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18 MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. Wachter, James W. Denny and Sydney E. Mudd, all of Mary- land; and John F. Rixey of Virginia. Representatives of Cramp's ship yard, the Carnegie Steel Co., other big ship yards and the newspaper representatives from Washington were also aboard the Newport News. Gov. A. J. Montague of Virginia arrived 'with his party on a special train over the Chesapeake & Ohio from Richmond. From the navy yard came Rear Admiral Har- rington and his staff of officers, and from Fort Monroe came Col. Story and his officers. All of the preparations for the launching had been carefully perfected and by 1:20 o'clock everything was in readiness for the final step, the severing of the heel piece and release of the ship. The big saw buzzed its way through the stout timbers under the bow of the vessel and at 1:27 o'clock its work was -completed. The big hull broke away slowly with a crash. Miss Waters lightly threw the bottle she held towards the ship, but it did not break. President C. B. Orcutt, of the ship building company, reached out and succeeded in catching the bottle. He handed it.to Miss Waters, who, this time, threw it with more force, the glass breaking and the foaming champagne racing down the steel wall. The thousands of spectators cheered lustily, the bands played "Maryland, My Maryland," and the ship rode down the ways.slowly and majestically. Another perfect launch appeared to be to the credit of the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. Before the vessel was entirely off the ways she suddenly stopped and it was seen that she had stuck. An examination of the ground ways plainly indicated the cause. The tallow had burned dry and the ways were wood-bound. Soon after the guests of the ship yard officials proceeded to Old Point Comfort by steamer to attend the post-launching ban- quet at the Chamberlin. Hotel. There were 600 people around , the covers, President Orctitt--presided as toastmaster. The toast, "The President of the United States," was drunk standing. United States Senator Thomas S. Martin responded to it. Other toasts were: "Virginia: The Hostess," by Gov. A. J. Montague; "Maryland: Her Citizens, Our Welcome Guests," by Gov. Smith; "The Merchant Marine," Gen. Felix Agnus, editor of the Balti- more American; "The Fair Sponsor," State Senator Robinson of Maryland. ~The Maryland is one of the six powerful armored cruisers authorized by the fifty-sixth congress, designed for great speed, coupled with fighting ability and great radius of action: Her general dimensions follow: Length~on load water line, 502 ft.; beam, extreme, 69 ft. 634 in.; draught; on normal displacement of 13,676 tons, 24 ft. 1 in.; full-load displacement, with all ammu- nition and stores aboard, 15,104 tons; designed indicated horse power, 23,000; speed, 22 knots; coal supply, full bunker capacity, © 1,850 tons; complement of officers, 47; complement of seamen, marines, etc., 783. She will, have two sets of vertical inverted, triple-expansion engines, designed for 23,000 I. H. P. at 120 revo- lutions per minute. Each engine will be in a separate watertight compartment, and will have cylinders 38% in., 6314 in., and two 74 in. in diameter, by 48 in. stroke of piston. Steam of 250 lbs. pressure will be supplied from sixteen water-tube boilers of the Babcock & Wilcox marine type. The boilers will be arranged in six watertight compartments, The total grate surface of the sixteen boilers will be 1,600 sy. ft. and the total heating surface will be 70,944 sq. ft. The smokestacks will be four in number, standing fore and aft. ue An armor belt will extend 5 ft. below and 4 ft. above the normal load line and from stem to stern. It will be 16 in. thick at the top, and 5 in. at the bottom. The maximum thickness will be preserved for a depth of.6 ft. from the top.. The armor will taper at the stem and stern to a thickness of 314 in. The armor on the Hichborn balanced oval turrets, with inclined port plates, will be 614 in. thick on the port plate and 6 in. on the sides and rear. The main battery will consist of four 8-in. breech-loading rifles, mounted two in each turret on the centre line of the vessel. There will be fourteen 6-in. rapid-fire guns and a secondary battery of eighteen 3-in. and twelve 3-pounder guns, besides four 1-pounder automatic guns, four 1-pounder Tapid-fire guns, six Colt automatic guns, two machine guns, and two 3-in. field guns. With this equipment and protection it is expected that the Maryland could put up a good fight against the _ average battleship if it became necessary. PHILADELPHIA SHIP BUILDING NEWS. Philadelphia, Sept. 16--Among the many improvements planned for the League Island navy yard by Rear Admiral Sigs- bee, commandant, is that of an imposing entrance to the yards. Plans have been prepared and provide for a structure of solid masonry, to cost $100,000, In appearance the entrance will be that of a triumphal arch, with main archway of 18 ft. width and- two side archways. The structure will be occupied with offices, dormatories, marine quarters and a prison. A new home for the commandment, in colonial style, to cost $25,000, has also been provided for. : : Dr. T. S. Dedrick, of Philadelphia, who saw four years' Service in arctic seas and who accompanied Lieut. Peary to the north, but, having a disagreement, remained at Greenland, is of the opinion that Lieut. Peary will find the north pole on his next trip. He said recently: "Each and every expedition brings civ- ilization one step nearer, and man has now established his station within at least two hundred miles of ,this persistently sought goal. I thought that Peary had it within his grasp a few years ago. If Lieut. Peary does not reach the pole on this dash I am [Sept. -a7, willing to predict that it- will be discovered within the next ten elve years. o "The back Nuuanu, Capt. Josslyn, from Honolulu, with 26,500 bags of sugar, made the round trip from New York to Honolulu to this port in eight months and one day--one of the quickest voyages of a sailing vessel recorded for a long time. Another noteworthy marine incident is that of the tug Paoli, which toweq the coal barges Gibson and Dunlo, last week, from Rockland, Me., to the Greenwich coal piers, Philadelphia, in 68% hours. Both coal barges.are of 1,600 tons register and had full cargoes, The Paoli averaged 8 knots an hour, a feat never equalled by any boat of her class at this port. The steel sea-going dredge Atlantic, built for R. A. Parry of San Francisco, by the New York Ship Building Co, was launched at that company's yards Sept. 9, Mrs. H. B. Plummer, wife of one of the company's superintendents, being sponsor. The At- lantic s 145 ft. long, 30 ft. beam and 14 ft. draught. She is fitted with powerful machinery, so arranged that the shoal over which she works is cut away by sharp projecting instruments and the sand pumped up in the vessel's hold and deposited wher- ever needed. The Atlantic will be used mostly at gulf ports on government work. a : The action of the New York board of trade and transporta- tion in appointing a special committee to urge upon the country the imperative need of the revival of American shipping in the foreign trade has already met with cordial endorsement at the hands of many Philadelphia commercial bodies. The daily press has generally commented favorably upon the matter 'and urged action. Residents of New Jersey, now that they realize the im- portance of their shipyards and shipping, are apt to urge the building of American vessels, too. Andrew C. Gray, counsel for the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co., Wilmington, asserts that an arrangement has been made with the creditors of the company whereby the plant will be kept in operation and new work received. Another test for speed has been allowed the torpedo boat Stringham, built by the com- pany, which recently failed to make her contract speed of 30 knots. It is thought that when her machinery is worked down smoother that she will come up to the required speed. The Stringham, has 7,200 I. H. P, The auxiliary cruiser Prairie was floated out the dry dock at League island last Saturday morning, after having her bottom finished, scraped and painted. The Panther, a sister ship, which arrived the day before, went on the dry docks Saturday after- ~ noon, and will receive a similar overhauling. Both vessels will go to the coast of Cuba after leaving the yards. At Peter Hagen's shipyard, East Camden, the 1,600 ton steamship D. B. Metcalf is to be converted into a 2,000-ton steamer. The Metcalf was originally built in a Maine shipyard; was rebuilt in Norway and on her last trip carried 8,000 feet of lumber. . The iron steamer Berks, at the same yards, is being converted into a coal .barge.- oe The owner of the Italian bark Erasmo, dsserting that the shipyard prices of this country are extravagant, will have his vessel towed from this port to Italy. He has engaged the British. tug Tritan to do the job. The Tritan left Dartmouth, England, Sept. 6 to undertake the work. It is one of the longest towing undertakings on record. The board of director of the Maritime Exchange and Presi- dent J. S. W. Halton have contracted for the construction of a new steel signal tower at the Delaware breakwater. It will be 115 ft. high and will take the place of an old condemned station. Signals are to be displayed from a large halyard at the foot of the flagstaff. ; 'd f ' Anxiety is felt for the. sailing vessel. Helen Brewer, almost _ 200 days out from Sourabaya, with a cargo of sugar, for this port. She is long overdue. She is an American vessel, 248 ft. long, 39 ft. beam and 22 ft. deep; 1,607 tons gross register. She is owned by C. Brewer & Co., Ltd., and carries a crew of twenty- six men. : The torpedo boat Hoskins reached the League Island yards from Cramps Monday. She will be fitted out for her speed trial. She is of the new type of torpedo boats and has four torpedo tubes and two six-pounders fore and aft. Immense quantities of material are being received at the yard for use in the construction of the immense dry dock, work upon which is being prosecuted night and day. A large amount of re- pair work is also going on. Rear Admiral Silas Casey, who was retired Sept. 10, will make his future home in this city. He was commandant of the League Island navy yard for some time. . Capt. Charles S. Bromwell, government engineer stationed at New Orleans, recently opened bids for the construction, of a stern-wheel steamboat for use on the Mississippi river: } The bids were as follows:. The Johnson Iron Works, Ltd., New Orleans, La., $14,750; N. H. Sweeney Shipyard & Foundry Co., Jeffersonville, Ind., $14,000; Southern Marine Works, New Orleans, La., $17,095; Chas. P. Willard & Co., Chicago, Ill. $17,- 500; The Johnson Iron Works, Ltd., New Orleans, La., (modi- . fied proposal), $11,955. None of the bids were within the sum appropriated and Capt..Bromwell thereupon rejected them all and requested the bidders to submit modified proposals. He authorized them to modify the specifications in whatever manner they pleased so long as they did not impair the strength or speed of the boat. The modified bids will be opened this week. > 5