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16 MARINE REVIEW. -- PROPOSED WEST NEEBISH CHANNEL. A SECOND DEEP WATER WAY IN THAT PART OF ST. MARY'S RIVER WHERE THE DOUGLASS HOUGHTON WAS SUNK WOULD COST ONLY A TRIFLE WHEN COMPARED WITH THE GREAT INTERESTS AT STAKE. About 700,000 tons of freight will not be moved from Lake Superior this season on account of a few days delay that occurred not long ago to the great fleet engaged in that trade through the sinking of the steamer Douglass Houghton at what is known as the Encampment in the St. Miary's river. 'Accidents of the kind that befell the Houghton are liable to happen repeatedly throughout the season of navigation, and it is a surprise to everybody who has a knowledge of the narrow channels of this river that the commerce of the Sault, which is the wonder of the world, amounting this season, as it will, to full twenty-five million tons, is not often delayed for weeks instead of days, in view of the danger of such disasters. A sketch, made from a chart of the river and printed herewith, shows the channel to the eastward of Neebish island in which the Houghton was sunk, and shows also, by means of dotted lines, the proposed West Neebish channel, for the dredging of which the shipping interests should SKETOH OF WEST NEEBISH CHANNEL--ST. MARY'S RIVER. (Dotted lines to the west of Neebish Island show proposed new channel.) immediately seek an appropriation from congress. It will readily be seen that if this west channel was available there would have been no delay on account of the accident that recently attracted the attention of the whole country. _ The act of congress approved March 3, 1899, contains an item direct- ing that a survey be made of the connecting waters between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, including Hay Lake channel, with a plan and estimate of the cost of such improvement as will secure a safe and con- venient channel 21 feet deep between said lakes. Detail surveys have been made under direction of Colonel G. J. Lydecker, the engineer officer in charge of the district, from which the estimates are being computed, and these will include the cost of widening the canal above the locks enlarging the Weitzel lock, and excavating a channel via Hay lake. The relative advantages of the 'West and Middle Neebish routes may have been fully considered and reported to the chief of engineers, who recom- mends, in his last annual report, the West Neebish route for improve- ment. : Tt remains for the vessel interests to take action before the Opening of the next session of congress looking to the appropriation of funds for this work. 'No better object lesson is required than the sinking of the Houghton. The cost of this particular improvement is not at all impor- tant in view of the interests involved. The computed amount of material (unofficial) to be excavated for a channel 3800 feet wide and 21 feet deep through the West Neebish, is approximately: Clay, 7,340,000 cubic yards; sand and boulders, 160,000 cubic yards; limestone rock, 1,385,000 cubic yards. The cost, at an estimated average rate of 36 cents per cubic yard, amounts to $3,200,000. : A similar computation for widening the present Middle Neebish route an additional 300 feet, making it 600 feet wide, gives the following quantities: Clay, 3,725,000 cubic yards; sand and boulders, 540,000 cubic yards; sandstone rock, 1,630,000 cubic yards; limestone rock, 125,000 cubic yards. At an average rate of 45 cents per cubic yard, the cost will be $2,700,000. The grade of the present channel is referenced to mean stage of water. To change it to lowest stage of river (as is the case with estj- mates referring to the proposed west channel), the additional deepening would cost $675,000, ior in all $3,375,000. PROPOSED CHANGE IN CLASSIFICATION OF NAVAL VESSELS. Col. S.C. Lemly, judge advocate general of the United States navy, has just submitted his annual report to Secretary Long. There are a number of recommendations but probably the most important is that re- garding a new classification for naval vessels. Col. Lemly first recommends a re-enactment of the law of 1888, which expired by limitation in 1893, for the relief of sailors or seamen who left the service in 1865, without the formality of a discharge, after faithful performance of duty in the Civil War and whose record shows a charge of desertion. 'He says that "the necessity of the enactment of some provision of law empowering naval courts-martial and courts of inquiry to secure the testimony of civilian witnesses is a matter of growing importance." Regarding the classification of ships as now fixed by law, he says: "The changes which have taken place in naval construction during the latter half of the present century have been so radical that the classifica- tion of ships of war, prescribed by law hardly fifty years ago, has become obsolete. Under that classification no proper place can be found for a battleship or for modern cruisers, torpedo boats or vessels of the mon- itor type. The requirement that first rates be commanded as nearly as may be by commodores is likewise obsolete, the grade of commodore, so far as the active list of the navy is concerned, having been abolished. The classification of naval vessels according to the number of guns carried not being applicable to existing conditions, and it being undesirable to retain upon the statute books requirements which cannot be carried out, it is recommended that congress be asked so to change the statute as to estab- lish a classification adapted to modern naval construction. While speed, armor protection, effectiveness of battery and other considerations might be taken into account in making such a classification, it is believed that the division of naval vessels into classes according to tonnage would prove in practice perhaps the most simple and satisfactory that could be adopted." A considerable part of the report refers to the prize claims filed by officers and enlisted men under the old laws governing that subject. The act of March 3, 1899, repealing those laws, could not affect the cases arising out of captures made in the Spanish war of 1898. Claims have been transmitted to the treasury department for settlement in the cases of forty-four captured vessels. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY AT THE YACHT RACES. _Experiments with wireless telegraphy in connection with the inter- national yacht races are said to have been entirely satisfactory. Com- munication with the shore was maintained from the steamers Ponce and La Grande Duchesse. The installation on the former vessel is herewith described. The foremast of this ship was lengthened by a spar lashed to it so that its highest point, to which was attached the upper end of the vertical signal wire, was 140 feet above the water. The apparatus aboard con- sisted of an induction coil about 12 inches long, having an ordinary hammer interrupter, some thirty or more very large cells of dry battery, a key in the primary circuit of the coil, and the receiving mechanism. The instruments were installed in the chart-house of the ship, a room about 8 by 12 feet, just abaft the pilot-house on the hurricane deck. The vertical circuit consisted of a bare No. 10 copper wire hanging from an insulator on the masthead and running through a section of ordinary rubber hose where it entered the door of the chart house. The spark employed was about 14-inch long. The terminals of the coil (brass balls about an inch in diameter) were respectively connected to the vertical circuit described above and to the hull of the ship. When signals were to be received the sending apparatus was disconnected and the receiving coherer and its Morse recorder were connected. The instruments worked with great perfection, more than 2,000 words of bulletins of the race having been sent without repetition or misunderstanding. In the chart house of the 'Commercial Cable Co.'s cable ship Mackay- Bennett, which was anchored near the Sandy Hook light-ship, a set of Marconi instruments was installed in charge of Mr. T. Bowden of London. During the yacht race sixty bulletins were received from the steamship Ponce, all of which were acknowedged. Forty-six messages were received without a break at the rate of fifteen to sixteen words per minute. The one break was due to a mistake of the sending operator and was quickly corrected. The longest distance over which transmis- sion was accomplished was fifteen miles, a bulletin being received just as the yachts turned the further stake boat. Mr. H. F. J. Porter, M. E., of the Bethlehem Steel 'Co., will deliver a lecture, illustrated by stereopticon views, on "The Position of Forging in the Arts" on Thursday, Oct. 19, before the Political Economy Club of the University of Chicago, in the lecture hall of the Haskell Museum. [October 19, : .