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1903. ] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. | 25 CANADIAN SHIPPING AND SHIP BUILDING. The hull of a new cruiser for the fisheries protection service on the Pacific coast for the Dominion government, was launched at Vancouver, B. C., Feb. ta. Thomas Hodgins, K. C., has been appointed local judge in admiralty for the exchequer court for the district of 'Toronto, in place of Judge McDougall, deceased. ; The Stanley Dollar Steamship Co., Ltd., has been organized at Victoria, B. C., with a capital of $50,000. The company has purchased the steamer Silver Dollar, now registered at St. Thomas, in the Danish West Indies, and will bring her out to the ccast. The Port Stanley Navigation Co. has paid a dividend of 10 per cent. on its first year's operations and elected the following directors for 1903: Col. Lees, J. Tanbon, H. M. Douglas and Mr. Douglas of London; W. A. Day of Port Stanley; G. Crocker, A. M. Hutchinson, J. Walton, E. McCreedie and E. A. Smith of St. Thomas. The stern-wheel steamer Hamlin, built for service on the Stikine river in the early days of the rush to the Klondike and owned by the White Pass & Yukon railway, has been sold to Victoria parties. It is intended to rebuild the steamer and enter into' competition with the two existing services on the Skeena and Stikine rivers. Wm. Peterson of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Eng., who successfully introduced the turret type of steamer on the great lakes in 1902, has arranged for an ocean line of steamers to sail from Montreal to Rotterdam. 'The first sailing will be April 15 from Rotterdam and the steamers will carry freight on through bills of lading to all parts of Canada. J. J. Long is authority for the statement that the Colling--- wood Ship Building Co. has practically concluded contracts for two additional steel steamers, cne 257 ft. in length and the other a few feet shorter. One of them is to be delivered in September. No information is yet available as to the owners or dimensions of the proposed new steamers. The St. Joseph Transportation Co. will apply at the next session of the Dominion parliament for incorporation to con- struct a canal from St. Joseph on Lake Huron to Lake Erie. There are already in existence charters for two other canals to connect the waters of the two lakes, but neither of them have been ablg to attract the necessary capital to carry out their under- taking. The annual meeting cf the shareholders of the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co. was held in Montreal Feb. 19. The annual report showed gross receipts, $1,036,666, operating ex- penses $840,449, fixed charges $21,632, net profits $174,584, against gross receipts $1,100,458, operating expenses $920,560, fixed charges $22,792 and net profits $166,097. A dividend of 6 per cent. was declared. The legislature of Jamaica has cffered a subsidy of $12,500 a year for a new fast direct steamship service between Kingston and other Jamaican ports and Canada. Negotiations are in pro- gress with the Canadian government with a view of a Dominion subsidy being obtained. A direct freight service between 5t. John, N. B., and Kingston was inaugurated in 1902, and has been carried on with success. : There will be launched at Shelbourne, N. S., next week, the new Westport for the Insular Steamship Co. Her dimensions are: Length, 103 ft.; beam, 21.3 ft.; depth of hold, 8.8 ft. She will have cabin accommodation for fifty passengers and general accommodation for 100 more, with large cargo carrying capacity and will have a speed of 10 miles an hour. 'The Westport is for general trade along the Nova Scotian coast. c Capt. Batten and Capt. Oulette, who piloted the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co.'s new steamer Montreal through the Lachine rapids at the end of the season of 1902, have been pre- sented with gold watches by the company. The Montreal is nearly 100 ft. longer and drew 1 ft. more water than the largest steamer that had previously run the rapids, and in addition there was 1 ft. less depth of water in the river at the time. The Niagara Navigation Co. has appointed John Foy, late general manager, to be president, and B. W. Folger, at one time genercl manager of the St. Lawrence River Steamboat Co., gen- eral manager. It is now looked upon as certain that the company will not be taken over by the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., the appointment of Mr. Folger to general manager being regarded as an additional step in the direction of a consolidation of steamship lines on Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence river and some of the smaller stretches of inland navigation north of Lake Ontario, under the control of the New York Central railroad. Within the last two years the masters and mates in seven of the principle centers of navigation in Ontario organized and en- rolled so many members that it has been found desirable to or- ganize a Grand Association of the Canadian Order of Masters and Mates. 'lhe first meeting was held at Collingwood when the following were elected officers: Grand president, Jas. Wil- son, Collingwood; grand vice-president, W. C. Jordan, Colling- wood; grand secretary, W. 'Ireland, Parry Sound; grand treas- urer, Cept. McKay, Owen Sound; grand conductor, M. Leroux, Midland; grand tyler, W. Bell, Penetanguisbene ; grand auditors, G. H. Playter and Capt. McIntyre, Parry Sound. Branches of 'the association exist in Collingwood, Midland, Owen Sound, Parry Sound, Penetanguisbene, Sarnia and Toronto. A special organization committee was appointed to visit other centers and ae the active co-operation of the masters and mates residing there. _ . The Canadian Pacific Railwav Co. announced a year ago that it intended to engage in the transatlantic trade, and a definite announcement of its program will be made at or just prior to the regular meeting of stockholders to be held shortly. During the year the company's plans have been perfected and negotiations carried on in regard to steamers, etc. For the present, at any rate, the company will use Montreal as a summer port and St. John during the winter months. The object of the company in establishing its own line is to be enabled to carry the freight brought to the seaboard by its lines across the ocean without having to rely on independent lines of steamships, or on space offered on the steamers controlled by other railways. With the Dominion and Leyland lines, starting from Montreal and Quebec, under control of the International Mercantile Marine Co., the cempany was forced to take steps to secure its own line, as the available cargo capacity open for charter was thereby reduced. The company has practically concluded negotiations with the Elder, Dempster Co. for the purchase of a number of their largest freight carriers, but it is the intention of the company to build a. number of steamers of the largest size to add to the line. TO IMPROVE MIDDLE CHANNEL, ST. CLAIR RIVER. President William Livingstone of the Lake Carriers' Asso- ciation was especially instructed at the recent meeting of stock- holders in Detroit to induce congress to improve the middle channel of the St. Clair river. It is desired, if possible, to pro- vide for the preliminary surveys during the coming summer. The following communication, concerning the improvement, was presented to the association: "The association will remember that the year 1902 was no exception to the general rule of past seasons in respect to loss of life and property in the south channel, from the point above its source at the head of Russell's island to the ship canal or cut at the St. Clair flats. It is well known to all familiar with lake navigation that the southeast bend in the south channel, because of its great depth and sharp turn, has been the cause of a very large destruction cf property and loss of life. But nature has provided, on the American side of the boundary, a safe, wholly practicable and cheap outlet, in the middle channel, when im- "proved by dredging, so that all steamers and vessels downward bound may take that passage and thus eliminate all risk of col- lision and forever preclude an extension of this startling record of loss of life and of property heretofore made in navigating the south channel. It is now possible, if not quite probable, that two of the largest steamers on the lakes, if meeting and at- tempting to pass in the swift current at the southeast bend, (whose center is the boundary line), may collide and sink in such a manner as to entirely obstruct the channel; and, more- over, that the extreme depth of the water there might prolong the raising of the consequent blockade for a long time, and pos- sibly necessitate the destruction of one or the other of the ships at a great pecuniary loss, to say nothing of the possible loss of life. Moreover, the currents of the north and middle channel are very much stronger than that of the south channel for the greater part of its length, and as ships downward bound, taking the middle channel, improved as proposed, could run at full speed, except in the dredged channel; they could make much better time than in the south channel, and have the risk of collision entirely eliminated; while to this may be added that by ships upward bound taking the south channel--which by regulations they might be compelled to take--a similar risk in that channel would be avoided." ae AN IMMENSE LUMBER DEAL. Duluth Minn., Feb. 17--Mr. W. H. Gilbert, a leading lum- berman of this district and owner of a sawmill and much timber here, has just closed.a remarkable and immense timber deal. He has bought between 3,000,000,000 and 4,000,000,000 ft. of standing pine on the Bahama islands, chiefly on the Grand Abaco, Great Bahama and Andros islands, and has secured from the British government permits for cutting and manufacturing as soon and as fast as desired. He is now on his way to the islands accom- panied by his chief logger and by manufacturing experts to make a survey that shall determine when, where and how manufactur- ing shall be begun. The timber is yellow pine, similar to that of the south Atlantic states. There is in connection with the pine a considerable amount of mahogany, which Mr. Gilbert has also bought and which is probably worth an immense sum. This timber will be exported to Liverpool, and will not come to the United States until the duty is taken off lumber. It is chiefly adapted for ties, car sills, and other special bills of long timber requiring exceptional strength, such as piling. The trees are small but very straight and tall. The price at which this vast amount of timber was secured is ridiculously small. Mr. Gilbert was on a search for some of the neglected opportunities of the lumber world when he ran across it. Mr. Gilbert is cutting 60,000,000 ft. here and at Ashland this year, all of which goes east by lake.