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LONG DISTANCE CAR FERRIAGE, Car Ferry Barge.No. 1, of the Wisconsin & Michigan Line, left Chicago last Thursday with 26 loaded cars for Peshtigo. The daily newspapers stated that she failed to carry what she was expected to by two cars, but private information to THE MARINE RECORD is that this is not correct: She should have carried another of the large type of car which she had on for this trip, but the car would have stood over the switch and frogs on the ferry and it'was desired to leave this space un- covered. The run from South Chicago to Peshtigo, Wis., a sailing distance’ of 260 miles, was made in 26 hours, part of the time against strong head winds, whereas 34 hours had been allowed in arranging the schedule. The barge was towed by the Perrett, and it is thought she can beat the 34 hour time with both barges in tow. These Lake Michigan ferries were built by James Davidson & Co., of West Bay City, and is guaranteed to carry the cars in any kind of weather. Thick ice- floes may stop the operation of the line next winter, but thereafter the officers figure it will run regularly throughout the year. A sister boat to the No. 1 was launched this week in the West Bay City yards, and will be immediately put into service. To pull these boats the company has bought the J. C. Perrett, the largest tug on the lakes. She is 160 feet long, 29 feet beam, 13 feet depth of hold, and has a propeller of 11 feet. The boilers are 1,500 horse- power. ‘he mammoth Zenith City, recently launched at South Chicago, will hold 4,200 tons and steam at the rate of 12 miles an hour, and her boilers are only 100 horse-power greater than those of the Perrett. Careful computations convinced the company that it would. be ‘mitch more economical to adopt the towing system with a large tug than to put the boilers into one or more of the ferry boats. The tug can haultwo or more ferry boats in any kind of weather. Exactly corresponding tugs haul as many as seven boats loaded with oil be- tween New York and Gulf. ports. The barge is equipped with a Manton steam towing machine, on which a 1% inch steel Roebling cable 1,300 feet long will be used. This cable is flexible enough to be wound in a two-foot coil. The route to be followed by the boats will be directly north to the government canal at Sturgeon Bay, thence across Green Bay to Peshtigo. Here the line connects with the Wisconsin & Michigan Railroad, also owned by the company. This road is at present 70 miles long. It connects at Bagley Junction with the St. Paul, at Fafthorn Junction with the Soo, and at Peshtigo with the Northwestern. tracts have already been made which give it through routes and rates to all points in the northwest. Its own rail line will also be rapidly extended.. The boats will make a round trip in three days, practically equaling the time by rail. ED Oe EE AN EFFICIENT SIGNAL. The annual meeting of the Graham-Meyer Torch and Liquid Light Company, manufacturers of marine and other signals, was held in Portland, Me., Aug. 21. The treasurer’s report showed the corporation to be in excellent financial condition and exhibited a surplus capable of payingasatisfactory dividend. It was voted, however, not to divide the surplus, but to devote it to an enlargement of the business. It was also voted to advance the price of the treasury shares from $5, par value, to $10. The Graham-Meyer torch is well thought of in marine, army, railroad and naval circles. Several tests have been made under all conditions and the signals have each time worked wonderfully well. This new torch can be used with kerosene, spirits of turpentine, or any available ignitible fluid. It is in- destructible, being filled with asbestos; it will last for years, and is ready for use at any moment. It gives a white flame three to five feet high and burns less liquid than any other torch of its size or larger. The combus- tion is so perfect that very little smoke is made, and the flame is therefore much brighter. For fishermen’s use in signaling, or in dressing fish, itis invaluable. One can wig-wag with the torch and give any signal. The company haye also blue, green and red burning liquids, so as to make any code of signals required. Rain or spray will not extinguish the fame;.the stronger the wind the better it burns. It is invaluable for With these three lines traffic con-’ THE MARINE RECORD. yachtsmen for signaling. Asa distress signal it is of immense value, being always ready and giving such a large flame that it attracts attention from a great dis- tance. The torches are patented in Europe, Canada and the United States. They have been exhibited at the Mari- time Exchange, Philadelphia, Delaware Breakwater, and in the western lakes, and before the government authorities at Washington, and in all cases have given the best of satisfaction, and it is only a question of a short time before they will be adopted by the U. S. gov- ernment. The company also have a swinging canoe lamp which is especially designed to find the position of a pilot canoe or dory, when at some distance from the vessel on a dark night. OT EEE a Marine Recorp Life-Savers Series. CAPT. T. H. MCCORMICK, (ILLUSTRATED. ) The accompanying portrait is an excellent likeness of Capt. T. H. McCormick, keeper of the U. S. Life-Saving Station at Two Heart River, where he has been in charge since the spring of 1891, Capt. McCormick was born on the banks of the Ottawa River, of Irish and Scotch parents, in 1867, and is, consequently, one of the young- est keepers in the service. His early life was passed in the Canadian lumber regions, where he followed the CAPT. T. H. MCCORMICK. rather risky occupations of raftsman and boatman on the rapid Canadian streams. He enlisted in the Ver- million Point station, on Lake Superior, in 1881, and served steadily as a surfman for nine years in the four stations of that region, Vermillion Point, Crisp’s Point, Two Heart River, and Muskallonge Lake. His appoint- ment as keeper at the age of twenty-four years at what is considered one of the most responsible and active stationsin a very dangerous region shows the confidence reposed in Capt. McCormick by his department, and this is certainly well deserved, as the published records of the service will show. rrr + a gi A NEw star has been ordered for the United States flag, to represent the State of Utah, which will be ad- mitted on July 4th next. The star will be placed to the right of the fourth row from the top and will make 45 in the constellation. The standard size of flag will also be decreased from 6 by 5 feet, toa flag 5% feet long by 4 feet 4inches wide. These alterations will probably not be made until next spring. : SS It. is well known that a steamer’s smoke can be seen on aclear day along distance at sea, how far has al- ways been a matter of conjecture, but recent observa- tions on the Pacific coast demonstrated that smoke from forest fires in Puget Sound was carried right to San Francisco, more than 1,000 miles distant. TRADE NOTES. Jenkins Bros., manufacturers of valves, packing, etc., 71 John street, New York, have issued a new catalogue and price lists for 1895, Brown, Bonnell & Co., of Dayton, O., have been awarded contracts for two steam fog signal boilers for use in the ninth and eleventh light-house districts. The price is $1,490. , Within avery few weeks the armored cruiser Brook- lyn, sister ship to'the New York, and, in many respects an improvement upon that superb vessel, will be launched from the ways in Cramps’ shipyard. The Frontier Iron Works, of Detroit, are pushing the Cincinnati steam steerer, which has been in use for two years on several lake steamers, including the Dyer and Nebraska, The peculiar advantages claimed for the steerer,'are its great range of adaptability, the fact that enough steam is automatically applied to meet any sud- den resistance, and the small amount of attention re- quired from the engineer. The Cincinnati steerer has been altered somewhat from the original type, the changes greatly improving it. The first gears made consisted of two cylinders, one on either side of the boat, and working with steam on but one end; this has been modified so that but one cylinder is used, taking steam at either end. The valve is separate from the cylinder, and may be placed at quite a distance from it, though this is not recommended as it causes a waste of steam. The Frontier Iron Works are confident that they have a good thing, and are sending descriptive circulars to all owners of steamers of 400 tons or over which do not steer by steam, in which they offer to guarantee satisfaction. TTT TEED THE TAFFRAIL LOG. Complaints are sometimes heard by vessel masters and others that taffrail patent logs are notreliable when accuracy regarding the time made is required. This is doubtless due to the fact that a log which will register accurately the speed of one vessel will be decidedly ‘‘off’’ on another, owing to the difference in the character of the wake, the method of propulsion, and the model of the ship. It is necessary to adjust the blades of the rotator to secure this correction. But the change must be very carefully made. A variation in the angle of even one blade, ina degree scarcely more than the thickness of the paper which forms the cover of THe MARINE RECORD, is enough to produce a-considerable error. John Bliss & Co. 128 Front’street, New York, dealers in marine chronometers and other nautical instruments, manufacture a taffrail log. which is especially designed to meet this feature. In order to secure absolute ac- curacy and uniformity in their rotators, they make two slits and two holes in the tube or main body of each rotator to receive four corresponding projections of each blade, which blade has previously been stamped out and twisted into spiral form by special machinery. The sets of slits and holes in the tube are also made by special machinery, with such nicety that the manufacturers are enabled to solder the four blades to the body of the rotator with scarcely a hair’s breadth of variation. In order to allow of the rotator being adjusted in order to correct <7 “errors arising from the above-mentioned causes, Bliss & Co. cut two slits in the large end of each blade, leaving a narrow tongue between. A small wrench is also furnished, with a slit of corresponding depth, and this wrench, being placed over the tongue, serves to easily and accurately bend it far enough to affect the speed of the rotation. Some of these logs are manufac- tured to register statute miles instead of knots. This firm also manufactures a very superior make of liquid (spirit) compass. Their goods are for sale by the various lake shipchandlers.