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28 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. TRIAL OF STRENGTH BETWEEN TWO STEAMERS. A trial of strength, rather peculiar in its nature, was had recently on the river at Cuarleston, W. Va., between the stern- wheel steamer D. T.. Lane, owned by the Campbell Creek Coal Co., and the twin-screw steamer James Ramsey, built at the Ward Boiler Works, Charleston, W. Va. Mr. Charles Ward, builder of the Ramsey, believed that the screw type of vessel was better for river navigation than the stern-wheel type and he [Apr. 23, and the Hamburg-American Line, acquired the bulk of the shares in the Holland-American Line of Rotterdam. Last year was unsatisfactory to the German Levant Line. Slack business, an overabundance of tonnage in all trades, and rates of freight lower in many cases than ever known before, were what the company had to contend with. The net profits, after allowing for depreciation, amounted to 200,526 marks, against ee Trial of strength between the twin-screw steamer James Ramsey and the stern-wheel steamer D. T. Lane. proposed a test of strength between them. 'The Ramsey is 120 ft. long, 22 ft. beam and 4 ft. 6 in. deep, equipped with quad- ruple-expansion engines that have cylinders of 7, 10, 14 and 20 in. diameter, and supplied with steam from a Ward upright boiler. The Lane is much bigger than the Ramsey, and it appears that the challenge was eagerly accepted. Both steamers were lashed end to end and the trial of strength began. Despite the force of the current, which was in favor of the Lane, the Ramsey slowly pushed the stern-wheeler up stream. 'Three separate tests ware then. made, in every one of which the screw steamer showed the better grip upon the water. Pushing or backing she carried the stern-wheeler with her. The natural speed of the Ramsey is 12 miles an hour. -- REPORT OF OCEAN PASSENGER LINES. Considering the business of the past year the North German Lloyd Steamship Co. has deemed it not prudent to declare a dividend. Almost all lines suffered from the low rates of freight but the homeward-bound North Atlantic cargo traffic was espe- cially unprofitable, while, on the other hand, the passenger traffic increased. After writing off 13,610,378 marks for depreciation the directors propose to utilize the net profits, amounting to 229,754 marks, in founding two pension funds--one for the men employed in the workshops and one for the coal heavers and dock laborers employed in the Weser ports. 'The directors say that the agreement entered into with the International Mercantile Marine Co. has so far produced favorable effects, although the expected improvement in cabin passenger rates had not super- vened, owing to the reluctance of the lines outside of the com- bination to agree to an increased tariff. In connection with this branch of the company's business the directors record the fact that they, jointly with the International Mercantile. Marine Co. 451,289 marks in 1901. The dividend declared was 3 per cent. as against 614 per cent. for 1901 and 10 per cent. for 1900. The German-Australian Steamship Co. of Hamburg pays a dividend of only 5 per cent. for the past year, against 8 per cent. for 1901 and 12 per cent. for 1900. An English writer has recently described a modern battle- ship as the "last word that mechanical genius, naval construc- tion and cash payment can say in aggressiveness." From the fighting top to the double bottom, from ram to stern post, she is the most complicated machine the mind of man ever con- ceived. There is scarcely a trade or an art that is not repre- sented in her building. She is a house that must be lighted, ventilated, drained and painted. She is a fort that must carry guns of heaviest calibers for fighting other battleships; guns of medium size for piercing the comparatively thin protection of armored cruisers; scores of rapid firers for protecting her- self against torpedo boats, and even a battery of small Colts for picking up sharpshooters or exposed men. Above all, she is also a ship to be taken to sea, to make passages from port to port and long ocean voyages. Moreover, she is a hos- telry in which there are 700 men who must be clothed, fed and housed, and for whose use there is provided an ice plant having a capacity of 3 tons of ice per day, and evaporators that daily produce 16,000 gallons of fresh water; there is also a bakery and an enormous kitchen. Besides the ponderous main engines of say 16,000 H. P., there are perhaps nearly 100 auxiliary en- gines, or about the same number of electric motors. 'The boil- ers, with their 46,000 sq. ft. of heating surface, must not be forgott.n, nor the coal bunkers, which, in the Oregon, for in- stance, have a capacity to carry that vessel 5,500 miles,