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6 MINING ORE ON THE GOGEBIC RANGE. : (ILLUSTRATED.) Vast changes have taken place in mining ore in the Lake Superior region during the past few years, and the days of pick and shovel, hand labor tediousness, has been entirely supplanted by the use of steam. The steam shovel herewith illustrated has been at work for some time at the Penokee and Gogebic Consol- idated Mines and as a guarantee is given with all of the Vulcan Iron Works machines this shovel was war- ranted to handle 2500 tons of iron ore in ten hours, yet a record test made before the final acceptanc of the machine showed the gratifying volume of 4250 tons of ore moved in the above time. In loading ore from the stock piles into railroad cars for transportation to a shipping point as well as for all similar purposes the steam shovel is now an economical necessity. In all steam shovels there are but three important move- ments, i. e., hoisting the dipper, forcing the dipper and swinging the crane and it is between these movements that valuable time may be lost, if the mechanism of the shovel is not properly adjusted and capable of doing steady successful FRE j i | work. The Vul- can Iron Works Co., Toledo, O., in their manufact- ure of steam shovels and dredges, lay claim to being a little ahead of the times with improve ments. They have been engaged in the business for many years and have a force of experienced me- chanics in their employ skilled in all the details of dredge and steam shovel building so that nothing but the best workman- ship is sent out of their shops. - Although the cost of standard steam dredges may be quoted as ranging from $3,- 500 up to $18,000 and steam shovels from $4,500 to $10,- 000 yet the Vulcan Iron Works Co. : have furnished hundreds of these machines to ex- tensive industries in almost every state of the union and their orders are increasing as steam takes the place of manual labor and economy of production is demanded. ee oe Oe STRANDINGS. Besides the unusual number of groundings, such as the case of Selwyn Eddy, Kearsarge, North Wind and Northern Wave through a low stage of water in the rivers and misplaced or inferior buoys in Hay Lake Channel, there has been some singular cases of strand- ings during the past week, involving a great expense to owners and underwriters through detention, repairs and jettisoned cargo. 5 Among the most notable strandings of high-classed tonnage was the steamer Parks Foster on Poverty Island, Lake Michigan; I. W. Nicholas on Caribou Island, Lake Superior; A. McVittie in Hammond’s Bay, Lake Huron, and the A. A. Parker on North Manitou Island, Lake Michigan. rr THE USE OF BALLOONS AT SEA. The proceedings of the United States Naval Institute contain some interesting details which were communi- cated to the Hrance Aerienne by Col. Nicholas d’Orloff, con- cerning the search made from a captive balloon to try and discover the whereabouts of the ill-fated Russian warship, Rusalka, which foundered with all hands in a THE MARINE RECORD. stormin the Gulf of Finland. The transport Samoyede was fitted up to facilitate the ascent of the balloon. The expedition was under charge of an officer and 25 soldiers of the acrostatic park of St. Petersburg. For 19 days the Samoyede was towed out from Helsingfors, Russia, every morning and towed back at night. The balloon employed had a capacity of about 20,000 cubic feet; it ascended to altitudes varying from 656 to 1,443 feet ; with a head wind it was towed ata rate of 24% knots; witha favorable wind the speed was some- times increased to 63% knots per hour. Two observers were constantly in the car and were relieved every three hours. Glasses were not used, as it was found that the naked eye could descern objects at the bottom of the sea much better than when artificial aids were employed. The conclusions arrived at were as follows: That at a height of 1,300 feet it was not posssble to see the bot- tom of the sea to any great depth, in consequence of the impediments to vision offered by the color of the water and of the bottom. With a favorable ligh}, rocks and sand banks were clearly defined at depths of from 19 to 23 ft. Larger sand banks could be seen according to “GIANT” SHOVEL “TILDEN.” the color of the water at a depth of 40 ft. Observations from a captive balloon are more easily carried out at sea than on land, because the air currents are more uniform and are not so subject to sudden changes. Vessels can be distinguished perfectly, and there is no difficulty in recognizing whether they are merchantmen or men-of-war. Colonel d’Orloff. con- cludes that captive balloons would be of great utility as observatories to a fleet, enabling the officers to recon- noitre the entrancs of unknown harbors, and for ascer- taining the exact position of forts, batteries, and other defences. In time of peace the balloons could be used in hydrographical researches. TTD _____ WATER AS A CONDUCTOR. The fact that water can be made part of an electric circuit has been demonstrated by numerous experiments. A practical use of this knowledge was made a short time ago by a Kansas college professor between the Scotland lightship and Sandy Hook at the entrance to New York: It may be remembered that when the fact that messages could be transmitted in this way was first made known sanguine electricians conceived the idea of telegraph- ing across the Atlantic without the aid of a cable and devised plans for telegraphic communication between passing ships and between ships at sea and stations on shore. All these schemes were in advance of the pres- ent state of scientific knowledge, but he would be a little rash to advocate or attempt to maintain their impossi- bility in the near future. THE CHICAGO DRAINAGE CANAL. The Toledo produce exchange has adopted a memorial giving expression ‘‘to the solicitude very generally enter- tained by western commercial men, andin fact, by allin- terests east and west, concerning the effect of the water level of Lake Michigan and indirectly upon Lakes Hu- ron and Erie, of the large volume of water to be drawn from the former lake by means of the Chicago drainage canal.”’ The exchange asks that the secretary of war appoint a committee of engineers to examine into the matter and finally suggests an investigation by engineers ofa dam across the Niagara River, at a suitable point, and its effect in preserving or deepening the water of the lakes. The following resolutions have also been adopted by the board of directors of the Chicago board of trade. “Whereas Chicago is engaged in carrying out with unexampled energy and dispatch the greatest enterprise yet undertaken on this continent, and through the con- struction of her sanitary and shipcanal will invest two: thirds of the cost of a navigable waterway for vessels drawing fourteen feet of water from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, and provide a harbor for lake : vessels of the deepest draft and - adequate for ocean steamships, and through said channel and the Desplaines and Illinois Rivers will contribute a substantial vol- ume of water for the material im- provement of the Mississippi River, all without ex- pense of the gen- eral government, and “Whereas this undertaking is to be commended on account of its par- amount impor- tance to the entire lake region in opening up a route to the Miss- issippi valley,and through the same to the Gulf of Mexico, and Chi- cago’s effurts in this matter des- erve the cordial co-operation ofall the cities of the Great Lakes and the states border- ing thereon and. the material sup- port of the gen- eral government, in order that a route of the great- ; est practible cap- acity may be speedily developed from the lakes to the gulf, and ‘Whereas all lake interests are likewise concerned in the early carrying out of a project for ocean navigation between the several lakeS and thence to the Atlantic seaboard, the investigation of which has been provided for through a commission authorized by congress, and “Whereas any project for deep water through the connecting shallows between the lakes and thence to the sea demands the careful consideration of the effects of the levels of the several lakes and measures for rem- edying the same, and likewise any project for deep water to the Gulf of Mexico involves considerations of the volume of water that may be taken from the lakes without material injury to any lake interest. “Therefore be it resolved that the general govern- ment is hereby requested, through suitable action in Congress, to provide for the full and comprehensive in- vestigation of the outflow of the several lakes under all conditions in order to determine, “1. What volume may be safely drawn from the lakesin aid of the low water improvement of the Mississippi river and what works will 'berequired, if any, to enable the maximum volume feasible to be turned in that direction. “2. What works should be undertaken, if any, to main- tain the level of the several lakes and the depths in the harbors of the same in connectionwith channels adequate in depth and width for ocean navigation through the é connecting shallows and to the Atlantic seaboard. ‘3. How far it may be feasible to maintain and con- trol the levels of Lakes Krie and Ontario at or near high water mark, andto use Lake Superior as a reser voir to feed the other lakes at or near low water, and — _ “Further, that all of the above objects are of supreme importance and call for the most accurate data as to fluctuations of level and variations in discharge, which should be provided as soon as possible.” ie