The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

» . follows: "No. vessel passages,........... 17,956, 14,491] 11,008 3,434 12 MARINE REVIEW. 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. Sunscrterion--$2.00 per year inadvance. Single copies10centseach. 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 thelake 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 Gross steam Nunper, TaD StOAM VESSEIS............0..resescoaconsee Bee eae ORD oes Syaiae ease ; (d0.1¢ ' Sailing vessels <P 1,100 300,642.10 Win rl SO Odi rts. cseecccseeee Ss 487 83,081.91 ING ev lentes ee eee ea ee rea | 0,042 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: : 204 111,856.45 169 968. 175 99,271.24 106 41,984.61 ; 93 36,352.70 PT OTe lia re eed bi canedcactecesteinsscensedugecsedosscensss 347 835,433,98 ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ GANAL TRAFFIC. (vom Official leports of Canal Officers.) St. Mary's Falls Canal. Suez Canal. 1895* 1894 1893 1895 1894 1893 3 3,302 3,341 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 % per cent. of the whole, but largely in American vessels. The steamboat inspection service is about the only government service of a shipping kind on the lakes that has been disturbed in the past on account of political changes. Changes among collectors of customs, United States marshalls, ete., do not concern vessel owners particularly, as no special knowledge of ships, or the management of ships, is required of these officials. But with the steamboat inspectors the conditions are different. They must be men of experience in the management of steam vessels and must be thoroughly acquainted with the duties of their respective offices. Civil service rules have been followed by the present administration to a gratifying extent, and it is to be hoped that if any changes are made by the new administration they will bein the right direction. But the claim of civil service in this branch of the treasury department does not seem to have lessened the number of candidates that show up with each new admin- istration. There are two or three candidates in each of the local dis- tricts on the lakes, and it is announced that Capt. Charles Westcott, now mayor of St. Clair, Mich., will again seek the supervisorship in the Detroit district. It is the general opinion among vessel men in Cleveland, who have been intimately acquainted with Mr..M. A. Hanna for a great many years, and who understood the motives that prompted him to undertake and secure the election of Major McKinley to the presi- dency, that he wili accept no place in the cabinet. This opinion is prompted mainly by repeated proofs, even when interested only locally in politics, that Mr. Hanna's efforts were always accompanied by a strong spirit of Republican patriotism. His own utterances for a great many years past would indicate that he would himself regard the acceptance of office as inconsistent with his entire record in politics, whatever others may think of it. But what a blessing it would be to the lakes if he could be induced to accept the treasuryship portfolio. There are afew branches of the treasury department connected with the shipping of this country that would certainly assume some life and business-like methods under his management. A correspondent suggests that in view of the success of the Detroit river post office, the Lake Carriers' Association would probably be justified in taking up the question of marine post offices at convenient points in the harbors of other large cities, such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Chicago. The idea at these places is not to havea delivery to vessels, but to bring together at a dock office mail that is now left in the care of ship chandlers, grocers, butchers, etc., and much of which is very slow in reaching the people for whom it is intended. Offices of this kind would not, however, have anything like the patronage that has been accorded the Detroit river office, and it is doubtful whether the association, with many other pressing mat- ters in hand, will care to take up this subject as yet. The demand for a service of this kind is bound to develop, however, and the ques- tion will very probably come up later on. Governor-elect Pingree of Michigan is said to be interested in the question of securing some action of the government that will over- come the treaty regulations with Great Britain which prevent the build- ing of war vessels on the lakes. He is said to have referred to this matter in a conversation which he had with President-elect McKiniey at his home in Canton recently. Detroit's famous mayor has been given credit for a great many unique and sometimes creditable perform- ances, but we doubt whether he can accomplish much along this line, as it is well known that Senator McMillan of Michigan, whé is at the head of one of the biggest ship yards on the lakes, and who has no small amount of influence in Washington, attempted the job but dropped it on account of the difficulties which he encountered. Chief Melville of the bureau of steam engineering, navy depart- ment, again directs attention in his annual report to the need of provid- ing skilled officials to manage the high-power warships, which are now being built. He speaks of the number of engineer officers who have been retired during the past year for physical incapacity and the steadily increasing number of such officers on the retired list as demonstrating that the physical strain to which the officers of the engineer corps are subjected is too great. In former annual reports he has given what he believes to be abundant reasons for an increase in the number of officers of the corps. As time goes on and the number of ships and their power grow, the necessity for such an in- crease is, he says, intensified. The National Board of Steam Navigation, made up largely of owners of Ohio and Mississippi river steamboats, have again decided upon an effort to secure changes in the libel law that will prevent irresponsible persons from tying up vessels on unjust claims. When attention was directed at the last meeting of the Lake Carriers' Asso- ciation to unjust practices in connection with this law, it was said that an arrangement could be made with the federal judges in lake districts whereby the abuses complained of would be overcome, and the matter was referred to a committee, but nothing has since been heard from the committee. Last year the United States canal at Sault Ste. Marie closed Dec. 11. The last boat to pass down was the steamer Linden, which locked through just before noon on the date named. On account of trouble experienced with machinery of the new lock, it is thought advisable to keep both locks running until the last boat is down this fall, to preclude any delay in case of accident to one or the other. During the winter both locks will receive a thorough inspection and overhaul- ing. The pressure pipes of the old lock are leaking badly and they may have to be extensively repaired. It was expected that a paper relating to the passenger steamer Grand Duchess of the Plant System, built at Newport News, would be:presented at the recent meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers in New York. The paper did not materialize, however, as the trials of the vessel were not completed in time for the meeting. There is general interest in this steamer on account of her high power and extensive equipment of Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers. It would seem that the Canadian government ought to soon make arrangements for further dredging in approaches to its canal and lock at Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. If channels of about 17 feet are provided in the Sault river next season, some dredging below and above the Canadian canal will probably be required, in order to enable that canal to retain the portion of Lake Superior business to which it is entitled. Floating beds of seaweed, which are often met with in mid-ocean, have been observed to reduce the height of waves, like oil thrown upon the water. Taking advantage of this fact, a Frenchman has invented a thin cotton or silken net to answer the same purpose. | : 7 4 4