The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

258 ture from any previously accepted form of ship's lifeboat. The motor boat's primary function is to tow the ordinary rowing lifeboats. It is fitted with wireless telegraphy apparatus, having a range of about 100 to 150 'miles for transmitting. It would con- sequently be able to keep in constant communication with steamers in case of emergency. There is ample space for the stow- age of blankets, medical store and other necessaries. The engine is well protected by a closed compartment, and would consequently not be affect- ed by heavy seas, wind or rain. Generally speaking, the design is one of the best and most practical proposals to meet the difficulties ex- - perienced at sea. The boats are fitted with a Thorny- croft four-cylinder motor of 30 B. H. P., fitted with reverse, this motor complying in all respects with the suggestion of the boats and davits committee, in other words, starting on petrol, running on _ paraffine. Forward of the motor space a sound-proof room is fitted for the wireless operator. . There is. a short deck at each end, and a wide gang- way fore and aft. Also both forward and aft, a wa- tertight well is arranged, fitted with seats and lockers. There will be 80 large lifeboats stowed on the Aquitania decks. Am- ple accommodation is provided in the boats for all people on board the ship. The latest and most up-to-date appli- ances for placing them in the water has been adopted. It is difficult to convey an adequate idea of the immensity of the ma- chinery in the Aquitania, but some impression of this will, perhaps, be best gained by consideration of the general lay-out and space occupied as a whole. The greater part of the vessel's length is taken up with propelling machinery, engines, boilers and aux- iliary machinery, and this, for the full breadth throughout if we include the side bunkers. It should also be borne in mind that the height, from platform level to the top of the en- gine room skylight, is 92 ft. 'The Polson Iron Works, Ltd., To- ronto, launched on Saturday, May 30, two lighters for the Department of Railways and Canals, Dominion . ZOv- ernment, to be used at Port Nelson, Hudson bay. The lighters are 128 tt, long, 21% ft. wide and 10 ft. deep, and will steam to Port Nelson under their Own power, carrying cargo to the new port... THE MARINE REVIEW Naval Extravagance It is very gratifying to note that some one has at last awakened in con- gress to the extravagance of the Navy Department. THE REVIEW has time and time again pointed out the utterly ridiculous sums of money which the Navy Department requires to build its vessels in navy yards and to repair them after they are built. In the April issue attention was called to the striking differences be- tween the cost of the collier Jupiter, built at the Mare Island Navy Yards, and the Proteus and Nereus, built at Newport News. The sum of $1,000,000 was appropriated to build each of these colliers. The Newport News bid for the Proteus and Nereus was $990,000 each but the Mare Island Navy yard found it impossible to build the Jupiter for $1,000,000 and the appropriation was increased to $1,200,000. It must be borne in mind that out of this sum the Navy Department does not have to allow anything for overhead, such as interest on investment, insur- ance, taxes, depreciation, maintenance and upkeep, which in any private enter- prise will run anywhere from 15 to 25 per cent of sales. The bid of the New- port News company is therefore ll the more remarkable and shows how utterly impossible it is for navy yards to compete with a private yard in a commercial sense of the word. Now comes William A. Jones of Virginia, who enlivened the discus- sion in congress on the naval appro- priation, bill with some very interesting figures regarding the relative cost of naval vessels built in navy yards and: in private ship building plants. The figures are authoritative, as they come either from the Secretary of the Navy or the Chief of the Bureau of Con- struction and Repair, and include be- sides the first cost of the vessels a record of the cost of repairs on the ships since they have been in service. Taking the case of the battleship Connecticut, which was built eight years ago in the New York navy yard, it was shown that the Connecticut cost $374,000.00 more than a sister ship, the Louisiana, built by contract at the yards of the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., the cost of repairs on the Connecticut up to March 1, 1914, amounting to $31,000 more than the cost of repairs on the Louisiana up to the same date. Again, in the case of the Florida, which was also built at the New York navy yard, the first cost of the ship was $2,269,000 more than that of the Utah, a sister ship, built by contract at the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N. J. The cost of repairs on the Florida up to March 1, 1914, amounted to $55,000 July, 1914 more than the cost of repairs on the Utah. Still another example for compari- son was offered by the completion this year of the battleships New York and Texas. The New York was built in the New York navy yard and cost $1,463- 000 more than the Texas, a sister ship built by the Newport News Shipbuild- ing & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va. Notwithstanding that the total ex- penditures on the battleship New York up to March 1, 1914, indicate savings of $413,750.50 for the construction of the hull and $245,884.91 for the construction of the machinery as compared with the original estimates for the ship, and that additional amounts above the con- tract price of the Texas were paid by the government for extra work on the Texas, nevertheless the government- built ship New York cost the govern- ment more than a million dollars more - than the contract-built ship Texas. At present the navy department is requesting .an appropriation for the construction of two battleships, eight destoyers and three submarines, the cost of which, exclusive of armor and arma- ment, according to estimates of the navy department, would be, if built in private yards, about $25,600,000, while if the ships were built in navy yards the cost would be about $32,003,000, or about 28 per cent more than the cost under private contract. The significance of these figures led Mr. Jones to oppose very strongly the policy of the government in placing large contracts for the construction of naval vessels with navy yards, ouly two of Which are at: presen equipped for building large _ ships, whereas there are now in the United States no less than five large ptt vate shipyards which have been de- veloped in recent years very largely for the purpose of undertaking such work, and which have amply proved their ability to turn out the high grade of work demanded by the navy department under the most rigid inspection at a much less cost than is possible in navy yards. The Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury & Co. Cons., Morris Heights, New York, recently launched the cruiser Flier for the estate of the late M. C. D. Borden, to take the place of his steam yacht Sovereign. The Flier is 66 ft. long, 10% ft. beam and 3% ft. draft, and is equipped with two Speedway motors of 200 H. P. each, which will give her a guaranteed speed of 25 miles an hour. She will be used between New York and Red Bank, where her owner has a summer home.