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26 TAe Marine REVIEW DRY DOCK AT GALVESTON NEEDED. The harbor of Galveston is very much in need of a capacious dry dock and ship repairing plant. It has be- come a-port of much importance during the past few years, not alone for coastwise service but for foreign trade as well but there are no competent facilities for repairing the fleet that visits it. At present a number of government dredges are lying in the harbor with broken shafts and other injuries awaiting repairs. Referring to this condition of affairs Mr. T. J. Anderson, a student of shipping and one of the representatives of the under- writers said: "While Galveston stands in the front rank of the ports of the United States and is the leading port oh the Gulf in the matter of volume and value of its foreign business, besides having an immense and valuable coastwise busi- ness, the port ranks so low in the matter of equipment for repairing injured vessels that the underwriters are constantly inquiring of me as to what is being done and what is going to be done in the near future to remedy the matter. Not only from an insurance standpoint should the port of Galveston have dry dock or floating dock facilities, but from a business standpoint. Accord- ing to the January edition of the News there entered this port during the year 1905 372 vessels in the foreign trade and 438 vessels in the coastwise trade, aggregating 1,767,- 387 tons, and of a property value of many millions of dollars. Many of these vessels are in the Cuban and Mexican trade the year round, and others during the sum- mer months, and every one has had to go to New Orleans or Mobile for hauling out for cleaning or repair work. With the proper equipment at this port the work would have been done here, and in addition there are many other vessels that would have been sent to this port for dock- ing purposes. oe "According to Lloyds register the port of New Or- leans has six docks. The government dock will lift 18,- 000 tons, and besides this dock there is one which will lift 5,000 tons, another 1,200 tons and another 1,000 tons, two of the six docks being used mainly for the purpose of repairing river boats and other small craft. "Pensacola has three docks, lifting 2,000 tons, 1,000 tons and 300 tons respectively, while Mobile has one lifting 3,500 tons, another 3,000 tons and another 1,000 tons, besides three marine railways for smaller vessels. All of these docks are kept busy the greater part of the year and oftentimes vessels are kept waiting several days to be lifted. Galveston has one marine railway capable of lifting 1,000 tons, a very good railway for its size, but totally inadequate for a port of this size and im- portance. "If the port of Galveston is going to continue to enjoy the distinction of being one of the great ports of the world, some one will have to get busy, and provide the equipment necessary to repair injured vessels. It is of the utmost importance to the port that either a dry dock or a floating dock of a capacity to lift the average vessel in this trade be provided and the quicker it is done the _ quicker the. underwriters will put the stamp of approval opposite the name of this port on their account books." : : ew VALENCIA INQUIRY. Error in judgment on the part of Capt. Johnson, com- mander of the vessel, but such as probably any other master would have made under the circumstances are the central causes of the wreck of the ill-fated steamship Valencia, which met disaster the night of Jan. 22, entail- ing the loss of the lives of 133 of the 168 passengers aboard, according to the findings of the United States marine inspection -board whose decision is now in the hands of the government. The investigation' conducted by Capt. Bion' B. Whitney and Robert A. Turnér, consti- tuting the board, was concluded and a copy sent to the secretary of commerce and labor, the United States in- spector-general and Capt. Bermingham, -supervising in- spector, two weeks ago. ' The decision does not censure Capt. Johnson, but by inference it sets forth that it- was his mistake that sent the vessel to her doom. These were in miscalculating the current which ran continuously up the coast and with such velocity that he overran his course and piled the ves- sel on the treacherous Vancouver reefs. It is found also that the Valencia in her northward run stood off shore so far that she did not get into the unusually deep water just off Cape Flattery and thus have her position revealed by the results of the continuous soundings customary in such weather. The Valencia's equipment, the board finds, was in first class condition--all that the law required, and more. She had a competent crew. Some of the men, it is pointed out, may have been new to the vessel, but they were followers of the sea, trained in their duties. It is held that the evidence showed that Capt. Johnson ordered the lifeboats lowered to the saloon deck rail. Reference is made to the fact that no fire drill was held and that while the law does not contemplate a drill more frequently than once a week, it would have been better to have had such a practice on this voyage. The decision does not deal specifically with the Queen and City of Topeka or those in charge of the rescue ships. No one is censured in this-connection. As to the Queen's going away, it is pointed out that she left a well-equipped and smaller vessel--one able to get in closer to the scene of the wreck--in charge of the rescue work. NEW FRENCH LINER LA PROVENCE. - The new French line steamer La Provence left Havre last week on her maiden trip to New York. The new liner is the largest.ship in the French mercantile marine. She measures over 627 ft. from stem to stern, is of 14,200 tons, and her normal speed is of 21 knots, permitting the trip across the Atlantic to be made in six days. Accom- modation is provided for 4oo first class passengers, 200 second, and goo third. The crew consists of 500 men, un- _der the command of fourteen officers. In addition, there is a staff of 150 waiters, stewards, stewardesses, etc., mak- ing a total of 2,coo persons on board when all her cabins are filled. The main saloon of La Provence is in Louis XVI style, in white and gold, and lighted by a large dome. The din- ing saloon seats 250, and is decorated in Louis XV style. Besides these there are smoking rooms and boudoirs, which together with the staterooms are all furnished in the most artistic and comfortable manner. There are six suites de luxe, each provided with special bathroom and electric heating apparatus. An elevator has been installed to convey passengers to and from the three upper decks. An interesting feature of the new steamer is the elab- orate system of precautions for the safety of passengers. All the lifeboats, numbering twenty, together with six rafts, can it is claimed, be put into the water in forty sec- onds by means of an ingenious apparatus requiring only four men to work it. Each cabin, besides, is provided with lifebelts. Against the danger of fire a network of 'indicators connects every part of the ship with the bridge and the engine room. The officer of the watch can close every watertight compartment from his post. Finally, La Provence is fitted with wireless telegraphy apparatus.