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THE MARINE RECORD. ESTABLISHED 1878. Published jae Piaday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. GEO. L. SMITH, President. C, E, RUSKIN, ~ - - - CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, ~ - - ~ THOS. WILLIAMS, Chicago, - - CLEVELAND, Western Reserve Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, ’ g One Copy; one year, to foreign countries, = - - s Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates eee on ihveacs et Manager. Editor. Associate, CHICAGO. Royal Insurance Building. $2.00 $3.00 All communications should be widcened to the Cleveland office. THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve eulae: Cleveland, O. ; nied at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., ‘JULY 8, 1897. A SUBMARINE INFLOW. The Record has all along held to the opinion that a surface watershed did not account for the fluctuation of lake levels. According to the late General O. M. Poe, pre- cipitation alone ruled the level of the leaks and so much ‘w are willing to grant, but, the supply may not be from the surface, rather, are we disposed to believe that close soundings and a thorough survey would show that sub- marine springs, wells or actual rivers exist at the bed of the lakes. This supply is from the precipitation over the watershed tributary to the lake region, but the point is, that it is not a surface flow. In this connection the New York Sun says this week in quoting a recent interview: -*T believe there is a subterranean river running from Lake Superior through Lakes Huron and Michigan, under Lake Erie, and emptying into Lake Ontario,” said a man from up the state. “There is no other theory by which certain mysteries of the great lakes may be explained. The surface of Lake Superior is about 650 feet above tide, while its bed is 260 feet below tide level. Lake Huron’s ‘surface is fifty feet below that of Lake Superior, and its - bed is about on a level with Superior’s bed: The surface of Lake Michigan is 300 feet lower than Lake Huron’s, and its bed is sunk to'a corresponding distance to the level of Lakes Superior and Huron. Lake Erie’s surface is nearly as high as Lake Michigan’s, being 565 feet above tide, but its bed is also above tide, being 350 feet above the ocean level, consequently its B@@ is 250 feet higher than the beds of Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior. The surface of Lake Ontario is the lowest of all the lakes, being less than 500 feet above tide, but its bed is 260 feet below the ocean level, or on about the same level with Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior. So there is a continuous fall from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario, and all the known outlet that the upper lakes have is in the comparatively insignificant Detroit River. It does not seem within the bounds of physical possibility that De- a troit River could dispose of all that great volume of water - from above, or its’ banks withstand the enormous pressure of that immense volume, and the theory of the existence of that stream is a necessity. All the St. Lawrence River fishes are found in every one of the great lakes except Lake Erie. Why? Because they follow the course of the sub- 'terranean river, passing 300 feet beneath the bottom of __ Lake Erie, and enter the waters of Lake Michigan, thence ‘to be distributed to the other lakes above it. “The lakes above Lake Erie have frequent but irregu- Yar flux and reflux of their waters, corresponding with ocean tides, What is the explanation of the mystery of those erratic lake tides? Simply, according to my opin- ion, that the subterranean river becomes occasionally ob- structed by great obstacles that are constantly separated from the lake bottoms and moved down. Then that sup- plementary outlet for the great volume of water above for the time becomes useless, and the other only outlet, De- troit River, being insufficient for the purpose, the waters are dammed back, and the lakes rise. At last the under- ground obstructions are’ swept away by the irresistible pressure, the subterranean river flows naturally once more, and the dammed waters of the upper lakes subside. That is the whole mystery of the rise and fall of the tides in the great lakes.” er oO oe A NAUTICAL ACADEMY. The Record called attention last week to the idiosyncrasy of the writer in the columns of the Free Press, Detroit. We again asseverate that he is a whole whale, talks or writes about matters of which he is totally ignorant and evidently would endeavor to keep the marine fraternity in a know-nothing condition. We referred last week to his long-winded, misleading scribbling and here comes another, every line of which could with justice be contradicted. “Though it is claimed that the Wilson school for educa- tion in navigation has had as pupils ‘twenty-five captains and mates who have grown gray in the service,’ it is a fact that the owners and captains of this port take no stock in the idea, and that they scoff at the notion of offering money prizes for the best-schooled graduates, as George L. McCurdy, the insurance man, proposes doing. Said a well-known master who spent half a day in port yesterday. ““This Chicago school was established by an officer of the hydrographic office, and at the suggestion of C. D: Sigsbee, in charge of the hydrographic office in Chicago. It is proposed to teach lake mariners the science of navi- gation, which means the ability to figure out a ship’s posi- tion by solar observations. Now, the matter of latitude and longitude has no part in the navigation of the lakes. Instead, an intimate knowledge of the rivers, their pe- culiarities, currents, bends, different widths. shoals, bowl- der clusters, the various courses necessary to clear all. lake shore dangers and at the same time not cost the vessel loss of time by running her too far out; the position, form- ation and depth of harbors, width of piers; the rules of the road, the ability to distinguish red from green; the ability to get out of a vessel all the speed that is in her consistent with fuel economy—these and a few other qualifications are what the lake owner demands of the man he has placed in charge of his vessel. ““For the last eighty years or more this has been the condition of things on the lakes. The master has been con- tent to begin in one of the minor positions of watchman, or wheelsman, and to work his way up slowly through many long years of arduous service in the different posi- tions. In all these years he has been unconsciously acquir- ing the knowledge that is embodied in the list I have men- tioned. It may be taken for granted that no owner is go- ing to honor him with the command of one of his vessels unless the navigator is able to show that he has had all this experience, for nowhere than on the lakes is a longer apprenticeship as understrapper required. But the lake owner never stops to inquire whether or not he can handle a sextant or work up difficult problems in mathematics, simply because it is of no use to him in handling a vessel from one port to another. The supervising inspector of his district wastes no time in asking him the definition of azi- muth, co-efficiency, zenith, tangent, secant, etc. But he does want to know, before he issues the government li- cense, whether the applicant is all right in his eyes, and whether he can shape courses here and there on the differ- ent lakes, and for his knowledge of the pilot rules and sun- dry other things peculiar to the lakes. When he has satis- fied himself that the appplicant is all right, then, and not till then, will the inspector give him the sheet of paper that allows him to command vessels or act as pilot or mate on the lakes. “ “Once in a great while you will hear the excuse given by the man on watch for stranding his vessel in a fog, that he thought he was further out in the lake, or several miles back or ahead of the point at which he went on. This is no excuse at all. He should have his log, and, knowing the speed of the boat, he would be able to tell his posi- tion when he entered the fog. As to his ignorance that he was so close to shore—he would have been enlightened fully had he not criminally neglected the heaving of the lead. No, it makes no difference whether or no a defective compass sent him ashore. It is his duty, in a fog, to go, at a very slow speed, and to keep that lead going. ous will always prevent stranding. » iz “Tt is strange that, old as is navigation on the ‘ikea no attention should be paid to the ocean method of naviga- ciou till this late day, for the school was only established a year before last winter. Mr. McCurdy no doubt means well when he offers these prizes. He is the senior mem-— ber of a firm of agents that represents many of the London insurers in placing and maintaining insurance on the lakes, and he is doing all in his power to bring about conditions that will prevent collisions and strandings. and damage on river and harbor rocks. He has already. re quested all masters to notify him of the existence of hither- to undiscovered shoals or of other conditions that endan- ger navigation. In doing this he is adopting the right course, and all masters ought to co-operate by freely and. willingly giving up such information if they have it. But : when it comes to educating the lake mariner oe the style ‘ that is of practical use only on the ocean, I pass.” oor Capt. W. S. Schley, U. S. N., Chairman of the Light- House Board, asks for proposals for furnishing the ma- terials and labor of all kinds necessary for rebuilding and repairing the light-house tender Holly. The Depart- ment also advertise for bids for the construction ‘ofa a com- posite built light vessel. In these rather slack times the more of this special work that can be placed in our ship- yards the better it is for the many varied interests con- cerned in shipbuilding and repairing. ee LAKE FREIGHT REPORT. There is practically no change in the freight market from a week ago. Chicago is somewhat weaker on account of the Fourth of July holidays embracing as it did Satur- day, which is only half a day any time and then Sunday came on with the actual celebration on Monday, which made a three-day vacation. Ore, grain, coal and lumber are as quoted last week and while we can judge of a nearby and general improvement in lake freights, it is conditional upon the industrial de- mand which is at present picking up. nate The future of lake freights is anyones guess, they. mav and are likely to go up, but to what extent is questionable. Practically, all lake tonnage is now charatered, but we — must admit that charters are made on a non-paying basis and simply to keep the tonnage employed instead of rot- ting or rusting at the docks. ee ee Oo oe EDUCATION NEGLECTED. eee Boston, Mass., July 6, 1897. Editor Marine Record: : i Relative to your recently editorial in the Record of July — 1, | think that your religious training as a boy must have been totally neglected, for in your attempt to quote Scrip- ture you positively misquote it. The quotation rendered as it should be is as follows: “Tell it not in Gath, publish — it not in the streets of Askelon,” II. Sam. 1:20. iF I think when newspaper men attempt to handle Scrip- tural phrases they ought to consider themselves nearly right, but it would appear as if you had not even taken the time to look up the text. . It is simply obnoxious for me to see terms misquoted and more especially so when they relate to Scripture. Yours truly, A DIVINE. ~— re or x NEW TONNAGE. The Bureau of Navigation, Treasury Department, acti us this week a list of twenty-three vessels, among which is the lake-built schooner Polynesia, of the Corrigan fleet, recently launched at Cleveland. Taking the other twenty-two in account, the Clevelanc boat of 3,562 tons, will carry more cargo than all others registered for the week ending June 26, 1897. Evidently the lakes still lead in building and as we regtt larly state is the backbone of American (ORES S VESSELS CLASSED. sh oot The American Shipmasters’ Association have‘classed 0 rated in the Record of American and Foreign Shipping a large number of vessels during the past week. ‘The ‘strict. ly American classification society is the Record and ‘thei rating goes from end to end of the world: lage