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

18 MARINE REVIEW. THE NEW CONTRACTS. WORK REOENTLY PLACED IN AMERICAN SHIP YARDS GREAT AND SMALL--THE NEW MORSE YARD--PROGRESS OF VESSELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. It is understood that numerous improvements and quite probably a considerable enlargement of the plant are in contemplation at the Roach ship yard, Chester, Pa. This is occasioned by the expiration of the 10 years period which John Roach, the ship builder, specified in his will as the length of time that the ship yard should be operated under his name and under the direct management of the heirs whom he left in charge. A reorganization is also expected, but there is-every reason to believe that John B. Roach will continue at the head of the company and that the vice presidency or possibly some even more prominent position will fall to the lot of Mr. W. C. Sproul, whose energy has been largely instru- mental in securing the large number of valuable contracts booked by the Roach yard within the past year. Bids received by James B. Quinn, United States engineer at New Orleans, La., for a dredge boat for service at Sabine Pass, Texas, were as follows: Item 1, wood hull; 2, steel hull. The Bucyrus Co., South Mil- waukee, Wis., 1, $105,800; 2, $122,000; Iowa Iron Works, Ltd., Dubuque, Iowa, 1, $108,900; 2, $120,000; Mississippi Valley Construction Co., St. Louis, Mo., $119,700. All these bids being in excess of the available appropriation of $99,000, the specifications will probably be revised and new bids invited. Charles R. Suter, United States engineer at Boston, Mass., has re- ceived bids for the construction of a steam launch as follows: Geo. Law- ley & Son Corporation, O and First streets, South Boston, Mass., $6,950; Fall River Engine Co., Weymouth, Mass., $8,200; Edward S. Clark, 21 Coleman street, Dorchester, Mass., $6,874; John M. Brooks, 29 Coleridge street, Boston, Mass., $7,500; John Stuart & Co., Wollaston, Mass., $7,- 900; the O. Sheldon Co., 340 First street, South Boston, Mass., $5,980. Nothing definite has as yet been done regarding a site for the $3,000,- 000 ship yard to be established by Henry G. Morse, late president of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, Del., although several pros- pective locations on the Delaware river seem to have the preference. Mr. Morse states that over $12,000 worth of machinery and more than a mil- lion feet of lumber have already been purchased and some of it will be delivered within fifteen days. William McKie of East Boston, Mass., has launched the ferryboat building for the Boston, Revere Beach & Lynn Railroad. She is 142 feet length over all, 47 feet beam over guards, 12 feet depth of hold at center, and is built of the best white oak, hard pine and live oak. Her engine is to be of the condensing beam variety, 36 inches diameter of cylinder. Much of the machinery was manufactured by the Atlantic Works, at East Boston, Mass. Preparations are being made at the yard of the Harlan & Hollings- worth Co., Wilmington, Del., for the launch of the United States torpedo boat Stringham in the near future. The last launch of a naval vessel at Wilmington was the monitor Amphitrite, which went into the water in 1892. Work on the Stringham is at such an advanced stage that her trial could take place within a few days of the launch were it so desired. The Enoch Moore Sons Co., Wilmington, Del., has secured from Capt. R. W. Lute of Hainesport, N. J., the contract for a steam barge 125 feet in length, 24 feet beam and 8% feet"depth, which will be used by Capt. Lute for service in New York harbor. The Enoch Moore Sons Co. also have the contract for a launch 35 feet long and 7 feet beam for Sena- tor Stephen Slaughter. The Northside Iron Works Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., is building a steam yacht from designs by Joseph Enderlin of North Sixth street, Brooklyn. The name of the owner has not been made public. The vessel will be 35 feet over all, 30 feet on the water line, 8 feet beam and 4 feet 8 inches ' draught. Compound engines will be installed. The Gas Engine & Power Co. and Chas. L. Seabury & Co., Consoli- dated, have contracted with the New York Dock Board for the construc- tion of a small steamer. Her dimensions will be 110 feet over all, 21 feet beam, and 12 feet depth. She will cost when completed $59,500 and will be used exclusively for harbor work. The tool house and other small buildings at Rilatt Bros'. ship yard, Camden, N. J., was damaged by fire last week. A fire at Bath, Me., some days ago threatened the destruction of the plants of Arthur Sewall & Co. and the New England Ship Building Co., but the damage sustained was very small. Tarr & James and A. D. Story, Essex, Mass., ship building concerns, are crowded with work. At the former yard the schooner building to re- place the Juniata will be launched within a short time, while the schooner Niagara is well under way. A. D. Story has three wooden schooners on the stocks. The Sharptown Marine Railway Co. of Salisbury, Md., has been or- ganized with a capital of $15,000 and will at once erect a set of ways capable of hauling out vessels of from 60) to 800 tons 'capacity, as well as refitting the present mariné railway and putting it in condition for imme- diate use: -~ Be ee, 2 ry a tie i ' The Brooklyn Floating Dock' & Shipyard plant of Theo. A. Crane's Sons at Erie hasin, has secured the contract for the construction: of eight covered barges for the New York Central Railroad; eight barges for H. B. Moore, Sr., and a tug for the William H. Beard Dredging Co. _ The yacht building at the yard of the John N. Robins Co., Erie Basin, N. Y., for Messrs. D. W. and A. C. James will be christened the Aloha. She will be 160 feet over all, 120 feet water line, 26 feet 9 inches beam, 15 feet deep and 14 feet draught. Capt. E. J. Howard of Evansville, Ind., has secured a contract for the construction of two steamers for the Lee line of Memphis. Each vessel will be 220 feet in length, 36 feet beam, and 6 feet depth, and will cost in the neighborhood of $50,000. ' The East Side Docking Co. of Mobile, Ala., is building a steamer to cost in the neighborhood of $25,000 for service on the Tombigbee river, [April 27, She will be 170 feet in length, 32 feet beam, and will be owned by Jeffer- son Staples and others. C. Henniger, proprietor of the Ballard Ship Yard & Marine Ways at Ballard, Wash., reports-a rush of repair work. His works are the largest of the kind on Puget Sound. The steam yacht Josephine building for P. A. B. Widener at the yard of the Neafie & Levy Co., Philadelphia, was launched last week.. Peck Brothers of Golconda, Ind., are building a steamer 100 feet in length, 19 feet beam and 4 feet depth of hold. INADEQUATE LIGHTING OF SAULT RIVER. (Capt. George P. McKay, chairman of the committee on aids to navigation of the Lake Carriers' Association, had a conference in Detroit, a few days ago, with Commander Duncan Kennedy, U. S. N., inspector of the eleventh light-house district, relative to placing more gas buoys or other lights in the St. Mary's river. The vessel owners are, of course, anxious to be relieved of the expense of maintaining private range lights in the St. Mary's river. Capt. McKay found that Commander Kennedy now has a full supply of gas buoys for his district and is willing to do all he can towards improving the system of lights on the Sault river, but it~ is the old story of a lack of equipment in the way of light-house tenders on the lakes. It would seem that the light-house officials at Washington could make some arrangement whereby a couple of vessels could be char- tered for light-house supply work, pending the construction of new ten- ders. The vessel owners must go ahead paying again this year for the maintenance of private range lights in the lower river, but it is hoped that before the season is at an end Commander Kennedy will have estab- lished some of the buoys and crib lights that are contemplated. a Capt. McKay took with him to Detroit suggestions from the ship ~ masters as to points in the St. Mary's river where gas buoys were de- sired. It was proposed to replace with lighted buoys black stake No. 7, off Point aux Frenes; also black stake No. 13 at the turning point of the ~ channel just above the Encampnient; also the black stake opposite gas buoy No. 24 in the "Dark Hole," and black stake No. 5 off Harwood point, the turning place at the head of Little Mud Lake. Commander ~ Kennedy said that although he has the necessary buoys now on hand in Detroit, it is impossible to take up the work, for the simple reason that he has not at his disposal the light-house tender necessary. He has at present but one boat for this work, and with the duties of carrying coal to the various light-houses and fog signal stations in the district, and at- tending to the buoys already in use, the vessel has more work than she can attend to. The new lake tender for which congress has made appro- priation will be stationed at Chicago. Capt. McKay urged upon Com- mander Kennedy the advisability of chartering some vessel for temporary service as a tender, and the commander promised to see what could be done on this score. Capt. McKay has also addressed to Commander C. O. Allibone, U. S. N., inspector of the ninth light-house district, with headquarters at Chicago, a letter calling his attention to the fact that there is a universal desire on the part of lake masters to have the Simmons reef light ship moved to Lansing shoal and the Lansing shoal gas buoy placed on Sim- | mons reef. The argument of the masters in support of this change is that the light ship with its fog signal would locate the turning point for them in hazy or foggy weather and that the gas buoy would answer the same purpose at Simmons reef. PROGRESS IN GERMAN SHIP BUILDING. The French consul at Hamburg transmits to his government a sum- _ mary of the "Germanischer Lloyd" figures covering the German ship building industry in 1898. These figures give the number of vessels built and building in German yards during the year at 528, with a total register of 546,461 tons. Of these 333 vessels of 208,835 tons were completed a! the end of the year, and out of this number 309, representing a tonnage of 181,102 tons, were intended for the merchant marine. These figures place Germany second only to Great Britain as a ship building nation, the Lloyd figures for other important ship building countries having been: kngland, 761 vessels launched, measuring 1,367,650 tons; United States, 162 vessels of 173,250 tons, and France, 48 vessels of 67,160 tons. Italian ship yards launched 19 vessels of 26,530 tons during the year; Norway built 29 of 22,670 tons, and Holland and Belgium together 32 vessels of 20,301 tons. Three vessels launched in German yards in 1898 were registered at more than 10,000 tons--the Pretoria of the Hamburg-American Line, being built by Blohm & Voss of Hamburg, 12,800 tons; Kaiser Friedrich, Norddeutscher Lloyd, being built by the firm of Schichau of Dantzig, -- 12,481 tons, and the Bulgaria, Hamburg-American, by Blohm & Voss, 1),236 tons. The vessels building in German yards and still incomplete on Dec. 31, 1898, numbered 195 and had a total measurement of 337,626 tons. Nearly all of these vessels are to be delivered some time during the current year. There are under construction six vessels at the Blohm & Voss yards and six at the Vulcan yards in Stettin, each of which when completed will be of more than 10,000 tons register. "The Lloyd figures also show that 84 vessels of 85,811 tons were ordered from German yards - 'during the year on foreign account. Orders for over 60 electric cranes have been received since Jany.1 by Pawling & Harnischfeger of Milwaukee: Among those most worthy of mention are ten for the Baltic wharf, St. Petersburg, ordered by the Rus- - 'Slan government; four for Honolulu, the Honolulu Iron Co.; one 15-ton crane for Vienna, Austria; five for Lukens Iron & Steel Co.: five for the -- Midvale Steel Co., Nicetown, Philadelphia; four for the Bethlehem Iron Co., and five electric hoists for the Carnegie Steel Co. The Milwaukee firm is building an addition, 125 by 70 feet, to their present plant, every machine of which is running twenty-three hours a day. Inquire of agents of the Nickel Plate road about dates of sale, time of trains, connections and routes to San Francisco, Cal., for the National Baptist Anniversaries, May 26 to 30. One fare for the round trip. ; 23, May 11.