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~TAE Marine REVIEW MERCHANT MARINE--A RETROSPECT. Judged by the ships that have been put in service dur- ing the present year, the tendency among the trans-At- lantic steamship companies is to build combined freight ' -and- passenger steamships of moderate speed and large catrying capacity, rather than high-speed vessels such as the Lucania, Deutschland, and Kaiser Wilhelm, in which the demands of the motive power for space pro- hibit the carrying of cargo, On the other hand the North German Lloyd Company has given orders for the con- struction of another 2314-knot steamer of the same Size as the Kaiser Wilhelm IIJ., and the Cunard Company has under construction two 25-knot vessels that are to be about 800 feet in length. During the year, three vessels of the largest size have been added to the already large fleets that trade with American ports. In March of this year the new steamship Caronia of the Cunard Line made . her maiden trip, and as we go to press the Carmania, a sister vessel is on her maiden trip to New York. The Caronia, driven by reciprocating engines, made on her trial a speed of 19.5 knots, and the Carmania made about _a knot more, or 20.43 knots on her: trial trip... In the spring of the year the American-built 15-knot Dakota, 630 feet in length, a sister of the Minnesota, sailed from New York for Seattle to make her maiden trip from Se- -attle to Japan. .Toward the close of October the Ham- burg-American Line dispatched to New York the new twin-screw 17-knot liner Amerika, a.vessel of the same popular passenger-and-cargo type, which is remarkable for the extraordinary richness and novelty of her appoint- ments. The increase in size of trans-Atlantic ships has liad its counterpart in some of the huge cargo vessels that have been turned out this year for the ore-carrying trade on the great lakes. Among these are four vessels. known as the Gary, Corey, Perkins, and Frick, which are each 569 feet long, and are estimated to carry ab6ut 15,000 tons of ore at a single trip. There has been a steady ad- vance in_the application of devices to render travel upon the high seas more safe, chief among which may be men- tioned the method of closing all bulkhead .doors from the navigation bridge, the further extension of wireless telegraphy, without which no ocean steamer is today considered to be fully equipped, and the introduction of the system of signaling under water by means of the submarine bell. This last may be considered as one of the most important safeguards yet introduced against - the perils of fog and thick weather. Other interesting and valuable developments that may be mentioned are the use of the gyroscope to prevent excessive rolling, and also its application as a check upon the mariner's com- pass; and the successful introduction of an electric dead reckoner by which the course, distance sailed, and speed of a ship are automatically drawn upon a chart.--Scien- tific American. GERMANY AFTER SOUTH AMERICAN TRADE. Editor Marine Review:--Germany is after South Amer- can' trade with renewed vigor. The "Compania de Navi- gascas Cruwzeico do Sul," which was recently established with its headquarters at Santos, in Brazil, by the Hamburg- South American Steam Shipping Co., in combination with Hamburg-American Line, says the London Times, has now been fitted out with the requisite complement of steamers. The new company, which is primarily designed to engage in the coasting trade of Brazil, will not only set up communication between the various Brazilian ports but will also facilitate and expedite the distribution of goods (German) imported from Europe by the two great Ham- burg shipping companies to the east coast of South America. The initial fleet will be five steamers. The Germans want 25 foreign trade and send ships to get it. We want foreign trade but have no ships to send to get it, consequently, Germany's advantage over us in this "foreign trade quest" - is very great. Schenectady, N. Y. .Watter J. BALLARD. IMPORTANT RAILWAY DECISIONS. Two recent decisions of state courts involving the fav- orable or unfavorable attitude of a railroad toward the transportation of certain raw materials over its line,. ac- cording to the way it affected its "business interests," are of importance. The North 'Carolina supreme court, in Hilton Lumber Co. vs. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co,; (46 S. E. Rep., 813), held that, under the laws of that state providing that any carrier charging one person more than another. for the same service is guilty of discrimination, a railroad carrying raw material to factories can not charge a factory. which agrees to ship the manufactured product by the same road less for the same service than it charges a factory which will make no such agreement. The supreme court of Georgia, in Central of Georgia Railway Co. vs. Augusta Brokerage Co. (69.L. R. A,, 119) declared that..a carrier may discriminate in facilities against shipments of cotton seed, because such shipments diverted from the road profitable shipments of articles manufactured out of the seed. © 'A statute of Maryland requires carriers to provide separate coaches for the transportation of white and colored passengers, and makes it an offense for a passen- ger to refuse to occupy the seat to which he is assigned by the conductor. The constitutionality, of this law was tested this year and the supreme court of Maryland held it valid in so far as it affects commerce wholly within the state, but invalid as to interstate passengers under the commerce clause of the federal constitution. The constantly increasing sea traffic between San Fran- cisco and Portland, has compelled the Harriman interests to place on the line four steamers in all. These vessels are the Columbia, Senator, Costa Rica, and Homer. Even these steamers are inadequate to meet the demand. Negotiations are now pending for the purchase of another vessel--a combined passenger and freight boat. The Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co., Philadelphia, have entered a claim against the govern- ment for $480,231.90 damages arising out of the delay in concluding the battleship Indiana. The battleship should | have been concluded in three years but was not completed until five owing to the government's inability to furnish. material. The hull of the gasoline schooner Wascalore will be constructed at the Kruse yards, Coas Bay, for the Wendl- ing Lumber Co. The Union Gas Engine Co. of San Francisco will install in the schooner two or three cylin- der engines of 250 H. P. fitted to use crude oil. An effort is being made to have the name of the Fern, which is doing duty as a training ship for the naval militia _of Minnesota, changed to Gopher. The Fern was the first naval ship to enter the harbor of Havana after the blowing up of the Maine. Aboard her the court of inquiry into that affair was held. The Oceanic Steamship Co., of San Francisco, is nego- tiating for a suitable steamer to be placed on the route between San Francisco and Australia. The new floating dry dock of the Merrell-Stevens Co., Jacksonville, Fla., is about ready for business.