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ie - MARINE REVIEW. | Abuse of the Passenger Privilege. s Editor Marine Review:-- It appears to be anomolous, but it is nevertheless strictly true that most vessel owners will hail with satisfaction the effort now being made by the United States revenue cutter officials in the "Soo" river to prevent the carrying of passengers on unlicensed freight craft. Every vessel owner . is sadly conscious of the abuse of such passenger privilege, and yet as an individual owner or manager he has felt himself powerless to correct it. He was, in a sense, obliged to do what others were doing or incur the ill will of those seeking to ride on his boats. True it was a violation of law to carry them, but as the law was never enforced, there was no risk of fine. True, the freight steamers were not equipped with the facilities for safety in,case of accident beyond the needs of the crew, but that made no difference --the passenger was willing to take his chances, _ Many vessel owners have much desired that a sufficient excuse could be had to enable them to decline all requests of would-be passengers. There are some whom they would always have been pleased to carry, but the enormous abuse of privilege is what staggers them and creates the desire to cut off the whole business. Relatives of the manager, and of the master and of each stockholder or joint owner, even to the forty-second cousin, feel somehow that the boat is under obligation to carry them. Persons with whom the manager of the boat is scarcely acquainted, and not under any more obligations to carry around than he would be to carry Queen Liliuokalani, very frequently apply for a trip "up the lakes." Then the shippers and consigneees of the cargoes carried by the boat frequently request accommodations for their families and friends on the ground that they are justly entitled to them. The following will serve as a representa- tive example: The steamer----------------had just completed a round trip carrying up coal at 20 cents to Duluth and ore back at 50 cents. The agent of the coal company that loaded him, came to the manager of boat and said: "My son and daugther would like to go around on the next trip and they have six young friends they would like to take along--only eight in all--Shall I send them abroad? A shadow passed over the manager's face. His heart sank within him. He had just figured up the last trip and found he was in debt $32.28. The coming trip was to be made at the'same rates of freight. He thought of the larger provision bill and of the necessary efforts of the captain and crew to entertain them, but his extra rooms had not been spoken for, and he could only reply: 'Yes, send them aboard." The coal man was a prominent shipper and he did not want to incur his displeasure by refusing. The manager knew that an agreement to carry, involved an obligation to entertain them. The yawl boats with some of the crew to man them would often be brought into requisition on their account, while at the "Soo," as has often happened, the boat would possi- bly be detained waiting for its passengers. While the boat was waiting to lock and in locking through, they would go ashore and in an electric car "do up" the beautiful town of Sault Ste Marie. Or they would sit on the bank, even while the boat was losing time awaiting their return, steeped in forgetful reverie, while they listened to the soothing music of the rapids. The manager was mad.all over, as he contemplated what was involved in the promise he had just made. He was in a fighting mood and it was well that no one happened to cross his path at that moment. "Damme!" he said, "Why don't the revenue cutter fellows fine us and stop this violation of law." : A Vessel Owner. Cleveland, Aug. 25, 1897. - The Glasgow School, Gis Editor Marine Review :-- I read your journal weekly with great pleasure, as it gives me news of American friends and their doings, which is interesting to one who has received so much kindness from Americans. Your remarks about the Glasgow School of Naval Architecture are most flattering, but I can not allow to pass unnoticed one in your number of July 29, namely, that "the Glasgow school is not of the kind that furnishes the higher order of technical training suited to our young naval constructors." With such teachers as Lord Kelvin, Professors Ferguson, Barr and Jack, there need be no reasonable limit to the amount of technical training of the higher order. My own experience as a student of the Royal Naval College at Greenwich enables me to say that if students desire "the higher order" they can get it at Glasgow. The difficulty is that American students gen- erally prefer to spend the time at their disposal in acquiring practical tech- nical knowledge, and seem to leave the "higher order' to a very limited number who have the genius for ready absorption and application of high science, and who appear very rarely in our school. The Royal Naval Col- lege course is one laid down for students connected with the naval service, and must be rigidly followed by all students. The Glasgow course is that of a university in which men may take what classes they choose, unless they wish to take degrees. Very few naval architecture students elect to do the work necessary for a degree, preferring to spend their time almost completely upon naval architecture or marine engineering, and to leave alone more general subjects, and those of a "higher order in technical training." ee eB bless Glasgow, Aug. 14, 1897. Canada and the Lake Trade. Although the present government in Canada seems to be making every effort to complete the system of St. Lawrence canals within the next two years, thus providing 14 feet navigation from Lake Erie through to Mon- treal; it is the opinion of well informed vessel men on the lakes that this improvement, when it becomes a reality, will be of no great advantage to the Dominion in increasing its proportion of the grain trade from the northwest to the Atlantic seaboard. This opinion is based on the great reduction that has been made in carrying charges on grain shipped from the northwest to the seaboard by way of Buffalo. Vessels of 6,000 tons capacity and channels already affording about 18 feet draft have combined to reduce the lake freight to such a low figure that there would be no fear of serious competition from the St. Lawrence route if the canal system over that route, with its limit of 14 feet draft, was immediately available But increased elevator capacity and lower elevator charges at Buffalo in the near future are assured, and it is certain also that a further reduction in transportation charges from Buffalo to the seaboard will be secured upon the completion of Erie canal improvements now under way and which involve an expenditure of $9,000,000. The prediction that Canada's 14-foot canal project, so long under way would when completed prove inadequate in competition with the Buffalo route, seems verified, therefore, in the opinion of vessel men on this side and it is also quite evident that the present government in Canada realizes the necessity of having something more than a canal of limited dimensions if they are to secure the portion of the lake trade which they have been so long seeking. This is proven by a recent correspondence in one of the Montreal papers between Mr. Tarte, minister of public works, and President Van Horne of the Canadian Pacific Railway, concerning the export trade in Canadian wheat by way of Montreal and by way of. New York. The correspondence opens with a question by Minister Tarte why so much of the traffic of the Canadian northwest has gone to American ports instead of by way of the Canadian Pacific company's railway and steamship lines to the Canadian seaboard. President Van Horne, in reply says, the reason of the traffic going by the New York route is the very simple one that for most of the time it is the cheapest by way of the lakes and canal. New York has another advantage in the low ocean rate, due to the use of very large vessels especially adapted to the carriage of freight at the lowest possible cost, no such vessels being found in the Canadian Atlantic service. Until such ocean vessels are employed to supplement the Canadian railway and canal system, and there is complete separation of the passenger and heavy freight carriage, he holds that the vast expen- diture of Canada on her canals and railways will largely fail of their object. In answer to this letter, the minister of public works has outlined a plan for remedying the disadvantage under which the Canadian system .now competes with the American route. He says Montreal has not one single modern elevator, nor one cattle yard worthy of that name, while the American ports are well equipped with modern elevators capable of doing an immense business, and other facilities that make the handling of trade easy and cheap. He would at once set about equipping the harbor of Montreal so as to make it a cheap port. "The question," he says, 'is not.whether we will have one wharf more or less. 'This is really of no importance. We must apply ourselves to building permanent elevators and cattle yards, to the further deepening and widening of the channel of the St. Lawrence, to also completing our telegraphic system to the. Straits of Belle Isle, so as to allow the largest vessels to come through our waters and give the Canadian people the benefit of the great expenditure they have incurred to secure the trade of the northwest and of the western ~ states. That trade nature has destined for us, and we should not spare any effort to bring forth that result." Minister Tarte thinks that as Canada has given large subsidies to the Canadian Pacific and the Parry Sound railway companies and has built and is completing an expensive system of canals to bring to its ports the western trade, the time has come when it should reap the advantages of the enormous outlay for which the credit of the dominion has been pledged. But if the judgment of well-informed vessel men now in control of the lake trade proves correct, the scheme of great terminal facilities at Montreal here outlined by Mr. Tarte will be of no avail, as the canal system itself will give to Canada little more of the lake trade than that country has at present. A Submarine Wrecker, Another submarine vessel has been launched at the ship yard of the 'Columbian Tron Works, Baltimore. The inventor, Simon Lake, does not expect to revolutionize modern methods of naval warfare, but he is putting quite a large sum of money into a vessel 'which he intends to apply to wrecking work, including the exploration of the bottom of rivers, lakes, bays and even seas. The cigar-shaped hull of the vessel has two big iron wheels attached to it near the bow. The edges of the wheels are corru- gated like those of a cog wheel. A smaller wheel of a similar character is attached to the boat at the stern. The wheels are intended to enable the vessel to run along over the bottom of rivers and other bodies of water, the propeller of the vessel supplying the necessary motive power. The boat will be so arranged that divers can pass in or out of the vessel while she is on the bottom of rivers. The boat is 36 feet long and 9 feet in diam- eter, built of steel and strongly ribbed to resist the water pressure. She is propelled, when on the surface, by a gasoline engine of 30 horsepower. She can also be propelled, while on the bottom, by the same engine, the air supply being obtained through a hose leading to the surface and sup- ported by a float. She can be propelled along the bottom by an electric motor as well, taking current from a powerful storage battery. Search- lights are mounted .on the bow and sides. Her speed is estimated at 8 miles an hour on the surface and about 5 miles on the bottom. She will have fuel carrying capacity for a run on the surface of about 2,000 miles. The crew will consist of a captain, an engineer and four divers.- It is claimed that one man can handle her if necessary. Buffalo Elevator Capacity. In the last issué of the Review, John Chamberlin, a Buffalo corres- pondent, criticized an article published a week previous, in which a grain blockade at Buffalo during the closing week of the season was predicted. The Review has made further inquiry in this regard and we are still of the opinion that before the season is at an end serious delays will be encountere by vessels taking grain-to Buffalo. We are also of the opinion that Mr. Chamberlin is wrong in saying that Buffalo'has had but one grain blockade. The worst in the experience of vessel men of the present day was that 1m the fall of 1891, but there has been more or less of a blockade at Buffalo every fall. since, notwithstanding there has been a little increase in elevator capacity in the meantime. Last fall very many vessels suffered serious delay for want of elevator room. It is true that Buffalo has one new elevator in operation this season, the Export, but its capacity is only a quarter of a million bushels. There are two large steel elevators being built, but neither of them will be ready for service before November, an most likely they will not be ready for service this. season. | | | | | f :