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January, 1925 deck and on a swinging boom which drops the stone well on to the dock, 150 feet or more from the ship if desired. These ships have been specially built for this service. The hoppers, which receive the cargo, are built into part of double bottom space, in order to lower the top of the hopper and permit the cargo to be carried lower. This, of MARINE REVIEW on to a conveyor for elevation to the deck and delivery to the dock. The accompanying illustrations clearly the design of this show unloading equipment, the deck structures on several vessels now equipped, the unloading con- veyor in service and the scraper in the tunnel. Similar equipment has been specially 9 coal, sand, etc., available for handling by water carriers, will find it advantage- cus to use this service rather than pay higher freight rates for transportation by railroad. This unloading system has _ several points of genuine interest to shipowners and dock operators. It is designed spe- cially to permit the conversion of old ABOVE, 8-YARD SCRAPER, LARGEST EVER BUILT, AND AT RIGHT SCRAPER SHOVING CARGO OUT OF TUNNEL. BELOW, ONE OF TWO CARGO TUNNELS FITTED IN EACH SHIP AND AT RIGHT, SCRAPER AT END OF PULL DUMPING INTO HOPPER. course, adds to the capacity of the ship and increases stability and safety. To cffset the loss of this ballast space, side tanks are used. These ships have been highly satisfactory for such trade. In the past few months, service tests have been made on the Great Lakes of another type of unloading rig. This equipment, developed and __pat- ented by Leathem D. Smith, presi- dent of the Leathem D. Smith Dock Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wis., uses a scraper which operates in a tunnel. Two of these tunnels are built on the tank top of the ordinary lake bulk freighter. Swinging side doors allow the cargo to enter these tunnels freely. Powerful hoists pull the scraper back, above the loose material, and then drop the scraper and pull it forward, shoving the cargo designed for river boats and is interest- ing because it permits the river steamer to discharge at any point along the bank without regard to the location of docks. This was graphically illustrated a few weeks ago when one of the lake vessels entered a small stream from Lake Michi- gan, and dumped its load of highway stone directly on to the bank. Except for bushes and weeds, the bank was barren but it was close to the point of consumption for the stone. Compared with the days of. sailing ships when lumber was the big freight on the Great Lakes, only a handful of harbors are now used. Scores of har- bors, once important, now rarely see a ireighter. The backers of this unload- ing rig feel that plants in such ports, which can use materials such as stone, INSET SHOWS HOPPER DISCHARGING ON TO ELEVATING CONVEYOR vessels. Many lake bulk freighters have become uneconomical because their capac- ities of 3000 to 6000 tons compare un- favorably with the 12,000 and 13,000-ton freighters now being customarily built. This system has been installed on lake freighters of from 2500 to 6000 tons capacity and gives such vessels a renewed opportunity for meeting a trade demand for which they are specially suited. Another interesting feature is the ab- ility to unload any class of bulk com- modity where desired. Shore plants which have insufficient demand for freight coming in by water to justify high dock investments can take advantage of the lower water freight carrying cost by utilizing a freight service which pro- vides its own unloading means. The designer in calling attention to