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"TAE. Marine. REVIEW ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. The Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. will overhaul the American liner St. Paul. The Ocean Steamship Co.,'of Savannah, has given con- tract to-Roach's Shp Yard, Chester, Pa., for a steamer: to be a duplicate of the one now under. construction at that yard for the company. The Spokane Machinery & Supply Co., Spokane, Wash., has completed the engines for the new steamer to be operated on Coeur d'Alene lake by Captains A. Vack- lund and Pigrass. The hull of the steamer is being built by P. W. Johnstone, Spokane, Wash. Mr. Walter H. Metcalf, the well known marfne diver and contractor of Cleveland, is equipping one of the most complete boats for his line of work on the lakes. A com- pressed air plant is being installed and the large derrick will be equipped with an exceptionally heavy clam-shell bucket furnished by the G. H. Williams Co. of Cleveland. The G. H. Williams Co., of Cleveland, recently received an order from the, Hoyt & Patterson Co., Incorporated, at Pittsburg, for three 3-yard clam-shell buckets for use in coal. The company has also delivered a 2-yard bucket to the Grover & Stephens Co., of Cleveland, and has six or: eight more now building. The bucket is meeting with much favor. The Portland Co., Portland, Me., has just received the hull of a large dredge built for the Breyman Bros. Co., of Toledo, for their own use in Boston harbor in connec- tion with government contracts. The Portland Co. will install machinery and boilers complete in the dredge at their works when she will be sent to Boston and placed in commission. Herr Ballin addressing the shareholders of the Ham- burg-American Steamship Co., said the results of the two Cunard turbine steamers had to be considered before the Hamburg-American line would approach the question of applying the turbine to their new ocean steamers. All authorities, he said, agreed that the turbine should only | be used when the usual engine could not be relied upon to produce a very great speed. He did not believe that the turbine would supplant the reciprocating engine. The Canadian government has placed an order with Vickers, Sons & Maxim, of Barrow, to build an ice break- er steamer with the object of keeping the River St. Law- rence clear of ice in the winter season. From the exper- ience with a similar steamer in the Baltic, it is believed a good navigable channel can be maintained as far as Mon- treal, and if this proves to be the fact, it will be of im- mense importance to Canada, and will probably lead to the construction of a fleet of ice breakers. The Pacific Coast Steamship Co.'s big liner, City of Pueblo, which became disabled at sea some months ago, and was towed to San Francisco, will be ready to resume service again May 5. She will be commanded by Captain Jepsen, her old master--a veteran in the coastwise service. Since being laid up the City of Pueblo has been com- pletely overhauled. Twelve new staterooms were added. A new tail shaft and a low-pressure engine were also in- stalled. The work was done at the Union Iron Works. Meetings will be held at Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago, on May 14, 15 and 16 respectively, which will be attended by Representative Ransdell, of Louisiana, chair- man of the executive committee of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress; Representative Ellis, of Missouri, vice president of the National Rivers and Harbors Con- gress; and Representative Lorimer, of Chicago, who 1s at the head of the proposed deep waterway project be- tween Chicago and St. Louis. The purpose of the meet- ings is to .crystallize' sentiment in favor of the improve- ment of waterways. ' ' The new Ward liner Merida, the largest steamship ever | built for the American coastwise trade, sailed on her maiden trip to Havana last Saturday afternoon. The 'Merida is in command of Capt. Frank. Stevens, the com-. modore of the Ward line, and left port with a full comple- ment of passengers. The new vessel is 416 ft. long; .50.ft; , beam, 30 ft. depth, and registers 8,000 tons. She is equipped with the De Forest system of wireléss teleg- raphy, and the company announces that a newspaper con- tain.ng all the latest news will be published. on board every day she is at sea. sk a ee The Great Lakes Coal Co.'s «mines are located. at Kaylor in the northeast portion of Armstrong county, Pa, about forty miles north of Pittsburg.. The company owns a standard gauge railroad eighteen miles in length, known as the Western Allegheny, connecting at Queen Junction with the Pittsburg, Bessemer & Lake Erie railroad. It is intended to extend the branch road to Newcastle. . Practi- cally the entire production of the mine is shipped at pres- ent over the Pittsburg, Bessemer & Lake Erie to ¢con- necting lines and- points on the great lakes. The com- pany owns 25,0co0 acres of land, the greater portion of which is underlaid with coal. The risk and dangers of those engaged in submarine boats is sought to be lessened by an invention of Mr. Thomas Doyle, of Leacombe, Liverpool, who, being a diver and salvage expert of long experience, knows the ropes, and is well able to suggest practical improvements. The enhanced feeling of confidence given to the officers ' and men who undertake the handling of submarine boats must of necessity have a beneficial effect, and even should there be no danger, in some cases this ingenious inven- tion will, it is said, prove a great saving, because it en- ables the submerged vessel to be raised. The British ad- miralty authorities have the invention under consider- ation, and mention will probably be made of it in parlia- ment very shortly. ~The Marine Safety Appliances Co., of Cleveland, has succeeded the Irvine-Lihou Co. as manufacturers of the Irvine-Lihou lifeboat handler, a recently invented me- chanical device for swinging out and lowering lifeboats on board vessels. The officers of the new company are: Mr. T. F. Newman, of the Cleveland & Buffalo line, presi- dent; Mr. F. B. Dalzell, of New York, first vice president; Mr. D. C. McIntyre, of the Detroit & Cleveland line, sec- ond vice president; and Mr. Gustay Vonden Steinen, sec- retary and treasurer. 'This boat handler, patents of which were issued on May 9, 1905, has already attracted the attention of government officials and marine authorities. Unusual appreciation has been accorded to it considering the brief length of time that it has been on the market. On March 28 there. was launched from the Wallsend ship yard of Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Ltd, a steel screw steamer which has been built to the order of the Donald Steamship Co., and which is intended.to run in the fruit service of the United Fruit Co. between the West Indies and United States ports. The leading di- mensions of the vessel are: Length over all, 237 ft.; beam, 31 ft. 8 in. and depth, molded, 16 ft. The. oe gines have been constructed by the North Eastern Mar- ine Engineering Co., of Wallsend, and consist of a set of triple expansion engines, having cylinders of 21, 34 and 56- in. diameter, by 36-in. stroke, steam being supplied by two single-ended boilers, working at'a pressure of 180 lbs. This machinery is expected to drive the vessel at a speed of about 12%4 knots in regular service. On leaving the ways the vessel was named Bella by Mrs. James Donald, of Glasgow.