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TAE MaRINE. REVIEW 19 monopoly of the Glasgow to New York trade. They allege that the high berth charges at New York have caused them to take this course, The great deal of talk which has been going on through- out Europe during the past week about the purchase of the Singapore docks turns out to be purchases by the government of the Straits Settlement and not the Brit- ish Imperial Government. Although this fact somewhat alters the character of the transaction, still the Straits Settlement are a crown colony, and directly under the government of the colonial office. It could not engage 'in a transaction of this kind without the sanction of the imperial government, and it therefore may be presumed that the British government are parties to the scheme. The Tangong Pagar docks at Singapore have been pur- chased under an ordinance passed by the Straits Settle- ment couricil, and which escaped notice in the last session of the British Parliament when it was brought forward 'for approval. At present. there would appear to be no question of the British government creating a new naval base at Singapore, although the place has been fortified for many years past. The purchase seems to have given general satisfaction to British shipping circles. The Jap- anese, it is believed, would in time of trouble have access to the docks, and consequently the political. site of the situation would be of great advantage to both England and Japan. Shipowners hope that the docks will be fur- ther improved and made available for mercantile tonnage, which forms a great feature of British trade at Singapore. In consequence of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. announcing the inauguration of a New York service from the West Indies, the Hamburg-American Line, whose service (the Atlas Line) between the same ports will be affected, have withdrawn from the West Indian confex- ence. This may mean the breaking up of a very com- prehensive freight conference, embracing several Liver- pool and London lines as well as French and German companies. So far no steps. have been taken by any of the lines in question, but of course under the circum- stances, there is no telling where the matter may drift. Apparently the go-ahead policy of the Royal Mail Co., which has recently opened out several new services, some of which are rather in opposition to other old established lines, is causing trouble in several directions. As one example their Cuban service from Hull, Antwerp, Lon- don and Bristol Channel has caused a keen cutting of rates, more especially from Antwerp. ' Jf the Germans have not yet been converted to the ad- vantages which the turbine possesses over the recipro- cating, at least Herr Ballin has been favorably impressed with the new mode of propulsion. The new steamer Amerika of the Hamburg-American Line, built at Bel- fast by Messrs. Harland & Wolff, has arrived at Cuxhaven with Herr Ballin on board. 'The new turbine steamer Kaiser, owned by the same company, which arrived at Hamburg on Sept. 22 from Stettin, made a successful trial trip to Heligoland, during which Herr Ballin sent a tele- gram to the managing director of the Universal Elec- tricity Co., Berlin, congratulating him and the Vulcan of Stettin upon the speed of over 20 knots per hour attained by the Kaiser. The telegram stated that the turbines had proved a great success, and that no vibration was felt when going full speed. On Saturday, Sept. 30, Messrs. Vickers Sons & Maxim launched at their Barrow shipyard the twin-screw armored cruiser Natal, of 13,500 tons displacement. This new war vessel received the name of 'Natal' by way of compli- ment to the colony of that name, and in recognition of the contribution made by Natal to the upkeep of the navy, as H. M. S. Dominion has been named in honor of Can- ada. No contribution will, however, be made by Natal toward furnishing the cruiser. The vessel was christened by the Duchess of Devonshire, and many colonials wit- nessed the ceremony. The British admiralty and war office, says the London Standard, have placed contracts in the United States for large quantities of naval and military equipment. The orders include a heating and ventilating outfit for the new admiralty buildings at Portsmouth dockyards, gas furnaces to be used for finishing projectiles and electrical equipment for Woolwich arsenal. TONNAGE IN BRITISH PORTS Editor Marine Review: As an encouragement to the fighters for the upbuilding of Uncle Sam's ocean marine, the following figures should be noted. They represent by decennial years since 1840 the tonnage of vessels (sailing and steam) entered and cleared with cargoes and in ballast at ports in the United Kingdom from and to foreign countries and British possessions, as published in a recent issue of the Marine Review, of Cleveland, O., in million tons: British. Foreign. Total. TOO 6) oa ew ae 6.49 2.904 9.43 1650.02... i Ge 9.44 5.06 14.50 TOOO Geek ic ee, 13-01 10.77 24.68 LOIOd (ae ie nak ee 25.07. 11.50 36.63 T8800 ak AVQA 17.36 58.73 TB00 Se Ce ee 53.97 20.31 74.28 TO00 3 aa Be ee 35.80 98.50. 1003. lu ere ee a 69.20 36.40 105.60 One is immediately struck with the fact that two-thirds of the ship service, to and from British ports, with foreign countries, is by British ships. Also that the growth of the British mercantile navy has been steady and persistent. Also with the immensity of the total shipping trade of 'British ports--105,610,000 tons in a single year, 1903, of which 69,200,000 tons was by British ships. Imagine the vast. amount of the commerce paying tribute to Great Britain in connection with its own tonnage, and also in connection with the foreign tonnage; 105,610,000 tons of entering and clearing tonnage in a single year means far more business than the entire foreign commerce' of the United States, large as that comme'ce is. ; Last month, August, was a dull month, yet the total tonnage entering British ports with cargoes was 3,726,451 tons, of which 2,502,690 tons was British and 1,223,761 for- eign. Will the day ever come when American ports will be able to show ocean shipping business equal to that, or even two-thirds of the American business as being done in British bottoms? WALTER J. BALLARD. Schenectady. The Board of Public Improvements of St. Louis has rejected the bids for the construction of the new harbor boat. Two bids were submitted, one was the Springfield Iron Co., for $61,400, and the other by the Dubuque Boat Building Co. for $64,000. Both bids exceed the appro- priation, which is only $35,000. The specifications will probably have to be changed. An examination of the hull of the Oceanic Steamship Co.'s steamer Alameda, which ran on the rocks in San Francisco bay, shows that the greatest damage was on the port side directly under the fuel tank. It will be necessary to renew twenty-two plates and repair sixty-four others before the steamer will be in sea-going condition.