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MARINE REVIEW. Mr. Wisner's Criticism of the Symons Report. The strongest argument that has ever been prepared against the proposition to construct a ship-canal from the lakes to Atlantic tide- water is the report'ot Major T. W. Symons, of Buffalo, recently sub- mitted to congress by the secretary of war. Geo. Y. Wisner, of Detroit, one of the commission of engineers recently appointed by President McKinley to consider this question, is a canal advocate, and a short criticism which he makes of Major Symons' report will theréfore prove interesting. Major Symons declares that a deep waterway--that is, one capable of admitting an ocean vessel to the lakes, or of letting the large type of lake steamer and barge of the lakes through to tidewater--is im- practicable from a commercial point of view, and unnecessary. He esti- mates that the cost of building such a waterway to accommodate vessels 500 feet long, 50 feet broad and drawing 20 feet, would be $200,000,000 to build and $2,000,000 a year to maintain, and figures that it would be neéces- sary to effect a saving of 33 1-3 cents per ton on freight, or one cent a bushel on wheat, to pay the interest charge on the cost. He urges that instead of building a deep waterway, the United States better deepen and widen the Erie canal to accomodate barges 200 feet long, 30 feet broad, and 10 feet draft, carrying 1,500 tons to a load. Mr. Wisner says. "Maj. Symons has presented a powerful argument in support of his theories. His idea is the popular one in New York, while the deeper channel, permitting the lake fleet to reach tidewater has been more pop- ular at the head of the lakes. We are required to make estimates on a 30-foot excavation, and shall incidentally show the cost of shallower chan- nels, Major Symons has done well with the means at his command. He didn't have the funds to make the complete investigation we are under- taking. He was forced to content himself with the information already at hand, information that the former deep waterways commission, of which President Angell was chairman, had presented. He reached a different conclusion from the former commission from the same data, not a rare thing among engineers. There is one criticism I would offer on his plan, The day of small vessels in competition with railroad lines is past. Many of the boat lines are now mere links in a railroad system: If the barge lines on Maj. Symons' magnified Erie canal, like the competing railroad lines, are to own steamers on the lakes for feeders, then they may get freight; but otherwise the 1,500-ton barges will be just where the canal boats are today, picking up the leavings. By opening up a route to per- mit cargoes loaded at Chicago and Duluth to pass speedily and without transhipment to tidewater, it will become necessary for the railroads to use the waterway with their own steamers, or be hit hard by the competition of the independent vessel owners. Then the cheaper commercial high- way will become beneficial. I don't mean to say that the 28-foot channel is advisable, or what depth of water would give the best results; or even that a deep waterway is commercially practicable. 1 believe our investigations will eventually throw a great deal of additional light on the subject, and probably furnish convincing proofs as to the best policy for the govern- ment to pursue. Buffalo Branch Hydrographic Office. Ensign C. T. Jewell, U. S. N., who is in charge of the new branch hydrographic office at 1344 Guaranty building, Buffalo, makes formal ans nouncement of the opening of the office. The supply of charts and reter- ence books is not as yet complete, but the office was opened on Monday last and will be open daily in future from 9 a. m. to 4 p. m., and all es ested in the flavigation of the lakes or oceans are invited to ee Mr. Jewell hopes that masters and others will visit the office frequently urns the winter, so that when the next season opens they will be acd with both the workings of the office and with its personnel. Tse a will be modelled on the plan of those already established at Clevelan an Chicago, which,have been so much appreciated by lake yess eles aoe navy department hopes by the establishment of this new ed oreo Be et with others to be opened next spring at Duluth and Sault Ste. Mari fe bring to all vessel owners, agents and. masters on the lakes a comet knowledge of the various bulletins of important nowaen pes falls constantly supplying to those interested. When the Pe alo e cae, equipped there will be on hand a complete library o pence eee sailing directions of the world for inspection by the public. In oe affecting nautical charts is regularly secured from a SOULCEP Te soy inquiries will be promptly investigated and answered. ot east other instruments will be compared with standard instrumen : ee A cation, All services are free. As soon as the Soe EE 5 Oo Meda ae time ball will be dropped from a staff on the roof of the ae ee BBE a eundey exceptce) f Ree Ca ote observatory at topped by electricity from the standart : L Washington. Mr. Towel wishes to direct attention '8. ava Sn gained if masters and mates will make themselves oe eas ae ee ane ings of the hydrographic office, the object of which 1s ea pp will terest of safe navigation. He is confident that if interes saiee eerie take the time to visit the Buffalo office they will pe Coens of the work which the hydrographic bureau has in hand. Ce eee eee : . b Another contract for Howden hot draft equipment' is Pee the Dry Dock Engine Works of Detroit, and it won ee naraw aed during Number of orders now in hand that this concern w1 ihe eheiies and the winter on this kind of special work, to say TT eee Dry Dock Co. oilers required for the new ships being built by EN "y Co. of Cleveland, e latest Howden contract is with Pickands, Mather ara fhe haleback agents for the American Steel Barge. Co., and ae lied to the present steamer Thomas Wilson. The artificial draft iS tO vicorabietiga and more oilers in the Wilson, with a view to securing pie 'ne Works giving as- steam with attendant economy, the Dry Dock Eng tion. surance of a money saving of 15 per cent. bye ene nited States naval Luce's "Seamanship" has been a text-book at the U phiqe as erve organ- zation (oF the past thirty years. Tt oo nS ee Be $10, and will ba uons all over the country. It is a staneaie Marine Review, 409 Perry- © mailed to any address at that figure by the ayne building, Clevelan¢ Gis Addressed to the Inspector=General. Editor Marine Review :--Referring to an article in eee ate : : your. issue of; the, 'cee Poor James A. Dumont and probably intended as a reply; Aue tine ys Pine pontents who availed themselves of your yalu- ; icise the acts of the board of Supervising inspectors of steam vessels, by stating facts which so far they have failed even to answer, much less refute, I beg to make the following statement: | i is was not my intention to enter into any personal controversy with t. Dumont, but when he styles me with the rest as a "land navigator," and calls up false testimony, or garbles the statement of another to sustain him in this assertion, I desire to say that it is decidedly becoming to him, who I doubt has ever 'been seen 10 feet above deck unless he was hoisted there in a boatswain's chair and lashed therein for fear that he might fall out, to use such a despicable term as his only means of reply against the just criticisms which have been made of the board over which he holds almost omnipotent sway. Like the fellow kicked by the mule, I will con- sider the source whence it came and dismiss it without further remark. It is quite evident that the writer of the article headed 'That Double- Track Idea," knows well what he is writing about and is a man of expe- rience and a sailor, a compliment I cannot pay Mr. Dumont, but when he concludes with the prayer of the lake vessel masters that "the land navi- gators, of whom there are some two or three most active, render us the great service to keep from trying to reform a business of which they have proven themselves quite ignorant," it seems to me that he could have in- tended to refer to no greater "land navigator" than the distinguished ??? head of the steamboat inspection service himself. Yet with his usual adroitness Mr. Dumont uses it as a subterfuge and a weapon with which to smirch those who in the interest of the public have openly advocated that the reform referred to by the above writer should commence, not on the lakes, but with Mr. Dumont himself, the great law-giver and head ce who is continually meddling with the business, more than anyone else. As to the resolution spread on the minutes of the board from the Grand Lodge of Ship Masters, I cannot see' any reason for such extra- ordinary action on the part of this board, unless it was sought for by Mr. -- Dumont to bolster up himself and his assistants in their positions, thus following the usual tactics they have always pursued when their acts were . criticised.. Anyone who knows Mr. Dumont knows that he is perfectly capable of doing this, and that whenever he asks any encomium from ship Owners or ship masters it is never refused, simply because it is to their interest to keep on friendly terms with him. He will give to the ship owner, ship master or anybody else anything that they may ask for if he is of the opinion that their influence may be used to his advantage. It is unnecessary to remind readers of the Review that these resolutions do not represent the feeling that prevails on the lakes, as expressed by numerous communications in your columns during three or four years past. I understand that the inspectors. of hulls are all to be overhauled and subjected to civil service examination. Now, I would like to know, in the name of justice and civil service reform, is it the intention to have Mr. Dumont sit on the board as one of the examiners? If, as Mr. Spencer said in your issue of the 11th inst., "it is criminal negligence to permit men who have absolutely no knowledge of ship construction to pass judg- ment upon the safety of hulls and boilers, and this is a matter of daily occurrence," how much greater and more enormous the crime would be to place a man totally incompetent on a board to pass judgment on the qualifications of his own appointees seeking certificates from it as inspec- tors of hulls and boilers. : Apropos of the laudatory encomiums of the Grand Lodge of the Ship Masters' Association, which Mr. Dumont makes so much of, I desire to say that it only goes to prove what I said in my letter of Oct. 18 last, which reads as follows (last paragraph): 'In conclusion I could refer to many cases that would tend to show that the suggestion of Veritas to reorganize the entire board by means of a competitive examination cannot be carried out too soon, and I am satisfied that in the interests of ship owners and the public an immediate change is demanded from the incompetent and oppressive rulings of this mutual admiration society, which only meets once a year to exchange mutual congratulations upon their success in holding their positions, have their pictures taken, attend several banquets, and then adjourn." By consulting the printed minutes of the board anyone can see for himself that with every matter presented before it, the result is yeas eleven, nays none. Have you ever seen or heard of such total unan- imity among men from all parts of this great country? Is it on account of the one-man rule and the lack of independence of the supervising in- spectors, some of whom at least know more in a day than Mr. Dumont knew in his whole lifetime, or what is it? Let Mr. Dumont answer this if he can. OBSERVER. New York, Nov. 22, 1897. In his annual report, to be made public about the 27th inst., Secre- tary Long will recommend the construction of four new dry docks, one each at Boston, Portsmouth (N. H.), Algiers (La.), and Mare Island, and the widening of the docks at New York, League island and Norfolk. Al- though the secretary has been opposed to recommending new ships until additional dry dock facilities are provided for, he will probably recom- mend the construction of two new battleships and six torpedo boats. This is the opinion of the Army and Navy Journal, whose Washington corres- pondent is usually quite correct in naval matters. A proposition will prob- ably be submitted to the navy department shortly by a Brooklyn firm, contemplating the subsidizing of a steel floating dry dock, which it is pro- posed to erect near Brooklyn, N. Y. A member of the firm has been nego- tiating with a representative of Clark & Stanworth, dock builders of England, in regard to the construction of such a dock. According to re- ports regarding the dock, it is proposed to make it large enough to ac- commodate the heaviest battleship of the navy and also to take in ocean liners. It would not be possible for the navy department to grant a sub- sidy for a dock without express permission from congress, but there is reason to believe that a proposition of this character wouid be considered by the department, with a view to submitting a recommendation on the subject to congress. All charts sold by the Marine Review are corrected to date of sale.