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

54 MARINE REVIEW. [January 23, --------___. MARYLAND STEEL CO.'S PLANT. One of the busiest ship yards in the country, and one having impor- tant contracts under way and others in contemplation, is that. of the Maryland Steel Co. at Sparrow's Point, Md.. The plan published here- with shows the arrangement of the ship yard. The yard has been remod- eled and equipped with new tools and handling appliances. The launching ways are capable of taking four 650-ft., one 400-ft. and two 350-ft. vessels at one time, besides two of smaller dimensions, making a capacity of nine Derrick crane, capacity 25,000 lbs., at Maryland Steel Co.'s works, : Sparrow's Point, Md. vessels in all' These ways are served by derrick cranes which are capable of handling all material to be placed upon vessels before launching. The tool shed has also been enlarged and equipped with new tools. A trav- eling derrick crane of 15,000 Ibs. capacity has been installed on the exten- ie e the fitting-out wharf. A 125-ton shears is also a feature of the wharf. J National officers of the American Association of Masters and Pilots, elected at the annual meeting in Washington, are: Grand captain, J. ¢ ug es pa eet first pilot, Charles Maytham of Buffalo: sec- ond pilot, N. 'Ie. Cullin of Camden, N. J.; grand purser, L. BADo * cap: tain's clerk, B. F. Perkins. HO od 2 tee ihe vbr i ¢ fi s The submarine torpedo boats Pike and Grampus, which are' no . . ' W under construction at the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, will be launched about Feb, 1, f SUCCESSFUL TEST OF A SUBMARINE BELL. qf that a discovery which will stir scientists the world -- oo. was made in Boston harbor recently when repre- sentatives of the Submarine Signal Co. of Boston found that the blows on their submarine bell, striking in the upper harbor, caused vibrations in every vessel in port, and furthermore, that the sound could be heard dis- tinctly by simply placing the ear against wharf piles. According to the story of one who helped in the experiment an attempt was made at the time to learn if the sound from a bell could travel from one side of the harbor to another, successfully pass all obstructions, and pierce the thick skin of an ocean liner so that the sound might be received in some Parts of the steamship. Accordingly the company s barge, Sea Bell, with striking apparatus, was stationed at the New England docks and repre- sentatives of the company were privileged to station themselves in the shaft tunnel of the Cunard steamship Ivernia. The Ivernia is the largest vessel entering at the port of Boston. Her outer skin is fully an inch thick, and besides having on board a consid- erable amount of cargo at the time of the experiment she was receiving her coal supply, the noise and commotion therefrom being considerable, At the appointed time the striking apparatus on the Sea Bell was put in motion, and to the amazement of those stationed in the Ivernia the sound not only pierced the skin clearly and unmistakably, but it came so freely that even its direction was apparent. One doubting Thomas suggested that it was not the water which so tremendously increased the force of the sound but rather that it was by contact and passage throuvh the mud on the East Boston side. In order that there might be no doubt whatever on this point, tests were subsequently made at both high and low water, and it was found in every instance that the sound was more forceful and clearer at high water than at low water. At the time of the experiment with the steamship Ivernia there were a number of coal-laden schooners of the larger type in the harbor, some even intercepting the straight line between the Sea Bell and the steamship. These ships draw from 15 to 24 ft of water, and yet they in no way lessened the sound. Furthermore, the 800-lb. bell, almost one mile from the steam- ship, was struck with a force only equal to a 1-ft. fall of a 50-lb. piledriver; whereas it could easily have 'been given a force many times as great. Those directly interested in the new invention claim that under anything like favorable conditions the sound can be heard and located a mile away, and a warning given to ships in dangerous localities. For instance, during the last year four steamers and one barque have gone ashore at 'Cape Race, on the coast of Newfoundland, representing a money loss of several million dollars. None of these vessels received warning from the fog horns which guard that point, yet if the coast there had been equipped with submarine bells it is claimed that it would have been utterly impossible for any of the vessels spoken of to have ap- proached nearer than one mile without receiving warning of their peril. . It is from the scientific as much as the practical standpoint that the numerous discoveries being made in submarine signalling are of interest. Until Arthur J. Mundy and the late Prof. Elisha Gray began a series of experiments which led to the establishment of the new company, this branch of science had been somewhat neglected. Its promoters are com- pelled to explain every new discovery from their own observations and' experiments; nothing in the scientific textbooks gave any light as to cause and effect. It is because of this. lack of material at hand that a "log" is being kept of every detail of the invention. Each discovery is noted down by careful and conversant writers, and every experiment is given a place in writing. Foreign governments are watching its growth with an eye to the future, and especially its uses in case of war. A representative of the Argentine government has been in consultation with the officers of the company, and one foreign power has requested that the Submarine Sig- nalling Co. be moved bodily to that country, and all further experiments be conducted there. This offer was chiefly due to the desire to increase the efficiency of the navy; but it was stated by Manager J. B. Millet that the Submarine Signalling Co. has no desire to accept the invitation, for its purpose is, first of all, to provide a safeguard for the Atlantic coast of the United States. ; SCANDINAVIAN SHIP BUILDING, 1901. A large number of vessels were built last year in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish ship yards, and from most of those establishments more ton- nage was put into the water than in 1900. The increase was especially great in the case of Messrs. Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, and of the Akers Mekaniske Verksted, Christiania. Eight vessels were launched from Messrs. Burmeister's yard, of a total measurement of 9,398 tons, and with engines aggregating 16,250 I.H.P. The majority of them were medium-sized cargo steamers, but one was a cruiser for the Russian government, of 3,300 tons and 12,000 I.H.P. This last-mentioned vessel is probably the. finest and swiftest ship ever built at Copenhagen. Messrs. Burmeister & Wain were also busily engaged all the year with repairs, the number of vessels docked or hauled on to the slip for repairs having been 295, measuring altogether about 401,000 register tons, against 270 ships and 350,000 tons in the previous year. The Elsinore Ship Building & Engineering Works turned out four cargo steamers, measuring in the aggregate 6,383 register tons and of 3,250 I.H.P., for Scandinavian ship owners, which is a considerable falling off when compared with the year 1900. At the Lindholmers yard, Gothenburg, two steamers (5,700 register tons and 6,700 I.H.P.) were built, one of them being a cruiser for the Swedish navy, and the other a petroleum tanker for Russian owners. At the three principal ship yards in Norway--the Akers Mekaniske Verksted at Christiania, the Bergens Mekaniske Verksted, and the Mekaniske Trondjems Verksted--there were built and engined eleven vessels (5,091 tons), four vessels (4,414 tons), and four vessels (3,418 tons), respectively, being an increase when compared with the year 1900. Most of the vessels built in Norwegian yards were handy cargo boats or trawlers. One of the trawlers measured 97 tons and had engines of 250 I.H.P. She was built for a firm at St. John's, Newfoundland. _ _ Ernest Victor Clergue, one of' the directirg heads of the associated industries at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., died in Chicago last Saturday of heart trouble. | Mt' Clergue was forty-one years old'! His brother, Francis H. Clergue, is the head of the industrial syndicate at the Sault, ' 71%