THE "IMPERATOR." The "Imperator," the largest ship yet constructed and built for the Hamburg-American Company at the Vulcan Yards, Hamburg, is 900 feet long, has a beam of 96 feet and a molded depth of 62 feet. She will have nine decks above the water line, and the boat deck will accommodate 52 life-boats besides rafts. The trucks of the masts will be 246 feet above the keel, exceeding that of the loftiest vessel LARGEST VESSEL AFLOAT. afloat. The funnels will be 69 feet long, and the oval openings will measure 29 feet by 18 feet. The rudder alone weighs 90 tons, and the diameter of the rudder stock is 215 feet. The ship will be driven by turbines of 70,000 horse-power, which will be developed on four shafts. One of the immense rotors, containing 50,000 blades, weighs 135 tons, and is capable of developing over 22,000 horse-power. The casing is 18 feet in diameter and 25 feet long. The shafting of all four propellers is 11⁄2 feet in diameter. The propellers, which are made of turbadium bronze, are 16 feet 8 inches in diameter. The estimated speed of the ship is 221⁄2 knots and she will be equipped with water-tube boilers. The subdivision of the "Imperator" below the water line has been carried out under the supervision of the Germanic Lloyd's and the It consists of a Immigration authorities. series of intersecting transverse and longitudinal bulkheads. Transversely, the ship is subdivided by twelve bulkheads, which are carried two decks above the water line, with the exception of the collision bulkheads forward, which extend four decks above the same level. These bulkheads are intersected by longitudinal bulkheads, which subdivide the boiler and engine rooms, the under water portion of the ship being divided altogether into twenty-four separate watertight compartments. The coal bunkers are placed above the boiler rooms, and along the sides of the ship. Careful attention has been given to the navigating department of the "Imperator." Two experienced first officers will be on duty, one of whom will devote his efforts solely to Not the navigation and safety of the ship. only will all possible devices and aids be installed, but careful attention to all the requirements of travel at sea, and the laws of the nations regarding same, will be observed by the officers of the ship. The "Imperator" will have a passenger carrying capacity of 4,250 and a crew numbering about 1,100, including cooks, stewards, etc., and will probably make her maiden trip to New York in the early summer of 1913. UNITED STATES GEOGRAPHIC The United States geographic board passes on all unsettled questions concerning geographic names which arise in the departments of the government, as well as determining, changing and fixing place names within the United States and its insular po sessions. The decisions of the board are to be accepted by all departments as standard authority. The board has advisory powers with respect to the preparation of maps in the various offices and bureaus of the government. The budget of Holland for 1912 allots a considerable sum for the study of the problem of draining the Zuyder Zee. For over forty years various plans have been suggested. THE NINE DECKS ABOVE WATER LINE OF THE "IMPERATOR." This makes seven WATCHES, which enables the crew to keep them alternatively, as the Watch which is on duty in the forenoon one day has the afternoon next day, and the men who have only four hours' rest one night have eight hours the next. This is the reason for having Dog Watches, which are made by dividing the hours between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. into two Watches. Time.-Time is kept by means of "Bells," although there is but one bell on the ship, and to strike the clapper properly against the bell requires some skill. First, two strokes of the clapper at the interval of a second, then an interval of two seconds; then two more strokes with a second's interval apart, then a rest of two seconds, thus: BELL, ONE SECOND; B., TWO SECS.; B. s.; B. ss.; B. s.; B. ss.; B. 1. Bell is struck at 12.30, and again at 4.30 6.30, 8.30 p.m.; 12.30, 4.30, and 8.30 a.m. 2 Bells at 1 (struck with an interval of a second between each-B. s. B.), the same again at 5, 7, and 9 p.m.; 1, 5, and 9 a.m. 3 Bells at 1.30 (B. s, B. ss, B.) 5.30, 7.30, and 9.30 p.m.; 1.30, 5.30, and 9.30 a.m. 4 Bells at 2 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B.) 6 and 10 p.m.; 2, 6, and 10 a.m. 5 Bells at 2.30 (B. s, B. ss, B. s. B. ss, B.) and 10.30 p.m.; 2.30, 6.30, and 10.30 a.m. 6 Bells at 3 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B.) and 11 p.m.; 3, 7, and 11 a.m. 7 Bells at 3.30 (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B) and 11.30 p.m.; 3.30, 7.30, and 11.30 a.m. 8 Bells (B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss, B. s, B. ss,. B, s. B.) every 4 hours, at noon, at 4 p.m. 8 p.m., midnight, 4 a.m., and 8 a.m. DEPTH OF THE SEA. 1897 14,349 22.50 Kronprinzessin Cecilie... 1907 19,503 23.50 Kronprinz Wilhelm..... 1901 14,908 23 Courtesy of "Shipping World Year Book." A HUMILIATING NEWS ITEM. NOT A VESSEL FLYING IT ENTERED THE PORT OF LONDON LAST YEAR. By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times. LONDON, May 8.-The Pall Mall Gazette publishes as a startling fact a report by the Medical Officer for the Port of London that no vessel flying the Stars and Stripes arrived in the Thames in the whole of last year. " DIAGRAMMATIC VIEW OF THE BED OF THE ATLANTIC SHOWING WHERE THE "TITANIC" LIES." In the centre are the ridges, so well known to oceanographic students. On each side of this ridge are more or less corresponding depths. The "Titanic" is understood to be lying on the 1,000 to 2,000 fathom shelf, which actually is several miles wide. Sphere.' From "The |