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TAE MarRINE REVIEW : 7. DRY DOCK DEWEY IN SUEZ CANAL. The bulletin published by the Suez Canal Co. gives interesting details of the passing of the American float- ing dock Dewey from Port Said to Suez, and the difficul- ties that had to be overcome. This 'loatitiy mass of a height of 65 ft.-and an immersion of eight feet entered. the canal on the morning of April 19, towed by the com- pany's powerful tug, the Titan, assisted by the American steamers, the Caesar and the Potomoc. The United States government had informed the company that the draught of the dock would be about six feet, and special sidings had been excavated at' kilometer posts 24 and 54 for the dock to enter and permit the ordinary traffic of steamers to be carried on. As they were found to be of insufficient depth, the dock had to moor on the Asiatic side of the canal at Port Said while additional dredging was effected, and it was only on the morning of the 27th that the transit began. The convoy, to which the com- pany's tug Vigilant had been added, reached the post 24 (15 miles) in four hours and a half, with an easterly wind that compelled the dock to advance obliquely to prevent it from grounding on the African bank. Two gangs of workmen accompanied the convoy to remove the buoys and replace them if necessary. Their services were not, however, required during the first part of the passage as the buoys on each side are separated by a distance of 155 ft. With some few exceptions when touched they shifted, but remained attached to their moorings. The dock re-. mained 12 hours at post 24 for ships to pass and left at two in the morning of the 28th, reaching post 54 in eight: hours without incident. The wind had, however, then. freshened, and some hawsers broke under the'strain when an attempt was made to resume the transit. It was only on the 29th, at four in the afternoon, that the voyage could be resumed, and the convoy reached Lake Timsah at 9:30 in the evening.. The voyage was continued at I1 the next morning, and at six in the evening the dock reached the Great Bitter lake, and moored off the South Light. With the next stage began the most difficult part of the operation. It comprised first the passage through the lesser lakes, in which the channel is marked throughout by fixed buoys, and in which the dock, being no longer supported by the bank to leeward was exposed to being driven by the wind onto the line of buoys. Dan- ger was also to be apprehended from the influence of the currents which become sensible on nearing the Red sea. When the dock was started afresh at nine in the morning: of May 1 a rather strong wind was blowing from the northwest. Driven by the breeze at an accelerated speed,- the dock cleared the two bends of the small lake, de- molishing the first buoy and breaking the lantern of the Pintsch buoy. At kilometer post 133 the dock sheered off and was carried athwart the channel, but labor for an hour was sufficient to right the craft and continue the voyage, the passage being again through the canal proper. The action of the current ahead was now fortunately neu- tralized by a wind aft, and the last part of the transit was accomplished at perhaps a more rapid speed. than in the earlier stages. At five in the evening the floating mass entered the roads at Suez, after 107 hours spent in the canal, including 34 hours 29 mintues under way. CIVIL ENGINEER AS BUREAU CHIEF. (From the Army and Navy Register.) The provision in the naval appropriation bill relating to selection of the successor to Rear Admiral M. T. Endi- cott, as chief of the bureau of yards and docks, in Novem- ber when that officer goes on the retired list is evidently in the bill to stay. It was separated by Senator Hale from the companion provision relating to pay, on the theory that questions of personnel in particular should' be the subject of what may be called an omnibus measure. It was the belief of the chairman of the senate naval com- mittee that the naval bill should contain only what was absolutely necessary in the way of new legislation, and it was quite evident to everybody who has thought of the subject in a broad way that the eligibility of civil- engineers for the bureau chiefship should be at once ex- tended. This action has been taken by the senate naval committee after a full consideration of the questions in- volved and in proper appreciation of the important work accomplished during the last eight years in the bureau of yards and docks under the senior civil engineer, whose term of active service is drawing to a close. No argu-' ments have yet been presented, and no reason is con-. ceivable, for opposing the committee action. The provi- sion as it stands ought to go through without hindrance. It is the assurance of efficiency. A civil engineer would have to do the work anyway and it would be bettet to give him the position and the power, along with the labor and the responsibility. It would be unjust to keep him in a subordinate place when he belongs at the -- of the bureau. AROUND THE WORLD UNDER JURY RIG. The famous American clipper ship A. G. Ropes arrived at New York from Kobe, Japan, furnishing the first instance of a dismantled vessel crossing two seas under jury rig. The' trip consumed nearly six months. For twenty-two years the time of the Ropes, which was built in Bath, Me., was posted in Hong Kong, San Francisco, Liverpool, Shanghai and this city for speed records in races half way around the world. She is 250 feet long and of 2,460 tons gross register, and is a full-rigged ship. While off Hong Kong last fall the Ropes was struck by a typhoon, and everything above the deck went by the board. When at the end of three days of suspense a German steamer appeared and offered for $3,000 to tow the Ropes to port, Capt. Rivets refused, although his report states that "it was some temptation to accept." He held out against exorbitant offers for towing until 'his ship was taken into port by a steamer for $500. This was not paid, however, until he had sailed for five days more with a sail rigged on the iron stump of the foremast. At Kobe the ship was sold' at auction to Lewis Luckenback, of New York, and the nearly six 'months' voyage home under a makeshift rigging began. GUN BOAT ALERT IN SERVICE. The gunboat Alert has just beer brought from Mare Island naval station down to San Francisco, and has been turned over to the California naval militia to be used as headquarters for the militia in San Francisco harbor in place of the old corvette,' Marion. The latter vessel has done service as a school ship for the last seven or eight years. The old Marion will be returned to the government, be taken to Mare Island and probably be broken up. The Alert is a fine vessel for the naval militia, having six rapid fire 4-in. guns, four 6-pounders, and other good equipment. She will remain in the stream about a month, later going to a per- manent anchorage off Sausalito. The Alert has accommo- dations for 150 men, who will receive their ordinary instruc- tions in the National Guard armory in San Francisco, until the Alert is ready for their accommodation. The German kaiser opened the Tetlow canal on June 2. This waterway cost $10,000,000 to build, is eight feet deep, and crossed by fifty bridges. It connects the manufacturing suburbs of Berlin with the sea via the Havel and Elbe can-. nals.