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10 SCOTT'S NEW 1896 COAST PILOT F. W. WHEELE THE MARINE RECORD. ER & COMPANY, BUILDERS OF ALL KINDS OF PRON SS Lede AND FOR THE LAKES PRICE $1,50. WOODEN SHIPS, FOR SALE BY THE MARINE RECORD, WESTERN RESERVE BLDG., CLEVELAND. So CaN West Bay City, Mich. F. W. WHEELER, Prest. E.T. CARRIN: GTON,V.-Preat C. W. STIVER, Secretary & Treasurer. ) IRON WORKS, MARINE ENGINES, _. DETROIT, Micw FROM aE ve INCORPORATED 1794 Insurance Company of North America, CAPITAL, PAID UP IN CASH, ASSETS, me = = CHARLES, PLATT, President. _ EUGENE L apes 2d Vice President. GEORGE H. McFADDEN, Vice President. GREVILLE E. FRYER, Sec’y and Treas. JOHN H. ATWOOD, Assistant Secretary. L. McCURDY, Manacer. LAKE MARINE DEPARTMENT, GEORGE Ors MARINE AND INLAND INSURANCE .__————- $3,000,000.00 9,487,673.53 Insures against Marine and Inland Trans making Loss Payable Assets over $10,000,000 for the Security or its. Policies, The profits of the Company revert to the assured, and are divided annually upon the during the year; thereby reducing the cost of i insurance, Atlantic Mutual Insurance. Co, Organized 1842, Office 5! Wall Street, NEW YORK, ortation Risks and Issues Policies in England remiums terminated For such dividends, certificates are issued bearing interest until ordered to be redeemed, in accordance with the charter, ILL J. D. JONES, Pres, . : Ww, H. H, MOORE, Vice Pres. A. A, RAVEN, 2d Vice Pres, J. H.CHAPMAN, Sec. GORRESPONDENGE. 8G3-We do not hold ourselves responsible in any way for the views or opinions expressed by our correspondents, It is our desire that all sides of any question affecting the interests or welfare of the lake ma- rine should be fairly represented in THz Marine Recorp. THE GREYHOUND OF THE LAKES. CHICAGO, Nov. 10, 1896. To the Editor of The Marine Record: In your issue of Oct. 29th I see some one asking for the dimensions of the Christopher Columbus. Your figures for the hull are all right, but let me correct you on her engines as they stand to-day. They are 28’’x42"’ x70"’x42'", Then again—just below that article—I see the Owego is still the greyhound of the lakes. She “may be the fastest freight boat, but not the fastest boat on fresh water. The Columbus has made‘a run of 21 miles in 54 minutes, and has made that time more than once. So you will see Mr. KE. Gaskin is off somewhat on his calculations. Yours truly, W. P. WEBSTER. A PLEA FOR LIFE-SAVING APPLIANCES. CHICAGO, ILLSs., Nov. 8th, 1896. Zo the Editor of The Marine Record: ' Is it not time that something was done toward the preservation of the lives of the officers and crews of tow barges and schoonérs? Surely the lives of those on Sailing vessels are as valuable as those on passenger and freight steamers, which are compelled by the U.S. government to carry life rafts, life buoys and lifél pre- servers, and they run greater risks of losing their lives, as the steamer can usually, if her machinery remains intact, help herself through the wind and storm, whereas the tow barge, when the tow line parts, is left ‘to the mercy of the wind and waves. As an instance, I will mention the recent loss of the tow barge Sumatra, off Milwaukee. The steamer tow- ‘ing her got safe into port. The Sumatra foundered, carrying down with her four of her crew. They were not far from land, and a tug and the Milwaukee life- saving station life-boat were in the immediate vicinity of the foundered vessel and rescued the captain, mate and steward ; and had the Sumatra been supplied with lifesaving appliances similar to those carried by the steamer, in all human probability the lives of more, if not all, of the crew would have been saved. Some tow barges on the lakes carry neither sails nor centreboards, and I would ask what chance for saving their lives have'the officers and crews on such vessels? The anchors are their only hope, so long as they hold and prevent the vessel from being driven ashore. If the vessel keeps out in the lake the probabilities are that she will founder, in consequence of her being more helpless than a log, as heavy seascontaining many tons of water will more than fill her decks, and if she is overloaded, as is sometimes the case, or is old or unsea- worthy, she will go down either from the weight of the water dashing on board, or the seams will open up through her straining. The Lake Carriers’ Association has done excellent work in getting the U. S. government to erect new light-houses, and place light-ships, buoys and range lights to aid navigation, but they seem to have neglected to interest themselves sufficiently to obtain legislation which would assist in preventing the loss of the lives of the men who so well and faithfully serve them and risk their lives on their tow barges and sail vessels. If the lives of human beings are considered of less value than the cost of necessary life saving appliances, then hu- manity has fallen to a very low ebb, and the U. S. goy- ernment should enact laws to compel or teach the owners of such vessels their duty to their fellow men. I-would, in conclusion, ask the owners of tow barges and sail vessels, in the cause of humanity and for the benefit of those they employ, to at once supply their vessels with good and sufficient life saving appliances. This is the worst part of the sédson, “and althowgh it - will’ soon be ended, yet some lives may be saved which might be lost but for those appliances, and such saving of life would repay the vessel owner one hundred-fold for the outlay and bring God’s blessing and the bless- ings of the saved and their families; relatives and friends down upon their heads. Thope that all vesselmen who read this epistle will interest themselves on behalt of the end I have in view, and that they will freely express their opinions on the subject in THE MARINE RECORD, which paper will, I feel sure, be pleased to open its columns to aid the cause’ of justice and humanity. Hoping I am not intruding too much on your valuable space, I am yours respectfully, LiFe LIne. Se : Now 1s the, time to subscribe for THe MARINE RECORD. Price, $2.00 per year. NOTES. THE Bureau of Navigation, Treasury Department, is advised that new. regulations of foreign and Chinese traffic between Shanghai, Soochow and Hangchow have been established. Information in detail regarding them can be obtained from the bureau by persons direetly in- terested. * * * In an article entitled ‘‘Some Fuel Problems,’’ Jos. D. Weeks says: ‘‘ The percentage of the possible energy of coal utilized to-day does not exceed 10 per cent., if, in- deed, it reaches 5 per cent. That is, but 10 per cent. of the 30 per cent. of the coal won, or but 3 per cent. of the possible energy imprisoned in the coal, is ever released . for useful work. The value of this lost energy must every year, in the United States alone, reach hundreds of millions of dollars. A low estimate of the value of by-products per ton of coal burned would be 50 cents. This would be $64,000,000 on the bituminous coal mined in 1893. For an age that prates so loudly of its econo- mies, this is a sorry sbowsrtr: 3 * NEw YORK papers have been discussing the canal improvements upon which $9,000,000 are to be spent. They complain that the improvements do not go far enough if the commerce of the lakes through New York state is to be maintained. One of the papers publishes facts and statistics showing the immense increase in the traffic through the St. Marys river and canal, origina- ting in the far West, and adds: ‘In view of this great volume of commerce itsseems*remarkable that-all that New York proposes to-do to retain the big grain traffic. which comes to her through the lakes is to deepen the Erie (Oswego) and Champlain canals by only two teet. For the Empire State to have shown a curious indiffer- ence to her own business interests seems incredible in- deed. ‘The Buffalo correspondent of Black Diamond pertinently remarks that New York business men seem to think that the traffic will come this way perpetually, no matter if the Erie canal is not improved. But it won’t. There is a great empire west of Lakes Michigan and Superior which must have’ an’ adequate outlet, and if it cannot get through New York State it will get it down through the St. Lawrence. In a few years there will be 50,000,000 tons of freight pouring through the Great Lakes, and the urgent necessity brought about by such conditions will compel abrupt attention to the construction of an adequaté outlet to the sea. The present is the time, however, to agitate the subject.” .