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34. NINE NEW LINERS. The nine new Atlantic liners prom- ised by President Bruce Ismay of the International Mercantile Marine Navigation Co. six months ago in his address to the stockholders have been laid down, and the first one, the Alberta, will be ready early next spring for the Canadian trade. The Alberta will be a new depart- ure in steamers, from the engine- room standpoint. As the company's engineers have not yet indorsed the adoption of turbines, from an_ eco- nomical or practical point of view, they have made a compromise with the Alberta by fitting her with a combination of reciprocating and tur- bine engines. She will have three propellers, two driven by the re- ciprocating engines and one turbine which will be in the center, so that the two outer propellers can be used as twin screws in making evolutions, either entering or leaving port or in going astern suddenly. One of the new steamers will be called the Minnewauska, and will run under the Atlantic Transport flag. She will be larger, faster, and more luxuriously fitted than the present steamers of the Minnetonka class. Family flats, with all modern im- provements, located on the promen- ade deck, will be one of the features, in addition to a number of single berth cabins for travelers who de- sire to keep aloof from their fellow- passengers. John Lee, the general manager of 'the International Mercantile Marine Navigation Co, said that the new steamers were all under way at the various shipyards at Belfast, and on the Clyde, and that it was not yet 'definitely decided on which route they would be put. The majority would go on the Liverpool-Montreal ser- vice, and the remainder would trade between England and New York, he said. When asked if the White Star Co. had lodged an order with Harland & Wolff of Belfast to build two tur- bine steamers to compete with the new Cunarders Lusitania and' Mauri- tania, Mr. Lee said: "We have two new steamers build- ing» -for the service of the Oceanic class, but they will not be any faster. The tend- ency now for the passenger traffic is to build large steamers with moder- ate speed. "We shall wait, however, and watch the developments of the Cunarders, and if they are a success it may make a difference in the machinery and speed of our new steamers." Southampton-Cherbourg © TAE. MarRINE REVIEW When questioned about the adop- tion of turbines in the company's steamers, that their success had got to be dem- onstrated with regard to speed, econ- omy in coal and space, and absence of vibration, so far as big ocean liners were concerned. Charles Parsons, the inventor. of turbine engines, had steadily refused to give any definite figures as to the rate of speed attained by any speci- fied consumption of coal. Lord Pir- rie, the head of Harland & Wolff's, at Belfast, had stated that he would. build a large turbine liner and- guar- antee a speed of 30 knots, but. that was where his responsibility ended. He did not have to worry over. the running of the ship or make out the balance sheet for the stockholders at the end of the year. The North German Lloyd and Hamburg- American companies also are awaiting the maiden trip of the Cunarder Lusitania to see what, hap- pens, as they declare that she will earn less money with passengers than their steamers. The British postmas- ter general insists that the Cunarders must call at Queenstown instead of landing mail at Plymouth, as_ they do at present, and going to Cher- bourg and Southampton. | COLUMBIA COLLISION. The board of inquiry which is in- vestigating the recent loss of the steam-_ ship. Columbia on the Pacific coast has succeeded in obtaining startling evidence to the effect that it is the habit of coast skippers to run their vessels a full speed regardless of fogs, etc., and the chief mate of the San Pedro, in arfswer to the inspector's question as to why he did not slow down upon the Columbia's fog signal, said that "she seemed so far away Capt. tlamson, of the' San Pe- dro, who was accused of cowardice by Third Officer Hawse, of the Columbia, gave his testimony in detail, refuting the charges, and revealing the fact that the lifeboats to which he is reported to- have, refused .aid contained only half or less, of the passengers which they were capable of carrying, thus showing that those in charge of the Columbia's lifeboats did not save all the lives possi- ble under the circumstances. RHONE CANAL. The French minister of public works has recently approved the project of the department of bridges and roads for the construction of: a canal to. con- nect the Valley of the Rhone with the port of Marseilles. As the hills separ- ating the Rhone from Marseilles are too high to be surmounted by a_ lock the general manager said: 'investigations. ~ miles . ' canal, the purpose is to construct a tun- nel- seven kilometers in length at acost of $6,900,000, which will be the largest .in the world. The width of the canal, which will permit two barges to pass at any point, sincluding the tow paths ~ on either side, will be 66 ft. and the height will be 42 ft. The construction of the work will involve the excavation of 2,186,000 cubic meters, as against 1,058,400 in the case of the famous rail- road tunnel at Simplon. The _ total cost of the enormous project will be . $15,200,000. ; : - "MARINE LABORATORY. A floating laboratory of marine bi- ology has been established in connec- tion with Trinity -College, and Prof. Charles L. Edwards of that institution will act as_ director. He has given many years of study to this subject. The vessel which is to serve the pur- pose of a home for this enterprise was launched at Hartford, Conn., this summer and a cruise will be begun which is expected to cover a period of Seyetal moriths... Lhe <vessel 18a schooner and will be manned by a regular captain and crew, thus leaving the researchers free to pursue their The itinerary planned something over a_ thousand between Connecticut and the coral islands of the Bahamas. Every phase of deep sea life can be investi- gated from this. floating laboratory, as the vessel is fitted with all appli- ances for obtaining specimens. covers REPAIR SHIP CYCLOPS. The British ship Cyclops, which is said to be the largest repain ship, or floating dock yard, in the world, has left Sunderland for the Tyne to be completed. She was originally an ocean liner but has within the past two years been transformed into a floating workshop by Sir James Laing & Sons. Almost anything required in: the navy can be fashioned aboard her. She is of 11,000 tons register, and the lowest deck is fitted up as a foundry for castings, while above are a boiler shop and ship yard machinery. There are also carpenter, blacksmith and armor shops, fitting, electrical and cop- persmith departments: She has ac- commodations for. a crew of 300 men. The docks of the Toronto Ferry Co., at Toronto, Ont., were totally de- stroyed by fire August 6, together with one steamboat belonging to the company. The docks: were built by the city only last year at a cost of $75,000.