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MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Oo. Vor. AAH. CLEVELAND, 0O,, AUG 3 1000 Foreign | 4350 a year. Na: 6 WELCOME A COMMITTEE ON INQUIRY. In the discussion on the water tube boilers in the house of commons Mr. Goschen, in announcing that he consented to a committee of inquiry being appointed, said: I wish to give the committee every means of satisfying themselves as to the efficiency of the boilers and the class of defects which occur, and the means applied to remedy them, and what I believe would best. meet the case would be a committee on which practical and sea-going engineers --outside: engineers--should be largely represented. It should be part of their functions actually to go to sea in some water tube boiler ships and examine the question practically on board ship both on trial runs and un- der service conditions. The committee should also visit some ships in re- serve in dock yards, and study-both the scientific or theoretical as well as the practical side of the question. The Europa is one of the shins which I would place at the disposal of the committee for investigation. I should ibe prepared that they should investigate the whole system of this ship, and tell us what is wrong. They 'can see the Hyacinth. They can see the Sharpshooter, the Sentry and the Seagull--three ships which we propose to use for extra naval purposes, and for the training of stokers. They can also see the two ships in commission with the Channel squad- ron--the Diadem and the Pelorus. I think that honorable members will admit that, if the committee undertook duties of this kind, it would be a means by which the house and the country might assure itself as to the efficiency of these boilers, and as to the remediable or irremediable char- - acter of the defects. The committee would, of course, have the oppor- tunity of calling witnesses. I have no doubt that the proposal will com- mend itself to all who desire a practical examination of this most com- plicated question. EXPENSES OF THE NAVY. The auditor of the navy department has submitted to the secretary of the treasury his annual report of expenses of the navy for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900. The total amount expended is shown to have been $61,971,000. The continued enlargement of the navy and marine corps and their activity in foreign waters caused the volume of expense to be greater than ever before for the maintenance of the navy. Only $32,576 for prize claims in the Spanish-American war was paid, the great bulk of these claims awaiting action of the courts. In concluding, the auditor says that on June 30 last the unusually large sum of $19,082,224 was carried to the surplus fund from unexpended naval appropriations. Of the $50,000,000 appropriated for an emergency fund $17,000,000 was returned to the treasury. Of the $2,647,900 appro- priated for vessels of the United States auxiliary naval force $2,250,000 has been returned, and of $275,000 for naval coast signal system $250,000 has been returned. The appropriations for pay of the navy for 1898 and 1899, which was $17,955,460, had $5,033,381 to its credit on the books on June 30, 1900, of which no considerable part will hereafter be required to pay outstanding claims. Of the sum appropriated to pay off the navy in 1900 more than one-third remained undrawn at the end. of the fiscal year, and for the pay of the marine corps more than one-fourth was un- drawn. The probability is that no deficiency will arise under these two appropriations. The amount expended for the increase of the navy in 1900 was $14,398,248, leaving a balance unexpended of this fund on June 30 last of $9,749,122. The appropriation for the purpose for 1901 was $17,315,699, making a total available at present of $27,064,821. LAUNCH OF PRINCETON WAS QUITE IMPORTANT. The launching of the steamer Princeton at Lorain on Saturday com- pletes the list of steamers building for the Pittsburg Steamship Co. (Car- negie fleet) in the yards of the American Ship Building Co. The Har- vard was launched at Detroit recently, the Lafayette at Lorain, the Cornell at Chicago and the Rensselaer at Cleveland. The steamships are all 474 ft. long oversall, 454 ft. on the water line, 50 ft. beam and 28% 'ft. deep. The launching of the Princeton was made an event of much importane. The vessel was christened iby Miss Katherine Reid of Pittsburg and the Japanese custom of releasing doves was observed. A delegation of seven- teen ladies and gentlemen arrived from Pittsburg to attend the ceremony. Moreover the event was made the culminating one in a tour of the lakes by the officials of the Carnegie Steel Co. A party consisting of President Schwab, James Sayley, George Lauder and D. M. Clemson of the Car- negie Steel Co., Judge James H. Reid, president of the P., B. & L. E. R. R., and President Thomas Lynch of the H. C. Frick Coke Co., who had 'been inspecting Carnegie interests on the lakes, were present. This party had previously made a thorough tour of inspection, having inspected the Carnegie docks at Conneaut and visited the mines of the Oliver Iron Mining Co. on the Vermillion and Mesaba ranges. They were eminently satisfied with all that they saw during their tour of inspection. NAVIGATION AT AMITERSTBURG. Capt. McKay visited Amherstburg a few days ago to determine upon the location of lighted buoys to aid navigation while the dredges are working in the channel. The dredges are now working in a direct line with the Elliott point range light. Four lighted, buoys have been placed on the westerly side of the channel and indicate the extreme westerly point at which navigation is safe. Indeed it is safest right in the line of the four buoys. The channel therefore lies between the Elliott point range light and the four temporary buoys and vessels should pass as close to the 'buoys as possible. It is said that the Eastern Ship Building Co., New London, Conn., will submit bids for the construction of the battleships and cruisers soon to be placed under contract for the United States navy. The keels for the big Hill steamships for the Pacific trade will be laid within eight weeks. ELECTRIC LAUNCI CO.'°S NEW PLANT. _ The new building of the Electric Launch Co. of Morris Heights, which is situated near the edge of Newark Bay, is rapidly nearing com- pletion. Its roof is now being slated and floors are being put in on the second story. Boilers, engines and dynamos have been fitted up in the engine house. All that is now needed in that building is steam piping. the shipment of which has been delayed. When completed the building of the Launch company will possess all the latest conveniences, and will be able to turn out graceful craft much faster than at present. In the main building will be an immense hoisting frame for moving boats from floor to floor. There will be a similar frame on the outside of the building for loading boats on railroad cars and an- other on the pier for lowering boats into the water. There is also a runway on the pier, so that launches may be run from the manufactory into their natural element. The launch company shipped away two large boats last week to Lake Placid, in the Adirondacks. One, 36 feet in length, was consigned to C. Ww. McCutchen of the firm of Hall & Co. The other, 18 feet in length, finished in mahogany and nickelplate, went to A. G. Mills, vice-president of the Otis Elevator Co. A number of handsome launches are in course of construction. Walter Luttgen, partner of August Belmont and member of the Columbia Yacht Club, has ordered a 36-foot boat. It will have a cabin, furnished with upholstered seats, a cook's galley and_ lavatories. When finished the boat will be sent to the Columbia Club's boat house at West Eighty-sixth street, New York city. Another 36-foot launch has just been sold to R. Dickinson Jewett, at Nyack, N. Y. RUSHED WITH WORK. _ The W. R. Trigg Co., Richmond, Va., will put a large number of addi- tronal employes to work in a few weeks owing to the press of work on government cutters and the new cruisers. The force in the hull depart- ment will be increased by 100, making 387 in that department. There will be corresponding increases made in all the departments. The ways for re- ceiving the Plunger, the submarine torpedo boat being repaired at the yards, are nearly completed, and the boat will be brought out of the water early next week. Six months will probably be required for the completion of the work on her. The torpedo 'boat Stockton will make her trial trip in about two weeks. Her dock trial began this week and will last several days: At its conclusion she will steam down the James to have her builders' trial, probably on Chesapeake bay, as Vice-President Myers has written the secretary of the navy, asking him to designate the trial course and ex- pressing preference for. the Chesapeake for the standardizing screw test. Then the little ship will go to sea to try to make the 26 knots an hour that the government will require before accepting her as a part of the United States navy. Th Stockton is the first of the torpedo boats of the last twelve authorized by congress to go into the water for her trial trip. The. officials who have carefully inspected the boat expect the trial trip to be a source of gratification to the Trigg company. . : PIG IRON PRODUCTION, FIRST HALF OF 1900. The American Iron & Steel Association 'has received from the manu- facturers and publishes in the Bulletin of Aug. 1 complete statistics of the production of all kinds of pig iron in the United States in the first half of 1900; also complete statistics of the stocks of pig iron which were on hand and for sale on June 30, 1900. The figures show that the total pro- duction of pig iron in the first 'half of 1900 was 7,642,569 gross tons, against 6,289.167 tons in the first half of 1899 and 7,331,536 tons in the second half. The increased production in the first half of 1900 over the second half of 1899 was 311,033 tons. The production in the second half of 1899 and the first thalf of 1900 aggregated 14,974,105 tons, or almost 15,000,000 tons. The enormous production of the first half of 1900: will not be con- tinued in the second half, as demand has slackened. A check in produc- oe began in June, when some furnaces were banked and others were own out. NEW FRENCH LINER DOES 22 KNOTS. Agent Bocande of the French Line received a dispatch from his home office this week that the line's big new twin-screw steamship La Lorraine had arrived at Havre after a successful sea trial trip. She averaged 22 knots, thus proving herself the fastest French merchantman afloat. If she main- tains this average on a voyage she will be about equal to the Lucania and Campania of the Cunard line. She measures 12,000 tons and has en- gines of the triple-expansion type with four cylinders, which were built to develop about 22,000 horse power. She is 580 ft. 8 in. long, of 60 ft. 2%4 in. beam and 39 ft. 4 in. deep. She will sail from Havre for New York on Aug. 11. Chief Constructor Hichborn of the United States navy is at work on his annual report, which may be the last document of that character to be signed by Rear Admiral Hichborn, who reaches the age of retirement in March next. Efforts are being made to have the chief constructor remain in the service, under the provisions of the law authorizing the detail of re- tired officets to active duty in the navy. Tihe forthcoming report will em- brace a history of the chief constructor's career in the service, and contain a faithful record of the various important questions which have engaged the attention of his bureau. The navy yard authorities in Brooklyn have been notified that the cruiser New York and the battleship Texas will soon tbe detached from the North Atlantic squadron and sent to the yard for extensive repairs. This will result in the employment of most of the men who were recently laid off in the department of construction.