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During the past few years much study has been given to the best form of a sail for an ice boat for the purpose of obtaining the greatest propelling result under a given force of wind pressure. One fault of the ordinary square sloop sail was that the force exerted above the center of the sail was so great at times as to cause the windward runner to rise from the ice and tilt the sail to such an angle that the wind would spill over the top of the sail and prevent the attainment of high speed. Lately it has been the study of ice boat experts to overcome this defect and provide a sail and rigging which would remain in a vertical position and prevent the leakage or loss of wind power. This has been successfully accomplished by the adoption of the lateen triangular sail especially rigged and designed by H. Percy Ashley, of this city. I twill be seen from the illustration that the center of pressure is quite low near the boat, and by making the sail taut or by bagging it the proper wind angle can be easily ascertained. The area of the top of the sail is so small as compared with the lower portion that there is never top pressure enough to raise the windward runner off the ice. The mast, it will be observed, is composed of two parts forming an inverted A, or it may be called a wishbone mast. The sail is held by a bridle which is raised and lowered by a halyard in the usual way. The runners are of the rocker type, curved at each end. Practical trials of lateen boats on the Shrewsbury River, Hudson River and in Canada have proved them to be more comfortable and speedy than the ordinary style. A model of one was exhibited at the Sportsmen's exhibition in this city lately and attracted considerable attention. Working plans of this ice boat will be found in the current issue of the Supplement, No. 1154. - ., . .- The Largest Steamship Companies of the World. According to the latest edition of the " Repertoire General " of the Bureau Veritas, there existed upon the registers of the various maritime nations at the time of the publication of the work 29,315 sailing vessels measuring 8,894,732 register tons (against 29,348 ships and 9,136,560 tons in the previous edition of the book), as well as 11,271 steamers measuring 17,889,006 register tons (against 11,155 steamers and 17,089,596 tons). These figures show that steam tonnage is still increasing at the expense of sailing tonnage, but that the latter is decreasing in a smaller proportion than was noticeable a few years ago. The publication of this new volume renders it possible, says The Marine Record, with the added assistance of Lloyd's Register and other authorities, to complete a list of the most important steamship companies of the world, and to show precisely how they compare with each other. According to the statistics thus available, it appears certain that the claim which has been frequently put forth on behalf of the Hamburg-American Packet Company'of being the largest shipping company in existence is a just claim, beating au it doss the largest British company (according to tonnage, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) by 3,805 tons gross and 10,154 tons net. The following is the list: P. O. Steam Navigation Co. (London)........... 60 282,140 164,836 British India Steam Navigation Co. (London)....... 97 251,429 162,482 T. Wilson, Sons Co. (Hall'i..................... . 82 159,793 103,450 Pacific Steam Navigation Co. (Liverpool) ........ 41 128,336 77.774 Cunard Steamship Co.. Limited (Liverpool)....... 27 119,471 65,011 Ismay, Imrie Co. (White Star Line) Liverpool .... 21 114,290 68,264 Union 8teamship Co. of New Zealand (London)..... 52 65.239 39,371 IrrawaUdy Flotilla Co., Limited (Glasgow).......... 42 20,393 12,367 German. Hamburg-American Packet Co. (Hamburg) ......... 69 286,945 174.990 North German Lloyd (Bremen) ............... 67 265,613 152,126 Hnmburg 8. American 8. Nav. Co. (Hamburg)....... 32 100,646 65.422 Hansa Steamship Co. (Brumen)...................... 37 84,867 54,446 French. Meseageries Maritimes Co. (Marseilles).............. 63 229,837 114,000 Comp. Generale Transailanlique (Paris)............ 64 166,701 72.J13 Italian. Navigazione Generale Italian (Home)............. 90 171,041 105,598 Austrian. Austrian Lloyd (Trieste).......................... 72 146,560 87,800 Spanish. Compania Transatlantica (Barcelona).............. 36 121,161 78,702 Danish. United Steamship Co. (Copenhagen).............. 109 85,525 50,719 Russian. Russian Steam Nav. and Trading Co. (Odessa)...... 75 80,659 53,342 Turkish, tdarei Maseousich (Constantinople)................. 69 57,842 35,664 Japanese. Nippon Yueen Kabuehiki Kwaisha (Tokio).......... 68 161,698 101,383 The following are seven of the largest steamers afloat: Kaiser William der Grosse (Ger.).. 635 66 43 14.349 5,521 20,500 Lucania (Brit.)................... 60165 2378 12,952 4.975 18,(100 CampaniaiBnt.)................. 601652378 12,950 4,974 18,000 Kaiser Friedrich (Ger.)......... 600 64 41 12,000 .. 17,000 Pennsylvania (Ger.)............. 56C 62 42 12,261 7,861 23.500 Pretoria (Ger.)................. 56(02 42 .. .. 23.500 Augusta-Victoria (Ger.).......... 52( 56 33'8 8,479 3,568 15,260 Washington's Tree. The great court of the pension office at Washington has, since the advent of the present administration, been turned into a scene of tropical beauty and freshness second only to the government greenhouses of the capital city. Through the efforts of Commissioner Evans, Chief Clerk Bayly, and especially Superintendent Barnes, donations of trees and plants have been secured from the National Botanic Garden and other sources. A valuable addition to the collection was recently made by Col. Bingham, who has charge of the White House conservatories. As the palm house adjoining the Executive Mansion was needed to accommodate the Marine Band on state occasions, the largest trees were transferred to the pension office. Among the number are some noble specimens of Sabal, Cocos and i Seaf orthia,but by far the most interesting tree is a vene- jrable sago (Cycas revoluta) which once belonged to George Washington. This priceless relic is known to be at least two hundred years old, and yet it appears to be in its prime, putting forth regularly every two years a new crown of beautiful, feathery leaves and a mass of woolly, yellowish-white flowers and fruit. Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to obtain a complete history of this tree, which is perhaps the oldest specimen of its kind in the United States. The following facts were obtained from Mr. Pfister, head gardener of the White House, and it is probably all that will ever be known of the past life pf the wonderful old sago : About the year 1780, a Baltimore merchant, owning a line of small vessels plying between that city and Havana, brought over from Cuba this tree, which was then of advanced age. As it was probably the only specimen of its kind in this country at that time, it was a genuine curiosity, and the merchant presented his prize to the first president. The tree stood about ten years in the grounds at Mount Vernon, and then it went back to Baltimore, Washington having given it to a lady of that city. For many years it remained in her family. Fifty years ago there was a public sale of this lady's estate. Hearing of this, the head gardener hastened to avail himself of the opportunity to gain possession of the historical tree. He attended the auction for that purpose, and, after some sharp bidding, secured the prize (at what figure is now unknown) and placed it in the conservatory at the Executive Mansion,where it has stood ever since, until removed to the pension office. The tree stands about six feet high above the surface of the earth in its box. For these particulars we are indebted to Mr. L. S. Perkins, of the pension office.
