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1903.] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD; " square rigged sail vessels, and a number of schooners. These various classes make up the present registered American ocean tonnage of 879,000 which is sufficient to convey only 9.1 per cent. of our imports and exports. The remainder of our ocean com- merce 1s carried by the ships and seamen of Great Britain, Ger- many, France, Norway, Italy, etc. + For this service, which used to be performed chiefly by our own ships and seamen, and could be performed by them again, were there adequate protection, we are paying, to build up the sea power of Europe from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 a year. SHIP CANALS OF THE WORLD. The great canals of the world, ship-canals, are nine in num- ber, as follows: (1) The Suez canal, begun in 1859 and completed in 1869. (2) The Cronstadt and St. Petersburg canal, begun in 1877 and completed in 1890. (3) The Corinth canal, begun in 1884 and completed in 1893. (4) The Manchester ship-canal, completed in 1804. (5) The Kaiser Wilhelm canal, connecting the Baltic and North seas, completed in 1895. (6) The Elbe and Trave canal, connecting the North Sea and Baltic, opened in 1900. (7) The Welland canal, connecting Lake. Erie with Lake Ontario. (8 and 9) The two canals, United States and Canadian, re- spectively, connecting Lake Superior with Lake Huron. Suez canal--The Suez canal is usually considered the most important example of ship-canals, though the number of vessels passing through it annually does not equal that passing through the canals connecting Lake Superior with the chain of great lakes at the south. In iength, however, it exceeds any of the other great ship-canals, its total length being 90 miles, of which about two-thirds is through shallow lakes. The material excavated was usually sand, though in some cases strata of solid rock from 2 to 3 it. in thickness were encountered. The total excavation was about 80,000,000 cu. yds. under the original plan, which gave a depth of 25 ft. In 1895 the canal was so enlarged as to give a depth of 31 ft., a width at the bottom of 108 ft. and at the surface - of 420 ft. The original cost was $95,000,000, and for the canal in its present form slightly in excess of $100,000,000. The number of vessels passing through the canal in 1870 was 486, with a gross tonnage of 654,915; in 1875, 1,494 vessels, gross tonnage, 2,940,708 ; in 1880, 2,026 vessels, gross tonnage, 4,344,519; in 1890, 3,389 ves- sels, gross tonnage, 9,749,129; in 1895, 3,434 vessels gross tonnage. 11,833,637; and in 1900, 3,441 vessels, with a gross tonnage of 13,699,237. The revenue of the canal is apparently large in pro- portion to its cost, the Statesman's Yearbook for 1901 giving the net profits of 1899 at 54,153,660 francs, and the total amount dis- tributed among the shareholders 51,538,028 francs, or about Io per cent. of the estimated cost of $100,000,000. The canal is with- out locks, being at the sea level the entire distance. The length of time occupied in passing through the canal averages about eighteen hours. By the use of electric lights throughout the en- tire length of the canal passages are made at night with nearly equal facility to that of the day. The tolls charged are 9 francs per ton net register, "Danube measurement,' which amounts to slightly more than $2 per ton United States net measurement. Steam vessels passing through the canal are propelled by their own power. Cronstadt and St. Petersburg canal.--The canal connecting the Bay of Cronstadt with St. Petersburg is described as a work of great strategic and commercial importance to Russia. The canal and sailing course in the Bay of Cronstadt are about 16 miles long, the canal proper being about 6 miles and the bay channel about 10 miles, and they together extend from Cronstadt, on the Gulf of Finland, to St. Petersburg. The canal was opened in 1890 with a navigable depth of 20% ft., the original - depth having been about 9 ft.; the width ranges from 220 to 350 ft. The total cost is estimated at about $10,000,000. i Corinth canal.--The next of the great ship-canals connecting bodies of salt water in the order of date of construction is the Corinth canal, which connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Gulf of A®gina. The canal reduces the distance from Adriatic ports about 175 miles and from Mediterranean ports about 100 miles. Its length is about. 4 miles, a part of which was cut through granitic soft rock and the remainder through soil. There are no - locks, as is also the case in both the Suez and Cronstadt canals, already described. The width of the canal is 72 ft. at bottom and the depth 26% ft. The work was begun in 1884 and completed in 1893 at a cost of about $5,000,000. The average tolls are 18 cents per ton and 20 cents per passenger. ae : Manicheater ipeaal the Manchester ship-canal, which connects Manchester, England, with the Mersey river, Liverpool, and the Atlantic ocean, was opened for traffic Jan. 1, 1894. The length of the canal is 35% miles, the total rise from the water level to Manchester being 60 ft., which is divided between. four sets of locks, giving an average to each of 15 ft. The minimum width is 120 ft. at the bottom and averages 175 ft. at the water level, though in places the width is extended to 230 ft. The minimum depth is 26 ft. and the time required for navigating the canal from five to eight hours. The total amount of excava- tion in the canal and docks was about 45,000,000 cu. yds., of which about one-fourth was sandstone rock. The lock gates are oper- ated by hydraulic power; railways and bridges crossing the ae of the canal have been raised to give a height of 75 ft. to vessels traversing the canal, and an ordinary canal whose route it crosses 1s carried across by a springing aqueduct composed of an iron Caisson resting upon a pivot pier. The total cost of the canal 1s given at $75,000,000. The revenue in 1901, according to the Statesman's Yearbook, was £621,128, and the working expenses, £483,267. For the half year ending June 30, 1900, the canal yield- ed £16,488 toward paying the £112,500 of interest which the city of Manchester has to pay on the capital invested in the enter- prise. The freight-paying tolls on the canal amounted to 1,487,841 tons in the half year, an increase of 12 per cent. over that of the corresponding period of the preceding year. Kaiser Wilhelm canal--Two canals connect the Baltic and North seas through Germany, the first, known as the Kaiser Wil- helm canal, having been completed in 1895 and constructed large- ly for military and naval purposes, but proving also of great value to general mercantile traffic. Work upon the Kaiser Wil- helm canal was begun in 1887, and completed, as above indicated, in 1895. The length of the canal is 61 miles, the terminus in the Baltic sea being at the harbor of Kiel. The depth is 20% ft., the width at the bottom 72 ft., and the minimum width at the sur- face 190 ft. The route lies chiefly through marshes and shallow lakes and along river valleys. The total excavation amounted to _ about 100,000,000 cu. yds., and the cost to about $40,000,000. The number of vessels passing through the canal in 1900 was 21,571, with a tonnage of 4,282,258, and the dues collected amounted to 2,133,155 marks. _ Ship-canals connecting the great lakes.--Three ship-canals intended to give continuous passage to vessels from the head of Lake Superior to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river are the Welland canal, originally constructed in 1833 and enlarged in 1871 and 1900; the St. Marys Falls canal at Sault Ste Marie, Mich., opened in 1855 and enlarged in 1881 and 1806, and the Canadian canal at St. Marys river opened in 1895. In point of importance, measured at least by their present use, the canals at the St. Marys river by far surpass that of the Welland canal, the number of vessels passing through the canals at St. Marys. river being eight times as great as the number passing through the Welland, and the tonnage of the former nearly forty times as great as that of the latter. One of the important products of the Lake Superior region, iron ore, is chiefly used in the section con- tiguous to Lake Erie, and a large proportion of the grain coming from Lake Superior passes from Buffalo to the Atlantic coast by way of the Erie canal and railroads centering at Buffalo. The most important article in the westward shipments through the Sault Ste. Marie canals, coal, originates in the territory contigu- ous to Lake Erie. These conditions largely account for the fact that the number and tonnage of vessels passing the St. Marys river canals so greatly exceed those of the Welland canal. Welland canal--The Welland canal connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie on the Canadian side of the river. It was con- structed in 1833 and enlarged in 1871 and again in 1900. The length of the canal is 27 miles, the number of locks 25, the total rise of lockage 327 ft., and the total cost about $25,000,000. The annual collection of tolls on freight, passengers and vessels aver- ages about $225,000 and the canal is open on an average about 240 days in a year. Sault Ste. Marie canals.--The canals of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and Ont., are located adjacent to the falls of the St. Marys river, which connects Lake Superior with Lake Huron and lower or raise vessels from one level to the other, a height of 17 to 20 ft. The canal belonging to the United States was begun in 1853 by the State of Michigan and opened in 1855, the length of the canal being 5,674 ft., and provided with two tandem locks, each being 350 ft. in length and 7o ft. wide, and allowing passage of vessels drawing 12 ft., the original cost being $1,000,000. The United States government, by consent of the state, began in 1870 to enlarge the canal, and by 1881 had increased its length to 1.6 miles, its width to an average of 160 ft., and its depth to 16 ft.; also had built a single lock 515 ft. long and 80 ft. wide, with a depth of 17 ft. on the sills, which was located 100 ft. south of the state locks. The state relinquished all control of the canal in March, 1882. In 1887 the state locks were torn down and re- placed by a single lock 800 ft. long, 100 ft. wide, and a depth of 22 ft. of water on the sills. This lock was put in commission in 1896. The canal was also deepened to 25 ft. The Canadian canal, 11% miles long, 150 ft. wide, and 22 ft. deep, with lock goo ft. long, 60 ft. wide, with 22 ft. on the miter sills, was built on the north side of the river during the years 1888 to 1895. The num- ber of vessels passing through the United States canal in 1902 was 17,588 of 27,408,021 registered tons, and through the Can- adian canal 4,204 vessels of 4,547,561 registered tons. From information which has just reached this country it ap- pears that the Lancaster, first-class British cruiser, built by Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne, got through her eight hours' full-power trial very successfully. One of the stipulations of the contract was that she should develop 22,000 H. P. and this was exceeded by 2,881. With a steam pres- sure in the Belleville boilers of 288 lbs. and the engines working at 147 revolutions per minute a mean speed of 23.83 knots, by log, was obtained, while the mean speed for two runs was 24 knots. The coal consumption was economical, working out at 1.94 Ibs. per indicated horse power per hour. James Rees & Sons of Pittsburg are building two steel stern- wheel steamboats for Central American waters. They are 124 ft. long, 24 ft. beam and 3 ft.6in. deep. They will make the journey to Central America by water, via the Ohio river and the Missis- sippi.