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1900.] MARINE REVIEW. . es NAVAL DRY DOCKS. Much interesting information in regard to carrying out improve- ments at the various navy yards and shore stations, to put the navy in better condition for hostilities than it was at the beginning of the war with Spain, is contained in the annual report of Rear Admiral Mordecai T. Endicott, chief of the bureau of yards and docks. The admiral says that the yards and stations are in much better condition today to meet a similar demand (the war with Spain) than they were two years ago. He estimates that to continue the work of improvement during the next fiscal year $12,456,390 will be required. Miore than $11,000,000 of this amount is for public works, but much of it is to continue projects heretofore authorized. This is notably the case in the items for dry docks and cer- tain large buildings at New York, Boston, League Island, Portsmouth and Mare island. Of the dry docks authorized by congress in March, 1899, all are in progress. The steel floating dry dock to be located at Algiers, La., and now under construction at Sparrow's Point, Md., will probably be floated and towed to its destination as soon as the weather will permit in the spring. The dock at Portsmouth, N. H., is advancing successfully. Three failures of the cofferdam of the Boston dock caused much delay and the dock will not be completed within the contract time of two and a half years. Speaking generally of the dry docks, Admiral Endicott says: "The docks now under construction and authorized will constitute a large addition to the docking facilities of the navy, but the great increase in the number of vessels to be docked in times of war, or when repairing or commissioning considerable numbers, will require still more docks than are now provided for. No specific estimate is made for such in this report, but it is recommended that an appropriation be made for the construction of one in the Philippines as soon as the department shall have decided upon the best harbor and site for a naval station adequate in every way for the largest vessels." In the last fiscal year the cost of labor and material at the New York navy yard was $1,188,053. Of the repair work on dry dock No. 2 at the New York yard, which has had an unfortunate experience, Admiral Endi- cott says: "The work was well advanced at the end of the fiscal year, and it is expected that it will be entirely completed and the dock put into service again by the end of the present calendar year. Very little granite is being used in its construction and when complete it will be practically a con- crete dry dock with a wooden floor. The history of this dock is anothe chapter in the unwisdom of building these great and important works oi a perishable material, and shows how, while the first cost may be smaller, the ultimate cost is vastly greater and the risks and dangers involved in their use great and unwarranted. The original cost of this dry dock, completed in 1890, was $595,000. The repairs and renewals now being made will consume nearly the whole of the $600,000 appropriated. The 'expenditures during the fiscal year were $190,255." An estimate of $500,000 is submitted to continue work on the granite and concrete dry dock at the New York navy yard authorized by the last naval act. ADMIRAL HICHBORN IS CHIEF CONSTRUCTOR. Secretary Long has decided two of the main points in contention be- tween the majority of the naval board on construction and Rear Admiral Philip Hichborn, chief of the bureau of construction and repair, in such a way as to give a victory to both sides in their most recent professional controversy, which has not been without considerable personal ill-feeling. While Admiral Hichborn was attending the launching of the torpedo boat Lawrence at Weymouth, Mass., early this month his four colleagues on the board on construction held a meeting and decided to recommend to the secretary of the navy that Admiral Hichborn be prohibited from using the title chief constructor of the navy in the advertisements for bids and the specifications for the new battleships and armored cruisers, and that he be compelled to use, instead, the impersonal term "Bureau of Construc- tion and Repairs." When Admiral Hichborn returned to Washington he made a protest to the secretary against the action of the board. He said that an attempt was being made to deprive him of his rightful rank and title, and inti- mated that the action of the board was the result of personal ill-feeling. This protest was reduced to writing and incorporated with it were some recommendations of Admiral Hichborn in regard to distribution of the work on the new vessels, among them that the emplacement of the tur- ret hoods be transferred from the bureau of ordnance to the bureau of construction. Secretary Long has denied the recommendation of the majority of the board that Admiral Hichborn be forbidden to use the title chief con- structor, holding that as Admiral Hichborn is entitled to that designation he has a perfect right to use it if he so prefers. In the matter of the turret hoods the secretary has declined to make the transfer recom- mended by Admiral Hichborn. A number of other minor suggestions made by both parties to the controversy are now being considered by Capt. Lemly, the judge advocate general of the navy, and while the latter has not made a full report it has been learned that the secretary will sus- tain the majority of the board in most of these, basing his decision in each case on the letter and spirit of the naval regulations. WESTINGHOUSE CHIEF ENGINEER. Mr. Asa M. Mattice has been appointed chief engineer of the West- inghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., and will enter upon his duties in December. Mr. Mattice was for ten years, up to a year ago, principal assistant to E. D. Levitt of Cambridgeport, Mass., and has been actively connected with the design of all the large machinery coming from Levitt's office during that time. During the past year he has been remodeling the Cocheco Cotton Mills at Dover, N. H. He is an engineer graduate of the Naval Academy of the class of '74, of which class Mr. B. N. War- ren, vice-president of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Co., is also a member. He was assistant to Admiral Melville at the beginning of the new navy, and had an important part in the design of the machin- ery of the Maine, San Francisco and others of the important early ships. The Westinghouse company is to be congratulated on the additional strength which he will give to their already strong engineering staff. "LITTLE GIANT? 222.722! Recognized by the Mechanics of the World to be the Most Efficient and Practical AIR Tools Manufactured. No Vibration. Repair for One Year. Rivets. Guaranteed Against Our Hammers are un- excelled for all classes of Riveting, Chipping, Calking, Beading, Etc. MADE IN ALL SIZES. SENT ON TRIAL. Send for our latest Catalog "E." It will interest you. We make AIR DRILLS of all kinds. New' Little Giant" Long Stroke Hammer, ** The Best Yet.'? Will Drive Perfectly One Inch The "Little Giant" Reversibie Boring Machine No.5 Especially Designed for Shipyard and Dock Work. Will Bore up to 4" in Diameter in any kind of wood. Piston type. 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