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DEVOTED TO LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. - Published every Thursday at No. 409 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohlo, by John M. Mulrooney and F. M. Barton. : Sunscriprion--$2.00 per year inadyance. Single copies 10 cents each. Convenient binders sent, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second class Mail Matter. The books of the United States treasury department on June 30, 1895, contained the names of the 3,342 vessels, of 1,241,459.14 gross tons registerin the lake trade. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 gross tons, and over that amount, on the lakes on June 30, 1895, was 360 and theiraggregate gross tonnage 643,260.40; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 309 and their tonnage 652,598,72, so that half of the best steamships in-allthe United States are owned on the lakes. The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 1895, was as follows: Gross Number. Tonnage. Steam vessels..... 1,755 857,735.13 Sailing vessels es 1,100 300,642.10 Winn oi ediencessccestecs os 487 83,081.91 POU eee Sores e eae reek is laine cuatiereoees 3,342 1,241,459.14 The gross registered tonnage of the vessels built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: Year ending June 30, 1891 204 111,856.45 ceee 66 6 8902 169 45,968.98 " " 175 99,271.24 " " 106 41,984.61 "6 "6 93 36,352. 70 Total 347 335,433,98 ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC. (vom Official Reports of Canal Officers.) St. Mary's Falls Canal. Suez Canal. 1895* 1894 1893 1895 1894 1893 No. vessel passages.,............ 17,956 14,491 11,008 3,434 Brood 8,341 Tonnage, net registered...... 16,806,781] 13,110,366} 9,849,754|| 8,448,383) 8,039,175] 7,659,068 Days of navigation.............. 231 234 219 365] * 365 365 * 1895 figures include traffic of Canadian canal at Sault Ste. Marie, which was about 4% per cent. of the whole, but largely in American vessels. ' : WHATEVER may be said of the steamboat iinspection service it has certainly accomplished a commendable work in reducing steamboat accidents to the minimum, especially those resulting from overloading excursion steamers. Apparently the law in this regard is all that can be desired, and if the number of passengers allowed in the boat's papers is not exceeded, perfect safety is assured. This is not true, however, of excursion steamers, and unless the law is amended to provide for the proper distribution of passengers on the different decks, it does not require an imaginative person to predict a disaster. In fact, several accidents of late years might be traced to this cause. A recent experience on a river passenger steamer will furnish the best test for the suggestion of the improvement of the laws in this respect. Un- expectedly a railroad connection dumped an excursion of some 300 passengers onto the steamer in question. The regular passengers and the excursion did not make up the total number of passengers allowed, although the limit was almost reached. The steamer was of sufficient stability to have accommodated the crowd if 90 per cent. of them had not crowded to the upper deck. This caused the boat to become cranky at the movement of the rudder, and at one time it gave decided lurches in either direction. The officers of the boat did their best to overcome this by rolling ballast barrels from one side to the other, and by very ingenuously directing the rays of the search light away from the heavy side causing the crowd to move and counterbalance. Of course, there was no danger of the boat turning over on the side, but the danger was that the boat would lurch to a degree that would throw the crowd against the slight railing, which would easily give away and let forty or fifty persons into the water. Relieved of this weight the steamer would regain its position. An accident involving this principle occurred several years ago at a launch' in Saginaw bay. If the board of supervising inspectors will consider this matter and provide for a fair division of passengers on the upper and lower decks of excursion steamers, the possibility of such disaster will be obviated. THE article in this issue of the REVIEW concerning the fining of a. large number of vessels for not observing the Soo river regulations is hot by any means a criticism of the law. These regulati ons were submitted to all the masters belonging to the Ship Masters' Associa- tion, and were passed upon as being satisfactory. They had the atten- tion of the best authorities on lake navigation, and it is not within the province of the REVIEW to set up an opinion as to its convenience or justice, Neither is the illustration any reflection on the officer who REVIEW. has the responsibility of having the rules obeyed. He has to use his judgment, and if that is in error the rules provide for an appeal to him. The illustration will merely serve to remind the captains who have not been fined that there is a handicap on running the Soo river, Those who have been fined will need no reminder, Ir Is stated that the manager of the Japanese Mail Steamship Co, has signed a contract with the Great Northern Railway Co. for estab- lishing a line of steamers between Tokio and Seattle, Wash. A monthly service of a steamer each way will commence at once. It remains to be seen if this is another step in making the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Steamship Company links in a transporta- tion system to girdle the earth, like the Canadian Pacific Railway, or whether Mr. Hill has guaged the possibilities of new Japan, and is getting in position to bring its products to an American market, In either case it ought to lead to the enlargement of the Northern com- pany's lake fleet. In AN article on ship building of the United States the jubilee edition of the Scientific American gives the figures at the head of the REVIEW'S editorial column--3,342 vessels with a total tonnage of 1,241,459 tons, two-thirds being steam vessels---as showing the pro- eress of lake ship building. It adds that the commissioner of naviga- tion estimates the carrying capacity of this fleet at 2,666,261 tons. If this is correct it places the merchant fleet of the lakes second only to that of England and Germany and above that of France. It is thus suggested that a canal from the I: kes to the seaboard would assist in solving the problem of replenishing American shipping. Coast and Lake Wages. The following comparison of wages paid on the Red D Line of steamers from New York to Venezuela shows that employes on lake vessels are fairly paid. The highest lake wages are given, as there are few lake steamers that would class with the coast steamers, the latter carrying freight and passengers. The Red D line wages are taken from an English exchange. Red D Line Lakes. pet month, per month. Captalittecenonsssqsra costs deeisictaces acl Seances . $ 200 $150 00 to $175 oo First Mates... setansensleseece tenarratiigesecrtsnats 80 70 0O SEcCondamaterereccrtncens: stoncertens-castcnascas sees 60 50 00 Engineer.......... Sinan seeetasecs pep che ed 125 T12 50 First assistant Cngineer...........cssceeeee scares 80 79 00 ine men. :......- 50s. cfirelaiins tea ae Et siidelok + fe iebeelddce's 4o 34 00 Quart: rmastefs .............0+ ieisiactertoistesiemielsciaes 30 34 00 SatlOGs secu nasun «haake ek ate aYcsis Sete ba tides fateh ces 25 34 00 Bell Time on Shipboard. The nautical day begins at noon and is divided into "watches"' of four hours each, time being kept by bells striking every half-hour. O'CLOCK. leoBellie. Se 12.30 4.30 8.30 A. M, Or P. M. PD Spelilishascite tk ie 5. 9, A. M. Or P. M. eS es Berta sak 1.30 5.30 9.30 A. M. Or P. M. ANE Oa, ae i 2 6 10. A. M. or P. M. By Soay 8% ae Poe! 2.30 6.30 1,30 A. M. Or P. M. Gi: Mole e 5: aries 3. rhs elt. A, M. or P. M. Pitas gitar s oh nian Bos 8.30 7 30 11 30 A. M. or P.M. . Ss « 4 fase M.| g fA.M. De NOON. eal Para Ba oeges | eed |e Pa Nl, *(P.M. MIDNIGHT. The Watch as a Compass. The points of the compass may be determined with the aid of an ordinary watch. It is simply necessary to bring the watch in a posi- tion so that the hour hand is directed toward the sun. The south then lies exactly midway between whatever hour it may happen to be and the numeral XII. on the dial. Let us suppose for instance that it 1s four o'clock, and that the time piece is held in the position indicated. The direction of the numeral II, will then be the exact south. If it be eight o'clock, the numeral X. will indicate the exact southerly point. Special train exeursion to Niagara Falls yia the popular Nickel Plate road, Saturday, August 8. Train leaves Broadway depot at 10 p.m. $3.50 for the round trip. Tickets good returning until August 10. 991-Aug. 8. Subseribers will avoid danger of mistakes by giving the old as well as the new address when a change is desired,