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3 WRECK REPORTS AND ADDENDA This report to the accompanying Wreck Chart details the names, dates, and causes which led to the ultimate loss of each vessel in their relation to the weather experienced at the time of the casualty, and is compiled from available data obtainable through private correspondence, published accounts, Custom-House Wreck Reports, and the Life-Saving Service Reports, besides being brought as near t o date as possible by personal interviews with those who suffered loss through the various casualties herein noted* The province of a Wreck Chart is to point out graphically the most dangerous points and portions of a coast to the navigator, so that, when being in the vicinity of a nest of wrecks extra caution in observing the different phases of the weather may be taken and the dangerous localities guarded against and be passed in safety to life and property. The value of a closely recorded Wreck and Casualty Chart is inestimable in studying the weather conditions, relation to velocity and direction of prevailing or destructive winds on the lakes as well as on the coasts* Also pointing out where display signal stations are of the most value, and in this connection the well-advised measures now being taken by the Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau to ascertain the gyration of winds, their force and general characteristics on the Great Lakes, will no doubt prove to be of the greatest value to the scientific and commercial world* The Chart contains 1U7 wrecks, involving a total estimated loss of $2,955,590 and 257 lives, of which it is fair to assume that a large proportion might have been saved had the weather conditions been known, in many cases, for only a few hours in advance, as in a number of cases the vessels had left port or shelter in so limited an interval prior to their total loss* The many cases of stranding in thick foggy weather, through the sudden changing of the winds, or from any other causes, are not noted where the vessels have ultimately been released, as so many hundreds are each season; on the contrary, each circle and number indicates, as near as can be learned, the location of the wrecks though as the terms latitude and longitude are not in ordinary use it has been found necessary to approximate some of the given bearings, &c* The Department having entered upon a system of wind and current observations on the Great Lakes, it will be but a few years when the physical geography of those inland seas may be presented in an intelligible manner to the average citizen and the lake-faring community and interests in particular. To this end a corps of voluntary observers are requested to aid the Weather Bureau officials in the lake districts, and as but a brief time will be necessary to record the desired Particulars, it is hoped that a majority of the vessel masters navigating the lakes will contribute their quota towards the attainment of such valuable information, so that life and property may be benefited and preserved in all seasons. No. 1. L. Superior. - Sch. ATLANTA coal laden, parted her tow line in a heavy N-W gale, May 7, 1891. After drifting for some hours, she foundered and became a total loss through stress of weather. Five lives lost. Estimated value, of vessel and cargo, $37,000*00* No. 2. L. Michigan. - Sch. T0PST drove ashore in a heavy storm, June 9, 1891, and became a total loss, the crew barely escaping with their lives. Estimated value of vessel $3,000.00.