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MooA RO UL ee KR. 8 Vv Ae ee 21 in greater proportion as work progresses on the Pan- ama canal. Southern ports have felt the handicap of lack of regular sailings, and the establishment of mail routes from the gulf would do great good. It was the testimony of lumber interests of the south before the Merchant Marine Commission that the export trade was frequently the salvation of their business, but it was rendered uncertain by dependence upon the for- eign tramp ship which might come or might not. Again the trade to the Orient is expanding and with an assured market in the Philippines and mail routes' to China and Japan the American manufacturer is bound to get his share of it. CONTRACTS FOR TWO NEW STEAMERS Capt. John Mitchell of Cleveland has given contract to the American Ship Building Co. for two steamers to be delivered on April 15, 1906. In dimensions they will equal the steamers Amasa Stone and W. A. Rogers, but will differ materially in construction, Their dimensions will be 545 ft. over all, 525 ft. keel, 55 ft. beam and 31 ft. deep. During the past two or three years it has been the practice to give steamers of these dimen- sions thirty-two hatches spaced 12-ft. centers. These new steamers, however, will have only sixteen hatches spaced 24-ft. centers, being 12 ft. wide in a fore and aft direction.» . They will be constructed on the arch girder system but the hopper sides will be straight. The cargo hold will be divided -- by two bulkheads into three compartments, each compartment having a'carrying capacity of about 3,300 gross tons. It will be noted that these 24-ft. hatches are 3 ft. wider in a fore and aft direction than the ordinary 12-ft. or 24-ft. hatch.' Capt. Mitchell was asked why he returned to the 24-ft. hatch, and he replied that in his judgment it made a more serviceable vessel. The deck space between hatches will be 12 ft. and therefore the bulkheads can be set 6 ft. back from the hatch openings where they will be free from the mutilation of the unloading bucket as it enters and leaves the hatch and at the same time sufficiently near to permit the bucket to reach every por- tion of the cargo. He thought also that the dock companies would appreciate the 24-ft. hatch with its added width owing to the fact that it would lessen the number of shifts in un- loading. Regarding the division of the boat into three com- partments Capt. Mitchell said that it was all very well for the Pittsburg Steamship Co. to build boats with a continuous hold because it could carry its own ore at all times, but that as he was simply a vessel owner and no independent connections he wanted a boat that could carry several kinds of ore at once. "The big chaps," said Capt. Mitchell, "can dictate to me, but I've got to have a boat that can meet the various conditions of trade. They can fill their own boats with a single kind of ore, hut they may want me to carry several different kinds and I cannot do it unless I have a boat built for that purpose. Moreover the upkeep of sixteen hatches is one-half the upkeep of thirty-two. That's merely a detail, but it counts in the long run." The new steamers are to be equipped with triple-expansion engine 23%, 38 and 63 in. cylinder diameters, by stroke of 42 in., supplied with steam from two Scotch boilers 1414 ft. diameter and 1114 ft. long. Mr. Wallace, president of the American Ship Building Co., is figuring on another vessel, the details of which are not, however, ready for announcement. 'It is reported from Toledo that the Craig Ship Building Co. has closed a contract with L. S. Sullivan representing a syndi- cate of Toledo capitalists, for the construction of a 500-ft. steel freighter, and that the company is to be known' as. the Toledo Steamship Co. with Mr. Sullivan as general manager. The steamer Amasa Stone, building at the Wyandotte yard of the American Ship Building Co. for Pickands, Mather & Co. of Cleveland, will be launched on Saturday of this week and at the same time the steamer James E. Davidson building at the Ecorse yard of the Great Lakes Engineering Works for Mr. G. A. Tomlinson of Duluth will aiso be launched. In order that those interested may see both launches one will occur at noon and the other at three o'clock. TWO LAKE LAUNCHES LAST WEEK On Saturday last the American Ship Building Co. launched two steamers, one at Lorain and the other at West Bay City. The Lorain steamer is building for Mr. Henry Steinbrenner of Cleveland and was christened by his sixteen year old daughter Miss Gertrude Steinbrenner. Owing to the recent death of Mrs. Anna C. Minch, the president of the Kinsman Transit Co., the affair was conducted as quietly as possible. Precisely at two o'clock the signal was given to release the vessel on the ways and Miss Steinbrenner smashed the customary bottle of champagne just as the vessel gained headway. The new steamer was christened Philip Minch. 'The steamer took the water on an even keel and marked another of the satisfactory launches of the American Ship Building Co. After the launch luncheon was served at the yard by the American Ship Build- ing Co. The guests were: Mr. and Mrs. Henry Steinbrenner, Mr. and Mrs. P. J. Minch, C. A. Moriarty, David Moxon, Frank HH. Stembrenner, G. H. Minch, G. H. Selzer, Robert . Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. George Davies, Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Couch, Charles Couch, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Andrews, Mr. and Mrs. G. Av Steinbrenner, C. A. Klump, Mr. and Mrs. F.H. Neff, Mr. and Mrs. L. W. 'Davis, Mr. and Mrs William Dreher, Mr and Mrs. Henry, Louis Poplowsky, Mrs. Fitzsimmons, Mr. and Mrs. G. M. Steinbrenner, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harris, Mr. Jacob Englebry, Mrs- 5. Trinter, W. P= Irinter, Mi and Mrs. W. H. Miller, Mr. and Mrs. Captain Joseph Lampoh, Miss Laura Baxtine, Captain Con Young, Miss Bessie Keese, Miss Alice Keese, Miss Grace Armstrong, H. E. Benfield, Miss Edna Armstrong, P. H. Steinbrenner, C. P. Steinbrenner, Miss Gertrude Steinbrenner, Miss Jessie Steinbrenner, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Body, Frank Williams, George Bate, H. L. Schnei- der, Mr. and Mrs. A. Steinbrenner, Clarence Pritchard, O. L. Doty, Charles Barry, R. J, Wallace, Horatio Hatrmian, Mr. and Mrs. Hassenflue, W. H. McGean, Capt. C. L. Hutchinson, Capt. Henry Stone, and W. F. Seitz. The new steamer is the second one to be named Philip Minch. The first one, which was a wooden steamer, was destroyed by fire last fall. The new steamer is 500 ft. over all, 480 ft. keel, 52-ft. beam and 30 ft. deep. She will have triple expansion engines with cylinders 221%, 36 and 60 in. by 42 in. stroke. Steam will be supplied by two Scotch boilers 13 ft. g in. by 11% ft. long and fitted with Ellis & Eaves draft. Her carrying capacity will be 8,000 gross tons. Capt. James Lampoh, who sailed the steamer Henry Steinbrenner last season, will bring out the Minch. : Re The West Bay City steamer is building for the Duluth Steamship Co. of which Mr. G. A. Tomlinson is managing owner and was named Sylvania by Miss Marion Davidson Young, a niece of Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. G. A. Tomlinson and a large party of friends frem various ports along the great lakes attended the launch and the event was made quite a social feature. Mr. James E. Davidson entertained a party of fifty visitors at a dinner at the Bay City Club following the Jaunch. The Sylvania is the largest vessel ever built at Bay City, being 524 ft. over all, so4 ft. keel, 54-ft. beam and 30 ft. deep. She will have triple expansion engines with cylinders 2214, 36 and 60 in. diameters by 42 in. stroke. Steam wil! be supplied by two Scotch boilers.