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

26 MARINE REVIEW. | [April 18, SEASON OUTLOOK AT BUFFALO. Buffalo, April 17.--The spring opening of the lakes is not dependent on the disappearance of the ice this year and is attended with some new and doubtful conditions, both general over the lakes and local to Buffalo, as well as elsewhere. Vessel owners here profess to believe that the strik- ing engineers, who are making a general opening impossible at present, will go to work in response to a general call, but the evidence that this is true is small thus far. It is a fact that there are quite a number of engi- neers at work here, and specially at Tonawanda, but they are mainly con- nected with the lumber fleet, which is not very much concerned in the demands made by the strikers. It is expected, though, that some solution will be reached this week. Buffalo marine men are much disturbed over the refusal of the upper house of the city council to ratify the vote of the lower house to use $400,000 in dredging out the harbor and making it as deep as the other ore-receiving harbors on Lake Erie. Had the discrimination of 5 cents a ton in ore freights been made against this port at the time the adverse vote was taken it might have been different, and there will be an effort to secure a reversal of it now. The strange part of the whole transaction appears to have been that the board of councilmen contains two veteran marine men, both of whom took violent sides against the measure. It is expected that as soon as the new furnaces at the steel plant at South Buffalo are running, which will be sometime this fall, all of the ore for Scranton will be taken there. It happens, though, that this ore is taken in the Erie basin by the Lackawanna road, where there is plenty of water. So the problem of sufficient water to reach the Minnesota docks and the furnaces in the inner harbor remains unchanged and all effort will be made to secure the desired harbor deepening. The loss of ore business and the extra cost of all that is obtained is something not to be ignored. Otherwise the Buffalo spring situation is favorable. There is the utmost confidence in the grain handling plan, the elevator pool will be re-established, the tug war is probably over, and receipts and shipments will be large. The package freight lines are especially eager to get started on account of the amount of west-bound business expected. A better rate than usual has been made and there appears to be a better under- standing among the lines and the all-rail lines than usual and no disturb- ing element exists. There is a queer condition of things in the effort to combine the ves- sel interests on an all-season rate for coal to the upper lakes. The idea is generally favored in the abstract, but it is felt that it will be very hard to carry it out. Vessel owners have never been able to combine on rates, and as soon as one of them shows evidence of bad faith the agreement will be at an end. Even agreements on sailing dates at the opening of the season seldom amount to anything. I asked a marine man the other day if he had any idea that so-and-so could be depended on to keep such an agreement, and he replied that he positively knew of several owners who had gone into the agreement in order to be posted on the proper time for pulling out. Then certain of the larger owners have stayed out and will make it uncomfortable for the combine. So far as learned the hard coal shippers are agreed to the idea, for it gives them a cue to prices from the opening of the season, which they have never had before. Buffalo is for the most part standing on the dock, waiting to see whether it seems worth the while to take passage or not. Combination is the rule of busi- ness these days, but there are elements that will not combine, for all that. JOHN CHAMBERLIN. NEW SUBMARINE BOAT. Designs for a submarine or subaqueous boat will be prepared by the naval board of construction and submitted with an estimate of its cost to the next session of congress. Secretary Long, upon the recommendation of Rear Admiral A. S. Crowninshield, chief of the bureau of navigation, has directed the board to submit plans and data concerning submarine boat construction. This action is of the utmost importance, as it means that the navy department will continue its vigorous opposition to the efforts of the Holland Submarine Torpedo Boat Co. to secure legislation directing the construction of additional Holland boats. The boat which will be designed by the board of construction will probably not be of the submerged type, but of the subaqueous type, and will make a speed of at least 16 knots per hour. Information obtained regarding the resistance to the propulsion of a submarine boat shows that without the expenditure of enormous powers, it is difficult to get a speed of more than 3 or 4 knots under water. It is the idea of the mem- bers of the board on construction that a boat which will run awash will be as difficult of detection as a submarine boat, can be steered without trouble and accurately discharge its torpedo at a target. Besides the greater speed that can be attained by a wholly submerged boat will be greatly in favor of the design advocated by members of the board. The Townsend '& Downey Ship Building & Repair Co., Shooter's Island, N. Y., have completed plans for a mammoth steel building for their plate works. They are also setting their new steeel rollers in posi- tion, the largest of which is 31 in. in diameter, and its length will allow the working of steel plates 26 ft. in length. Scott's Coast Pilot, revised for 1901, has just been issued. This addi- tion, the sixth, contains several valuable improvements over old issues. It is a publication especially valuable for young men who are seeking a master's position on the great lakes. The book may be had from the Marine Review for $1.50. Thomas Lynch, president of the H. 'C. Frick Coke Co., has been elected by the directors of the United States Steel Corporation as general manager of the coal and coke properties of the constituent companies, with headquarters in Pittsburg. f They're simple, too, and have no delicate parts, of all sorts where pneumatic tools are used. We guarantee every "Little Giant" Tool for one year. Ask for Catalog "E" Don't be fooled by any "just as good as 'Little Giant' " talk--that's the tribute other makers unwittingly pay to "Little Giant" superiority. "Just as good" means taking chances--larger repair bills, smaller profits. If the other fellow's "just as good' was really just as good he'd say it was better. You know that. Now, there's our Long Stroke Hammer; where is there anything to compare with it? It's the latest and best Long Stroke Hammer on the footstool. It has no vibration, and it does the biggest day's work in a day with. out making the operator feel at night as though he'd been hanging on to the tail end of a full grown cyclone for ten hours. It drives rivets perfectly up to 1 in. It has only three moving parts. No other Hammer has so few. If you want a smaller Hammer for chipping, calking, beading, etc., one of our seven sizes will fill the bill. You know all our Hammers have a regulator that lets in the air just as it's wanted and every one of them cushions on exhaust air, saving fully 30 per cent. over hammers that cushion on live air. Then, there are Pneumatic Drills. We make the only Piston Air Drills having a double-balanced Piston Valve cutting off at 5 of full stroke, and these Drills can be operated in a bath of oil, because the exhaust doesn't come in contact with the working parts. They're made entirely of steel, are economical in the use of air, and they stand the racket. 'Little Giant'"' tools have met with the pleased appreciation of good mechanics all over the world, and have, through sheer merit, become the standard for comparison in representative shops We send any "Little Giant" Tool anywhere for a free 30 days' trial. STANDARD PNEUMATIC TOOL COMPANY, e Manufacturers of Pneumatic Drills, Hammers, Reversible Flue Rolling, Reaming, Tapping and Boring Machines, and all kinds of Air Tools and Appliances. Main Offices, Chicago, Ill. ce free. New York Office, 141 Broadway. S Some Pneumatic Tool Talk. le a i