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washing over the fo'castle head, the stern would lift, and the faint. plug plug *of her propeller blades told us--with the flying spray astern--that she was racing. Then the bow would lift till about 30 ft. of her keel plate was showing, and the water on the fo'castle head would wash back along the iron deck and plunge into the sea. She was certainly a wonder. "Suddenly an oilskin-enwrapped figure was seen to scramble aft along the heav- ing deck, and a minute later a grimy red ensign was fluttering at her stern. Sim- ultaneously a string of flags was run up to the tramp's signal halliard. We were 'speaking each other in passing' Our emigrants, who had been up to this mo- ment keeping up a perfect babel of com- ment, cheered encouragingly to the crew of the animated derelict, offering their heart-felt sympathy, no doubt. Said crew had mustered about seven strong abaft the deck house, and returned the cheer enthusiastically. We waited develop- ments, each man asking his neighbor what was expected of us, and what we were signaling from our bridge. But nothing happened. "We lumbered past the little old tramp in grand style, no doubt being gazed upon with reverence as 'the right sort of ship to put to sea in, the salutations be- tween the resurrected emigrants and the crew of the tramp being kept up till she thad--still kicking her heels up in the air--passed beyond hailing distance. I thought of those davits in conjunction with a little overtime to be put in by the engineers. "Before she passed out of our sight, however, the third mate and a quarter- master came from aft, where they had been adipping colors to the tramp. As I was curious to know whether she had been signaling ice, weather or derelict, i hailed the mate. "What did Beauty want? I asked. "Can you gtess, he laughed back as he hurried past, 'why, they wished us a 'Happy New Year.' "For it was indeed the gladsome first day of a new year, and the North At- lantic is at times a lonely, lonely stretch of water." THe "Stanp-By" MAN. DREDGE B. M. HARROD. The Springfield Boiler & Mfg. Co., Springfield, Ill, has just completed the construction of a large dredge for the United States government. The dredge has been named the B. M. Harrod and is being operated by the Mississippi river commission in the neighborhood of Mem- phis. The boat is 220 ft. over all, 44 ft. beam with 16 ft. guards. She is a side- wheel steamer with compound condens- ing engines operating on the wheels by 'TAE Marine REVIEW cn SH ES AER SSE ARROD, DREDGE B. M.-HARROD. means of a large gear and pinion. The dredge is equipped with a centrifugal dredging pump with 36-in. diameter dis- charge. To this pump are attached a pair of high-speed, tandem-compound en- gines generating 1,500 H. P. A VISIBLE PASSING SIGNAL. Occasionally there appears a device which, at the very first glance, establishes the fact that as to its value and positive merit no argument is possible; its position is assured and there only remains the old commonplace "why not sooner?" There is probably no watch officer who has not time and again wished there were some more perfect method of transmit- ting or at least of confirming passing signals at night. It is an every-day ex- perience that the wind or other causes prevent the hearing of answering signals. By day this doubt or deficiency is mini- mized by the visual signal of the steam from the whistle of the answering ves- sel and every officer will recall numer- ous instances when he has seen his signal answered without having heard it. The occasions when both vessels have blown at the same instant are also common, but by day this is of relatively small im- portance since each understands the oth- er's signal from having seen the steam blast, but at night this is not possible and the watch officer of neither vessel has any knowledge that the other has given or answered a signal. There are also the numerous and really difficult cases of a steamer meeting or approaching two others headed on the opposite or on crossing courses when there is no way of distinguishing which is the signaling or answering vessel. All these situations are common enough and are becoming more so each year, and the wonder is, not that collisions and strand- ings occur as a consequence, but that there are so few. The navigating of the Soo river and the Limekilns (especially the latter) at night-with the latter-day ships, drawing all the water available, and meet- ing and passing within a few feet in a narrow, crooked channel, amid a maze of float and dredge lights and in a strong current, is a feat that requires steady nerves and a cool head without being complicated by difficulties in exchanging signals. The Atlee flash light solves these diffi- culties by eliminating them. It is a sim- ple, substantial, well-made device, con- sisting of a number of incandescent lamps in a lens tube, mounted upon the foremast or any convenient location, visi- ble through the same angles as the stand- ard head and side lights and connected to a sliding contact switch in the whistle pull. A cut-out switch in or on the pilot- house allows of throwing in or out of circuit when desired. Thus, when in cir- cuit, as after sunset, a clear white flash is shown for each pull of the whistle and of the same duration. It is not nec- essary that the pull shall be moved through any fixed distance, if the wire is overhauled 1 in. the effect is the same as for full throw, the light shows as plainly in one case as the other and whether the whistle is heard or not, the light gives indication of the pilot's inten- tion and understanding. It calls for no