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: ' : a 3 eS ° July, 1914 the work of rescue, whereas the Stor- stad's crew maintained that all their life boats were put over immediately and that they rescued the great ma- jority of the passengers, even charg- ing that members of the crew of the Empress rescued refused to help in the work when brought aboard the Storstad: . These statements seem in- credible. Above all the bitterness, accusations and incriminations there is one great cutstanding fact and that is that the collision would never have occurred had the pilot rules been observed by both vessels. If both vessels had got down immediately to bare steerage- way and then had picked their way past each other, there would have been no collision. It is a very fortunate thing that the board of inquiry is to be presided over by Lord Mersey who conducted the inquiry into the Titanic. disaster. There is no man living better quali- fied by training, temperament and ju- dicial fitness for this work. His ex- perience in admiralty affairs has been vast and he cannot be misled. The steamer, W. H. Gilbert, owned by the Lakewood Steamship Co., was sunk in collision with the steamer Cal- dera, owned by the Kinney Steam- ship Co., about 15 miles south of Thunder Bay about 6:45 a. m., May 22. The Gilbert was upbound with coal and is said to have been on the inside course. The Caldera was down- bound light. The Caldera struck the Gilbert amidships with such force as to practically cut her in two, and were it not for the fact that the Caldera was able to hold her bow into the hole that she made, lives might have been lost, as it is estimated that the Gil- bert sank within five minutes there- after. Fortunately all the crew were up at the time. The condition of the Caldera's bow shows that she struck the Gilbert squarely head-on, and that at the mo- ment of impact the ships must have been practically at right angles. An examination of the Caldera's injuries in dry dock shows that her stem is not damaged. She is stove in on either side from 20 to 30 ft. and her plates and frames are damaged as far back as the collision bulkhead, which is sprung on one side and punctured on the other. Experts who examined her say that she had a close call in that her side tanks were all that kept her afloat. That the blow was a ter- tific one is shown by the fact that in backing out the Caldera carried with her part of the Gilbert's decks, hatch covers and some of her coal cargo. Now the collision would not have oc- curred and obviously no such mortal THE MARINE REVIEW damage done had the pilot rules been strictly observed. There are certain points of similar- ity between the accident to the Em- press of Ireland and to the Gilbert. If the Storstad had been able to hold her bow into the hole that she had made in the side of the Empress, the chances are that practically every life would have been saved, but Capt. An- derson is emphatic in saying that al- though he ordered his steamer full speed ahead as soon as the impact took place, he was unable to do so, his stern being swung around in line with the liner owing to the latter's headway. In the case of the Gilbert this maneuver was, as stated, suc- cessfully accomplished. The Gilbert was not insured and law suits will undoubtedly follow. Lovely Weather We're Having Senator Chamberlain, of . Oregon, has introduced a bill in the senate for the collection of tolls from vessels passing through the canal at Sault Ste. Marie, as follows: "That, upon boats, vessels, or float- ing craft of any description, other than those propelled by hand, passing through the canals and locks at Saint Marys Falls, in the state of Michigan, there shall be levied and collected: a toll of10 cents per ton of 2,000 pounds, and upon each passenger a toll "of. $12 Provided, That the toll upon vessels in ballast, including pleasure boats and those engaged ex- clusively in passenger traffic, shall be 60 per cent of the toll collected from vessels with cargo." New Passenger Steamer Noronic The new passenger steamer No- ronic, of the Northern Navigation Co.'s fleet, visited Cleveland on June 2 for purposes of inspection, the com- pany having decided to make ,Cleye-.. land a port of call during 1914 for at least one of its vessels. The Noronic is owned. by the Can- ada Steamship Lines, Ltd., which is the name under which various Cana- dian steamship lines were recently merged. James Carruthers, of Mon- treal, president; Capt. J. W. Norcross, of Toronto, managing director; and H. B. Smith, of Owen Sound, presi- dent of the Northern Navigation Co., visited Cleveland on the new steamer. The Noronic was built at the Port Arthur yard of the American Ship Building Co., and in her type is not excelled by anything afloat on the lakes: 2She is:385 {t.cover all, 362; 4 'keel, 52 ft. beam and 28 ft. 9 in. deep. Luncheon was served aboard the 271 vessel to a number of Cleveland vessel men. Harvey D. Goulder, in a brief talk, declared that it was apparent that the steamer embodied in her con- struction everything making for in- ternal safety, but he felt that there should be correlation of effort to ob- viate disaster. On one side, he said, are the Lake Carriers' Association and the Great Lakes Protective Associa- tion, and on the other side the Do- "minion Marine Association. With the combined efforts of both governments looking to an absolute observance of the pilot rules, he felt that disasters could practically be eliminated ex- cept those that are caused by some superlative condition of the elements such as existed last November. Protecting Lake Water Supply Representative Mann, of Chicago, has introduced the following bill in Congress: That hereafter no common carrier operating vessels, craft, or other ve- hicles or structures for the purpose of 'navigation, shall discharge or cause to be discharged sewage or any other noxious material into the waters of the Great Lakes so as to pollute water supplies of cities or towns or of other vessels plying on the Great Lakes. Sec. 2. Fhat no' eommon 'carrer operating on the Great Lakes shall provide on steam vessels, for the use of their crews and passengers, water supplies containing organisms or ma- terials liable to cause disease of man. Sec. 3. That the secretary of the treasury shall have authority to make regulations for the enforcement of this act. Sec. 4. That when any common carrier, or officer, agent, or employe of any common carrier, shall wilfully violate this act, such common carrier, officer, agent or employe shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction, be punished by - a fine of not more than $500, or im- prisonment for not more than two years, or both, in the discretion of the court. ; The measure is silent on the subject of pollution from cities which is infinitely greater than that caused by vessels. is The barge Redfern, in tow of the steamer Sawyer loaded with lumber and bound for Tonawanda, took a sheer immediately after leaving the West 'Neebish Cut, St. Mary's River, and collided with a crib on May 24. She soon filled and sank. The Red- fern is owned by the Hines Lumber Co., of Chicago.