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18 MARINE REVIEW. CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD BUSY. The 'great amount of work that is being done at the Charlestown navy yard at the present time, as compared with the long period of in- action which ended just before the declaration of war against Spain, is made easily comprehensible by a careful comparison of the number of workmen employed then and now. The average number employed each month during the year 1897 was about 450, 'but to make sure that the minimum is not taken the month of Jan., 1898, has been selected and inferences may be drawn from a comparison of the number working in the several departments of the yard at present with those employed that month. The returns of the heads of the several departments of the yard for Jan. 31, 1898, show the total number of men employed to be 486, divided among the departments as follows: Yards and docks forty-six; con- struction and repair, 220; steam engineering, twenty-eight; equipment, 145; ordnance, five; provisions and clothing (now supplies and accounts), twenty-one; medicine and surgery, two. 'The returns for the departments for July 30, 1900, show a total of 1866 men employed. They are distrib- uted among the several departments as follows: Yards and docks, 144; construction and repair, 1,086; steam engineering, 286; equipment, 278; ordnance, twenty-two; supplies and accounts, fifty. These figures show that the total number of men employed in the yard on July 30, this year, is about four times as great as the total number employed on Jan. 31, 1898; and that the number employed in the depart- ment of construction and repair at present is over twice the whole force of the yard two years ago. The force at present employed is not so large as it was a few weeks since, or so large as it will ibe a little later, if some of the work expected is secured.. When one considers the great amount of new machinery which has been installed within the past two years and the other improvements which have been inaugurated, the immense amount of work which is being turned out now can be appreciated. This morning an order was received by Constructor Baxter for be- tween thirty and forty 'boats, to replace those destroyed by fire recently. The list includes .all classes of boats, from steam cutters costing about $6,000, to dingys and punts which cost only a few dollars. This order is very large and will keep the boatshop crew busy for some time to come. There is a large force working in this shop now, but Constructor Baxter announces that he intends to buy a lot of tools for the shop and as soon as they are received the crew will be enlarged. These 'ships are at the yard receiving repairs: Olympia, Scorpion, Mayflower, Dolphin, Machias and Topeka. The Hartford's repairs are finished and she has sailed. The Sterling, which has been out of commis- sion for several months, will undoubtedly be fitted for use as a collier in Chinese waters. An order calling for estimates for doing this work has been received, and it was expected the men will 'be set at work very soon. If the job is authorized it will mean a very considerable addition 'to the yard force. The department of steam engineering would have to over- haul all the ship's machinery, a job which would take about two months under normal conditions and would necessitate the employment of a large force of workmen. The department of construction and repair would need about a month for overhauling all the woodwork and making what repairs are needed. Probably 300 would be required for the work. The hull of the Sterling is in first rate condition and would need little or no repairs. The other departments of the yard would have only a small amount to do, comparatively. Boece Estimates for repairing the gunboat Machias have 'been prepared and forwarded to the department at Washington, but as yet nothing has been heard from them. It has been rumored at the yard for some time that the Machias is to be put out of commission and that the Bancroft will be commissioned in her place. . Of course, the idea is that one or the other of these ships is to be sent to China. If the department should put the Machias out of commission here it is more than likely that her repairs will be very extensive and will call for a large number of men to do the work. If not put-out of commission only temporary repairs are to be made. The outlook for the steady advancement in the navy yard is good; everything points to an increase rather than a decrease in the number of men employed. One reason for this awakening of the Charlestown navy yard is that it is situated in a highly advantageous position for securing the best class of skilled laborers. . This fact the department. recognizes, and is making an earnest effort to secure some of the best of these skilled mechanics and keep them permanently employed. AN ADDRESS ON THE SHIPPING BILM. A vigorous and excellent address on the shipping bill was delivered before the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress by Hon. John R. G. Pitkin of New Orleans, recently. One of his contentions was that the bill could not foster a trust. Among many things he said: "Tt is not proposed, while increasing the earning power of our labor by reaching to more markets, to diminish that power in building and sail- ing the ship which is the reach. It is proposed to do for the ship build- ing industry by subsidy what we do for other industries by tariff; to credit to ourselves the difference in the cost of labor here and abroad, and pro- tect the hold as we protect the counter. The average difference in cost of operation is met in the provision of one cent per gross ton per 100 nautical miles sailed for the first 1,500, etc. Neither can the term of com- pensation of any vessel extend beyond twenty years, nor its annual entries for compensation exceed sixteen in number. The contract entered into with the government must be enforced by a secured penal bond, equal to $10 per gross ton of the vessel, for its construction in one of our yards, its registry and readiness within five years; but no contract can be made after the lapse of ten years from the passage of the act, and no compensation can be applied save as the vessel responds to the terms of the 'bond, and after its tenth year of service the bounty annually shrinks 5 per cent. If shipowners combine to control freight rates, they forfeit all compensation under the bill; and if ship builders combine to control yard rates foreign-built tonnage, under the terms already stated, replace the new products of such yards. In other words, no trust can ambush itself be- hind the measure to dictate a tax on either. construction or carriage." The cruiser New York, the flagship of Rear Admiral F h North Atlantic squadron, is soon to be. detached from the (Stas sent to the Brooklyn navy yard for repairs. If Admiral Farquhar's wishes are consulted the cruiser will not be remodeled. [August 9, NICARAGUA SEIZES THE CANAL. No official information concerning the report from Managua, that the government of Nicaragua has seized the property of the Maritime Canal Co. has been received by the United States, but the government understands the situation well enough to appreciate the reasons which brought about this radical action by Nicaragua. Some, time ago, after the government of Nicaragua had declared the concessions to the Maritime company forfeited and had granted a new concession to the Cragin-Eyre syndicate, the Maritime company became aware of the purpose of Nicara- gua to seize its property and appealed to the United States to see it through. Under one of the articles of the concession the company and the government of Nicaragua may have recourse to arbitration in the event of just such differences, and an agreement was reached that arbitra- tors should be appointed. It was the failure of this attempt at arbitration in its preliminary stage that brought about the seizure. -- : : In order to fully understand the situation now existing a brief review of the controversy will be helpful. _The concession to the Maritime Canal Co. was made by Nicaragua in 1887, and a period of ten years after the completion of the surveys was given the company within which to com- plete the canal. Two years ago the ten years' period expired, and last year Nicaragua served notice on the company that its concession had been forfeited and that its property would 'be seized. Under article 48 of the concession, which provides for an extension of the period within which the canal should be completed if the delay has not been due to the fault of the company, an extension was applied for, but Nicaragua declined to grant it. Then the company demanded arbitration, as provided by article 55 of the concession, as follows: 5 "Any misunderstanding that may arise between the state of Nicaragua and the company in regard to the interpretation of the stipulations of this agreement shall be submitted to a court of arbitrators, to 'be composed of four members, two of whom shall 'be appointed by the state and two by th> company." It is further provided that if the arbitrators fail to agree they shall select a fifth member, or umpire, who shall decide. The Nicaragua gov- ernment imposed as the condition of the arbitration that the company should appoint as its arbitrators citizens of Nicaragua. ~The concession made no such condition, the Nicaragua government basing its claim in that particular on the law of Nicaragua relative to the procedure of courts, which requires citizenship in Nicaragua as a qualification of an arbitrator. This law, however, was ex post facto with regard to the concession. It was not enacted until July 6, 1894, more than seven years after the con- cession had been granted. The United States government sustained the objection of the company to the requirement that the company's arbitra- tors should be Nicaraguans, and endeavored to induce the Nicaraguan government to consent to a change. 'Nicaragua refused, and no progress in the matter has been made. The time within which the arbitration was to take place expired recently, and the government of Nicaragua, by seiz- ing the company's property, serves notice on the United States and on the company that the contentions have been denied. The seizure was made under article 54 of the concession, which pro- vides that if the company forfeit its concessions through failure to com- plete the canal within the time fixed or for other reasons the government of Nicaragua- "shall enter upon possession in perpetuity of the canal of works of art, lighthouses, stations, deposits, 'stores and all the establish- ments 'used in this administration of the canal without being obliged to pay any indemnity to the company." : : What this government will do remains to be decided, but it will surely protest against Nicaragua's arbitrary action, contending that the insis- tence of the republic on the appointment of an all-Nicaraguan arbitration commission was contrary to the spirit and the letter of the concession. A state department official said in regard to the action of the United States: "This government will protect the rights of its citizens. We so far have only considered one right--that of arbitration. We have insisted that the company be allowed to name its own arbitrators and we continue to stand on that ground." The despatch from Managua says that the Nicaragua congress met in regular session and confirmed the decision of the courts and the official declaration of the Minister of Public Works that the time granted to the Maritime Canal Co. of Nicaragua had expired and ruled that the concession was null and void. The seizure of the company's property was doubtless made in conformity with this decision. The company's cars, rails and other portable property, it is said, have been removed from the interior to Greytown. ENGLISH LIGHTSHIPS. _Roughly speaking, lightships are only used where it is impossible or inexpedient--on account of the shifting nature of the shoal--to 'build permanent lighthouses, and the first one to be placed in position was the well-known Nore, in the year 1732. At the present time there are sixty round the British coasts. The English lights are painted red, and those on the Irish coast black, with the name in huge white letters on both sides. At the masthead there is a large wooden globe or cage called the day mark. The lantern encircling the mast is about ten feet high, and contains a number of argand lamps and reflections, twenty-one inches in diameter, arranged in groups on a frame, which a beautifully regulated clockwork apparatus causes to revolve, and the result is those brilliant flashes of light which practically spell the name of the light vessel to passing ships, for every light has some distinguishing characteristic, either in the period or color of the flash. Even when the lightship is rolling op pitching in a heavy sea the light remains horizontal, as the lamps and reflectors are hung on gimbals, so as to give them free play in all direc- Hops. neosey weather entails additional work for all hands, as a power- . aoe orn driven either by steam or compressed air, is kept working ie € ine fog lasts. By means of high and low blasts from the trumpet, e sailor is informed what lightship he is passing, each fog signal as well as each light having its own distinguishing characteristic. . Townsend & Downey chri eons ' ; ' y christened their big Crandall marine railway ce nee by hauling out the sailing ship Vimeria of 2,163 tons at their ar ad on Shooter's Island, Borough of Richmond, N. Y. This im- portant event was properly celebrated by a large number of friends of the Proprietors going down to this n oe iin alee n the tug A. A Sumner, ew and extensive ship building yard 1