The Portland daily press., 1899-06-30
HARBOR NOTES.
Items ofIntsrsst Picked Up Along the
water Front.

THE work of dredging the hsrbor under
the new contract was begun yesterday
by the A. Il. Wright company just Oh
the pier Of the Maine Steamship com.
pany. The Eleanor Wright in the after
noon took her first load Of mud to the
dumping grounds. 4a
Tug uarhonero brought In the barge
Eagle Hill and left having In tow the
Kalmin. bound for some coal port.
Revenue Cutter Woodbury. came in from
her cruise about i.15 p. m.
Schooner Addie Jordan was towed
round to the harbor from Saco ycstsr-
dav.
An odd looking craft poksd her two
tunnels into the harbor and attracted
considerable attention. It proved to be
the new steam scow Leviathan, built
and owned by Rowe Brothers of I Rich
mond, and this was her maiden trin. The
scow Is 10 bs used at the government
fortifications in the harbor in carrying
sand from Saco river 20 Cushings and
Diamond islands. The boat is 90 feet
long, { feet 10 inches wide and feet
inches deep. Her net tonnage Is 20 tons.
She hos twin screws. turned by two
Pells compound, balance engines. from
which power is furnished by two Roberts
tube boilers Of the latest pattern. For
ward there Is powerful hoisting engine.
She Is one Of the strongest craft ever
built, being divided into three water
tight Compartments. Charles r. Rowe
lis captain and Scott Ward engineer. The
Leviathan came up from Bath in about
four hours. There Is some carpenter
work to be done before she VIII be ready
TO go into oonmission.
A decision that may be of interest to
Maine as well as New York shippers was
announced by the board of classification
of the United States general appraisers
at New York this week. The Cunard
Steamship company put extra coal aboard
some OF their ships at Liverpool, and in
the port of Boston transferred such coal
to other vessels of their own line. The
GOAL was first transferred to barges. and
then to the other ship, under the super
vision of a customs officer. The collector
at Boston assessed duty on this coal.
The agent Of the line claimed that no
duty should be levied, the coal being
classed as s'sea stores" or ''coal stores. +"
The act. however, exempts only the coal
stores of American vessels. and specially
declares, moreover, that such coal must
not be unloaded. The Eboard now holds
that coal used as ballast does nct come
under the head Of ''sea storss,' and, fur
ther, that the determination as to wheth-
er there Is an excessive amount OF such
stores rests entirely with the collector. in
conjunction with the naval officer Q
port where there is a naval officer. Toe
board also decidss that the transhipment
Of coal, as described, is sn unloading"
and excludes 1t from the free list. The
assessment duty lie therefore affirmed.
Among the arrivals yesterday were
the schooner Nellie Il. Sawyer with % |
of coal.
The new Ward Line steamship Mexio
has Just made the quickest passage on
record from Havana to New York. Her
time was two days, 10 hours and 40 min
utes. The best days run was 456 knots
and the average speed per hour 1907
knots. The Mexico left Havana on June
"a, passing MORO Castle at 9 o'clock In
the evening. and arrived at Sandy Hook
Lightship Tuesday morning at l0.lo
o'clock, making the antuai time two days
10 hours 10 minutes, taking Into account
the time when the steamship slowed
down to take the pilot. The difference
in time between Havana and New York
is 80 minutes, which makes the record
speed between Havana and New York two
days 15 hours. 40 minutes.