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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. SuBSCRIPTION--$#2.00 per year inadyvance. 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, 1896, contained the names of 3,333 vessels, of 1,324,067.58 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, 1896, was 383 and their aggregate gross tonnage 711,034.28; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 316 and their tonnage 685,204.55, so that more than half of the best steamships in all the United States are owned on the lakes. 'The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 3U, 1896, was as follows: : Gross NTE Steam VESSEIS..:......-cccccnscsseconsscccccnes sosceccessessccccnsoees ; ,630. Sailing vessels and DArges...........ccccccrsscccersrereesseseres 1,125 354,327.60 GINA Oar errr ser rtrrrececcevicesecennaticcesecestcccbersceseas 416 45,109.47 MO Gales coeaeras seer take each toeoocenseciocuecesstes 8,333 1,324,067.58 The gross registered tonnage of the vessels built on the lakes during the past six years, Reearaine to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: ending June 30. 1891 204 111,856 45 ee ciara 1892. 169 45,968.98 at se he 1893. 175 99,271.24 on ae Re 1894. 106 41,984.61 s Se es 1895. 93 36,352.70 oe .e ce 1896... 117 108,782.38 Total 864 444,216.36 ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC. (From Offcial Reports of Canal Officers.) St.Mary's Falls Canals. Suez Canal. 1s96* | 1895 | , 1894 1896 | 1895 | 1894 Number of vessel passages 18,615 17,956 14,491 3,409 3,484 8,352 Tonnage, net registered...... 17,249,418] 16,806,781] 13,110,366]} 8,560,284) 8,448,383] 8,039,175 Days of navigation...... ...... 232 231 234 365 365 365 *1895 and 1896 figures include traffic of Canadian canal at Sault Ste. Marie. It is quite evident from reports emanating from different departments at Washington that the administration will do all in its power to bring about the adoption of an act of some kind favorable to American shipping at the next session of congress. The treasury department seems to be giving special attention to statistics bearing upon this question. A re- port just issued from the treasury directs attention to the fact that British vessels are carrying over 55 per cent. of the merchandise of the United States, both of imports and of exports. Examination of figures for the first six months of this year shows the total imports in vessels have been of the value of $432,689,981, and of domestic exports in vessels $452,800,405. The percentage of imports carried in American vessels is 15.35, and in for- eign vessels 84.65. Of imports in vessels the British carried 55.89 per cent.; the Germans, 11.49; French, 5.46; Dutch, 3.30; and all other foreign, 8.51; of domestic exports only 8.19 is carried in American bottoms, 91.81 being carried in vessels of other nations. British vessels carry 68.23 per cent. of the value of exports by vessels; German, 8.29; French, 2.19; Nor- wegian, 2.93; and all other foreign, 9.54. The value of imports carried in American vessels during the period of six months referred to, was $66,428,149, and of that carried in foreign vessels, $366,261,832; and the value of exports for the same period carried in American vessels was $37,113,168, and of that carried in foreign vessels, $415,687,237. "Small profits and large sales must be the motto of the iron and steel manufacturers of the United States from this time forward," says President John W. Gates of the Illinois Steel Co., "and only those plants which are favorably located and thoroughly modern and are operated at their fullesy capacity can make money.' This statement is made in a letter dealing with the future of the iron and steel business of the United States. In the same letter Mr. Gates sounds a warning to the railway companies that are engaged in the transportation of iron ore and other raw materials that enter into the manufacture of iron and steel. "As it now looks to me," he says, "1898 will be one of the best years the iron and steel business has had for many years. By this I do not mean extravagantly high prices, but fair living profits; and if the railroads of this country that have outside mines located on their lines do not take care of the interests of the mine owner, it will only be a short time until the two big steel concerns who own their railroads, mines and fleets of steamers to transport the ore, will be doing all of the iron ore business in this country." - Considerable comment has been made in the daily press and else- where, growing out of the complaint of a lake master that this passing signal in a fog had not been answered by other steamers, and from the opinions, including that of one of the local inspectors of steamboats, quoted by a Detroit paper, it appears that there is a diversity of opinion as to whether passing signals are permissible in a fog when the vessels are not in sight of each other. It seems proper to call attention to the fact that the rules governing the navigation of the great lakes do not as has been stated, prohibit the use of passing signals in a fog, but they require that "in all weathers every steamboat under way in taking any course authorized or required by these rules shall indicate that course by the following signals on her whistle," etc. By the international rules of 1890 passing signals were prohibited when the vessels are out of sight -- of each other, and by the international rules of 1895 they are also Pro- hibited. The inspector and others, in stating that they are not permitted, doubtless have in mind the international rules and not the White law so-called, which governs the navigation on the lakes. % The outcome of the recent investigation into affairs of the Brooklyn navy yard is certainly very pleasing to everybody who is acquainted with. the political methods and "pulls" that have prevailed at that institution in the past. Among people who know Naval Constructor Bowles there was no question of the result of the investigation as far as he was con- cerned. Anyone working under Mr. Bowles will do his full duty. The investigation brought out the best kind of proof of his efforts to raise the standard of work in the Brooklyn yard, and as the report shows, he has absolutely disregarded all political considerations in appointing and em- ploying men; and the opposition to him evidently arises mainly from the fact that under him, for the first time, it has been impossible to procure the reinstatement or retention of men guilty of misconduct who possess polit- ical influence. Of the several protests from departments of the government against regulations from the civil service commission regarding the appointment of assistants, that coming from the army engineers seems to be the first to have been at all successful. Some of the engineers claimed that they were greatly hampered in their work by being forced to accept assistants who were not fitted for the duties. After a great deal of correspondence containing numerous specific complaints, the regulations have been 50 arranged that the engineers now say the civil service extensions will work in a most satisfactory manner. The right of selection of men from any branch of the classified service has been extended, so that the officers can investigate and inform themselves of the qualifications of clerks and other subordinate employees before accepting them. As there is considerable uncertainly regarding the interpretation of certain features of the new tariff law relating to duties on materials used in government works, the secretary of the treasury has instructed the collector of customs at Buffalo to admit to entry the 'Canadian stone needed for the work on the Buffalo breakwater, pending a final settle- ment of the question. It is said at the treasury that the usual provision in tariff acts admitting free of duty articles of any character intended for government use was stricken out, also that the duty on this stone will have to be paid by the war department from its present appropriation, or congress may be asked at its next session to remit the duty. Abuse by contractors of the privilege of entering goods free for government use, it is said, was the cause of the provision being stricken out of the present act. American prices are evidently attracting attention the world over. A late report from Chicago is to the effect that there is an inquiry in that market for about 4,000 tons of bridge work for Japan. Interest in the export trade continues lively, but it is wise not to exaggerate the facts. Thus we have been told of shipments of pig iron at the rate of 1,000 tons a day. The fact is that the June exports were 13,938 tons, while the total for the fiscal year 1896-1897 was 168,890 tons. This is about a week's work for our active furnaces. The rail exports for the same fiscal year were 107,891 gross tons, while the shipments of billets and rods footed up to 46,248 net tons, those of cut nails to 12,738 net tons, of wire nails 4,476 net tons and of wire 53,865 net tons.--Iron Age. Men who build boilers for ships are well represented among officers of the American Boiler Manufacturers' Association elected at the annual meeting in Philadelphia recently. The new officers are as follows: Pres- ident, Henry J. Hartley of the Wm. Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Build- ing Co., Philadelphia; secretary, E. D. Meier of the Heine Safety Boiler Co., St Louis; treasurer, Richard Hammond of the Lake Erie Engineer- ing Works, Buffalo; first vice-president, James Lappan, Pittsburgh; sec- ond vice-president, Daniel Connelly, Cleveland; third vice-president, John O'Brien, St Louis. The next meeting of the association will be held in October, 1898, at St. Louis. More contracts for Erie canal enlargement work, all of which are involved in the $9,000,000 improvement project, will be let at Albany shortly. On Aug. 24 the state superintendent of public works will open bids for improving 69.76 miles of the eastern division and 7.2 miles of the middle division of the canal, and on Sept. 3 bids will be opened for the im- provement of 67.34 miles of the western division. Plans and specifications are now on view at Albany, also at the office of Thomas Wheeler, assistant superintendent of public works, Syracuse, and at the office of R. G. Lay, assistant superintendent of public works, Rochester. Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The following table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of trade, shows the stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular elevators at the principal points of accumulation on the lakes, August 14, 1897: Wheat, bushels. Corn, bushels. Gide Ons rence Sook GaGa Rane nes 2,521,000 10,128,090 DD crltntliesepttecsay erp eeiertck ices ecadee lente: 1,053,000 157,000 Miuilivzaniixeerers: sees See eee po eet eae, 142,000 107,000 We CRO Meee tk cede Sey Teer Tien 158,000 25,000 Ocieden atutt ots 8 pes Ain ata ete 540,000 380,000 uhhall abba hcg tan aaNet eos WRie cas 424,000 444,000 4,838,000 11,241,000 As compared with a week ago, the above figures show, at the several points named, a decrease of 776,000 bushels of wheat and an increase 0 843,000 bushels of corn. G. A. R. encampment at Buffalo, N. Y.--The Nickel Plate road sells low-rate excursion tickets Aug. 21, 22 and 23. Tickets may be extende to Sept. 20. 932, Aug 21