The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

sé Marine Recorn Life Savers’ Series. CAPT. INGAR OLSEN. The latest acquisition to the rank of keeper in the United States Life-Saving Service is Capt. Ingar Olsen, who is about to open the newly-built station at Plum island, Wis. Capt. Olsen is also one of the youngest of the keepers, being but twenty-five years of age. He has served with honor and distinction, however, and it is considered by all that he has merited his rapid promotion. Ingar Olsen was born in Norway August 29, 1871, and grew up beside and on the sea. His first experience as a life-saver was in 1884, when, at the age of thirteen years, he rescued the master and mate of a Norwegian ship with whom the ship’s boat had capsized. Young Olsen was munificently rewarded for his heroism by the captain inthe sum of about $5 in Norwegian money. The following year he went to sea, and sailed out of Norway for abont two years, after which he came to America. From 1887 to 1889 he sailed out of Milwaukee on the Great Lakes, but in the spring of 1890 enlisted in the Milwaukee life-saving crew. He served under Capt. N. Peterson until the fall of 1893, and was presented, in that year, witha gold medal of the first class, in recog- nition of his heroic conduct on April 20th of that year, in rescuing ‘‘by superior intelligence, strength, and courageous daring, James Miller, the sole survivor ot fifteen men fromthe waterworks crib at Milwaukee.’ The terrible events of that awful storm are too well known to be recapitulated here. He continued to serve with the Milwaukee crew through the change of keepers, and received his ap- pointment to the Plum Island Station on February 26. He will have eight surfmen in his crew, but does not ex- pect to havea full crew before the latter part of June, as some little time will lapse before he receives his sta- tion outfit. He moved his effects into the new station this week. " << rr er THE COMPASS DEFLECTOR-A NEW INVENTION. Capt. John Maurice, of Chicago, the well-known com- pass expert, has invented an instrument which he calls ‘‘Compass Deflector,”’ for the purpose of finding, with ease and precision, the direction of magnetic forces on board ship, and thence the deviation. He writes regard- ing its uses as follows: ; ~ The deflector, in measuring magnetic forces, is prac- tically a substitute for the vibrating needle, over which it hasthe advantage of being apolicavie at sea as well as in dock. When observations of deviation are not sufficient in number to determine the principal magnetic coefficients they may be supplemented by observations of directive force ; and when deviations cannot be observed at all, observations of directive force on the four cardinal com- pass points suffice to find the deviations for all courses, without any bearings. This independence of bearings renders the deflector a most valuable instrument on board ship for control- ling compasses, and finding deviations at any time dur- ing a voyage. The deflection is the only instrument at sea by whichthe deviation pure and simple is found, regardless of the variation. The deflector is also used to test the correctness of any compass as to its make. Faultsin the construction of a compass cause irregularitiesin the deviations, in con- sequence of which correct results regarding magnetic ship’s forces cannot be obtained. By using the deflect- or, such faults and irregularities are easily detected, before the compass is taken on board. Furtherinore, the deflector is used to find whether the compass is in a proper position or not, on board ship. Magnetic forces in too close proximity to the compass produce irregularities in the deviation, which, by using the deflector, are easily guarded against, before the ves- selis swung, ‘A very important feature in using the deflector is that the heeling error for Northand South courses and consegently also the heeling coefficient is obtained from Observations of directive force, when the vessel is headed east and west per compass. As the deflector can be operated at all times when the vessel is under way, in clear as well as in thick weather, the lack of astro- nomical observations, and of bearings, is nolonger a bar to finding deviations, and keeping the compass under permanent control. Application for a patent in England has been accepted THE MaRINE RECORD. by the comptroller-general, the specification of the in- vention having been published in the official journal of the patent office. er oe VALUE OF ADVERTISING. It has been accurately demonstrated, says The Ameri- can Machinist, that 80 per cent of the business firms of the country that fail are those that never advertise. There can be no disputing this statement, because it is capable of being run down to a nicety. There is no doubt that many thousands of dollars are annually thrown away in worse than useless advertising, but on the other hand it iseqnally true that men that know how to advertise never fail to receive abundant returns. And the very first question to be determined is the medium that isto be used. This necessitates inquiry and careful investigation as to the character and class of readers reached by said medium. Not every state- ment bearing upon whata paper is doing must be ac- cepted as unvarnished truth, but should, when possible, be verified. Character in those offering advertising on the market is something that must be taken into con- sideration by the advertiser. A publisher devoid of honesty and truth is to be avoided, no matter what his inducements and claims may be. So a publisher that will discriminate in rates is one wholly unworthy of patronage or favor of any kind. It has always paid CAPT. INGAR OLSEN. thus far to advertise, and it always will pay when prop- erly done. That advertisers are unable to directly trace results does not always signify anything. A good deal of casting bread upon the water must be done in every business, and because two dollars cannot be seen to come in where one goes out does not imply that the expenditure has been in vain. Business men need to study the art of advertising much more than they have been in the habit of doing. 2 <0 The evidence of the pilot who was on the American Line steamship New York, when she stranded at the entrance to this harbor, while coming in last Saturday morning, remaining fast until Sunday morning, was to the effect that he asked Capt. Grant repeatedly to have the anchors ready, and the captain refusedjto anchor, saying it would take some time to get them rcady. ‘The fog was quite dense at the time, and a miscalculation of position accounted for the stranding. Whether this was the only cause for Capt. Grant’s resignation is not stated, but it is rumored that the company iwere [like- wise displeased at his giving to the reporters, who visited the ship in a tug, a fuli statement in replies to their questions, before he: had made his report to the company’s office. The ship sailed ou Wednesday in charge of Capt. Watkins.—New York Correspondence to Fairplay. ity, and that the number of passengers is the same RATES OF SPEED AND RATES OF FREIGHT. In a paper under the above title, read before the I stitute of Engineers and Shipbuilders of Scotland, Mr. John Inglis, the well-known Glasgow shipbuilder, dis. cussed the question of the commercial efficiency o steamships in a most original and interesting manner. While his remarks treat only af ocean service, the prin. ciples are as applicable to the ever-increasing trade of the Great Lakes, and even more so, on account of the shorter length of the voyages, and the liability of de lays for reasons which do not obtain on salt water. The paper was illustrated with a series of elaborate 4: la grams. Mr. Inglis is among those who are of the opin ion that the competition among the various transatlan: tic lines, in striving to attract passeugers by means © vessels containing enormous engine power and grea’ speed, must result in financial loss to the shareholders at present rates for passengers and cargo. Whether as present mail carriers or prospective cruisers in time war, the Campania, Teutonic, and other such- vessels area source of national strength, and consequently those who order them should be assured that they will not be losers, pecuniarily, by their enter prise. But up to the only reward which these companies receive from the state consists of a somewhat meager postal subsid. for the carriage of Her Majesty’s mails. Mr. as said, in part: I shall ask you to conceive of a ship of beet 10,00 gross tons, which alters her form and becomes. finer and finer as the power of her engines is increased; or, otherwise, let there be an infinite number of ‘Ss ch ships, differing from each other in form by very mit gradations. Then we are to suppose that the owner can choose any rate of speed he likes with thereby affecting the volume of his business, his. hand not being forced in any way by competitors; also that he can always fill his ship with cargo to her utmost capac an average whenever the ship takes over her voyage. Let us first take the case of a voyage out and hom between two ports exactly 3,000 miles apart, performed at average speeds varying ‘from 15 to 21 knots. | steamer is supposed to have a displacement of 18,00 tons when adapted to the 15-knot rate, and for every knot added to the mean speed at sea 600 tons is ta en off the displacement. By means of a diagram it was made clear that an in crease in speed of from 10 to 20 knots effects a saving of 6% days on the voyage, butto go from 20 to 30 knot results in a saving of only 2 days 2 hours, and from to 40 knots of no more than 25 hours. ‘Taking values 0 indicated horsepower for which he considered he ha sufficient warrant, and making allowances for weight of machinery, coal, stores, etc., from data in his- pos session, Mr. Inglis found that the surplus displacemen available for deadweight cargo, which in the 15-kno steamer is 7,375 tons, has dwindled down to 18 ton: —practically zero—in the ship of 21 knots. Hence h concluded that 21 knots was the limit of speed on a 3, 09 miles run for this imaginary ship. From this Mr. Inglis turned to the question of, the duration of a vessel’s stay in port, and the :consequen number of voyages she can make in a year: Starting upon a basis of 750 tons a day, which he finds is the av erage rate at which a cargo can be discharged.or loaded taking into account inevitable causes of delay, it would appear that the very fast vessel with a very small carg would be able to start off again almost at once. Bu there must be a minmnm time in port, even when there” is little or no cargo, so that Mr. Inglis is advised that seven days is the minmum for such a ship, according to the custom of some ports. This period corresponds ex actly with the time occupied in loading and discharging. the cargo of the imaginery steamer when: she has a> speed of 19% knots. The ship, therefore, which is adagted to that rate of speed, according to this hypothesis, will carry just as” much cargo as can be discharged and loaded in seven days, and all the faster ships of that family will have a certain amount of lost time, unless the delay in port be necessary for other reasons. : Mr. Inglis then considered the various items of which 3 total expenditure is made up—port charges, office ex- penses, wages of officers and crew, provisions for ship’s company and passengers, insurance, maintenance and- repairs, shore gang and docking, coal and engine- room stores, and depreciation. He assumed that ; Forty days in the year, besides the intervals between ES voyages, are reserved for overhauling and repairing leaving 325 working days per annum. The avera number of passengers is supposed not to be affected by the speed. This is not likely to be the case, until after | -