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THE MARINE RECORD light find liberty and leisure to take a similar cruise thus early in his detail, feeling assured that the time thus spent would be for the best interests of the department and of incalculable benefit to those engaged in maritime and com- mercial pursuits in connection with the great lakes and their various tributary interests. - Itis not intended by the foregoing to insinuate in any manner that the present services of the department are not of regularly increasing value in this region nor that the work of the branch offices is not being ably carried out, yet, while this is being done, more perhaps might or could be accomplished if circumstances, or rather we mean funds, permitted the Hydrographic Office to take up other lines of study with a view of determining within the next few years a more exact knowledge of the physical geography of these waters, and the earlier a start is made in this direction the sooner undeniable facts of the ruling economy may be established. —_—_—— OO Oo oe _ During the year 1806 the British tonnage entered at United States ports and of course engaged in foreign commerce aggregated 11,168,065 tons. The American commerce, or cargo carried in American bottoms for the same period of time amounted to only 5,196,320 tons, and the total commerce was 20,989,194 tons. The foregoing _ figures are somewhat more in favor of the United States _ than the statistics of 1892 shows for, although that was the most prosperous year in the history of the country, in so far as our foreign commerce is concerned the totals ag- gregating 21,013,424 tons, yet, British vessels carried 11,- 930,126 tons, as opposed to 4,469,955 tons in American bot- toms. However, there is some consolation in noting that _ American vessels carried more imports last year than at any time during the past forty years, and that means more than ever before. eo oe Of course nothing will be done at this session of Con- gress towards upbuilding the United States mercantile marine, although we have had more talk on the subject than ever before. It is perhaps just as well to remember that the declaration in the Republican national platform for this term says: “‘We favor restoring the American ‘policy of discriminating duties for the upbuilding of our merchant marine and the protection of our shipping in _ the foreign carrying trade, so that American ships—the _ product of American labor, employed in American ship- yards, sailing under the stars and stripes, and manned, officered and owned by Americans—may regain the carry- ing of our foreign, commerce.” Rs ee a ee Capt. W. S. Schley, U. S. N., chairman of the Light- House Board, will shortly advertise for bids for one first- class composite light vessel to be delivered at Philadel- phia, Pa., within ten calendar months from the date of ap- - proval of the contract by the Secretary of the Treasury. - The time being limited, due consideration will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder on the contract. The Detroit Dry Dock Co. are first-class builders and well - fitted to accept a contract on one of their specialties, viz.: Composite ship building and we hope that the firm will sharpen a pencil to get the contract for this departmental new tonnage or bottom. ee WHY JETSAM IS ALOSS. (From the Detroit Free Press.) A certain Cleveland paper has been devoting much of its space to advocacy of the appointment of a “receiver” ‘for wrecks, who should personally look after the disposi- tion of jettisoned cargoes, where possible, saving as much of it as practicable for the recoupment of those who have to stand the loss. It would seem that had the need for such an official been fel at any time the plan would have been adopted many years ago. The pen pusher doing the marine on the Free Press ought surely know that the paper mentioned is the - Marine Record, he should also learn that we have wreck “receivers’—ad nauseam—they don’t receive, as the Free Press man, shows later in his verbose tirade. The master of the vessel is, according to maritime law, the person supreme on the wreck, taking precedence over the owner himself, the wrecking master and all others. It is he who is responsible for the disposition of cargo thrown overboard. In some cases he is glad to shift the responsibility for all wrecking operations to the wrecking master, if the latter is a thoroughly competent man. “In the foregoing paragraph the writer gets mixed up the act of jettisoning with the terms jetsam, salvage, nd the duties of those engaged by the master to assist perations in the interest of ali concerned, “Responsible -session again as it was worth. for the dispesition of cargo thrown overboard” is good, if bulk cargo, the master disposes of it as soon as it gets over the rail, that’s the only disposition he wants of it at the time. There is no wrecking operations or wrecking master in question, it is a simple act of jettison, or sacri- ficing a portion to save the remainder, however, the para- graph is such a jargon of words as to be unintelligible. When the Union Line steamer H. J. Jewett, then the fin- est and fastest steamer on the lakes, went ashore near White Rock, Lake Huron, in November, 1883, the greater part of her valuable cargo of high-class groceries was thrown overboard until it rose in the form of a hill high out of a depth of fourteen feet of water. There was white sugar and brown sugar in barrels and great boxes of bottled pickles and sauces and boxes of soap and crackers, and all that sort of thing. The lake for days afterward was thickly strewn with such of these as would float. Farmers from all parts of the Thumb flocked to the scene in their wagons, obtained any boats within reach and scoured the lake for the stuff. Some of them secured as much as $300 worth. Thus was the cargo scattered over all the country. On the shore from Sanilac to Pointe aux Barques the people had white and brown sugar and catsup and Worcestershire sauce for many years to come. A weak attempt was made to recover from the new owners some of this cargo, but it came to naught, the insurance men finding that it would cost as much to find it and get pos- The search over a radius of scores of miles of territory would not only entail much hard work, but much humiliation as well, for rebuffs would be met with on every hand. Then, on finding it, the new owner would have to be reimbursed for his labor and trouble in saving it, to the value of about one-half the stuff. If he refused to give it up, as he might in some cases, writs of replevin would have to be secured, and even on that kind of seizure he could still demand pay for his work in saving it. It is a favorite trick of the hookers sailing up and down the Lake Huron shore to load up with the jetsam from these wrecks and then take it over to Canada to sell it for a fair price. Of course cargo disposed of in this way is beyond recovery. This is scribbling rank anarchy of the most pronounced type and the writer thereof deserves whipping over the fingers with a split rope yarn. We did say something about the Cornish childrens prayer a while ago, and it ran in this way: “God bless mammy. God bless daddy, and send a ship ashore before morning,” it is but just to state, however, that they have become more civilized with- in the past few years and the petition is no longer put up. If the Free Press man cold get leisure enough to leave his long winded, misleading special stories and try to run a cargo of flotsam, jetsam or lagan into a Canadian port, he would not have the chance to perpetrate his jokes, on a fun-loving public, for a time at least, as his efforts to dis- pose of such a cargo might land him where the flies would not trouble him. The only way in which jetsam can be saved is to lighter it immediately into a schooner or barge, but these heavy strandings usually occur in the late fall of the year, when time is of the utmost importance, and men must work night and day, without waiting for the arrival of a lighter. to rid the vessel of cargo and lighten her enough to get her off the rocks before gales spring up to pound her to pieces. Worse and more of it, jetsam is goods sunk, now, this writer, who it appears is loaded down to the scuppers with the legal lore and nautical phraseology, wants to make an ordinary lightering job into a bad case of strand- ing. He first creates jetsam, lighters the jetsam, strands the vessel and makes a clear case of jettison, finally piling the vessel on the rocks and then gets in a hurry to lighter her before a gale springs up, to pound her to pieces. Well! we intended to teach the Free Press man who our “wreck receivers” are, their duties, etc., etc., but this things cast overboard, and “lagan,’ or goods sunk but would be but spoiling material to endeavor “‘to lighten the darkness.” The ancient signification of the word wreck (derived from the Anglo-Saxon), says an authority, was that of a ship or goods cast upon the land by the sea in tidal waters. While still at sea, these were derelict, and not wreck. ‘‘Flotsom,’ or things floating; ‘jetsam,’ or things case overboard; and ‘“‘lagan,’ or goods sunk but buoyed, were also derelict, and not wreck. According to the English law, Merchant Shipping Act, 1854, wreck now includes flotsam, jetsam and lagan. Plundering or stealing from a wreck is punishable with fourteen years’ penal servitude; or being in illegal possession of goods stolen from a wreck, with ten years’ penal servitude. The Roman law ruled that theft from a wreck was a crime aggravated by the helpless condition of the owner, and the thief was liable for fourfold the amount of the property stolen, provided that action was brought with- ina year after the offense, a concealer of wreck suffered — the same penalty. We now learn through the columns of the Free Prsge2 and the farmers also, the crews of hookers are especially ; mentioned, that our people, are, in a word, thieves and robbers, steal and when captured refuse to give up their — ill-gotten plunder, arguing, moreover, that laws cannot — be enforced. Out upon such a villifier he ought to be : put into a barrel and headed up and jettisoned in the amid- dle of Detroit River to ponder over the terms, Bottomry, — Respondentia and Hypothecation. Se — GENERAL VERSUS BULK CARGOES. The following item has gone the rounds of the press this week, though what information there is in it or why it should ever have gotten into print is past comprehen- — ? sion. I re-print it to point out that the author does not — know the difference between a general or bulk cargo; not to mention the misnomer of package freight. : “In a discussion a day or two ago a well-known vessel — agent gave it as his opinion that the most difficult kind of cargo to carry in lake hulls is package freight. The danger of unskilled loading or unloading is that it strains the vessel in that part where the weight is allowed to lie the heaviest. Pig lead or railroad iron stowed on deck — and unevenly trimmed always weakens the deck and in some cases crushes it down outright. For the same reason — iron ore carried in the hold strains a vessel. The drop- ping of the ore into the boat does not, as some suppose, hurt the bottom or the sides by the force of the blow it may give the boat, but it is the leaving it in piles that strains the bottom. These piles are, of course, right under the hatches. hatches the better the boat is trimmed.” a Now this is a good deal like one of the Detroit Free Press stories.. By package freight is meant general cargo and properly stowed is usually an easy cargo to carry, as the vessel can be so trimmed while loading. The fellow then gets off to stowing pig lead and railroad iron on deck, then winding up with an untrimmed cargo of iron ore. The item begins to tell about “package freight,’ whatever that is, and ends with a caution to have plenty of hatch- ways, so as to load a self-trimming cargo of iron ore. _ rr LAKE FREIGHTS. The Chicago grain freights have wavered somewhat dur- ing the week, oats being taken at 1 cent and corn 1% cents to Buffalo, a drop of 4 cent from the firm market of last — week on both cereals, to Prescott, Ont., 24 cents on corn, slow sales of grain are still reported. At Duluth the situa- — tion is slightly improving and a quotation is in evidence for the first time this season, although the old rate of 12 cents prevails. Very little change can be expected until the next crop begins to arrive, yet there is a firmer feeling and rates must surely advance in the very near future, as an indication the latest charter is quoted at 13 cents on wheat. Iron ore rates are as formerly quoted, viz.: 40 cents, Escanaba; 50 cents, head of the lakes, but it is thought that these low figures will not last over a few days longer, © 55 cents and 60 cents for ninety-day charters is now being considered, but with slow dispatch on account of the docks being crowded, even the higher rate is anything but a de- sirable chatter to work on up till October and vessel own- : ers seem not too eager to accept 60 cents. Coal freights to the principal ports are unchanged from last week’s quotations and nothing better than 20 cents from Lake Erie to Lakes Michigan or Superior can be secured. The Buffalo shipments of anthracite show a very decided falling off, something like 200,000 tons less than at this time last season. The coal will have to go for- ward and vessel owners ought to have grit enough to get together and make an understanding so that the up car- goes of coal would help out vessel's earnings. A 40-cent rate would as easily be procured as the present 20 cents, if the hungriest of the fleet would only hold off for awhile and there is really little sense in carrying a much wanted commodity for ballast. : Q It is idle to state what the future may develop in the grain, iron ore, coal or lumber trades. or quoting what Tom, Jack or Dick may suggest regarding freights. Con- ditions alone will rule and with a surplus tonnage rates are certain to be low. At the same time iron ore as well as _ coal freights should certainly advance. a Or Uncle Eben—The dickshunny is de mose uselessis’ book as ebber was printed. Yer can’t find out by it how to spell ter word excep’ yer knows how ter spell it in de fus’ place. All lars’ night I was sarchin’ ‘mongst the “1s” fur the word “kwiet,” an’ I couldn’t find it—’twarn't there! It would seem that the greater number of _