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What the British Are Doing Short Surveys of Important Activities in Maritime Centers of Island Empire ONDITIONS are rather irregular in the British shipbuilding indus- try, and although a good many en- quiries are in circulation the actual business developing is disappointing. The improvement on the Clyde contin- ues and there was a satisfactory in- crease during June in the output of new tonnage from Scottish yards. The busiest firm is Harland & Wolff of Belfast who has every berth occupied and other ships on order. The new White Star liner LAURENTIC was launched from this firm’s yard in June as described in MARINE REVIEW for July. The Clyde output of 28 vessels of 40,465 tons during June is easily the highest this year. It com- pares with 24 vessels of 26,775 tons in May. The total for the half year consists of 100 vessels of only 145,171 tons as compared with 80 of 158,552 tons last year. * * * MONG the new contracts booked last month Blytheswood Shipbuild- ing Co. Ltd. have a contract for two single screw passenger and cargo motor ships each between 10,000 and 11,000 tons deadweight for Liver- _ pool owners; a Port Glasgow firm will build a steamer of about the same size for the same _ owners; William Denny & Brothers, Dumbar- ton, a twin-screw turbine steamer for the Southern Railway Co.; the Clyde Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. a cargo steamer of 7800 tons deadweight for Erhardt & Dekkers, Rotterdam, and a number of smaller vessels. Me ENUHUIIIOEUONHUT LA so eee & HUNTER of Wallsend has booked an order for motor vessels of 6500 tons for Norwegian owners while Armstrong Whitworth & Co. is building three tankers, one for the Anglo-Saxon Co., another for the Anglo-Mexican Co. and a third for Norway. ee ee HIPWRIGHTS, woodworkers, paint- ers, plumbers and electricians con- nected with the shipbuilding industry have signified their intention of sign- ing a new conciliation agreement pro- viding for the prompt settlement of disputes without a stoppage of work. The Shipbuilding Employers federa- tion find it is in the best interests of both employers and workmen that ar- rangements should be made whereby questions arising may be fully dis- cussed and settled without stoppage. The Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding trades signed a similar agreement some months ago. The Boilermakers society were parties to the discussion which the five unions had with the employers, but despite the recommendation of their executive that the new scheme should be adopted the members of the Boilermakers society on a second ballot re-affirmed their decision not to adopt the new conciliation machinery. * * * TUNNEL which will take five years to complete is being bored under the Mersey from Liverpool to Birkenhead and will cost about £5,- 000,000. The new tunnel will be the biggest sub-aqueous one in the world. Upon the work of boring the rock which is in progress continuously night and day, 350 men are engaged. Before the work is completed it is estimated that a million tons of rock will be removed a distance of 2% miles which will be the total length of the tunnel. It will be sufficiently wide to permit of four lines of traffic on the upper roadway while under- neath this another passage way is being provided for two main lines of traffic. The tunnel will be lined with cast iron plates bolted together so as to be perfectly watertight and the total weight of iron thus utilized. is 137,000 tons. The width of the river between the sea walls where the tunnel crosses is 3750 feet and. the average depth of ground overlying the top of the tunnel below the river bed is about 30 feet. * * * LARGE amount of work is ir hand on the Clyde so that in- creased activity is promised for the second half of the year. Vessels ordered some time ago and held up by trade conditions have been or are being laid down and a fair num- ber of new orders have been reported. _ recently. be careers ILLIAM DOXFORD, owner of the biggest shipyard on_ the Wear, which closed down in September 1924, is to re-open having secured an order for two 9000 tons cargo: steamers whose machinery is also to be built on that river. ccc What's Doing Around The Lakes OV SNR is EVELS of Lakes Huron and Mich- igan rose .29-foot from May 31°” to June 30 this year, it is pointed out by the United States lake survey bureau in an assembly of Great Lakes statistics. This increase is said to be 25 per cent above normal for the season. Both lakes were 1.02 feet higher than the June stage a year: ” ago, and only .88 feet below the average stage of June for the past 34 ten years. <A similar rise for July was predicted by the lake survey bureau. Lake Superior on the other hand gained .37 foot, Lake Erie .25 foot and Lake Ontario .16 foot during June. Bg k * Bg HE finance committee of the Chicago board of aldermen has voted to defer action another year on the proposed $900,000 appropria- MARINE REVIEW—August, 1927 tion for dredging in Lake Calumet. harbor in South Chicago, a_ project: which is to be carried out by the city in connection with the Nickel Plate railroad’s program there. In May, last year; the Chicago board of alderfmen. passed an_ ordinance giving the Nickel Plate 225 acres. of submerged land and an exclusive belt line right-of-way around the pro- posed Calumet harbor in return for