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THE MARINE RECORD. ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. GEO. L. SMITH, President. Cc. E, RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, ~ - - - Editor. THOS. WILLIAMS, Chicago, - - Associate. CLEVELAND, ai = CHICAGO. Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. ; SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - $2.00. One Copy, one year, to foreign countries. - - $3.00. Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. Bt ncnications should be addressed’ to:the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO.,' Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, Ohio. === Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., APRIL 22, 1897. The gale of Monday caused considerable trouble and damage to the early fleet navigating the lakes. oor io It is about time that we got away from calling cargo, freight. Let us once more impress upon our readers that freight is the money earned for carrying cargo. Rail- road parlance ought no longer to: be continued in con- nection with marine or lake affairs. Cargo is cargo, either bulk or general, freight is the recompense for carry- ing same. oe ool Our thanks are due the Chicago Ship Building Co. for a courteous invitation to attend the launch of the Minne- apolis and St. Paul on Saturday next, April 24th. These steamers are built to the order of the Lower Lake Steam- ship Co., Cleveland, and are of the Welland Canal size, being specially built and adapted for that trade. The time set for the launches is 2:30 and 3:30 p. m., respec- tively. oe or When groundings take place The Record is generally ‘notified, should any master, mate or pilot on the lakes thump anything unexpectedly this season, we will be pleased to bring it to the attention of the proper authori- ties, but in doing so, we would ask for bearings and dis- tances to be furnished, furthermore, please state whether the bearings are compass, magnetic or true, distances, nautical, or statute, and if convenient, always secure cross- bearings. The Canadian commissioners, under the Deep Water- ways Commission, have completed their report to the Do- minion government of their joint deliberations with the United States representatives. Much information has been gained and plans formulated, with accompanying sketches and maps. The United States government will be asked, however, to: appropriate $150,000 for further surveys and deliberations. The Canadian commissioners, O. A. Howland, C. T. Keefer and Thomas Munro, will ask for about $15,000 to make surveys. oO one There is some talk and a little apprehension on the part of some vessel owners about the proposed Canadian law which will provide that all American vessels entering the Welland Canal shall be manned by Canadians while mak- ing the passage. This, of course, is a measure of re- taliation against the Alien Coritract Labor law. If the measure becomes a law it will affect only the small num- ber of vessel owners who do business in Canadian waters. The Welland Canal is again open for the usual season trade, Tuesday morning being the first lockages. ~ man them. MERCHANT MARINE. The question of wages paid men serving in the merchant service is frequently put forward as one reason for the decline and stagnation of the American merchant marine. Another subject often discussed at great length is the dietary system, which is always spoken of as being much more liberal and consequently more expensive than the scale set forth and signed by the seamen of other nation- alities. According to the above remarks the daily ex- penditure being greater, our vessels required a better rate of freight than those of foreigners, simply to meet the wages and ship chandlers’ accounts, and it was thought advisable sometimes, in the past, even to send a ship to sea with fewer men, depending on quality to make up for numbers, so that the American ship could. compete. suc- cessfully in the freight markets of the world. However, we may venture to say that the average small increase in wages has little or nothing to do with the decline of American foreign shipping, and we draw this inference chiefly from the fact that the nation predominant in ma- rine affairs today pays more wages than any of her com- petitors in the traffic of the seas. If the American sea- men’s wages exceed those of Great Britain, so also does the wages of the latter power exceed the average of all other nations, and as they have the ships to sail, Danes, Americans, Germans, Swedes and Norwegians, are found sailing them, and in point of fact a foreign crew is always given the preference in an English ship so that although the nation has attained the point of superiority in her merchant marine it has not been arrived at by purely native talent and energy. The food served: on the. Eng- lish vessels is also better and more plentiful than that supplied by any other nation, excepting our own, and with the same result, viz., progression as said above in all the maritime branches of commerce ‘and colonization, hence it may be shown that the small increase of expense as rep- resented by the extra pay and diet is no factor in the prosperity or decline of a merchant marine, so that the apparently insurmountable obstacles which this country’s mercantile service would have to face would dwindle into insignificance. Notwithstanding the croaking of the in- dividuals who show at a glance that American shipping cannot prosper when handicapped as it is both on wages and food bills. If we had the ships Lascars might handle them, even if it took double the number, but without vessels for our foreign trade we are compelled to foster and encourage alien interests, knowing at the same time that the field is open for all and that this country is as bountifully supplied with the necessary. material as any other. Quoting from a report of the commissioner of navigation this authority says that we have “foreign skill, experience, and a long established business to contend with,’ but we should make the attempt to compete with.them or the next twenty-five years may see us without any ships except our fleet of lake craft and coasters. The importance of a great commercial navy to a coun- try that possesses it has recently been the subject of much investigation and study, and our ablest economists and , statesmen on both sides of the question agree that a large and important merchant marine should be an established quantity in the elements of a flourishing nation, and having these facts acknowledged, congress still seems to hesitate in legislating for the encouragement of ship- building, being as it were humbugged by the inconsistent belief that we dare not compete because it apparently takes more money to sail an American vessel than any other. Suter When this country had a merchant fleet the build and discipline maintained were noted as the best on the seas, and the sons of our best citizens embraced the profession eagerly, then, when they were put into competition with the rest of the world a spirit of emulation was aroused, which aided in creating seamen unsurpassed by any na- tion. With the decline of our shipping the maritime spirit of the rising generations checked, and now we are in an unenviable position, without ships or Americans to As our commercial interests increase we will feel more keenly the effects of this deplorable condition, our future prospects, we cannot hide the fact that unless something is done at an early date the evergrowing trade of the world will pass entirely out of our hands, and the distinctively American merchant seamen will be a per- sonality of the past. NAMING VESSELS. While there are so many new vessels. now in course of construction at the various ports on the chain of lakes, we consider it to be our duty to point out the irregulari or similarity of names. of vessels duplicated, much to the chagrin and dissatis- faction of people who are not directly interested in the ownership, but who from a relative or business sympathy frequently desire to learn the whereabouts of the craft— and not being acquainted with the special trade that the boats are in are surprised to hear through the papers of her being in Chicago River when as a case in point might go to prove she was elsewhere. hee As shipping property increases in numbers, complica- tions will also occur in réporting by telegraph and other- wise, and a portion of correctness will have to be left to the intelligence of people interested. We consider it strongly advisable for owners and builders to avoid even a repetition of the initial letters as that part of a vessel's name is frequently learned when the full word cannot be ascertained, if this fact was kept in view, much anxiety might be spared the owners, the relatives of the crew, un-:. derwriters and others who are always watching the ca-— reer, and welfare of the vessel. Although very little im- ties and complications liable to rise through a repetition Already there are several names portance is attached to the naming of a new vessel, and — she may be allowed to travel under anything but a clear sounding or appropriate name, yet if due weight was given to the possibilities of importance involved in the name she bears, we are convinced that more attention would be paid to the question, and compound, and unpronouncable names, with a superfluity of initials, would be left severely — alone. In this connection we do not wish to be thought hypercritical, yet we can hardly recognize even the an- cient biblical name of Castor and Pollux, as being a good one in the sense of individuality, and clear sounding, as required at the present day. However, be this as it may, we believe that owners would follow their own interests by giving clear and simple names to their vessels, at the same time allowing the Commissioner of Navigation at Washington, a wide discretionary power in accepting or rejecting any names which may be considered objection- able from any of the above causes, thereby exercising an official supervision for the benefit of all concerned, and as the registration papers have to pass through the office of the Bureau of Navigation before the official number can be assigned no inconvenience or friction would be li- ‘able to occur in suggesting any alteration in a name as de- sired by the owner who has not the facilities for determ- ining whether the name as offered is borne by, or been as- signed, to one or more vessels, either on fresh or salt wa- ter as the case may be. of vessels be watched from our own ports, but the com- missioner should see that there is.a material difference in the hull, rig and tonnage of vessels under the same or a similar name hailing from the Canadian ports and trad- ing in the same waters as our own boats, acquainting the owners of the fact if such be the case. Up to the present time, however, we believe that a strict attention has. been paid to these requirements at the Bureau of Navigation, yet we desire to call attention to the points enumerated in this article as the name of the vessel is the general and public mode of designation as opposed to the more cor- rect, yet usually unknown official number, and al- though the system of naming vessels need not nec- essarily be treated in an international sense, we would on general principles, advocate an attention from and to the names issued by other nationalties, so that when our mer- chant marine becomes as flourishing on the ocean as it. once was, no difficulty will be found in exchanging sig- nals, or reporting vessels whether the ensign is shown or not. On the other hand, in the absence of the code flags, which are not required on the lakes, or the Semaphore system of signalling more attention will perhaps have to be paid to the naming of a vessel on fresh water, than is required on the coast. AN ERRAND OF MERCY. The whaleback City of Everett is to be used by the United States government to carry a cargo of grain to the famine sufferers of India. The steamer will load at San Francisco and will soon be dispatched on her errand of mercy. The railroads have transported the grain free ef charge to the California metropolis and the ~ dock workers at that city will also load it aboard the steamer — without cost. Not only need the nomenclature .