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1904] MARINE REVIEW : amply demonstrated the truth of the adage "an ounce of preven- tion is worth more than a pound of cure." In this class 1 would cite the Pintsch gas lighted buoys, which have been adopted by the United States, krench, Russian, German arid English lighthouse departments, the value of which is attested by the steady increase of orders being received for the buoys by the Safety Car Heating & Lighting Co. of New York city. It naturally occurs that one of these buoys once placed, to. give the mariner warning and enable him to navigate his craft free from rocks and shoals, begets on the part of masters and pilots a desire for more such safety guides, and upon request to the government one after another is being installed until it is hoped that it will be but a short time until every danger point of the ocean coasts and the lakes will be mark- ed by them, to the end that even the novice may be enabled to steer his boat clear of danger. As the light of these buoys is steady and brilliant, burning from eighty to 365 days and nights without attention, and can in some cases be seen for a distance of six miles, it is little wonder that they are coming more and more into use as safety guides to ships. Yet, with all provision of life boats and safety lights there still remained something more to be done to insure safety to ships and their cargoes; something that would insure a ship at sea from the dreaded demon fire, as of all calamities none can exceed in terror that of a fire at sea. To provide a preventive of such disasters has long enlisted the best efforts of scientific and practical men, but not until the discovery of Clayton gas was anything found to meet the requirements. To Mr. Thomas A. Clayton--after whom it is named--the world is indebted. for the discovery of this gas, which after repeated tests in Europe and America, and on the high seas, has been found not only most efficient in extinguishing fire but equally as serviceable in the prevention of contagion, ridding vessels and warehouses of ver- min from the noisome cockroach and the disease-breeding bed bug and mosquito to the plague-conveying rat; killing the germs of disease and making a ship's hold and cabins as wholesome,:as the best-kept private residence in the land, which is surely' a 'condition | much to be desired. : : i Readers of the Marine Review will no doubt recall the fact that 1 have already written at more.or. less:length or the virtues of this gas as a preventive of fire, vermin and plagué on shipboard, and in again referring to it I would state that no apology from me is necessary, as I believe anything calculated to save life and property, quell human fear and avoid human suffering is worthy of all possible publicity. In the language of the street 'it's a good thing, push it along," an While the Clayton gas was at first intended for the suppress- ion of fire on board ships and for their fumigation, its field of use- fulness has expanded until it is now recognized as useftil on land as on sea. It has many characteristics' which recommend its use. For instance, a ship captain who was sailing a coal-laden vessel in 'the tropics reported that the temperature in the hold went up to 95°, which he considered a danger point, in view of the liability of his cargo to spontaneous combustion. He set the Clayton gas apparatus, with which his vessel was supplied, in operation, pour- ing the gas into the hold, and soon reducing: the temperature to. 82°, or below the danger point. © Several cases. are' cited' where fire' has quickly been subdued by the gas and.many where ships have been entirely cleared of vermin by its use. ~ »\ 2 Probably in no country on earth has it been put to such va- ried uses as in France, where every vessel arriving from a plague infested port is thoroughly fumigated by Clayton gas before any of Its cargo is permitted to be removed. It is also used extensively on land, especially in fumigating and disinfecting hospitals, etc. Among these may be named the Barracks of the Inyalides, the 'Saltpetriere hospital, the Bicetre. hospital and the Vangirard. col- lege, Paris, Even Russia has. recognized its value and.a college ° and chapel in that city has been disinfected. I might cite many | more examples of the efficiency of this gas, but space and time . forbids. Therefore, I will refer all who may desire information regarding it to The Clayton Fire Extinguishing & Disinfecting Co., 11 Broadway, New York city, from whom detailed. infor- mation may be obtained. Gro. W, RAMAGE. VICTOR NON-CORROSIVE SILVER METAL. After years of thorough trial, the Victor Metals Co., East 'Braintree, Mass., is urging the use of their metal, known as Victor non-corrosive silver, for various uses on board ship, as they are fully satisfied that it is especially suited to this line. The metal 'is claimed to fulfill the requirements of being 'absolutely salt-water proof and non-tarnishing, as well as acid proof. Besides, the metal has a tensile strength of 53,280 Ibs. to the square inch, with 'an elongation of 15.7 per cent. in 3 in., as per government test.. .In addition to possessing these qualities, it is claimed that the metal will, when polished, take a high finish like silver.. No zinc protection is necessary where propellers, condensers, sea connec- tions, etc., are made of the Victor Non-corrosive silver metal, nor 'is there any danger from the bilge water, if valves, pipes, fittings, pumps, etc. are made of same. For interior fittings which are constantly in use, as, for example, plumbing fixtures, hardware . trimmings, etc., this silver metal is of importance on account of its lasting and non-tarnishing qualities, whereby it not only saves the expense of replating such fittings, but also the time of cleaning -and polishing necessary with other metals. On deck, particularly | on yachts and launches, whefe in the past'a gréat 'deal of brass ~ and bronze have been used, the silver metal is now being adopted -and a great number of both large and small vessels have been fitted out with this metal for all such fittings as cleats, chocks, ring _and eye bolts, rail and awning stanchions, skylight and side-ladder fittings, air ports; pin rails, mast bands, gaff jaws, chain plates, steering gears, windlasses, engine telegraphs, searchlights etc. Any of our readers wishing further information can obtain such by applying to the general manager of the company, Eric H. Ewertz, 29 Broadway, New York city. LEBANON CHAIN WORKS. Probably no chain works in this country is better known to the ship builders, or in shipping lines generally, than the Lebanon Chain Works of Lebanon, Pa., which was sold some time ago to the Standard Chain Co., but again turned back on purchase a few weeks ago to Mr, Eli Atwood, who was the moving spirit in the old company. The Lebanon plant is' the largest single chain plant in the country and its equipment is modern in all respects. Up-to-date appliances enabled these works to turn out, not Jong ago, the large 3 3-16 in. steel link cable chain which was furnished to the Eastern Ship Building Co. of New London, Conn., for the Hill Pacific liners and which attracted so much attention. Facili- ties at these works are such that very large orders for chain of standard or special dimensions from % in. to 3% in. diameter iron may be handled without difficulty. They not only carry large quantities of chain in stock, standard dimensions, but with the arrangement of their plant and number of chain fires are in position to meet hurried demands for special-dimension chain, such as will fit English windlasses and meet other odd require- ments. 'They have a testing machine (registered by Lloyd's and other ship classification bureaus) that is of 600,000 Ibs. capacity. The only other machine of. that size in this country is the one at Charlestown, owned by the government. The output of the works from its own iron includes high-class ship's cables, steel and iron dredging chains, crane, mining and rigging chains, chains for differential pulley blocks, all sizes of machine chains, etc. PROGRESS OF WORK ON NAVAL VESSELS. Herewith is the latest summary from the navy department showing progress of work on vessels under construction in diff- erent ship yards of the country; Degree of completion, Name, Building at Per Cent. ; 'Dec. Jan. é Battleships. Le 1: Misseur «so. Newport News Co..- 90.7, 4.00.0 CUI eo oc Union Iron Works | 83.5 = 684.5 Viteinia'. i720. '...- Newport News Co. 50.4 '52.5 WNepraste oe. Moran Brothers Co. 23 » 35 Geoteia Bath Iron Works a ae 42.5 New Jersey ..... Fore River Ship & Engine Co. 48.9 49.43 Rhode Island .... Fore River Ship & Engine Co. 488 50.61 Connéctient: .,...., Navy, yard, New York; 24.7 26.7 Louistana 3 Newport News Co. gc 34.5 ~ Vermont: :.:.....Fore River Ship & Engine Co: "1 "oe oases 65 ea as New York Ship Building Co. 2 2.6. Minnesota ...... Newpost News, Gotm @ g «8 @ 1 4 ia ' ae, Armored Cruisers, oo 2.8 . Pennsylvania' .... William Cramp & Sons. <; 63.2 64.9 West Virginia.... Newport News Co: 67.3 70.5 Calsiornia (5: Union Iron Works 48 51 Colorado... »..-.eWilati,.-Gramp @ Sons , 67.4 69 -- eo Maryan. i2.... Newport 'News> Co. 63.1 65.4 South Dakota..:. Union Iron Works 44.5 47 Tennessee... 0x William Cramp & Sons 12.9 $5.5 Washington ..... New York Ship, Building Co. 9.7. 12 bee ae oS '\>. Protected Cruisers. © oo é DONVEr 6.405 pies Neafie & Levy ' 08 98 . Des» Moines:;...:.,:: Fore River Ship & Engine Co. 906 oF Chattanooga «,.., Lewis Nixon 72 72 Galveston' 2... 7; Wm Ro Trige Co, 69 70.5 yROCOMA eco. 5545 Union Iron Works |. '1100 «(00 | St. Lowis 24.058 4 Neafie & Levy. S40 vs 368 Milwaukee ......Union Iron. Wotks ~~ '98.5 Al Aharleston 2. °.,: Newport News Co. .. She 50M Gun Boats. : Dubuque ....2...Gas Engine & Power :Co. eee 20 Padaean i) 55.2... Gas Engine & Power Co. 5c 16 Training Ships. ; Cumberland .>...Navy yard, Béostén ~~ oe 12 | Ontrepid® 34 .G. Navy yard, Mare island _- oO 5 Training Brig. _ a Eee. Navy yard, Portsmouth Pee. 6; WABI. . . 'Torpedo Boats. -- . Stringham ....:..Harlan & Hollingsworth 93 93 ' Goldsborough -:.. Wolff & Zwicker. - 99 99 Blakely. »*,. . ;.:. ¢.. Geo, Lawley & Son 99 99 . WMICNOIEON 64.4... Lewis Nixon ~ 99 99 OBrien. wa57 3 Lewis. xon... : 98 98 + e oey ee. Columbian Iron Works 100 100 © , ono Steel Tugs. ' « Fentucket.,......,.Navy yard, Boston, % 4, «960 » 100; . Sotoyomo '...:..i Navy! yard, Mare iSland; .~' 95 98 The Ottawa Forwarding Co. is building a steamer, in the canal basin, Ottawa, Ont., for its river trade. It is also having extensive repairs made on a number of.its tugs. nauk