present .congress. The engineers adopted resolutions in favor of it and agreed to assist Senator Elkins in his work. They also made themselves heard in a most forcible manner on the question of an appropriation for the Detroit river postal service. They adopted a resolution declaring in most em- phatic terms that the postal service in the Detroit river is too import- ant "to be choked off by any one man or any set of men." This op- position was prompted specially by the fact that J. W. Westcott was in the city endeavoring to prevent the passage of an appropriation for the service. A committee, consisting of F. A. Jones, Edward R. Blanchard and M. B. Sturtevant, was appointed to take this matter up with the proper committees of congress. This committee was joined later by President Ubler and Secretary Dowd, as well as J. H, Galwey, supervising inspector of steam vessels from Detroit. They called on the post office committee of the house and had a long and highly satisfactory conference with Chairman Loud, who exhibited great interest in the project and asked many questions regarding it. After its advantages had been fully set forth he pledged his hearty sup- port to the plan to secure an appropriation for a first-class steam vessel to carry the mails to and from passing vessels with as little interruption as possible to their speed. The members of the committee exhibited to Mr. Loud numerous telegrams and letters received by them since their arrival in Washington, all of which urged them to do their utmost to secure the permanency of the marine postal service. They were, of course, thoroughly interested in their support of the service, which is to them, alike to the thousands of other employes aboard vessels, of more importance than it is to the owners, as they can not afford to pay for private delivery, and their mail was regarded as of practically no account before the government took charge of it. In support of the claim that it will be necessary to improve the firemen class of help on ships adopting water tube boilers, it may be noted that for the British cruisers Powerful and Terrible, which are fitted with Belleville boilers, the stokers had all gone through a course of training on board the Sharpshooter, so as to gain experience in the new class of boiler. The stoking of the fires was regulated by a clock, which was exhibited in each boiler room, so that no two fire doors of any single boiler were allowed to be opened at one time. Every four minutes one furnace or the other was stoked, so that each fire re- mained undisturbed for eight minutes. ; Gen. Wm. P. Craighill, chie® of army engineers, will be retired, Monday, on his own application, oe : .