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ae tonnage being 14,155 tons. 18 The Marine REVIEW TRIAL OF EMPRESS OF IRELAND. The twin-screw steamer' Empress of Ireland, one of two vessels built by the Fairfield Ship Building & Engineering Co., Ltd., Glasgow, for the Canadian Pacific Railroad Co.'s new Atlantic service, ran her speed trials on the Clyde last week, and her full speed exceeded 20 knots. This result is of special significance, because of the condition that on limited dimensions the vessel was required to carry 6,500 tons of cargo on a mean draught of 27 ft. 6 in. This requirement was more than met, as the load on the draught was 6,900 tons, but the hull had to be designed on much fuller lines than is the case with high-speed craft generally, so that to exceed the guaranteed speed of 19% knots was a most satisfactory performance with the vessel loaded to her mean service draught. The quadruple-ex- pansion engines, satisfactorily balanced to reduce vibra- tion, developed over 18,000 I. H. P. when making 81 reyo- lutions. There are six double-ended and three singe-ended boilers in the vessel, but so ample is the provision for steam generation that one of the latter was not in use at the trial. The vessel has a length of 550 ft. between perpendiculars and of 570 ft. over all; a breadth molded of 65 ft. six inches, and a depth molded of 48 ft., the gross There is accommodation on board for 310 first, 468 second, 494 third, and 270 fourth- class passengers, besides -a crew of 373, making 1,915 in all. In her arrangement and decoration the vessel af- forded splendid indication of the progress of ship con- struction which marks each successive Atlantic ship, and many improvements in detail have been introduced as a result Of the experience of Mr. Arthur Piers, the. chief of the marine department of the Canadian Pacific rail- way, who was present at the trial. There were also pres- ent Dr. Francis Elgar, F. R. S., who designed the ship for the Canadian company, and Mr. Alexander Grakle, the managing director of the Fairfield company. INTERNATIONAL MERCANTILE MARINBE'S YEAR. Although the report of the International Mercantile Marine Co. for the year ending Dec. 31, 1905, shows a de- cided improvement in income over the preceding year, 'still the earnings are small as compared with the enor- mous capital stock and bonded indebtedness of the com- pany. The surplus for the year is given as $2,890,848, after deducting $236, 643 for the "payment on account of trade agreement." 'The surplus, after special maintenance and appropriations, available for dividends, aggregates $890,848, or less than two per cent on the $51,730,970 pre- ferred stock. Since its organization the company has accumulated a surplus of only $250,151, or about one-half of one per cent, on the preferred stock. © The statement for 1905 shows that $2,000,000 has been passed to the credit of the depreciation fund, the first evi- dence since the International Mercantile Marine Co. was organized that anything whatever had been set aside for maintenance, which, in the case of the ship building in- dustry, is very heavy. But as a Matter of fact the year 1905 was about the only year in which proper allowances for depreciation could be made owing to the small pre- vious earnings of the corporation. In 1904 the company showed a deficit of $1,537,748, and earnings in 1903 were less than $1,800,000. The $2,000,000 set aside for depreciation 'is edie to a little over one per cent of the property valuation of $171,- 000,000. The total tonnage of the International Mercan- tile Marine Co. amounts to about 1,000,000 tons, and the depreciation charges in 1905 were therefore at the rate of about $2 per ton, which appears to be all that has been set aside for depreciation since the company began busi- ness, The increase of over $4,000,000 in gross earnings of the company for 1905 was due largely to the settlement of the passenger rate war, which was practically ended in March of last year, and to more satisfactory freight con- ditions. Another feature of the year's business was the immigrant traffic, which was the largest on record. The total number of passengers entering the United States was. more than 1,000,000, as compared with 229,000 in 1898. It is believed the immigration business this year will be 'better than in 1905, wee onehy to aad to the revenue of the concern. The freight business was poor sees the greater part of 1905, but showed material improvement in the latter part of the year. While the freight business. has not fully recovered, it shows a material improvement over conditions as they existed at this time last year. Earn- ings since the first of the year have been larger than in the corresponding period of any preceding. year, and if nothing unforeseen happens the showing for 1906 will be much better than that of 1905. TRIAL OF BATTLESHIP GEORGIA. The battleship Georgia, on her official speed trial last. week, made a record of 19.26 knots an hour, not only exceeding by more than a quarter of a knot the speed re- quired by her contract, but establishing herself as the fastest battleship of the United States navy. Her record exceeds by six one-hundredth knots that of the New Jersey, made off the New England coast on March 29, which was the best previous showing in the battleship class. The endurance and acceptance test of the Georgia began early in the forenoon, the battleship having left Rockland before 6 o'clock A. M!, and all conditions were favorable. The starting line was between Rockland and Monhegan and the course extended out to sea in a long circle, terminating at the end of the four hours, near Cape Elizabeth lightship. . The first hour's run was the best, 19.33 knots being made. On the second hour 19.27 knots were made; 19.241 in the third, and 19.20 in the final hour. During the last hour the supply of picked coal gave out and the ordinary fuel was used. This reduced the speed for that hour, and brought the average down correspondingly. John S. Hyde, president of the Bath Iron Works, where the Georgia was built, sent the fol- lowing telegram to Gov. Joseph Terrill, of Georgia: "Georgia just finished official trial, proving fastest bat- tleship in American navy." The Georgia, in the course of the afternoon, started for Bath, where she will be completed. She will be ready | to place in commission within two months. The steamer Wawatam, which was incollision with the. steamer George J. Gould on Lake Huron, arrived at ' Lorain this week with three damaged plates. A revised chart in colors of L'Anse and Keweenaw bay, Lake Superior, has just been published by the United' State lake survey and is for sale by the Marine Review. The second steamer to be launched at the Ecorse yard of the Great Lakes Engineering Works on June 30 for the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. will be named Ishpeming. Capt. Thomas J: Brady has been appointed master of the steamer Majestic to succeed Capt. Henry C. McCal- lum, assistant United States inspector of hulls at Detroit. The little steamer Belle, which was sold by Clarence Parker, of Detroit, to Ohio parties, for the run between Cedar point and Sandusky, has been rechristened Fre- mont,