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62 reau. By removing these onerous conditions it is hoped that*such firms will bid directly for the navy busi- ness, and, by thus widening competi- tion, give to the navy better prices and prompter deliveries. "Respectfully, (Signed) "E, B. Rocers, "Paymaster General, U. S. Navy." KEEL OF THE NORTH DAKOTA LAID. The keel of the North Dakota, the first of the great American Dread- THE KEEL PLATE AS IT IS LIFTED BY THE CRANE. noughts, was officially taid at the yards of the Fore River Ship Building Co., at LORI ay a) Dec, w10, 18077 at, the exact, moment that the battleship fleet. received its order to sail from Hampton Roads for the Pacific. The first vertical plate was erected at 10:30 and the first frame at 11:20. The laying of the keel repre- sents the beginning of the actual assem- THE FIRST VERTICAL _ON THE TWO OUTER KEEL PLATES. KEEL PLATE IN PLACE bling of the various parts of the ship, into ship form: The keel and what is known as the laying of the keel, consists of putting into place on the keel blocks the first plate of the bottom part, or what might be called the backbone of the ship: It does not indicate, however, that the building of the ship has only begun, for before the keel is laid it is necessary to have on hand large quantities of mate- rial, much of which has already been laid off, punched and in other ways pre- THE Marine ReEvIEW pared for putting. into place. It also means that the ship has been completely laid down in the mold loft and that prob- ably 50 per cent of all the plans in the construction of the ship are developed and approved. This is, perhaps, better indicated by the fact that the official re- for.s of completion of the North Da- kota on Dec. 1 showed that the vessel was at that time 7.84 per cent com- pleted. Following are the leading particulars of the North Dakota: 510 ft. Length on load waterline (about) Breadth, extreme, at load waterline Cabot) arias here erence ee OOM itera seein Displacement on trial, not more CHa tee isons? eee bie eats leueeone seabo ce 20,000 tons Mean draught to bottom of keel at tak «displacement =.) ..5 2+. eat. Total coal. bunker capacity (about) 2,300 tons Coal carriedssonestniale ses re 1,000 tons Feed water carried on trial...... 66 tons Speedscomintrialen\s Croce sinc wenn 21 knots ARMAMENT. Main Battery. Ten 12-in. breech-loading rifles. Secondary Battery. Fourteen 5-in. rapid-fire guns. Four 3-pounder saluting guns. Four 1-pounder semi-automatic guns. Two 3-in. field pieces. Two machine guns, caliber .30. -- Two submerged torpedo tubes. ions speak very clearly of the terrific force of the impact. It is physically impossible to take photographs of the bottom of steamers, but if it were possible the bottom of the Reis would present quite an amazing sight. As it is, the condition of the tank top gives an illuminating index. The bot- tom of the ship is pushed upward. about 4 ft. for a distance of /Jnaues beginning forward of amidships. The tank top is similarly forced out of position. Near the boilers the bottom is again pushed upward 4 in. for a %\ INSPECTORS--FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: COMDR, JOHN L. GOW; LIEUT., C. L. ARN- OLD; NAVAL CONSTRUCTOR, H. G. GILL- MOR; LIEUT. COM'DR, ROGER WELLES. INJURIES TO THE REIS. The accompanying photographs show clearly the extensive nature of the in- juries to the steamer Wm. E. Reis which was in collision with the Mon- roe C. Smith near Algonac on Nov. l. The hole on the port side of the steamer extends from the hatch clear down to the bilge, the vessel being practically broken in two. In fact, it will, be necessary to cut the hull in two in 'tthe dock in order to rebuild the portion which is so thoroughly destroyed.. The Great Lakes Engi- neering Works has a small army of men at work upon it and they will be continuously engaged until the opening of navigation to restore the steamer to her former condition. This is the heaviest repair job of the win- ter. The photographs showing the twisted and broken beams and stanch- ON THE SECOND DAY. distance of several feet. Two of the bulkheads of the vessel will have to be taken out and replaced and nine of the deck beams are buckled and several are broken. About 85 hull plates and 40 tank top plates will have to be removed. Moreover the interior of the after. cabins will have to be stripped of every part of the wood- work as the water has twisted the THE FIRST FRAME ERECTED. paneling all out of position. The ac- companying photographs show the boat in the floating dry dock at Ecorse. The government grain elevator at Port Colborne will be ready to re- ceive cargo shortly after the Opening of navigation. Its capacity will be about 2,000,000 bushels and it will be fitted with the most modern machin- ery for the rapid handling of grain. The elevator was designed Diya Ss Jamieson, of Montreal.