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» 10 MARINE REVINW. ) = = : =, : Se ee SE + ------_> DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. Published every Thursday at No. 516 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, O SUBSCRIPTION--$2.00 per yearin advance. Singlecopies Io cents each. Convenient binders sent, post paid, 75 cents. Advertising rates on appli- cation. The books of the United States treasury department on June 30, 1895, contained the names of 3,342 vessels, of 1,241,459.14 gross tons register in the lake trade. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 gross tons, and over that amount, on the lakes on June 30, 1894, was 359 and their aggregate gross tonnage 634,467.84; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 316 and their tonnage 642,- 642.50, so that half of the best steamships in all the United States are owned on the lakes. The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 1895, was as follows: Gross Class. Number. Tonnage. Steam vessels.............. meonteeetaenc ee saceees 1,755 857,735-00 Sailing vessels....... Beane econ acai resecascecesse se 1,100 300,642.00 Wet SSCd icc cnecsoseee paras pautesecciceaseasess 487 83,082.00 POA iszs ceewsiie een ctcoasnece Gevsvecveoes 1S QA2 I,241,459-.00 The gross registered tonnage of vessels built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the reports of the United States com- missioner of navigation, is as follows: Number. Net Tonnage. Year ending June 30, 1891............000000 204 111,856.45 . ss 2 aeeencwer cate eye see LOO 45,168.98 ss se ss TSO 3 ccosesenesees coo = UGB 99,271.24 e xs s T894....200. Seuatenecs I 41,984.61 s ss sf 1895 «2.000 pecnereiere a 93 36,353-00 Total........ eeede cesses aiosewete wa peek 747 334,634.28 ' $1. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC. (From Official Reports of Canal Officers.) St. Mary's Falls Canal. Suez Canal 1894. _ 1893. 1892. 1894. 1893. 1892. No.vessel pass'ges 14,491| 12,008 12,580 3,352 3,341 3,559 T'n'ge,net registd]|13,110,366|9,849,754| 10,647,203) |8,039,106|7,659,068|7,712,028 Days of Navigat'n 234 219 223 365 365 365 Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. IF CONGRESS should decide to pass Representative Payne's bill per- taining to another meeting of the United States delegates to the Inter- national Marine Conference, there need be no fear of any interference with navigation laws on the lakes. It is now settled that the conference regulations relate entirely to the high seas. The main object in recon- vening the delegates is to present to them any changes that may be pro- posed by other nations, especially Germany and Great. Britain, in the rules of the road adopted by the conference of 1889, so that these changes may be accepted or rejected by the American delegates before they are presented to congress. It is proposed also to have the Ameri- can delegates consider and report upon measures to bring inland and harbor rules in the United States into closer accord with the interna- tional rules, when the form of the latter becomes finally determined, but as all interests here are satisfied with the White law of last year, a re- quest to exempt the lakes from any new regulations provided for the coasting service or for coast harbors will undoubtedly be granted. SENATOR BRICE has presented to congress, in a preliminary report just submitted through the committee on commerce, a general resume of the vast amount of information which he has been collecting on the sub- ject of regulating lake levels by means of dams. There is no need of reproducing this committee report, as the greater part of the data which it contains has already appeared in the columns of the REVIEW, and the report, which has reference particutarly to senate bill No. 1339 and sen- ate resolutions Nos. 45 and 37, may be obtained from any senator or rep- resentative, It is sufficient to say that the committee unanimously recommends the passage of Senator Brice's bill and resolutions, which provide for an investigation of the subject by the army corps of engi- neers and by the Deep Waterways Commission, recently appointed by the president. An appropriation of $10,000 is provided to enable the Deep Waterways Commission to carry out this work. It is more than probable that the appropriation will be secured, as Senator Brice is deeply inter- ested in this subject and will give the matter personal attention. If Is a fact that some vessels which were not tied down to contracts last season made on the high freights that prevailed as high as 20 per cent., and even more than that figure, counting out taxes, insurance, and everything excepting depreciation. And this is based, too, on high values, such as the insurance ratings. But earnings of this kind come only in seasons that are specially profitable. The smaller Class of steg vessels and such of the larger wooden boats as were tied down to cop, tracts for the full season, or nearly so, are said to have made generay 10 to 15 per cent. Even under the low contracts, the earnings of the big steel vessels were very profitable, but these are not given out. It is prob. able that the steamers Fedora, Nyanza and Uganda, valued on an average at about $100,000, and controlled by James McBrier of Erie, Pa., made q showing equal to the best of the large wooden ships. They were Operated throughout the season without a contract of any kind, and $60,000 would probably not be too high as an estimate of their combined net earnings, THE MERITS of a newspaper, trade journal or regular publication of any kind may best be judged by the interest which subscribers show in the reading matter that it contains. Communications from subscribers on current topics, with signatures attached, (not of the "'careful reader" and "subscriber" kind.) are the best evidence of this interest in any publication. The REVIEW is forced to make room for a couple of pages of communications this week and space for other news is accordingly more limited than usual. Regulation of Sault River Traffic. Editor MARINE REVIEW: The matter of some kind of government regulation regarding the passage of steamers through the "Soo" river in order to facilitate commerce and render less hazardous this dangerons portion of lake navigation, is indeed an important measure and one which demands much careful consideration, in order that the best and most impartial regulation possible may be devised. It has been well suggested that an officer be appointed and stationed at the "Soo" with authority to regulate the departure down the river, each morning, of all boats tying up below the lock during the night, and that perhaps the faster boats should have the preference. This method,I think, would lead to endless argument, as to which were the faster boats, as well as to criticism regarding discrimination in favor of one class of steamers and against another class, the " cotistitutionality" of which, or the justice of which, at least, would be doubtful. I believe, however, that a rule which I suggest here would be more satisfactory and entirely impartial, as well as facilitating departures at times when a large number of vessels are lying abreast of each other at the dock below the canal, awaiting day- light. The last ships passing through the lock during the darkness and tying up before time for departure should have the preference in leaving, and so on until all have departed, thus avoiding dangerous entangle- ments and delays incurred by starting inside steamers first and thus de- taching the whole fleet from the docks and getting into uncontrollable confusion with consequent damage and delay. While the faster steamers might suffer slight hindrance in following slower ones, the delay could not be very serious, since the distance from the canal to wide water has been so materially shortened by the opening of Hay Lake channel and the further fact that no steamer is safe in running at anywhere near her full rate of speed through the river. Now the vessel master tying up below the lock just before darkness set in might claim that he should be the first to leave with his ship in the morning, but a method based upon this claim would be impracticacle, as the entanglement already referred to would result from such a practice. The method here suggested would at least be impartial, as a vessel gaining a point on one trip through ar- riving at the lock late at night might lose as much on another trip when she would be among the first to tie up forthe night. Everybody inter- ested in any way in lake commerce should feel at liberty to express his views on this subject, and out of the discussion we may develop a set of rules condusive to the safety and best interests of all concerned. JAMES STONE. Cleveland, Feb. 3, 1896. The United States Standard Register of Shipping, New York, will class, and Mr. Sinclair Stuart will superintend the construction of, the Minnesota Co's. steamer and tow barge building at Chicago, and also the steamer to be built for Mr. John D. Rockefeller by the Cleveland Ship Building Co, as well as the two steamers that are being built in Detroit for Mr. Rockefeller. These vessels are all on the "channel system." The two Rockefeller tow barges at Chicago are to be classed by the Bureau Veritas. In addition to the foregoing, the United States Standard Register will class the steamer Queen City, which is being built in Cleveland for A. B. Wolvin and others, together with the Wolverine com- pany's big steamer at Detroit, and the three steel tow barges that are being finished up at Chicago. Good magazines are now almost as numorous in this country as live daily newspapers. The busy man can not read all of them. His re quirements are best served by the Review of Reviews, which seems to grow better with every issue.