sah ashes nc pine tr dN eel sith am Presa ad > Soe ee ed ee eS ee THE MARINE RECORD. 7 SS a Se aS SSS EE iE EIRENE RIED EPS ATI RISA BETS SSI ESRGN TC RTUTEEUESraee cameras ee eI ERIE ON SI ANOTHER SAULT CANAL STATEMENT. -. The annual report of the St. Mary’s Falls’Canal for the year ending June 30, 1896, has just been completed The organization remains the same, consisting of one superintendant, one clerk, three assistant superintend- ants, three foremen, three engineers, seven watchmen and twenty-seven lockmen. A labor party averaging thirty-three men has been employed. _ There have been no accidents causing loss of life or in- jury toany person. The total delays to the lock during the year amounted to 63 hours. The greatest delay at any one time occurred on June 21, when the schooner Paige entered the lock with her centerboard down and broke the grating and supply pipe connecting, causing a delay of eighteen hours. The movable dam has been kept in repair. On account of the great pressure in business through the canal it was not closed during the season of navigation. It was, however, closed in December and made tight, so that the canal basin below the dam could be pumped out. The dam was opened again in April. While the water was out of the canal the piers were thoroughly repaired in all places where their founda- tions had been undermined. . The pumping plant has been operated once each month and has been used for pumping out the lock three times and three times for testing the gates of the 800-foot lock. It has been kept in perfect repair. 5 The available draft of water through the canal was less than ever before, the average for the fiscal year being 14.3 feet. Since the government assumed control of the canal in 1881 there has been expended in its operation and care the sum of $586,702.24. By an agreement with the Canadian government, an exchange of statistics has been made with the manage- ment of the Canadian canal, which enables this office to give complete statements of the entire traf- fic to and from Lake Superior which is carried by water transportation. * The United States canal was open to navigation dur- ing the year 235 days. TheCanadian canal did not open until September 9, 1895, thus making their proper season for the fiscal year only 144 days. ‘There was an increase in the number of vessels of 26 per cent; registered tonnage, 29 per cent; freight ton- nage, 22 per cent, and in passenger traffic 15 per cent. In the items of freight the following increase appears: Authracite:coal, 16 per cent; bituminous coa’, 12 per cent; wheat, 77 per cent; manufactured and pig iron, 57 per cent; copper, 6 per cent; iron ore, 22 per cent; lumber, 2 per cent; silver ore, 150 per cent; unclassi- fied freight, 9 per cent. No comparison can be made in the item of grain. All east bound grain other than wheat and corn has hereto- fore been included in the item of unclassified freight. Owing to this, the increase of 873 per cent is abnormal, but as unclassified freight still shows an increase of 9 per cent, it is still safe to say that grain made its usual - gain. The item of flour shows a falling off of 10 per cent. This is, however, fully compensated and accounted for by an increase in wheat of 77 per cent. Building stone is the only other item on which a de- crease appears, and the traffie on this article is so small as to be unworthy of consideration. The item of salt shows a variation of less than 1 per cent. The following table is a total statement of the traffic to and from Lake Superior during the fiscal year, in- cluding that of the Canadian canal: WSs Canadian ITEMS. Canak Canale Total. Vessels, number....... RRL Se aie oe aera 16 290 2,909 19,199 Lockages, number............ 4.6. 00.055 7.125 1,693 8,758 Tonnage, registered, net tons. . .»-| 15,648 025 2,341,123 | 17,989.148 Tonnage, freight, net tons. -| 14,399,332 2,201,835 | 16,601,167 Passengers, number,...... 28.518 8,929 82,447 Wbal hard. netitous..3..-1) 7. -- =. 434,845 60,519 495,364 Goal, soft netstons. foi nibs ee nee 2,380,586 354.945 | 2,735,531 WIOUT, Parcels. oie as we cee se sce eee sos 7,570,201 601,751 8,171,952 Wheat pbushels3.3 . 0 GAYE eh ces 48,933,340 | 10,139,134 | 59 072.474 Mornin BUsROS reek ico ays tk pes 11 865.127 2,768,929 | 14,634,056 Manufactured and pig iron, nettons..... 99 801 4,709 104,510 Gale, Dacrele eh. cays ore savas eoden rants 254.093 8.241 262,334 Copper, net tons. . 106,881 5,662 112,543 Iron ore, net tons,,.. 7,217,309 1,235,901 8,453,210 Lumber, M. ft. b. m an Hs 725,230 20,385 745,615 Silver ore; net-tons) <5. 6.30. ee en POOR ie Eee 100 Building stone, net tons................. 18.527 1.606 20,133 Unclassified freight, net tons............ 418,855 79,255 498,110 The United States canal was opened to commerce dur- ing the fiscal year 235 days, from July 1 to December 11, 1895, and from April 2 to June 30, 1896, all dates inclusive. The Canadian canal was opened to commerce during the fiscal year 144 days, from Sept. 9 to Dec. 6, 1895, and from May 9 to June 30, 1896, all dates inclusive. The second table shows a comparison of traffic through the American canal (ignoring the Canadian canal) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1895 and 1896 respectively: end portion of the tube or mast, a lighting device above said compass, and. means of observing said compass, The combination with a submergible vessel provided with ordnance-pieces having a fixed position with rela- tion to the vessel, of an upright sighting-tube rigid with said vessel and provided at its upper end portion with a reflector and at its lower end portion with a telescope to ITEMS, Flour, barrels............ Wheat, bushels Grain tae than wheat], bushels. Manufactured and pig iron, net tons. Salt, barrels through the canal, in 7,125 lockages, 16,290 vessels, with a total registered tonnage of 15,648,025, carrying a total freight of 14,399,332 net tons. The total time during which the lock was operated was 4,644 hours and 52 min- utes, the average time spent in making a lockage being 39 minutes and 7 secomds. The total time spent by ves- sels in passing the lock was 8,986 hours and 40 minutes. The net cost ofoperating the canal, which includes all repairs and improvements made by the operating and care force and labor party and the purchases there- for, was $60,763.28, divided as follows: Office expenses, $1,375.93; general purchases, $1,845.41; repairs, $23,- 131.17; labor, operating and care, $29,714.45; extra labor, $2,825.19; lights on locks, $1,871.13. The cost per lock- age was $3.54, and per each vessel passing through, $3.73. The cost per registered ton was 3.88 mills, and per registered freight ton, 4.22 mills. —_—__— ann A NEW TYPE OF SMALL METAL BOAT. Mr. Wm. H. Mullins, of Salem, O., whose advertise- ment of metal pleasure and Hunting boats appears else- where in this paper, and who is meeting with much suc- cess in introducing this class of boat, has just patented a new type (No. 563,674) which serves to protect contem- plated improvements in the boats to be manufactured by him. The claim is as follows ; A boat or skiff provided with air-tight compartments respectively at the bow and stern thereof, the decks of said compartments composed of double metallic corruga- tions as described, and said compartments provided with metallic tubes passing substantially vertically there- through to serve the purpose of stays or braces and also to receive anchor chains or ropes, and a continuous line passing through said tubes, the outboird or lower ends thereof bearing anchor-weights. ro eo A NEW SUBMARINE BOAT. A new type of submergible vessel has been patented by Louis Gathman, of Chicago, on which application was filed Aug. 21, 1894. The patent number is 563,714, and the claim is as follows: A submergible vessel provided with an upright tube or hollow mast extending from below the deck of the same and having a transparent upper end, a compass in the upper end portion of said tube or mast having trans- parent upper and lower sides, a telescope in the lower Siniriom ele a Mrs Carel ets eV deheds. 4) 000 sive ulnce ater ibe Nica ie ¥ shu wera, eas a. ¥ie fe fates erste FISCAL YEARS, INCREASE, DECREASE. 1895. 1896, Amount, por Amount ee 15,255 16,290 1,035 07 6.452 7,125 673 10 13,947,613 | 15,648 025 1,700,412 12 18,636,270 | 14,399,832 763,062 06 28,309 28,518 209 01 Wawa we eee eee 2,860,770 D810 AI lias. 5. ewe wate 45.339 02 9,075.775 WDIO QOL fee ek neue cael ee ea 1,505 574 BY 33,380,064 | 48,933 340 | 15,553,276 | 47 |.......0....,00.0.. -| 1,503.899 | 11,865127 | 10.361,228 | 688 |...7........1.....- 76,318 99,801 23,483 COA E Ean er Sealer ate sens 262,986 2545098 24) Seinen es gos engl secre 8,893 03 Novica mar ite 105,931 106 881 fea Ringe rrp Ree earner eats Wer ieee 6,927, 246 7,217,309 290,063 OB at canes Snead a SEEN, 732,911 726;0802 | aise ee 7,601 01 « hgieop Oma EEN 40 100 60 16) Witsi... shores Ns bak Fo Bobet Moen 23,857 TS; DOT: Serbo oe ee eee 5 330 22 imran 457,547 B18 j/855¢ «| SSeS IS. vee 38,692 08 lenses of said telescope being a telescopic sight. . In a submergible vessel, a plurality of rigid sighting- tubes situated approximately midway between the ends of the vessel, said sighting-tubes varying in height and provided at their upper end with reflectors and at their lower end with telescopes. —————— > a BOTTOM SHEATHING OF VESSELS. Mr. George F. Williams, formerly superintendent of EF’. W. Wheeler & Co’s shipyard, West Bay City, has obtained a patent on his system of vessel construction, relating particularly to wood sheathing on metal bot- toms, for which he filed application over a year ago, the patent is No. 563,347, and the claim is as follows: 1. In a vessel the metal covering A having offset and inset parts, the connecting-bar C, between the inset and offset parts, and the wooden sheathing secured to the inset part and having its outer surface flush with that of the offset part. 2. In a vessel the offset metal covering A, the frames B, and the inset frames B’, a bar secured to both sets of said frames and the wooden sheathing secured to the inset part and naving its outer surface flush with that of the offset part. 3. In a vessel the offset metal covering A, the Z- shaped bar secured to both parts of the said covering and the wooden sheathing secured to the inset part and having its: outer surface flush with that of the offset part combined with the frame-irons B and B’, said frame-irons B’ overlaping the irons B and bolted thereto and to the Z-shaped irons. - 4, In a vessel the upper outer metal covering, extend- ing below the water-line, the inset metal covering, the Z-shaped bar connected to each part of thecovering and joining the same and a wooden sheathing covering the entire bottom of the vessel and having its exterior flush with that of the offset metal cover. Te During June Scotch shipbuilders launched 24 vessels of 28,350 tons, against 36 vessels of 32,830 tons, in May, arid 29 vessels of 45,525 tons in June, 1895. During the first half of 1895 Scotch ship- yards have put into the water 201,292 tons, as com- pared with 191,830 for the corresponding period of last year, 183,488 tons in 1894, 132,691 tons in 1893, and 210,- 884 tons in 1892. English builders launched 27 steamers and one torpedo boat destroyer in June, as compared with 23 vessels in the previous month.