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ne MARINE REVIEW. A Boat for Lake and Canal. David Bell, Buffalo ship builder, has an article in the Sunday Buffalo Express of the 8th inst., in which he proposes a plan to promote the pros- perity of the New York canal system and also introduces a type of boat which he thinks is suited to lake and canal service. Mr. Bell has been connected with the canal business of New York state for a great number of years, and alike to most Buffalo people he does not look with favor upon any of the several big schemes for a new outlet to the seaboard, especially those that would take away Buffalo's terminal business in grain. He writes at some length about steam canal boats and the recent experi- ments with electricity, and then outlines his own project for a ship-canal of limited dimensions. He recommends that the state lengthen one tier of locks to admit a boat 200 feet long, widen them to allow a boat of 26 feet beam to pass through, and deepen the canal to 10 feet of water, thus enabling a boat to load down to g feet draft; then make the walls of the canal vertical, there- by greatly increasing the capacity of the canal, and quickly open and close the lock gates by some mechanical power. A good share of the material now in use at the lengthened lock could be used to advantage in making these improvements. This work, he thinks, could be accomplished in three to four years. He is not competent to estimate the probable cost of this improvement; that must be done by practical engineers skilled in that line of business, but he thinks it might all be done for $15,000,000. The boat he proposes to use for this enlarged and improved canal would be 200 feet long, 26 feet beam, and draw 9 feet of water when loaded. stronger front than they have in the past. Their letters of instruction to local agents seem more positive than ever before. The same conditions prevail as to hull risks notwithstanding the probable shrinkage in business on account of alarge number of vessels not going into commission, or running without insurance, and the delay in starting the lake fleet, But April is, of course, a losing month for the underwriters anyhow, and the probability of their holding to the established tariffs can be judged better later on. River and Harbor Funds.--Raft Towing. Again in the river and harbor bill, as in the civil sundry appropriation measure, lake harbors and channels are not given the full share of appro- priations to which they are entitled, in comparison with the amounts ac- corded to other sections of the country, but there are some redeeming features in the bill that entitle it to the full support of representatives in congress from the lake states. Of an aggregate of $9,431,689.56 carried by the bill, as it has been presented to the house, rivers and harbors on the lakes get $1,483,940. The table printed below was prepared from a careful study of the bill and shows the appropriations recommended for the lakes, About 4o per cent. ($3,688,939.56) is for the improvement of harbors, and the remainder, $5,742,750, is for the improvement of rivers. For examina- tions, surveys and contingencies $125,000 is recommended, which amount is included in the total for rivers. Through the efforts of Secretary Keep of the Lake Carriers' Associa- tion, who met with hearty co-operation from Chairman Blanchard of the river and harbor committee, the recommendations of the commission of STEAMER FOR LAKE AND CANAI, SERVICE. Built after the pattern of the whaleback, without the pig nose, and having a rounded deck, she should be of steel, with water-tight compart- ments and cargo hatches and deck houses at either end, after the turret style. Forward would bethe pilot house and forecastle for the crew, the afterhouse for entrance to the cabin and engine room, with everything water-tight; the vessel in material and structure to be such as to stand the heaviest seas as well.as any boat on the lakes. She might havea wooden bottom of oak or elm, which would be well, as she might strike * against some obstruction in the bottom ofthe canal, The design is to send occasionally this boat to Dunkirk, Erie, Toledo, Cleveland, Detroit, Ashtabula or any port in Canada, load a cargo of grain, sail the lakes at twelve miles per hour, through the Erie canal at four miles per hour, and deliver her grain at any port of New England, at Philadelphia, Baltimore or Washington before breaking bulk, thereby saving great expense and loss ofcargo in handling. When ready to return, she could always load a . cargo of coal. _ "Now what are the possibilities," the writer says, "of a boat like this to make money for her owners, afford cheap and rapid transportation for the unlimited grain supply of the west, and successfully beat off all com- petition by railroad or any other route from the great lakes tothe seaboard? A clear idea of the boat may be obtained from the illustration. She is de- signed to carry 25,000 bushels of wheat, or 750 tons of coal, on 9 feet draft. At the present freight rate on the canals, say 4 cents per bushel for wheat from Buffalo to New York, she would receive $1,000 for the down trip and say $400 for the coal load she brings back. Barring accidents, she would go from Buffalo to New York and back in two weeks, and make say four- teen trips aseason. The gross earnings would be about $20,000, which would leave a large margin of profit. By thissystem, with everything in good working order, these boats could carry grain from Buffalo to New York at a cost of 2 cents a bushel. This kind of vessel could be equipped with all the modern appliances in marine engineering. The boilers might be of the water-tube type of the most improved kind, the engine triple ex- pansion, and both boiler and engine worked in the most economical manner." Insurance Matters. Some rumors of a cut in the cargo insurance rates of 18 and 20 cents a ton on coal and ore, for Lake Michigan and Lake Superior _respectively, were current during the past few days, but the matter rested with one case, where a local agent had agreed to give up his own commission, but the action was_ not sanctioned by the general agent, who announced that he would refuse the business under such a condition, and it is certain that as yet there has been no deviation from the tariff. Coal and ore shippers are, of course, refusing to place the large lines of business, that have in past seasons been closed up early on low rates,as they hope for a break in the ranks of the underwriters, but the latter are certainly presenting a army engineers who investigated the subject of raft towing on the lakes, have been embodied iu the bill, and are intended for statutory regulations to govern raft towing. The conclusions of the engineers were printed in the REVIEW when the report was made to the war department. If this section of the bill is carried, the vessel interests will have reason to feel grateful to the committee for having disposed ofa question that has caused a great deal af annoyance on the lakes. Lake items in the bill are as follows: Bitralo. Ngee 2222 e ee $70,000 South Haven, Mich-...-.-- $10,000 Charlotte: G23 se aS 15,000 White Lake, ene ae 5,000 Dik keer Se ers ee 20,000 Marquette, eke 30,000 Ogdensbitno. Ne We 22 sone 27,000 Ludington, eee 6,000 (Creat SOdUS mie = eases 8,000 Petoskey, Seer ate 10,000 PaittlesSodusicas een se = = 8,000 Saugatuck, fo poe 355500 Rondout, ke See eae 5.000 Menominee, - eee ane 10,000 'honawanda, qe ss ee 50,000 ATH Aapee; AWACH ese oat seam 5,000 Sacketspblarbor = NW se == 5,000 Green Bay. eee eee 25,000 irl eke Dalya ee Oe ee rah ia 10,000 Kenosha + ase... en 10,000 Shiba lay OMiOrso= ee ae 75,000 Kewaunee 12 i= 15,000 Lorain, eA SoBe sees 10,000 Manitowoc, Wisce.--2 222-4 15,000 Cleveland: eras olan se ee 40,000 Malwyauikeeia 23 S558 oe 52,000 Fairport, epee aioe 20,000 Port Washington, Wis----- 5,000 Huron, Se aoe sues 10,000 RacinGawaGece. cou oi 255. 15,000 PortGhntona 02 435 ses 6,000 Superior Bay, Wis=---.---- 40,000 Sandtskinre: (oo eee cue fo 25,000 Sheboygan, Sree: seae 22,440 . Toledo, gear S228 OOOOO Ashland, Se Spee = ete 25,000 Connlealite, eis, 40,000 TwosRiversie ss as- es 3,000 NSTC I eee oe 2.000 Sturgeon Bay Canal, Wis--- 5,000 Michigan City, Inds:22_ 2-5 21,000 Oconkowwicteas-=s2 scenes 3,000 Calumet, Ill. _-..- as eae er' 15,000 eM aludi Winn: 22s. oa 28 50,000 Chicago ign see sare oe 80,000 Grand Marais, Minn..----- 3,000 entice cevtiy ilies on a eer 12,000 Agate Bay, Sees ee 25,000 Charlevoix Mich= === 8,000 Saginaw river, Mich.--.-.. 40,000 Brankfortu cc ge: : stot 20,000 Black river, Mee aac 8,000 Grand Haven, Mich__---_-- 25,000 Clinton river, eee one 5,000 Grande Marais. cies es 20,000 Rouge river, ae ae 5,000 ' Manistee, NSIS Sage Pt 12,000 Detroit river, woseee 30,000 Holland, ia ei oe 5,000 Alpena, ie ae oe OOO. Monroe, gf sen ea 5,000 Portage Lake canals, Mich.-125,000 Muskegon, Mich-__...__.. 30,000 St. Joseph's river, Mich.--- 5,000 Omi ia montis yen ne meee 7,000 Menominee river, " -.-- 6,000 Pentwater; .; 0°05 ineo toe 5,000 Sturgeon Bay canal-__------ 20,000 Sand Beach: af same as 20,000 Portage Lake, Mich_...... 25,000 TGtales: se $1,483,940 St. Joseph, eee ca ao, 30,000 <_ >