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14 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. [Janet The Peter Sprague--Largest Tewboat in the World. TOW BOAT PETER SPRAGUE, The Peter Sprague enjoys the distinction of being the world's largest tow boat. 'Fhe Sprague was built by the Iowa Iron Works, Dubuque, Iowa, for the Monongahela River Consolidated Coal & Coke Co. and completed her maiden trip in October last to the satisfaction of all concerned. She is finished inside and out in the most approved manner. Her cabin, while relatively small for her length and beam, has all modern conveniences. It is loca- ted directly aft of the clerk's office amidships and contains a num- ber of excellent staterooms. The vessel is of such unusual size that a description of her will undoubtedly be of interest. 'The hull is 275 ft. long, and including the 4o-ft. diameter wheel, 318 ft. long; width, including guards, 64 ft.8in.; depth at shallowest part, 71. at Dow 10 it. and at'stern, 12 ft. Her draught is 534 ft. She has three fore-and-aft bulkheads and nine crosswise, form- ing eleven watertight compartments. The boiler deck is 250 ft. long, 63 ft. wide and 15 ft. high with a bunker space of 85 ft. be- tween the boiler room and engine room. 'This deck is supported on three rows cf 6-in. hollow steel columns, 15 ft. apart, extend- ing the full length of the deck, and angle bars at the sides about 2 ft. apart, ai supporting heavy strings of the channel bars on which the deck beams rest. .~ne cabin is 170 ft. long by 38 ft. wide. There are eight staterooms for officers of the boat on-each side of the 20-ft. cabin, . finished up in modern style. Aft of these are separate sleeping compartments and mess rooms for deck hands and firemen. Bath _and toilet rooms are for the crew as well as the officers--the only tow boat on the river which can claim such consideration for the "workmen. Even the cabin boys have their own exclusive sleep- ing apartment. There are also cold storage rooms for meat, vegetables, fruit and other essentials to feed over seventy-five men for a round trip of trom thirty to forty days from Pittsburg to New Orleans. In addition there is a large kitchen, bakery and laundry, furnisned with all the conveniences of first-class packets, even though boats of this class are barred by govern- ment regulation from carrying passengers. The total weight of the boat is 20,000 tons. She has 'four balance steel rudders 22 ft. long by 4 ft. deep, having a united water resistance of 352 sq. ft., weighing 20,000 lbs. each. 'The wheel is 40 ft. wide and 4o ft. in diameter. There are twenty- one buckets 4 ft. deep of 2 and 3-in. cak plank. The arms are of hickory, all giving a face measurement of 3,700 sq. ft. The immense hollow, nickel steel shaft, the largest stern- wheel shaft in the world, was forged bv the Bethlehem Steel Co., Bethlehem, Pa. and is made of their well known fluid-com- pressed Bethlehem nickel steel, thoroughly. annealed, hollow ground on a mandrel under hydraulic pressure. Its dimensions are as follows: Length over all, 47 ft. 2 in.; outside diameter, 31 in.; diameter of hole, 21 in. along the center, reduced to ro in. at the ends; shipping weight, 80,220 lbs., which, with the weight of timbers, pockets and cther working parts, make the total weight of the wheel 160 tons. It is supported on monster beams, constructed of steel plate, and bars extending 13 ft. over the stern and 82 ft. inside on the hull deck, to which they are riveted. The pitmans are of Oregon fir 50 ft. long, 25 in. thick and 26 in. deep at the center, tapering to 16 in. at the ends. The vessel has six sets of patented boilers. 'They are con- structed of 34-in. steel plate and suited to 200 lbs. pressure to the square inch. The boilers are 7 ft. in diameter and 1, ft. . long. Inside of the small boiler shells is a corrugated plate, [Butlt by Iowa Iron Works, Dubuque, Lowa. which forms the firewall of the furnace, leaving a 4-in. water space all around the fire within. The chimneys are 50 ft. high from top to boiler flues, and 5 ft. in diameter. .The pipes through which the steam is fed to the engines are II-in. in diameter and to ft. long; six line pipes 6 in. in diameter, ro ft. long and two 7-in. branch pipes. There are twenty-six engines to utilize this steam force, some massive and some diminutive in size but each important for the work it has to perform. The work of the Sprague is to tow sixty barges 170 ft. long, 26 ft. wide and 1o ft. deep, each loaded with 28,000 bu. of coal or 1,680,000 bu. altogether, to New Orleans from Pittsburg. She has a complete electrical equipment with searchlight connections. OLD IRONSIDES. The Review uses this year as the cover for its annual ship building edition a reproduction of Marshall Johnson's famous painting "The Constitution," which is published as a photogray- ure by A. W. Elson & Co., No. 146 Oliver street, Boston, Mass., and properly protected by copyright. It is through the courtesy of A. W. Elson & Co. that the Review prints this famous pic- ture. The Constitution was one of the first three vessels with which the American navy enforced its claim to recognition on the sea. Built and launched at Boston in 1797, she began a career that rapidly made her namea household word and brought to the new republic the respect of much stronger nations. "Old Ironsides" took a prominent part in the hostilities with France, which opened the year following her launching, and in the Tri- politan and Algerian wars between 1802 and 1805. It was in the war of 1812, however, that she won her greatest distinction. The American people had entered the conflict with but little heart and needed the encouragement of some signal success. It was when the outlook was most gloomy that the news of the Constitution's almost miraculous deliverance from an English fleet aroused the greatest enthusiasm. Returning from European waters she fell in with a squadron of seven vessels led by the Africa, a razee of sixty-four guns. Hull, who was in command and ever ready for a daring stroke, immediately maneuvered to cut out one of the vessels, but as there was little wind, gave it up and stood away to the east. The hostile fleet took up the pursuit. For three days there was no wind but the Constitu- tion managed to keep just out of gunshot. Upon the Constitt- tion large umbrella-like contrivances were made and fastened to cables and tnen carried»in small boats a long ways ahead. When pulled in by men on the warship they opened, catching the water and enabling the vessel to make some progress. Then there came a breeze that filled the Constitution's sails and. carried her to safety. A month later occurred her famous fight with the Guerriere, which in half an hour was reduced to a hopeless wreck. Later she captured the Java, Cyane and Levant. At the close of the war she went into ordinary and the government contemplated breaking her up and probably would have done so had not Oliver Wendell Hones shamed it with the poem "Old Ironsides."' The newly organized Norwalk Steamboat Co., Norwalk. Conn., has voted to build a new steamer at a cost of $55,000. It will be a combination freight and passenger steamer, 'The dimen- sions will be: Length over all, 180 ft.; keel, 172 ft.; beam, 32 ft.; draught, 6%4 ft. The contract has not as vet been let.