machines there have been modified or altered so as to do twice the quantity of work previously possible, some to do a new class of work, and others to do the same work with greater safety, and with less wear and tear. * * * * * In several other sections of shipyard work, progress is strikingly evinced. Of these it may suffice to instance the work of transport between one shop and another, and between workshops and building berths, also that of lifting heavy weights either by stationery or locomotive cranes. Means of effecting such work are now employed in many yards, which, viewed in the light of former things, are truly prodigious. The increasing propulsive power with which steamships are being fitted necessitates ponderous weights in connection with the engines and boilers. The means available for lifting such weights have not until within recent years been possessed by private shipbuilders, but have been the property of public bodies, such as Harbour Trusts. The majority of shipbuilders have still to depend on such outside aid, but within the past few years several large firms—particularly on the Clyde—who have the necessary dock accommodation, have erected in connection with their works enormous “sheer-legs;” the modern equivalent for cranes, which are now somewhat out of fashion for ponderous work. Some of these are amongst the most powerful ever erected, being capable of lifting 80, 100, and even 120 tons weight. Such enormous appliances, it may readily be understood, enables the firm possessing them to be independent of extraneous assistance, and to complete in every respect within their own establishments vessels of the largest class.