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24 MARINE REVIEW AND MAR PROBLEMS OF LAKE TRANSPORTATION. The last issue of the Review contained a lengthy article, highly interesting, from Lieut. Wm. H. Faust, U.S. Ne Ue on the subject "Problems of Lake Transportation." Unfortu-. nately the types made Lieut. Faust's name "Frost," He is & counsellor and proctor in admiralty with offices in the Federal building, Buffalo. Some suggestions in the article along the line of improvement in the standard of lake vessel masters from an efficiency standpoint will probably be criticized on the score of practicability, but Lieut. Faust's views have nevertheless attracted attention. The article has evidently been carefully read around the lakes. : : Mr. Geo. L. McCurdy of Chicago, known for years in con- nection with insurance on the lakes, comments on that part of the article which referred to relations between vessel masters and the underwriters or insurance companies. Mr. McCurdy's position in this regard was set forth quite fully a few years ago when he undertook measures to minimize accidents to lake ship- ping. He says: : : : "Lieut. Faust's article is very interesting. The subject is so important that I hesitate about commenting hastily. The state- ment attributed. to Capt. Froude; secretary of the Ship Masters Society of London; in an article in the Forum of November, 1889, to the effect that "it has frequently been suggested that the underwriters and insurance companies who undertake risks on vessels should take some steps to introduce improvements, but that such suggestion is purely visionary," is quite contrary to my belief and to the course I have taken on the great lakes. I have maintained that there should be co-operation between the under- writers and the owners with a view to improving lake conditions, to the end that life and property may be saved. Capt. Froude says that the underwriter summarizes his losses from all causes and from the result deduces the premium, by the charging of which he will be able to gain for himself a margin of profit; that. if for any reason the proportion of losses increase. the premiums charged by the underwriter are raised proportionately, and that as a matter of fact they are constantly increasing. It is quite evident that Capt. Froude did not at the time his article appeared in the Forum have in mind particularly the great lakes. He treated the subject from the standpoint of the English under- writer, whose experience is admittedly general and very broad. "Tt is interesting to note at this time that ocean insurance rates of premium are the lowest they have been for years, and certainly it will not be claimed that the reduction of rates is the result of a cessation of losses, as the loss records are quite to the contrary. A leading underwriter on the seaboard once said that the proper way to afrive at a rate was to take in a series of years the year which showed worst and add 20 per cent. to it. The impracticability of such a course as this is apparent. The individual underwriter would find it difficult to promulgate a tariff based on his unfortunate experiences that would be binding on his fellow underwriter whose adverse experience had not been quite so pronounced. "The installation of the signals at Johnson's point Sailors' Encampment, in the St. Mary's river. by which vessels passing up the river are informed, before making this formerly dangerous turn, of what is coming down, has resulted in a positive freedom from loss at a point; losses that were costly alike to owners and underwriters before the signal station was established. That miasters of vessels are anxious to co-operate with the under- writers in introducing improvements is evidenced by the fact that I received from lake masters many suggestions «s to what might be done at this point. The present system of signalling, the sug- gestion of Capt. Vaughan of the steamer. Northern Queen, was considered the most practical, and its adoption followed. Many of the lake masters have informed me of the great relief this signal is to them, and we may believe that white the lake navi-. gators have benefited the underwriters have been correspondingly benefited in the freedom from loss. This is but one of the meas- ures of improvement that can be taken by the underwriters, if they would meet the owners and masters half way. The masters can always be relied upon to do their full share in directing attention to dangerous points, and they will co-operate with the under- writers in seeking measures of relief whenever they have the slightest encouragement. That such action on the part of the inderwriters will result in any diminution of insurance is un- worthy of consideration (although this has been used as an ar- gument), for any one familiar with lake conditions understands fully that the insurance of both hulls and cargoes has been and will continue to be on the increase. "Masters who traverse Lake Michigan know the dangers of passing with deep draught shins the Waugoshance light, which is notoriously out of place. This light was installed at a time when lake vessels were of light draught, and is today of not the slightest benefit. As a result of its location, heavy losses have occurred, and the maintenance of this light is a useless expense. It should be at least 2% miles northwest of its present location. Aside from the inevitable loss to property, unless it is changed, there will be, some time, serious loss of life, for passenger traffic through the waters this obsolete light is supposed to protect is ae increase." r. C. E. Kremer, well known admiralty lawyer i whose attention had been called to the artiole: wid: Tee. read Lieut. Faust's article before I received your note, but T cut it out and placed it in my scrap book. I entirely agree with him. Much could be done, however, if the United States inspectors in- sisted upon a more rigid examination of the applicants for licenses as officers. In fact, it would not be bad to revise the INE RECORD. [Aug. 13, ard of efficiency in the matter of the selection of the jn- stand y of whom are men of little ability and not much spectors, man. : ' learning. CONSOLIDATED LAKE SUPERIOR CO.'S AFFAIRS, sked to confirm or deny the report that a syndicate of Pepe bankers had been organized to underwrite the $12. 000,000 bond issue of the Consolidated Lake Superior Co, and that the interests were closely allied to the Pennsylvania railroad, Vice. President Sanborn replied that he had nothing to say upon the subject. Speyer & Co. of New York have extended the latest loan' into September and are inclined to give the company all the latj- tude possible. President Shields is hopeful that the company may be saved from foreclosure and says that subscriptions to the bond issue are conting in steadily. It is not known, however, how much has been actually subscribed. Recently some statements inimical to the interests of the company were published in Philadelphia, They purported to represent the condition of things at the Sault, To counteract their effect, the following statement, giving the number of men employed and the products of each particular in- dustry, was issued at the Sault: The Algoma Central car shops are turning out eight cars per day for the Canadian Pacific railway. The ground wood pulp mill is turning out 70 tons of pulp per day, while the sulphite mill is turning out 40 tons per day. The Algoma iron works and machine shop employ 185 men yer day. a - oe Canadian Electro Chemical Works are producing 3 tons caustic soda and 7 tons bleaching powder daily. The Sault sawmill is turning out 105,coo ft. of lumber and 25,000 lath daily. E The veneer mill is turning out 30,000 sq. ft. of veneer per day. : The Goulays sawmill is manufacturing 70,000 shingles and 20,000 lath per day. The Algoma Central railway and Algoma Central steamship lines are in full operation. The rail mill, Bessemer converters and blast furnaces are in readiness to make iron and roll rails as soon as iron ore and coke are received. The brick plant is turning out 16,000 pressed brick daily. The company has 2,000 men in the woods cutting veneer, logs, pulp, charcoal, wood and sawlogs. Fourteen hundred tons of iron ore are being taken from the Helen mine each day. Fifty-eight men are employed at the Grace gold mine, and sixty men at the Gertrude nickel mine. One hundred and twenty-five men are employed daily on the fore bay of the power canal of the Michigan Lake Superior Power Co., which will be completed not later than Aug. 15. The Tagona Water & Light Co. is in full operation, supplying water and light in the Canadian Sault, constantly employing fifty men, laying water mains, etc. The two street railway lines and ferry boats are each carry- ing between 2,500 and 3,500 people daily. The retort plant manufactures 6,000 bu. of charcoal, 10 tons of acetate of lime, 1,500 gallons of wood alcohol per day, and em- ploys eighty men. Construction on the copper-nickel converter plant, intended to smelt 300 tons of nickel-copper ore per day, is being pushed by a gang of thirty men, and the plant is expected to be ready for operation by Sept. 5. THE NEW MARKS STEAMER. _ An English paper prints the following regarding the steamer pe over there for Thomas Marks & Co. of Port Arthur, olla . : "A steamer of a somewhat unusual type has just been launch- ed from the Walker ship yard of Messrs. Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co. The vessel in question is the Neebing, which lias been designed and built by the above firm to the order of © Messrs. Thomas Marks & Co. for their trade upon the great lakes of Canada. The length of the vessel is limited by that of the locks through which she will have to pass, and this applies also. to her breadth. The dimensions are 256 ft. by 42 ft. by 25 ft. She is designed to carry a large deadweight upon a moderate draught of water, and at the same time to steam at as high a speed as is found to be commercially satisfactory. She will be fitted with triple-expansion machinery by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Co., to whose works the vessel was taken imme- diately after the launch. On leaving the ways the vessel was gracefully named the Neebing by Miss Marjorie Orde. The party afterwards adjourned to the luncheon room, where the usual toasts were proposed by Mr. R. S. White and responded to by Mr. W. Leslie Gordon, under whose supervision the vesse has been built. The vessel will be classed with the British Cor- poration." _ The steamer Metropole, laden with stone from Lake Supe- rior for Detroit, foundered on Lake Huron, to miles off Port Aus- tin, last Saturday. The crew took to the life boat and reached the shore in safety. The Metropole encountered heavy seas soon after passing Detour and during the night water began to pour into her hold. The water gained steadily until the crew saw that all attempts to keep her afloat were useless. Shortly after they tcok to the life boats she sank. The Metropole was built in 1883 and was owned by John Stevenson of Detroit,