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10 MARINE STEEL DRY DOCK FOR THE NAVY. SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE FIRST OF THE FIVE LARGE STRUCTURES TO BE BUILT IN ACCORDANCE WITH PROVISIONS OF THE LAST NAVAL ACT. Specifications have been prepared for the combined floating and gtaving steel dock to be constructed for the United States government at Algiers, La., at a total cost of $850,000, of which $200,000 was provided in the last naval appropriation bill. The dock will be 525 feet in length over all, 28 feet draught of water over keel blocks, and 100 feet wide in the clear. It is to be located in the Mississippi river in front of the naval reservation at Algiers, La., in a situation with ample depth of water for its operation in docking a vessel of 28 feet draught at the lowest known stage of the Mississippi river at that point. It is stipulated that tthe dock, if of the balance type, must be so designed as to admit of examination and repair with ease. If desired it may be in sections and so designed as to Ibe self-docking. The dock must must be designed to lift a vessel of 15,000 tons displacement above the level of the river and with a freeboard of not less than 2 feet. The entire structure must be of steel, except the keel blocks, bilge blocks and shores, although if it is found necessary to place any portion of the accessory structures underneath the surface of the water, wood may be utilized in their construction. 'The power for the operation of the dock may be steam, electric, hydraulic or pneumatic, and may be generated either on shore or at some permanent structure on the border lof the water front. The dock may be constructed in any part of the country, but the final inspection and test must be made at the site at Algiers. (The dock 1s, of course, to be constructed with every care, that vessels lifted upon it shall be free from longitudinal strain and also free from transverse strains and twisting. The dock proper will have a transverse strength and stiffness sufficient for docking a battleship 450 feet long and of 15,000 tons, with her entire weight carried by the keel blocks and with two-thirds of her weight concentrated in the middle half of her length. Docks designed as single structures must, according to the specifications, be strong and stiff enough longitudinally to safely distribute the load over the entire length of the dock, if the vessel be docked in one end, and designs for sectional decks must make adequate provision for connecting the sec- tions, so that the dock may act as a unit and the sections be kept level and in line without straining the ship. In this way, snould one of the sections lose its buoyancy, the connections of the sections will be capable of dis- tributing over the remaining sections the weight of the injured section and all parts of the ship over the latter. 'The dock must not careen more than 3 degrees under the most unfavorable conditions of loading, pro- viding for the vessel landing 2 feet off the longitudinal center line, and subject to a wind pressure lof thirty pounds per square foot. The greatest longitudinal deflection will be 1 in 3,000 with the most unfavorable load, and the greatest transverse deflection will be 1 in 1,800 with the most un- favorable load. The dock is to be completed within eighteen months from the date on which the contract is let. If there is any delay in the completion of « work a fine of $200 per day will be imposed. In the arrangement of the moorings of the dock, allowance will have to be made for a velocity of 6 miles per hour, which is attained by the Mississippi at extreme high stages of water. With a few exceptions all steel used will be acid or basic open hearth, with a maximum strength of from 55,000 to 70,000 pounds per square inch. Bids for the construction of the dock will be opened at the bureau of yards and docks, navy department, Washington, on Oct. 31 next. Proceedings against Minnesota Ore Railways. Duluth, Minn., August 31--Announcement is made that the state railway and warehouse commissioners will again take up, Sept. 6, the case against the Minnesota ore railways--Duluth & Iron Range and Duluth, Mesabi & Northern--for a reduction in ore rates. There is probably some foundation for the insinuation that the vigor of the prosecution will be lessened by reason of the petitioners having turned over on a long lease the Pioneer mine to the Oliver Iron Mining Co., but it would seem tliat the new interest in the mine, which is very powerful, and which is said to have threatened to build a new railway, will be even more deter- mined than the fee owners in the effort to bring about reduced freight rates. The railroad companies are bestirring themselves in the prepara- tion of a defense. Managers, contractors and mine operators will submit testimony purporting to show that, whereas the Duluth & Iron Range and Duluth, Mesabi & Northern railroads have been built at enormous expense, the experience of iron ore roads in Michigan and elsewhere has proven that their periods of plossible profitable operation are limited. It is understood, also, that there will be submitted some rather surprising estimates of the probable time that will be required. to exhaust the Minne- sota ore deposits. The claim will be made that after a few years, at the most, the supply will have been depleted to such an extent that the rail- road properties will be practically worthless as revenue-producing in- vestments. /There is also in circulation a wild rumor to the effect that if a reduction of rates is ordered by the state officials, both railroad com- panies will 'secure terminal facilities on the Wisconsin side of the bay, erect ore docks there, and cease the shipment of ore from Duluth or Two Harbors. 'With the mines in Minnesota, according to this brilliant idea, and the docks in Wisconsin, only the interstate commerce commission would have jurisdiction as to rates. It might be added, with as much sense in the argument, that if the Two Harbors railway was ripped up and its route diverted to Chicago the problem of lake freights would also be disposed of. IN. L. Stebbins of Boston has just issued the second edition of his Illustrated Coast Pilot, with sailing directions for the Atlantic and gulf coasts. The sailing directions are necessarily condensed, but are suffi- cient to form a guide to all harbors and channels. The volume is illus- trated with a very large number of handsome half-tone engravings from photographs taken for the purpose. REVIEW. Ships Will Find Markets for Surplus Products, James J. Hill of railway and steamship fame, whose opinions on com. niercial subjects are always 'highly regarded on account of the immen interests which he represents in the northwest, declares in a recent ines view that the problem of disposing of our surplus products must co = largely through the restoration of our merchant marine. "Of all the plan I have seen to give back shipping to American vessels," says Mr. Hil "none is so good as a small export bounty, say of $2 a ton on al] goods exported in 'American bottoms for a period of ten years. Suppose a sent out 1,500,000 tons a year, that would be a ship carrying 5,000 font every business day, and yet it would cost the government only $3,000,009 annually, and think of the value of the cargoes and the amount that wou'd come back to us from such an export trade! The trouble with t_is count; is that it does nothing for its great transportation and ocean steamship lines like the other nations of the world. The cost of ship building hee is not at the bottom of the trouble, as has been maintained; we are alread sending plates to Glasgow, and our pre-eminence in the steel production will soon be as great as it was in forests when our wooden ships covered every sea. Why, then, are not American lines doing the business? Be. cause our laws and practices are against the great transportation com- panies." : : Mr. Hill also advances the opinion that Niagara will become the great milling center of the country. "Wheat is easier to ship than flour," he says. "It is loaded by machinery and pours by gravity, while flour in barrels requires 'human hands to move it. I believe the line of least re- sistance will be to take the wheat from the Red River Valley down to Duluth, and as wheat carry it through the lakes ito the Niagara water power, and there 'have it made into flour near the mouths of the consu- mers. There will always be an enormous bread market within easy reach oi Buffalo, and that is the place to make flour. But the movement of an industry is not a matter of a day or a year. These are the slow changes almost 'of generations." Remarkable Ship Building on the Pacific Coast. In a letter to the Review Mr. William Moran, of the Moran Bros. Co., the well known ship building firm of Seattle, Wash., announces the safe arrival at St. Michael, iAlaska, of the Moran fleet, of which so much has recently been written. The twelve vessels of this fleet, upon which con- struction work was only commenced on January 15th of this year, are each 175 feet in length, 35 feet in width with a molded bow and have a depth of hold of 6% feet. They are essentially river steamers and each is propelled by a stern paddle wheel in two sections with two direct acting steam engines, with cylinder 20 inches in diameter and 'having a stroke of 7 feet. The hulls and deck houses are built of Puget Sound fir and the general construction is similar to that usual for vessels of this type. They are fitted with complete electric light plants, including search lights. The great prob- lem of the whole enterprise, however, was that of delivering the vessels fully equipped for instant service at the mouth of the Yukon river as stip- ulated in the contract. Finally Mr. Robert Moran proposed and finally carried out the daring scheme of having this large fleet of light draught flat bottom vessels propelled by their own steam over a sea voyage of over 4,000 miles. While enroute the vessels were caught in a severe storm but slight damage to the Pilgrim was the only injury sustained. The vessels were completed May 25, set sail a few days later, and according to Mr. Moran's letter, arrived at St. Michael July 26. Disposition of Auxiliary Vessels. The decision to leave the dispositon of the great fleets of auxiliary vessels secured for service during the war to a special board ap- pointed by the navy department will probably prove as satisfactory a plan as can be proposed to the men connected with shipping interests. Very naturally the marine men and ship builders of the country would like to see the government retain permanently as many of these vessels as possi- ble. Next to that their only concern is that vessels purchased by the gov- ernment from foreigners shall not be auctioned off in this country. The special 'board is to take up the matter of how many vessels shali be re- tained. It is, moreover, welcome news that the engineering and con- struction corps are to 'have a representation on the board. Many of the swiftest cruisers now in the south will be retained, notably the four Mor- gan liners. A special recommendation for their retention in the regular service is to be found in their high speed and great steaming radius, with coal carrying capacity greater than any of the modern cruisers. Probably not more than half a dozen of the yachts on hand will be retained. The colliers, which were sold to the government at fixed prices, will, it is ex- pected, be retained, as will also the several distilling ships, the hospital ship Solace, the repair ship Vulcan and several of the provision vessels. A few tugs will also be 'held. The bureau chiefs of the department are unanimously in favor of the retention. of a number of vessels of each type. New Route for Steel Canal Boats. In all probability, should the Welland canal tolls be abolished, a new route will be adopted for the steel canal boats trading between Lake Erie ports and New York city. At present the boats on their way to New York traverse the entire length of the Erie canal, but Manager C. E. Wheeler of the Cleveland Steel Canal Boat Co. stated to the Review, a few days ago, that if the Welland tolls were remitted it was probable that the com- pany's fleets would in future pass through the Welland and across Lake Ontario, reaching the Erie canal at Oswego. This would save approxl- mately 100 miles of Erie canal travel, and would, Mr. Wheeler estimated, reduce the time of each single trip a full day. The Gamma, one of the steamers of the steel canal boat fleet, recently broke all records by making the trip from Cleveland to New York in eight days, seventeen hours and fifteen minutes. The performance will be appreciated when it is stated that from eight to ten days is frequently required for an ordinary cana boat to make the trip from Buffalo to New York. The Gamma is the Same steamer which last season attracted attention by making the trip irom Toledo to New York and return in twenty-two days.