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8 MARINE REVIEW. MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. or ae eee PROPRIETORS. . M. ' HOMER J. CARR, - '." ." Associate Editor and Manager Chicago Office, 210 South Water Street. Published every Thursday at No. 516 Perry-Payne Building, Cleveland, O. SUBSCRIPTION--$2.00 per year in advance. Convenient binders sent, post paid, 75 cents. Advertising rates on application. 3 The books of the United States treasury department contain the names of 3,600 vessels, measuring 1,154,870.38 tons in the lake trade. In classification of this fleet the lakes have more steamboats of 1,000 to 2,500 tons than the combined ownership of this class of vessels in all other sections of the country. The number of vessels of 1,000 to 2,500 tons on the lakes on June 30, 1891, was 310 and their aggregate gross tonnage 512,- 787.58; in all other parts of the country the number of this class of ves- sels was, on the same date, 213 and their gross tonnage 319,75084. The classification of the entire lake fleet is as follows: Class. Number. Tonnage. SLi VESSEIS she. ire cee cansnecaaeatectemaeoes 1,592 756,751-53 Satine vessel saz ...c.00t aeecswe cee oden comenesor ss 1,243 325,131.06 (Capa! Bee WWSsccooadbosddonanncabo GoooooasbooG ponadOuNK 703 72,515 42 Bae ecnces sense RL Usaisu onde ate eak bs da see nae eee Eee 62 20,472.37 MO balay meteenee tae sever serene coe ten 3,600 1,154,870.38 Tonnage built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the report of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: No. of boats. Net Tonnage. MOO ese ccc erctentea core vonicngeniden's cease nee es 152 56,488.32> TOO Sirens vic tics abies eee se ckiddees meatcineeien ties 222 IOI, 102.87 TSO seme nctese sete stare edeeam aces oceetamis 225 107,080.30 WOOO ss vases covecsvactesose a Se qebecntusctonseaoes 218 108,515.00 TBO Unicces sobarosis saltstiote Geoeanees vastomeccsen she 204 T11,856.45 Oba: sScsse thacaviass cot aaeea seoeue 1,021 485,042.94 St. Mary's Falls and Suez canal traffic: Number of boats through St. Mary's Falls canal in 1890, 234 days of navigation, 10,557; tonnage, net registered, 8,454,435. Number of boats through Suez canal during 1890, full year, 3,389; tonnage, net registered, 6,890,014. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. In the very near future the House will give to the commit- tee on commerce a day for the consideration of reports from that committee, and one of the most important measures to be pre- sented is the Vilas bill, which aims to secure statistics of lake commerce. It is understood that as a result of the recent visit to Washington of Mr. C. H. Keep of the Lake Carriers' Asso- ciation, this bill, which provides that all lake vessels shall re- port every time they enter or leave port, whether taking on or discharging cargo or entering and leaving light, and which was passed by the Senate and reported favorably to the House by the committee on commerce,, will be again taken up by the House committee on commerce and amended so that package freight lines may, on application to the secretary of the treasury, be exempted from its provisions, in as much as it will not be necessary for them to make reports of their business at different ports around the lakes until the close of navigation. The amended bill also provides for the issuance of blanks by collec- tors of customs to all vessel masters for the purpose of making the required reports. These blanks will contain the names of the principal items of merchandise, so that at the close of the season the movement of grain, flour, coal, etc., can be compiled in a uniform way. If this bill is passed it will be an improve- ment on the present law, which is of no benefit whatever in the collection of statistics, but we still hold that the system proposed by leading Cleveland vessel owners through the REVIEW two years ago would result in a more practical benefit all around. The plan is that of having collectors of customs in lake districts furnish to the vessels blanks upon which reports should be made monthly. The collector would simply see that every boat registered within his district made this report, and then forward the entire collection of reports to the statistical bureau' of the treasury department in Washington, where a slight increase in the clerical force would be all that would be necessary to secure complete statistics regarding the water commerce of every port on the lakes. LATE advises from Ottawa are to the effect that the bill providing for reciprocity in wrecking privileges between the United States and Canada had passed its second reading in Parliament and would reach its final passage this week. All that remains now is for President Harrison to sign a similar measure, which has awaited in this country the present action of the Canadian government. 'This will be done without delay, and to the credit of both nations it can now be said that during the pre- sent season the vessel owners of the lakes will see the removal of most unfair regulations that have hampered the saving of life and property. Onx of the best features of the river and harbor bill, reported to the House on Saturday last, is the absence in the bill of any provisions for surveys on new projects. The last river and harbor bill as reported by the committee contained ninety-three such items,but the engineers advised the present committee that unless a halt was called in this class of legislation the country would soon be swamped with unfinished projects. The aim is to finish up in all parts of the country work now on hand and reduce the new projects to the lowest possible degree. Itis a good policy. oa UNLESS there is a radical change in weather conditions Buffalo will have received 10,000,000 bushels of grain about May 1. About: 6,000,000 bushels has now started down the lakes from Chicago, and of this Buffalo will get 90 per cent., while 3,000,000 bushels more will leave Duluth and Superior a week or ten days hence. 'Toledo and Detroit shipments toward the sea- board will also contribute to the movement, the like of which has never before been heard of in the world. THE commission of government engineers appointed to con- sider the application for a bridge across the canal entrance to Duluth has rightfully reported against the scheme. An urgent need of more dock room would alone justify the demand from Du- luth for a bridge across the canal, as against the great disadvan- tages to navigation presented in this proposition, but the bay within the canal entrance affords ample dock space for years to come. Bilge Keels. Some time ago William W. Bates, ex-commissioner of navi- gation, said in a letter to the REVIEW: "Bilge keels were paten- ted in this country by John W. Griffiths more than twenty-five years ago and applied by him in the steam sloop of war Enter- prise about 1873." : In a recent number of the American Shipbuilder, Mr. W. H. Webb, the eminent ex-shipbuilder, comments on this state- ment as follows: "Mr. Bates is high authority on such matters, but I am of the opinion that bilge keels were employed in Europe before Mr. Griffiths was born. 'The application of bilge keels to prevent heavy rolling has been resorted to both here and abroad, but in my judgment with very little benefit or success. 'The fit- ting of bilge keels to the bilges of vessels to prevent their roll- ing at sea is about equivalent to the fastening of two pipe stems on the back of a man to prevent his rolling when swimming. The model and proportions of the vessel, unless unduly over- loaded at top, control her movements, and if these are faulty, any number of keels will not measurably correct these faults." -- Lake shipbuilders are constantly on the alert for new forms of craft that will combine economy in running expense, great carrying capacity and fair speed. success in this direction, and it is quite probable that our coast shipbuilders may have to look to their fresh water brethren for new models in shipbuilding.--Maritime Register, New York. The editor of the MARINE REVIEW has examined Patter- son's Nautical Dictionary thoroughly, and with pleasure recom- mends it to any one having any connection with marine affairs. ata Pn er They have met with much |