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MARINE REVIEW. [August l, NEW STEAMER CITY OF ROCKLAND. It is generally credited that the City of Rockland, the new steamer for the Boston & Bangor Steamship Co., is the finest side-wheeler plying in Maine waters. The steamer recently had her trial trip and acquitted herself well. The vessel is of the following dimensions: Length, 300 ft.; beam, 38 ft. 5 in.; depth, 14 ft. 4 in.; gross tonnage, 1,700. The passenger capacity is 800 and the freight capacity about 600 tons. The vessel was built by William McKie of East Boston and her engines and boilers were furnished by the W. & A. Fletcher Co., Hoboken, N. J. Her frame is of white oak, copper and iron riveted, and her lines are quite graceful. Besides her unusually strong construction up to the main deck the steamer has heavy hog frames to stiffen her in addition to the steel strapping which supplements the natural strength of the oak. She is planked with oak and Georgia pine with gunwale strakes of Oregon fir. The keel, stem and stern posts are of oak of unusually long lengths and the keelsons, ten in number, are of Oregon fir, 14 by 14, and are also of exceptionally long timbers. The interior arrangements are all that can be desired. Under the deck aft is the ladies' cabin with forty-six berths; next is the midship cabin with thirty berths and then the forward cabin with thirty-six berths, a total of 112. On the main deck aft is the ladies' social hall, a large and handsome apartment furnished in the style of the grand saloon. Forward of the hall on the starboard side is the purser's office and on the port side the steward's room. The social hall, which comes next, is distinctive KEEL OF ARMORED CRUISER PENNSYLVANIA LAID. The keel of the armored cruiser Pennsylvania has fust been laid at Cramps, Philadelphia. This is the first of the new vessels, for the con- struction of which contracts were lately let, to be laid down. There was no ceremony attached to the keel laying. The plates were sheared, punched and fitted up in the ship shed and were placed on the keel blocks of the new cruiser and bolted into place. Then the builder's name and the number of the cruiser were fastened in tront of the keel. A sister ship to the Pennsylvania, the armored cruiser Colorado, will be started later by the Cramps. By a recent decision of the navy department the two vessels are to be built alike, although at first it was intended that the Pennsylvania, unlike the Colorado, should be sheathed with wood and coppered. After the contract was signed the department decided to dispense with this. Both vessels are armored cruisers, with two 9-in. barbette turrets, and two military masts. The general dimensions are: Length on the water line, 502 ft.: extreme beam, 69 ft. 6 in., and mean draught 24 ft. 6 in. The displacement is 13,680 tons. The cruisers will have twin screw triple expansion vertical engines, and water tube boilers of the Niclausse type. The engines are designed to develop 23,000 H.P., producing a speed of 22 knots an hour. The normal coal supply will be 900 tons and the maximum bunker capacity 2,000 tons. The steaming radius with the maximum coal supply will be 10,000 knots. The armament of the twin cruisers is unusually powerful. The main battery consists of four 8-in. breech-loading rifles, in pairs, in barbette ge in that it is covered with new rubber tiling, a novelty in steamboat use. This tiling is in separate interlocking pieces of attractive pattern--Indian red and torquoise blue. It is a most agreeable surface, smooth and noiseless, and is sure footing under all conditions. The material is said to last from ten to twenty years in public places. Altogether about the grand saloon and gallery deck are 186 staterooms. The vessel is lighted throughout with electricity and is equipped with Hyde windlass and Williamson steering gear. GENERAL PLAN OF ARMORED CRUISERS. Plans for armored cruisers which will be superior to foreign vessels of their type are now being prepared by Rear Admiral Bowles in accord- ance with the characteristics defined by the naval board of construction. As the battleships projected are to be more formidable than anything of their kind in the United States navy, the board decided to design armored cruisers which would be the peer of anything in their class in the world. The new cruisers are to be provided with a battery considerably stronger than that with which the Maryland class, the construction of which has just begun, is provided, and they are to have greater protection. It is expected that the plans will describe vessels having these general char- acteristics: Length, 502 ft.; beam, 69 ft. 6 in.; draught, 24 ft. 6 in.; dis- placement, 14,000 tons. The armament will consist. of 'eight 8-in. guns in four turrets, two forward and aft on the keel line of the ship, one on each beam in the waist of the ship, fourteen 6-in. guns, most of which will be broadside, and a strong secondary battery. The cruisers will be designed for a speed of 22 knots. A. lake-built steel steamer, the Simon J. Murphy of about 3,000 tons capacity, which has been under charter to the Coastwise Steamship Co. of Newport News and New York, carrying coal, has been sold to the M. S. Dollar Co. of San Francisco, and will soon leave the Atlantic sea- board for the Pacific. turrets mounted forward and aft on the middle line of the ship, and four- teen 6-in. rapid-fire breech-loading rifles mounted in armored broadside. The secondary battery consists of eighteen 3-in. rapid-fire guns, eight 1-lb. rapid-fire guns, two 3-in. rapid-fire field guns, two Colt's machine guns and six Colt's automatic guns. There will be two submerged tor- pedo tubes, as in the battleship Maine, but there will be no torpedo tubes above water, as in all the existing United States cruisers. The thickness of armor on the water line is 6 in., tapering to 5 in., on the turrets 6% in., tapering to 6 in., and on the barbettes 6 in. and 4 in., with a correspond- ing thickness on the gun sponsons. The full complement of the Pennsylvania and the Colorado will re- quire forty-five officers and 777 men, more than any other vessel in the United States navy. The Pennsylvania will be fitted out as a flagship and will have quarters for an admiral and his staff. EXPANSION OF THE HAMBURG-AMERICAN LINE. Richard Guenther, United States consul at Frankfort, has this to say regarding new lines for the Hamburg-American service: It is reported on good authority that four new lines are to be in- cluded in the Hamburg-American service. First, the "Jebsen" line, be- tween Shanghai and Tsintau. This line was subsidized by the German government. It is proposed to enlarge the service and extend it to Chefoo and Tientsin, the Hamburg-American line wishing to gain part of the Chinese shore trade. A second addition is the share held by the Bremen firm of Rickmers in a line operated on the Yangtze by the North German Lloyd. It is expected that the Yangtze commerce will soon increase greatly. The North German Lloyd and the Hamburg-American line in this case work together. The third project is that of a regular East Asia and San Francisco route, by which (using the overland route between San Francisco and New York) a more rapid communication with the east will be secured than via the Suez canal. The fourth enter- prise is the purchase of the British Atlas line, operating between New York, the West Indies and South America.