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380 He is a master mariner of wide ex- perience and has made an extensive study of shipbuilding. Reaches Trade Agreement Large increase in steamer service be- tween New Orleans and Mexican ports is expected as a result of the. trade 'agreement reached in July between the United States and Mexican govern- ments. Licenses are now authorized for the export to Mexico of 1,500,000 bushels of corn between Aug. 1 and November, while coke, if drawn from certain communities, will be licensed freely. Ammonia for ice making and for the refrigeration of foodstuffs is to be licensed, but is banned for beer brewing, which rule also applies to all the Central and South American coun- tries. Agricultural. and mining machinery will be allowed to pass, as also, in general will articles of steel and iron manufacture, except stich !as are in great demand in the United States. Cyanide, dynamite caps and fuses are to be exported to Mexico to aid as far as possible the production of gold, silver, copper, iron and zinc. Powder for mining purposes also may be ex- ported. Mexico is entitled to receive 2000 tons of common soap from Uncle Sam. Copper and zinc in manufactured forms may be shipped out, but ferro- manganese is banned. » Railway equipment may be sent to a certain extent, but the Mexican gov- ernment must be informed of its char- acter and to whom it is shipped. Can- _ ned herring and sardines, butter, cocoa, condensed milk, corn, cornmeal, corn flour, candy, including chocolate; bar- reled beef, dried fruits, lard, mutton, oil, oats, pork, pork products, oleo- margarine, oil, peas, if not for seed, and tea, may be sent to Mexico under license. The reciprocal part of this agreement is that commodities not needed for immediate consumption in Mexico may be imported freely into the United States. To Build Large Pier The largest and best equipped for- eign trade pier on either the Atlantic or Pacific coast, is called for in the tentative plans of the port of Seattle commission for a proposed second pier on Smith cove. It will be known as pier B, and will be 2700 feet long and 365 feet wide, with a berthing capacity for 30 vessels. Included .in the equipment for the proposed pier, will be two 20-ton port- able cranes, each operating on 120-foot steel spans 30 feet above the ground. The. cranes will travel 1600 feet up and down the open area of the structure, each _ crane serving one side of the pier. Two THE MARINE REVIEW. 35-ton locomotive cranes will also travel about the pier. To speed up loading and unloading a battery of electric trac- tors will be used for hauling trailers. Four depressed railroad tracks are to be installed in the center of the pier, and there will be two tracks at each side of the pier. New Steamship Company Organized The New Orleans & South Amer- ican Steamship Co., capitalized at $500,000, has been formed at New. Orleans to operate steam and motor- ships in regular service between the Crescent City and Cuban, West Indian, Venezuelan, Colombian and Central American ports. The company plans to move the first of its vessels in September. To form the nucleus of the fleet, W. R. Grace & Co. will turn over to the new organization a steamer of 950 tons now operating out of New Orleans on the gulf. Two motorships. of 1950 tons each, and under the 2500-ton government requisition limit, will en- ter the service later in September, according to announcement by officials of the company. As war conditions permit the return of larger vessels to the gulf trade the New Orleans and South American company plans. to add.some of them to its fleet. Rules of the United States shipping board will govern operations of this company, which will serve as a com- mon carrier, handling freight for im- _ porters and exporters on equal terms. Sailings are fixed at three a month, and the first steamer will ply between New Orleans and ports on the south coast of Cuba. The incorporators are: Albert Mackie, Hunt Henderson, and BE. C. Drewes. 'The officers are: A. G. Bates, president; A.' R. Williams, vice president and general manager; E. C. Drewes, treasurer; and F. W. Beyer, secretary. The directors are E. E. Lafaye, Hunt Henderson, Albert Mackie, Frank Godchaux, A. G. Bates, A. R. Williams and E. C..Drewes. Soo Canal Report Freight shipments through the Soo canal to Aug. 1, 1918, exceed those for the same period in 1917 by 1,669,- 505 net tons. Shipments of iron ore eastbound through the canal during July, 1918, amounted to 10,410,856 net tons. This brings the total ship- ments for the season to 29,227,120 net tons, a gain of 3,963,559 net. tons over last year. On the other hand grain shipments continue far behind those of the 1917 season. In July, 1917, 9,778,068 bushels of wheat and 8,545,448 bushels of grain other than September, 1918 wheat passed eastward through the canal. This year during July only 1,138,342 bushels of wheat and 2,481,- 626 bushels of grain other than wheat were brought down. Flour shipments for July of this season are greater than those of last, however, 1,379,584 bushels having passed through this July as compared to 1,036,580 during last." Detailed figures showing compara- tive shipments for the seasons of 1917 and 1918 follow: EASTBOUND > To Aug. 1, To Aug, 1, 1917 1918 Lumber, M. ft. B, M. 147,318 139,514 Plour, barrels, ee 3,186,768 3,524,314 Wheat, bushels ....... 77,353,023 12,245,812 Grain} "bushels. vys.4 40,737,930 13,481,607 Copper, net tons..... 52,518 42,387 Iron ore, 'net' tons. .:.. 25,263,561 29,297 100 Pig Aron, net. tons... 7. 2,924 Saaves Gen. merch., net tons. 90,245 27,076 . Passengers, number 7,387 6,811 WESTBOUND Coal, soft, nét tons... 5,159,075. 5,736,682 Coal, 'hard; net. tons:.:. 1,046,402 668,866 Iron ore, net tons.... 36,985 49,312 Mfctd. iron and _ steel, Met tons: ..tener: meas 44,838 18,798 Salt; met: fons ccc. ava 284,486 39,182 Oil, nets tOnss. vce ks esieiae 149,034 Stone minet tons. 75... Seas eer 243,718 Gen. merch., net tons. 574,331 182,447 . Passengers, number 7,619 6,521 SUMMARY Vessel. passages, No... 9,577 9,298 Registered tonnage, net 27,882,886 28,504,591 Freight: Eastbound, net tons.. 29,037,558 30,522,858 Westbound, net tons.. 6,903,834 7,088,039 Total frgt., net tons 35,941,392. 37,610,897 Book Review Whys and Wherefores of Navigation, by Gershom Bradford; cloth; 160 pages, 5 x 7% inches; published by D. Van Nostrand Co. and furnished by THE » Marine Review for $2. Although many books on navigation have been published, most of them for the guidance of beginners, the author treats his 'subject from a new angle. While the work is not elementary, it is written in everyday language, espe- cially for the benefit of navigators who - wish to know more. of the reasons and also for schoolship graduates who de- sire to extend their knowledge. The book is divided into 11 chapters as follows: Introductory remarks, naut- ical astronomy, declination and_ right ascension, time, correction for observed altitudes, latitude, azimuths and ampli- tudes, longitudes, Sumner method, the moon and charts. The chapter on the Sumner method is especially interesting. Every navigator should realize that mariners throughout the world owe a debt of gratitude to Capt. Thomas Sumner, Boston, who in the year 1837 discovered through acci- dent how to work out position lines. The author explains Sumner's method in detail and gives explicit directions for locating a vessel's position through its use.