The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

wearer a of i ae i i suas k y i; id ve ON THE LAUNCHING STAND. LAUNCHING THE ALTAMAHA. The Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, Mass., launched the steamship Altamaha for the Brunswick Steamship Co. on Tuesday, Nov. 26, the sponsor being Miss Caroline Pearl Godfrey, daughter of Wm. H. Godfrey, foreman shipwright of the Fore River Ship Build--- ing Co. The Altamaha is especially de- signed to carry the maximum of freight on an unusually light draught and conse- quently is arranged with the propelling machinery at the after end of the vessel, the remainder of the ship being devoted to the stowage of cargo. To minimize broken stowage the pillaring of the cargo holds is carried out on the girder system with two large columns in each hold con- nected at the head to a continuous deck girder. Special consideration has been given to the strength of the vessel which is in excess of that usually provided in ordinary freighter constructions. She is constructed of mild steel and is of these dimensions: Length over all, 313 ft.;. breadth molded, 40 ft.; depth of hold, 25 ft.; displacement in tons, 5,000 tons. _ There are three large cargo holds fo ing four hatchways suitably arranged for the expeditious handling of freight. In addition to these hatchways the cargo can be manipulated through four. cargo ports on:each side of the vessel which are about 10 ft. by 7 ft. in the clear and arranged with sliding trolley doors. These cargo holds are isolated from each other by steel watertight bulkheads, which with the collision, machinery space and stern tube bulkheads divide the vessel in- to seven separate watertight compart- ments which will insure the vessel float- ing with any two of the compartments ' flooded by the sea and in addition to this will insure greater isolation in the event of fire, to one compartment. _The vessel has been rigged with two steel pole masts having four derricks fitted to each, with a working capacity of 714 tons per derrick. These derricks are "TAE MARINE REVIEW stepped On 'strong stéel tables and are suitably rigged for working the' cargo by means of powérful winches, in the most expeditious manner possible.' These winches are of the most up-to-date type and are arranged in pairs at the forward and after sides of the. masts, making eight winches in all. To insure that the vessel will trim- properly when steaming light, owing to having the machinery arranged at the ex- treme after end, deep trimming tanks have been arranged right forward and in the ON THE STOCKS. fore hold a water ballast tank has been placed. The officers' quarters are located in a steel superstructure built around the en- gine and boiler casings, providing espe- cially well lighted and ventilated state- rooms for the officers and engineers, with a handsome dining saloon amidships at the' forward end of the superstructure. * Thé 'crew, firemen, oilers and water tend- ers will be berthed on main deck in way of machinery space." The superstructure is decked over forming a bridge deck on which the life boats are stowed, and with pilot house .and captain's room at the forward end. The captain's suite com- prises bed room and sitting room with stairs leading therefrom to the dining saloon on upper deck. The usual pumping and drainage, sani- tary and firemain system have been ar- ranged for on the most approved lines and in addition an electric light installa- tion of ample power will be fitted. Steam steering and screw hand gear 1 are installed with steering stations in pilot house and on quarter deck aft. On this deck will also be fitted a powerful steam warping capstan. The anchor handling arrangement con- sists of a steam windlass of the most ap- proved make with the operating engines placed on main deck forward under cover. The propelling machinery consists of one set of triple-expansion surface con- densing engines supplied with steam by two single-ended Scotch boilers suitable for developing sufficient power to propel the vessel at a continuous speed of 10% knots per hour. Frank Waterhouse & Co., Seattle, Wash., have chartered five British steamers to operate a line between Pacific coast ports and Australia and New Zealand. A 28-day service will be maintained from San Francisco, re- placing the ships of the Oceanic Steamship Co., which abandoned their Australian service some time ago owing to non-support. ALTAMAHA IN THE WATER,