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THE MARINE RECORD oe ‘ : . bis CONFUSING AND UNFAIR. where only two licensed officers are required. This has dn A number of aspirants for. the position of mate or done a great deal toward mitigating the effect of an un- ae master on the larger steamers have unwittingly embarr- reasonable law; but thatis the greater reason why the “ESTABLISHED 1878. PUBLISHED Every THURSDAY. AT 144 SUPERIOR St., (LEADER BUILDING), CLEVELAND, O. GEO. L. SMITH, ) IRVING. B. SMITH, § PROPRIETORS. - WILLIAM L. MCCORMICK, - - - E\DITOR. BRANCH OFFICE, Cuicaco, ILL, - - - - 238 Lake Street. THOMAS WILLIAMS, Associate Editor, SUBSCRIPTION. One copy, one year, postage paid, - ~ - ‘$2.00 $3.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should be addressed to. SMITH & SMITH, 144 Superior Street, CLEVELAND, O. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as Second-Class Mail Matter. CLEVELAND, O., JANUARY 30, 1896. Heenan ESE In reporting the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Lake Carriers’ Association,the name of Mr. Henry C. French, of Buffalo, was substituted for that of Mr. John Gordon, of the same port in the list of the Board of Managers. This was partially in error. Mr. Gordon is still a member of this board, to which Mr. French was appointed as an additional member. SS I SSD RS NE SE ra Capt: JosEPH NicHoLson, Frank E. Kirby and Capt. J. W. Millen, of Detroit, according to daily newspaper reports, consider their interests in the city of Detroit as so much more extensive than their lake interests, that they will be members of the Detroit delegation which will go to Washington in the interests of the proposed bridge. Gen. R. A. Alger is also mentioned as a vessel man who favors the bridge, but General Alger’s marine interests are largely confined to lumber and he was most active last year in fighting proposed legislation in behalf of the proper commerce of the lakes. ~ ro a - THE WOODMAN BILL. Representative _ Woodman has introduced a bill which has alaeady caused considerable adverse comment among shipping owners, and which will without doubt be fought to the bitter end. It provides that any vessel navigating the Great Lakes shall be required to carry, if a sailing vessel or tow barge, in addition to its officers, a crew of competent sailors in numbers as follows, accord- ing to the size of the vessel: 150 to200 tons registry, three; 200 to, 300 tons, four; 350 to 500 tons, five; 500 to 1,000 tons, six; 1,000 to 1,500 tons, seven; over 1,500 tons, not less than eight. The bill further requires that steam vessels shall carry, in addition to their officers and wheelsmen (who shall be practical sailors), a crew of not less than two such competent sailors for every steam vessel of from 100 to 300 tons registry; 300 to 500 tons, three; 500 to 1,000 tons, four; 1,000 to 1,500 tons, five; 1,500 to 2,000 tons, six; and-a'sailor for.every. additional thousand tons or frac- tion thereof. The second santion provides that no vessel shall receive her clearance until these conditions have been complied with to the satisfaction of the collector of customs; and any vessel entering a’ United States port on tse Great Lakes without so complying shall pay a fine of $25 to $100 for every sailor less than the required number. The .yessel, men now smart under, the slight delays in- cident, to, the observance of custom house formalities, and the enactment. ofthe above into law would produce no end of trouble. There is no provision for any decis- ion as to what constitutes a competent sailor,.and the law if passed, would only create confusion without materially benefiting the class in whose behalf it was introduced. rassed themselves in the contest for place, by a very natural mistake, due to the confusion in regard to the terms ‘‘second mate,’‘and “second-class license,” the im- pression in some quarters being that the latter entitles the holder to the former position. With this idea, which the inspectors at some ports have not, it seems, taken pains to correct, several applicants have stood examina- tion for and secured second-class papers, which, instead of entitling the holder to a position as second mate on a large steamer, gives him license to command any steamer under one hundred tons burden in such waters as may be designated by the inspector who has issued such papers. It will be observed elsewhere on this page that the law and the circumstances require the master, first and second mate of the iron ore steamers all to be first-class pilots, as the second mate is frequently-in full charge of the deck. ‘The second-class papers are therefore of no account to the man who has served for years as wheelsman on large steamers and who wishes to put himself in the way of advancement. But that is not the worst of it. The law requires that he must serve under these papers at least a season before he is entitled to re-examination for first- class papers. Positions where second-class papers are necessary and sufficient are comparatively rare, and the number is steadily growing smaller, and no matter how much information a man may pick up after getting his second-class papers he is debarred by law from making. application for first-class papers until he shall have act- ually served a length of time eq iivalent-to a season ina position to which his second-class papers entitle him; that is, he does not have even the same chance for advancement as an ordinary wheelsman or unli- censed officer. If a man applies for his first- class papers, and does not pass quite good enough examination, he has the option of taking second- class papers or going down as rejected. Strange to relate, the latter is, under existing conditions on the Great Lakes, the preferable alternative, as a rejection debars him from making application for one year only, while second-class papers may prove his bane for a dozen years, if he happens to be unable to gain a year’s exper- ience under his license. Of course when second-class papers have been applied and issued through a miscon- struction of the law and the facts, the applicant has the right of appeal to the supervising inspector of the dis- trict in which the applicant was examined. Such an appeal must be made, however, withia thirty days after the issue of the papers, and it very frequently happens that the unfortunate does not discover his mistake until this time has expired. It. is very hard to discover a reason for the law reguir- ing the season’s service under the second-class papers. when any unlicensed person may apply for first-class papers at any time, and if rejécted may apply again after the lapse of a year. There seems no ground whatever for requiring a year’s service under those papers, and it certainly seems that a man securing these papeas, should have the right at any time to secure first-class papers. It is required of a rejected applicant that if after the expir- ation of a year he stands examination in another district than that in which he was originally examined, he must procure a letter from the inspector originally examining him. Such a regulation is of great assistance in the effort to keep the inspection service uniform; and if the law in reference to second-class papers were so amended as to operate as less of a hardship to holders of them, it might of course be advisable to insert or retain a saving clause of that nature; but*%ae law needs alteration, es- pecially as relates to the Great Lakes, where its operation discriminates against a large class of deserving and com- petent men. On a class of lake steamers which do not operate in so much of a hurry as those carrying three first-class licensed men, the second mate is not a licensed officer. Indeed the inspection service knows nothing of any but the “chief mate,” and the first and second mates on the large steamers referred to are, as far as the inspection service. is corcerned, equal in. rank. It has been the eustom, however, for some of the lake. inspec- tors to interpret the law relating to experience under second-class papers rather according to the spirit than the letter, and to recognize as service under second-class ‘papers the time served as second mate on steamers law should be amended, as this class of steamers does = grow in numbers, but is slowly decreasing. Myer eorkwe acme Eee ONLY “CHIEF MATES” NEED LICENSES. Acting Secretary of the Treasury Hamlin has sent the following letter to the collector of customs at San Fran- cisco: Str: Referring to your letter of the 24th ultimo, in- closing a communication from Mr, 8S. G. Naylor, secre- _ tary of the American Association of Masters and Pilots of steam Vessels, requesting to be informed “if the num- ber of mates appearing on a steamer’s certificate of in- on spection, means that they shall all be licensed officers,” you are informed that the law, sections 4488, 4440 and 4445, title LIT, Revised Statutes of the United States, makes no provision for licensing other than the “chief mates” of steam vessels. If more than one mate is re- quired by the inspectors in their certificate of inspection issued to a steam vessel, only the ‘‘chief mate” is re- quired by law to be a licensed officer. The above decision will not effect any change with the lake steamers, many of whom carry two, and somes 5 times three licensed officers of the first class, in addition to the captain. They are usually known as first, second, and third mates, but are not so ‘kaown to the inspection service, the local inspectors stipulating ion the steamer’s license that she must catry two, three, or four licensed pilots of the first class. In so doing they take into con- sideration the trade in which the steamer is engaged, and if she is one of the ore carrying fleet, they allow for the short time in port, and count on giving the steamer a sufficient quota, so that no man need be overworked to an extent which will detract from his efficiency, and yet fulfill the requirements of the law that the deck shall al- ways, when the steamer is navigating, be in charge of a first-class pilot. The situation is somewhat different on salt water, where a ship is at least a week in port, and so many licensed officers are not required. But the local inspectors are considered the best judges of the number of pilots required, and no decision as to the number of “mates” can at all affect their authority in this matter. The master of a rapid)y moving ore carrier has but a short time to transact his business while ashore, and as he is expected to take his ship in and out of port and through the Detroit, St. Clair and St.. Mary’s rivers, it is obvious that he cannot be expected to stand a regular watch, and the whole time must be divided into two or. three parts, the officer of the deck being relieved by the master when the occasion arises. rr THE free ship and repair registry bills offered by the Commissioner of Navigation are being turned down with remarkable regularity and unanimity by the Congres- sional committees to which they have been referred. rr 2 ot A MISAPPREHENSION; To the Editor of The Marine Record: I notice by your issue of this week that the Ship Mas- | ters, at their annualimeeting, passed a resolution oppos- ing any change in the navigation laws on the lakes, and stating that this was prompted by a bill proposed by Representative Payne. These gentleman were entirely mistaken, as Senator Payne’s measure does not affect the Great Lakes, opera- ting under the White act of last year, which it does not notinany wayamend. ., I should be pleased if you would, through your val- uable columns, remove this misapprehension. Respectfully yours, EUGENE T. CHAMBERLAIN, Commissioner of Navigation. : Washington, D. C.. January 25, 1806. >\MeFrMQ oo INTER-LAKE YACHTING ASSOCIATION. A meeting of the Inter-Lake Yachting Association was held at Toleds Saturday evening, at the office of Commodore John Elumchel. Others present were Capt. B. W. Radder, of Cleveland; Commodore George T. Bliss, of Erie; John Holloway, of Put-in-Bay; George Williams, of Sandusky; Henry Tracey and Frank R. Tracy, of Toledo; and K. P. Rdwards, of Buffalo. The Detroit and Bufialo yacht clubs were admitted by ‘ unaminous yote, and it was decided to hold the next meeting in Detroit, February 12, when a new commo- — dore will be chosen. The racing committee presented a report providing regatta regulations and defining the duties of the regatta committee, which was adopted. .