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16 MARINE REVIEW. [ February 7, ee Sailing Ship Astral. The Astral, a steel vessel built by Arthur Sewall & Co., Bath, Me., for the Standard Oil Co., has the distinction of being the only ship in a technical sense constructed in the United States during the year 1900, for a ship is not technically a ship unless she is full rigged. With the bark and the brig and the brigantine the ship is gradually going out of exist- ence, the simple schooner rig displacing them all. The reason is not far to seek—schooners may be handled with fewer men. The Astral was launched on Dec. 8 and is under the command of 'Capt. J. W. Dunham of Salem, Mass., who has carried oil in the sailing eB of this great indus- trial organiaztion for the past eighteen years. The dimensions of the Astral are. Length, 332 ft.; beam, 45.3 ft.; depth, 26 ft.; gross tonnage, 8,206; net tonnage, 3,000. The vessel is built to carry 1,500,000 gallons of oil, which is conveyed in cases containing ten gallons each. In build- ing this ship, 325,000 rivets and 2,000 tons of steel were used. The forward deck house, 44 by 18 ft., accommodates the donkey boiler with berth for engineer in after end, galley and cook’s room forward, and forward of this department the forecastle with bunks for twenty-four sea- William R. Trigg Co., Richmond, UVa. Yielding to the necessity for facilities for handling its rap- idly increasing. business, the William R. Trigg Co. has . made more improvements within the past year in the Richmond works that has so rapidly attained a prominent place among the ship building establishments of the country. This company’s plant now includes, in addition to the ship building berths and slips, a machine shop, foundry, bending shop, mold loft, laying off shed and ship- fitters’ shed. Other buildings in course of construction are a boiler shop, smith shop, carpenter shop, joiner shop and pattern shop. The company has nine vessels under construction at present, including torpedo boats, destroyers, a revenue cutter, a cruiser and a passenger steamer. The naval vessels are the torpedo boats Stockton, Shubrick and Thornton, torpedo boat destroyers Dale and Decatur and the protected cruiser Galveston. Of these the Stockton has ben completed and has been subjected success- fully to the government’s test for speed. The engines were subjected to the unusual test of performing the evolutions without lubrication, which completely -demonstrated the exquisite adjustment of the moving parts. The Only Ship in a Technical Sense Built During 1900. The Ship Astral, for the Standard Oil Co. Built by Arthur Sewall & Co., Bath, Me. men. In the midship house is the messroom and four staterooms for petty officers and the carpenter’s shop and sail room in after end. The poop deck extends 44 ft. in length, covering the commodious cabin finished in white and gold with hard wood floors. The house is excel- lently lighted. On the starboard side is the captain’s office and living quarters fitted up with convenient lockers, desk and a brass bedstead and private bath adjoining. In the center of the house is the main after cabin, with dining room and steward’s pantry forward. On the port side are rooms for the first and second officers, three spare rooms for guests and a lavatory. A stairway on the starboard side leads to a chart house on the deck above. The apartment is fitted with a bed lounge, desk and chron- ometer stand. The furniture of the cabin and chart house is of oak and plush and rugs are used on the floors, leaving a margin on the polished hard-wood surface. Way alt is a steel wheel house 12 by 15 ft. The steel masts of the Astral are 35 ft. long and fitted with double top- gallant yards, all of steel. The Jower yards are 96 ft. and the royals. 55 ft. in length. There are two full decks, between decks, and the poop and forecastle decks. There is one 7-in. pump to work the donkey boiler. The anchors include two iron stock bower anchors weighing 6,500 lI'bs., one stream anchor of 600 Ibs., one kedge of 800 lbs., and 210 fathoms of 2 3-16 steel link B. B. chain cables: The Astral will carry a complement of thirty-five men and will sail with oil to Shanghai, China, returning with hemp and sugar. The Acme, a sister ship to the Astral, is also on the stocks at Arthur Sewall & Co.’s ship yard, Bath, Me., and will be launched during the com- ing spring. The Shubrick will be launched in a few weeks, but the others are not so well advanced. The passenger steamer under construction is for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co., and is promised for Nov. 1. She is 200 ft. long, to be of 675 tons displacement, is to be equipped with triple ex- pansion engine and twin screws, two Thornycroft boilers, is to cost $125,- 000, and will be christened Virginia. The proximity of the falls of the James river renders the application of electric power for this company’s machine shops an easy problem. It is the ultimate intention to operate all the machinery by electricity generated half a mile away. The company builds its own engines and has achieved an enviable reputation for excellence. All castings for cylinders and bed plates are made in its own foundries. The company was organized Oct. 1, 1898, and in a short period of its existence its growth has been phe- nomenal. The improvements begun during the past year will cost ap- proximately $600,000. The officers of the company are: William R. Trigg, president; Linburn T.. Myers, vice-president; James A. Nelson, superintendent. The number of‘employes is now about 900, but: it will be necessary to increase this number considerably in the near future. The total area of land is twenty-six acres, with a total water frontage available for ship building purposes of 1.72 miles of adequate depth. The tools now in process of installation represent the best product of tool builders. Ample arrangements have been made for comfortably and cheaply housing the workmen. In fact no ship building firm can view the future with greater satisfaction or greater expectation. Owing to the climate, work can be pursued in the open air all the year round. ae ad ~