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74 18 ee OBITUARY. "Capt: George W. Bone; who died in New York on Thursday, Nov. 12, as the result of an automobile acci- dent, sperit nearly all of the last 40 years of his life' in Buffalo, where he rounded out as a vessel broker a very eventful 'life, especially as he had spent a good part of his younger days: as a navigator of the lakes. He leaves, no 'relatives 'in 'Buffalo and ap- parently no friends who are well enough acquainted with his career to reduce it) 'to actual dates, 'but he was always well 'and favorably known and had many friends through the entire length and breadth of the lake trade, both among vessel owners and those who- sailed, which in these later days form two 'much more separate classes than they, did when he was the mas- ter of a vessel. Perhaps the changes that have taken ,plage- in; his .day..can, be suffi- giently, set. forth . by. 'recalling that he oe at, one. time: sailed the bark J. B. Mor-. rell, a class of vessel, with its two square-rigged masts and one schooner- rigged mast, that the present genera- tion..as a rule: has never seen and which, 'some. _of' the older. members ot the: lake trade: can, not. deseribe. Capt. Boné was) born in Erie, Pa., 82> years"ago,:andiit appears that his home was there --until he came to Buffalo, either 'in 1870 or shortly be- fore 'that year. -Capt. William Gra: ham, one of Capt. Bone's closest friends, said the other day that he, himself, was in business on Central 'wharf as a. member of the firm of "Chesley:& Graham in. 1870, and that 'Capt. Bone occupied a ship» broker's office there at the time. These were the days 'when'! Central wharf meant 'Buffalo; so far-as the lake trade went, and 'never an old lake man but re- gretted that it thad to be given up early in the eighties on account of railroad encroachment, even though he may now eee a much finer office 'up town. - sl Cte 'giving tip ge" old: Central wharf "séattered: forever what was'a marine 'population -- through' and through, so that, it "has" never since had a rallying point and never will have one again. Capt. Bone, as did some others, clung to the vicinity of the foot of Main 'street awhile, then moved his office up: 'town as others did. very 'genial man and was never bet- 'ter. occupied than when speaking of the days. he had spent there and else- 'where in the service. For a long time the was the Buffalo manager of the Wilson Transit line and Capt. He was a- THe Marine Review Thomas Wilson was his firm friend as long as he lived. Capt. Bone had a history to relate that very few of the lake men who dealt and hobnobbed with him could equal, for he had seen distinguished service in the Rebellion. Some time in 1862, if memory serves, there were built in Boston what were known as the 90-day gunboats, four of them for a special and very pressing use in the Gulf and Mississippi squadrons. Capt. Bone had just previous to that time enlisted in the navy and as his knowledge of ship building and navi- gation were both good, he was hur- ried away to Boston to take charge of some of this constructive work and when the gunboats were finished he sailed in one of them as an officer. He was with Farragut at the battle of Mobile, where the warship Tecum- seh struck a torpedo and went down in an instant, and he was afterwards detailed in command of a_ gunboat that did good service up the: Missis- sippi and some of the side rivers, where fighting was plenty, and every day was a day of adventure. At the close of the war Capt. Bone returned to Erie and remained in the government service for some time as the keeper, of the land light, one of the best known beacons on the chain of lakes. He also sailed the lakes again and it was during this period that he received the injury which crip- pled one of his hands and made it en- tirely useless. One night when mas- ter of a lake vessel he was awakened by the flapping of the sails caused by the rising wind and on going to in- vestigate he fell through a hatchway into the hold, where he would have died had not his groans been heard by some of the crew.. Capt. Bone gave up active business soon after the death of his wife, three or four years ago, and has since made his home-with his descendants. His only child, the wife of Major J. T. Watson, of St. Louis, had long urged him to make her residence his home and it was with her or her children that he spent his last days. Her death occurred only a few days prev- ious to his own. At the time of his death he was at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Charles P. Northrup, of New York, and he had spent his winters of late with another grand- child, George E. Watson, in New Orleans. These, with another grand- child, Mrs. Jesse §S. Skinner, of St. Louis, being with their families his only surviving descendants. TW G. SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT IN STEERAGE TRAVEL. The weekly report of the trans-At- lantic Passenger Conference, issued Nov. 19, indicates quite a dull condi- tion of the steamship 'business. The outward bound steamers--from all Atlantic and Canadian ports--for the week carried only 717 first-class pas- sengers and 1,281 second class. The outward steerage movement keeps up, however; 6,911 have left on the east- bound trip during the week. In view of the improvement in in- dustrial circles, there is a general dis- position to watch closely the steam-. ship figures for indications of a re- turn of labor to this country. There is, practically speaking, no improve- ment in the return movement. The westbound movement exceeds the east- bound. for the week by exactly 657 passengers--all ports included--which is not a particularly favorable show- ing. Among steamship people there is a disposition not to expect any very large inward movement of labor until the spring, but hopes are enter- tained that when the tide does set in in this direction it will make up for lost time. Following are the figures showing the steamship passengen business for the week and for the calendar year, with comparisons: PASSENGER BUSINESS FOR THE WEEK. Westbound. Eastbound. rst Claes! eee sacs ee 8 ace 1,297 717 Second class..35 wee 2,692 1,281 PSLEChAgGe eee eet 7,568 6,911 WESTBOUND PASSENGER BUSINESS SINCE JAN. 1. 1908. 1907. Decrease. Bireh class 2c .c5 86,697 99,176 9,497 Second class .... 153,478 212,265 58,787 Steerare oa. 357,223 1,256,698 899,475 EASTBOUND PASSENGER BUSINESS SINCE JAN. 1. é 1908. 1907. Decrease. First-class: (oso: 88,089 | 94,553 6,464 Second class 298-715 96,714 *2,001 . Steerage De os 603,199 | 407,835 *200,364 *Increase. NEW GRAVING DOCK AT HAM- BURG. : The Stettiner Maschinenbau Actien- gesellschaft Vulcan is reported to be about to begin the construction of a new large floating dock for use at their Hamburg ship building establishment. aoe cock is to be built 'from. de- signs prepared by Clark & Standfield, of Westminster, London, and is to be of the bolted sectional type, with a length over all of 723 ft., a width be- tween the side walls of 106 ft., and a width at the deep draught lines of 116 ft. The pumping plant, which will be situated entirely on one wall, is to be capable of lifting a vessel of no less than 35,000 tons in five hours, it be- ing the intention of the company that this dock shall be able to comfortably accommodote any vessel now afloat. A ae i see ed i i gh ew a