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20 DEVOTED TO EVERYTHING AND EVERY INTEREST CONNECTED OR_ ASSO- CIATED WITH MARINE MATTERS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Published every Thursday by The Penton Publishing Co. CLEVELAND. MUGHALO .........5.<,.1+.. 2932 Ellicott Sa: CHICAGO © oes. cee cc. 1362 Monadnock Blk. CINCINNATY occ... First National Bank Bldg. NEW YORK ...... ..--1005 West Street Bldg. PEL SBURG oc. 6. he Pee e 521 Park Bldg. DUE UT ous. cs eeeeeee41l1 Providence Bldg. Correspondence on Marine Engineering, Building and Shipping Subjects Solicited. Subscription, U. S. and Mexico, annum, Canada, $4.00. Foreign, $4.50. Subscribers can have addresses changed at will. Change of advertising copy must reach this office on Thursday preceding date of publication. The Cleveland News Co. will supply the trade with the Marine Review through the regular channels of the American News Co. European Agents, The International News Company, Breams Building, Chancery Lane, London, E. C., England. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland, Ohio, as- Second Class Matter. December 19, 1907. NEW OCEAN MAIL BILL. Senator Gallinger introduced the fol- lowing bill in the United States senate on Dec. 4, which was read twice and re- ferred to the committee Gn ccmmerce: To amend the Act of March 3, 1891, entitled "An Act to provide for ocean mail service between the United States and foreign ports and to promote commerce." Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Amer- ica in Congress assembled That the Post- master General is hereby authorized to pay for ocean mail service under the Act of March 3, 1891, in vessels of the second class on routes across the Pacific Ocean or to ports of the South Atlantic four thousand miles or more in length, outward voyage, at a rate per mile not exceeding the rate applicable to ves- sels of the first class as porvided in said Act. This pill, in ts practical effect, pro- vides for twice as many new contract mail lines and twice as many ships as were provided for in the ocean mail bill as passed by the national house last March and defeated by a filibuster in the senate. Ship $3.00 per TALE MARINE. REVIEW That bill, in the form in which the house sent it to the senate, provided for four lines to South America. This new bill applies to South America, and also to the Orient and Australasia across the Pacific ocean, which the house struck out of the bill of last March just be- fore its passage. The lines, which in natural probability would be established under the new bill, are as follows: No. of No. of lines. steamers. 1 "Atlantic. coast to Brazile 0.2... 5 i Atlantic coast to. Arceéentina. .... 6 1 Gulf coast to "Brazile 5 1° Pacific. coast to Orient.....2.. 5. 6 jee Pacino "coast: to Orient. 5... s0c55 6 1 Pacific coast to Australasia...... 6 6 34 The Pacific coast desires and expects its own communications with South America. This could be made possible by a slight verbal change in the new bill substituting the words "South Amer- ica" for "South Atlantic." to Peru and Chile, would require as Such a line, many steamers as the line to Argentina, or six in all, making a total ocean mail fleet of 40 steamers. There are now running on these routes no ships at all to South America, and to the Orient only five steamers of the Pa- cifie Mail Co. (one of them old, small, and probably about to be discarded), and one steamer of the Hill line--the two large steamers of the Boston Steamship Co. are of only 14 knots maximum speed. The Oceanic line from San Francisco to Australasia was given up last spring. This company has just stated that if the new bill passes, it will use its present, three steamers to start the service, but will sell them just as soon as new ships' can be completed. Thus, the seven lines which would in all probability be established under the new bill would require the construction of 35 new steamships, for a full fort- nightly service on each route, with one ship in reserve. The routes. to South America would call eventually for 22 new steamers of at least 6,000 gross tons--the smallest size which could be profitably operated on The three' lines such long voyages. across the Pacific, outside of the Pacific Mail liners Korea, Siberia, Manchuria and Mongolia, and the Hill liner Minne- sota, now being operated, would call for the construction of 15 new steamers, pre- sumably of upwards of 8,000 tons. The Oceanic company has plans ready for 8,- 000-ton steamers for Australasia. The would be in round numbers as follows: amount of mail compensation Atlantic. coast to. Brazil. 2.2. . 3: $ 600,000 Atlantic coast to Argentina...... 700,000 Gulfcoast to° Brazil. <..ce. ace 600,000 Pacific. coast: to. Orient.......... 700,000 Pacifie coast: to. Orient... 3. 6. 700,000 Pacific coast to Australasia...... 700,000 'Lotals ?Six: lines® ahs ou $4,000,000 A seventh line from our Pacific ports to South America would call for $700,- 000 more, or in all $4,700,000 for a full. fortnightly service. The total amount carried for ocean mail lines in the bill last March was $2,600,000, and in the - original Merchant Marine Commissionl bill, $2,700,000. The present net profit made by the United States from its ocean mails is $3,600,000 per year, and this is increasing every year by about one-half a million dollars. The government now spends on Amer- ican ocean mail lines under the law of 1891 about $1,400,000 per year--this including the compensation of the American line to Europe, about $700,000; of the Ward line to Cuba and Mexico, $200,000; of the "Red D" line to Venezuela, $100,000; of the "Admiral" line to Jamaica, $120,- O00; and of the Oceanic to. Yahi; $42,000. | NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. The annual banquet of the Nation- al Geographic Society was held at the New Willard Hotel, Washington, on Saturday last and was presided over by Prof. Willis L. Moore, president. The gathering was most distinguished, including Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, Major. Generak "A- W. Greely, Mer: James Bryce, the British ambassador; J. Jusseraud, the French ambassador; Baron Moncheur, the Belgian minister; Baron Mayor des Planzes, the Italian ambassador; Mr. Brunn, the Danish minister; Bishop Satterlee and many senators and representatives. The society conferred upon Capt. Roald Amundsen a gold medal in re- cognition of his work in the far north. Among the speakers were ambassador Bryce, Representative Theodore Bur- ton, Representative J. Hampton Moore and Mr. Harvey D. Goulder. . Mr. Goulder's subject was "The Five in- land Seas." Attention will be given to Mr. Goulder's speech in the next issue of the Review.