Evidences are not wanting, however, to show that America is at least endeavouring, in some respects, to be abreast of the times, and that she has brought herself to acknowledge and follow the lead of this country. In this connection, the four new vessels presently being constructed for the U.S. Navy may be shortly referred to. The vessels comprise three cruisers and one despatch boat, all of which are being built by Mr John Roach, of Chester, Pa., the material employed in their construction being mild steel of American manufacture. Twin screws will be employed for the propulsion of the largest vessel—the _Chicago_—which is to be 315 feet long between perpendiculars, 48 feet beam, and 34 feet 9 inches moulded depth to spar deck. The other vessels are the _Boston_ and the _Atalanta_, single screw cruisers of 270 feet length; and the _Dolphin_, single screw despatch boat, of 250 feet length and high speed. In almost every feature except machinery these new American naval vessels strongly resemble Government vessels of recent British build, a circumstance for which there is little difficulty in accounting, as it is well known the naval authorities in the States have within recent times been recruited by young American naval architects educated in our Naval College at Greenwich, and consequently steeped in British naval practice. This and other facts, such as the visit of a technical commissioner of the States’ navy, two years ago, to our naval and mercantile shipyards—upon which he has since fully reported—leave one in no doubt as to the source of coincidence in design and structure. [Illustration: S.S. UMBRIA.—CUNARD LINE. LENGTH, 500 ft. 0 in. BREADTH, 57 ft. 0 in. DEPTH, 40 ft. 0 in. TONNAGE (GROSS), 7,718 tons. BUILT BY MESSRS ELDER & CO., 1884.] The subject of America’s position as a shipbuilding and shipowning country has involved reference to wood shipbuilding, but to revert at any length to this topic in a work dealing with modern progress in British shipbuilding, the bulk of which is written of and for industrial and commercial centres where wood shipbuilding has been long entirely tabooed, is quite unnecessary. Doubtless, however, the amount of wood and composite building still carried on in the minor seaports of the United Kingdom, and in several of the British possessions, is of sufficient importance to demand some reference. As the present position of affairs in this connection is briefly and forcibly illustrated by statistics compiled and issued by the British Iron Trade Association, two tables taken from this source may be given, the subject thereafter being finally departed from:— _Tonnage of Vessels constructed and registered in the United Kingdom of Iron, Steel, and Wood respectively, in each of the years 1879 to 1883, with Percentage of Total Tonnage constructed in Iron and Steel._