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48. carry the enormous forward deck loads customary on the eastern rivers and so their decks follow the lines of the hulls more closely. Another important difference is in the location of the boilers. On the great central rivers, the boilers of most of the boats are installed onthe main deck, the fur- nace doors being from 2 to 3 ft. above the deck. On the Pacific coast it is customary to cut away the main deck and set the boiler on specially placed THe Marine REVIEW 72 in, stroke. The valve chest and cylinder, as is usual in engines of this type, are cast separate. A piston valve of special form is used which carries a cut off valve inside the main valve. The valves are operated from eccentrics on the main shaft through a three bar marine link. The link carries two radius rods, one for the main valve and one for the cut off valve. The cut off radius rod drives the internal cut off valve through a ENGINES OF STEAMER INLAND EMPIRE. which are bolted to the frames. This:design has several advantages. The center of gravity of the boilers and consequently of the whole boat is lowered, giving greater stability. Less framing to support the boilers is required and the instal- lation is cheaper; the stress due to the weight of the boiler is communi- cated directly to the frames, where it is absorbed.. The spaces under the main deck can be and are used for fuel bunkers to advantage, which is not possible. where the furnace doors are placed from 5 to 7 ft. above the floor of the hull. On the eastern rivers it is customary to have a sep- arate smoke stack for each boiler, or at least two stacks if there are two or more boilers. On the Pacific coast most boats are built with only one stack; in fact the rule is general to have only one boiler even for the larger. boats. The Inland Empire has a capacity of 250 tons of freight with a draught of 30 inches; her draught light is 12 inches. Her speed in still water is from 16 to 17 miles per hour. Her boiler, which is standard, up to date design, was built bY Johnston Bros., of Ferrysburg, Mich. The boiler carries a steam pressure of 225 pounds per square inch. The engine, which we _ illustrate herewith by photographs and draw- ings, was built by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works, Portland, Ore., and has a number of original features. The valve gear is patented by Mr. boiler keelsons, _ Bert C. Ball, chief engineer, Wil- _lamette Iron & Steel Works. The engine is a _ standard stern wheel type having two high pressure cylinders cach 16 in, in diameter by Idaho. special arrangement of . rocker arms, which enables the engine to secure a sharp cut off at any part of the stroke. Everything about the engine is made as light as possible consistent 'with strength. The long eccentric rods are made of light, trussed steel. As was noted in the Marine Review, Dec. 3, 1908, and Jan. 7, 1909, the In- land Empire was launched Nov. 21, 1908, and made her first run from Celilo to Pasco, Dec. 28: .On. this first trip she carried 150 tons of freight; the largest single cargo here- with President-elect Taft. dam can be constructed pecially. There is more general cutting in sheets the past few weeks. Three blast furnaces are now in operation at Gary, Ind., with a capacity of 13509 tons per month each. _ Mahoning val- ley makers of basic pig iron have' de. cided to comipile the monthly average selling price of their product to be used as a basis for sliding scale cop. tracts for various material. Heretofore the average selling price of Bessemer pig has been the standard. The pig iron market is very dull. The Penge sylvania railroad has ordered 2,200 steel cars for the lines west of Pitts- burg and the Chesapeake & Ohio has also ordered 500 cars. A fair tonnage of steel rails has been ordered by west- ern railroads. There is some cutting on steel plate prices. The coke market is possibly a little stronger, but low prices still prevail for prompt delivery. GATUN DAM SAFE. It has been made practically certain that the plan for a lock canal will be recommended by the board of engin- eers who are visiting the canal zone The en- gineers have made an extended in- spection of the site of the Gatun dam and the work which has been done there and it is stated that the result of the investigation proves that the with entire safety. As this was the chief problem con- fronting the builders of the lock canal, ENGINES OF STEAMER INLAND EMPIRE, tofore carried on the upper Columbia was 40 tons. The new steamer will tun regularly on the Columbia river between Celilo Falls, Pasco and Ken- newick and on the Snake river be- tween Pasco, Wash. and Lewiston, The Open River Transporta- tion Co. also operates steamers on the lower river between Portland and Ce- ° lilo, which, in connection with the Oregon State Portage railway forms a complete system between Portland and the inland empire territory. PIG IRON SITUATION. Some rolling mills report an increase in specifications against contracts in Jantiary as compared with December, in the case of the heavier products es- and the one on which the advocates of a sea-level ditch had based their strongest criticisms, it is evident that no reason will be found to change the conclusions reached by President Roosevelt and congress dealing with the report of the former board of ex- pert engineers. f A 'hearing was held before Col. C. McD. Townsend, of Detroit, last week, on the proposal to require the Pere Marquette railroad to widen the draw of its bridge across the Saginaw river tio 90 ft. General Manager A. A. Schantz, of the Detroit & Cleve- land Navigation Co., represented that they were prohibited from entering Saginaw by the present bridge.