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24 THE MarRINE. REVIEW f too recent to have affected the output of tonnage completed during the period under review, intelligent anticipation of this event is, perhaps, partly responsible for the fact that on the 30th of June last the total tonnage building under the inspection of the society's surveyors reached the very large total of 1,123,678 tons, as compared with 901,844 tons, twelve months previously, an increase of nearly 25 percent. Included in this total are nine steamers to be fitted with turbine en- gines, among them being the two large express steamers' now being built for the Cunard Steamship Co., Ltd., under agree- ment with the British government. - The rapid growth of trade in refrigerated cargoes is reflected in the increased number of vessels employed therein, the ap- pliances of which have been submitted each voyage to the inspection of the society's surveyors, with a view to obtain- ing the certificates which are found to be of great value to those engaged in this trade. The aggregate measurement of the vessels at present classed in the society's register book amounts to no less than 18,- 250,000 tons. In connection with the question of load line, it will be of interest to ship owners to learn that the committee of Lloyds Register have been giving much attention to the important subject of the depth of loading allowed by the British free- board regulations. As the result of their deliberations, the committee have arrived at the conclusion that the freeboard tables can with safety be amended to admit of deeper loading for certain types of vessels, and they have laid their views on the subject before the board of trade. : _ The use of the Prince of Wales pier at Dover on Thursday by the gigantic new liner Amerika, 23,000 tons, on her. maiden trip to New York marks an era in the development of Dover as a port of call for ocean traffic. It would be well here to at once correct the impression that has got abroad that the Amerika is the largest ship afloat. This distinction still rests with the White Star liner Baltic, which according to Lloyds Register, has a gross tonnage of 23,876 tons, her dimensions being: length, 709.2 ft.; breadth, 75.6 ft. and depth, 52.6 ft. The gross tonnage of the Amerika as given by Lloyds is 23,000 tons; length, 670.5 ft.; breadth, 74.6 ft., and depth, 48.4 ft. Nevertheless the Amerika is a ship of enormous size. With her five decks she towered very high above the pier, and a first-class battleship or a liner like the Deutschland looks small in comparison to her. The Amerika is magnificently fitted up, her great size giving an oppor- tunity of providing spacious accommodation and extensive deck promenades, of which the designers, the Belfast firm of Messrs. Harland & Wolff, have made the most. How luxurious ocean travel has become is shown by some of the innovations on this ship, such as a first-class restaurant, where meals may be ordered a la carte; Turkish and electric baths, a gymnasium, and a day nursery for children. Ad- mirable copies of art masterpieces adorn the walls. There are passenger lifts between the five decks. The Amerika accommodates about 3,400 people, and she has a telephone exchange connecting all the principal cabins. On her present trip with her crew she has nearly 4,000 souls aboard. The 'Amerika in addition to her passenger accommodations will carry 15,000 tons of goods, equal to the carrying capacity of ten miles of railway trucks. Her displacement, with car- go, is nearly 60,000 tons. The traffic receipts of the Suez Canal Co., which, owing to the sinking of the Chatham had marked a sensible diminu- tion in the last week of September and the first three or four days in October, have already commenced to improve from the ships that have entered the canal to take advantage of the resumption of the service. The returns for the whole month of September show a sum of 8,090,000 fr., against 9,490,000 fr. in the corresponding month of 1904, and the nine months 86,248,358 fr. against 84,058,480 fr. last year. The first - two days of October produced only 50,000 fr. and 70,000 fr. ; the following two days 100,000 fr. and 120,000 fr.; on the 5th the receipts made a rebound to 1,200,000 fr. followed by 410,000 fr. on the 6th. The deficit in the six days due to the obstruction was only 380,000 fr., or 1,050,000 fr., against 2,320,000 fr. last year. Sir Charles Mark Palmer, M. P., presiding at the New- castle Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 13, said, as a director of the Suez canal he could say that greater demands would be made upon it, and it would be a question whether the canal would be able to meet all the demands upon it. Now that ships were becoming so very large, it would be a ques- tion whether it would not be cheaper to send them round by the cape instead of going through the canal. The following interesting statement of the tonnage enter- ing and leaving the port of Hamburg during the year 1904 has been supplied by an esteemed correspondent: SEAGOING VESSELS ARRIVING IN HAMBURG IN 1904. Number. Reg. Tons. From German ports (including Heli- WOlagn) cb, ea ie eee as 5,531 929,260 Krom: Great Britain (colliers)... . 20.4. 1,617 1,235,019 Brom Great. Britain Cothers) (.244.0.. 2,304 1,580,792 From other Huropedn ports i. ..3. 620) 3,074 1,819,646 Prony America 34 As 1,050 2,702,816 Prony Attica or. i eee 273 463,815 From Asia and Atstralia,. 52104435 328 878,846 Ot 2. cena i es a 14,843 9,610,794 SEAGOING VESSELS DEPARTED FROM HAMBURG IN 1894. Number. Reg. Tons. To German ports (including Heligo- ema). 6 ss eae a ee 4,979 939,804 te Great Britain. and ltetand...-...: 4,573 3,848,380 a ovotner Continental ports. 00. ..3. 3,927 , 1,490,198 41o fonerica (7.4 ee Fae 750 2,082,153 Wee RELICS Gace Si as 334 670,631 Jo Asia and. Australig..:4307... 0. 253 6 684,373 Old (eee a ee 14,816 9,610,479 This week the American consul in Liverpool (the Hon. J. L. Griffiths) has received full particulars of the floating ex- hibition, which is now being organized by the manufacturers of the United States, to visit the principal centers of the world. It appears that a syndicate of manufacturers has been formed and plans laid for chartering a suitable steamer for a world's tour, having for its sole object the promotion and extension of American commerce. The scheme includes the charter of a vessel of about 7,000 tons, and American man- ufacturers, planters and other exporters are being allotted space for the display of samples or specimens of their - products, the list including foodstuffs, textiles, agricul- tural implements, vehicles, iron and steel goods, house- hold requirements, etc. Thus the steamship will be a moving exhibition of what America can provide and what she wants to sell. The promoters of this novel scheme assert that all indications point to America having to rely more in the next decade on foreign trade than has hitherto been necessary owing to the increased production and the proportionate decreased capacity of the domestic trade. In this unique voyage round the world, the ship is to be fitted with first-class accommodation for the representatives of manufacturers who will accompany the exhibits to interview buyers and arrange local agencies wherever trade can be established. A distinct -- novelty in connection with this trip will be the presence on board of persons competent to give instructions to the traders' representatives, who may so desire it, in the German, Spanish and French languages. The voyage is estimated to occupy 15 months and to cover a steam- ing distance of 60,000 miles. The floating exhibition is planned to pay visits, each of several days' duration, to