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ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. E. RUSKIN, oe Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, - - - Editor. THOS. WILLIAMS, Chicago, - - Associate. ‘CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. ‘SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - s One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - - Invariably in advance. $2.00 $3.00 ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. 4 All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office. THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, O. _ Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., JULY 27, 1899. UE nn Tron ore is king! The watchword is rampant on the akes. Hurry along the iron ore, ore, and always more ore. ese THE American Ship Building Co., Cleveland, will do itself proud on Saturday, August 5, by launching about a thousand feet of high classed steel construction from their ship yards at Cleveland and Lorain, O. Thehonors are to be equally divided between each port, and, there is more to follow. OO _ Ou, the remorse of conscience suffered by those who chartered their tonnage too far ahead, and‘are now raising Cain toting cargoes for nothing. For nothing? Well! There may be astepmother’s scraping of butter on the johnny cake, but there is no gilded gingerbread falling to their share. i d oP or Cause and effect are sometimes remotely connected. The Inter Ocean, Chicago, traces the earthquake shock felt in ‘Los Angeles, Cal., to Lake Superior, and makes’ no doubt but that the three feet tidal wave felt in Ashland Bay this week was indirectly the result of the earth quaking in Southern California. Perhaps so, too? Soo ol io cs Some pessimistic views, recently expressed, seemed to -father the idea of consolidating all of the best tonnage out- ‘side of that owned by the railroads, owners of iron ore mines, mills and furnaces. Now comes along an optimist who sees every good in consolidating the whole lake ton- nage, the business to be directed, carried on and wound up by and from a central office or clearing house. In consid- _ ering matter, of this sort it is usual to look for a precedent which may in some’tmanner aptly fit the, or any suggested ‘ innovation. Not finding any parallel case in the annals of “shipowning, the mind reverts at once to the other great artery of commerce, viz., railroads, and in this direction, as in shipowning, we find an abundance of adequate competi- tion. To argue against a union of interests is like trying to prove that labor saving devices are inimical to the best in- terests of the sovereign people, the, or any community. The \ rage for, and age, of combinations has never been brought - so. prominently in; the foreground as at present, and, he » ‘would be a wise. man. indeed who could logically assure us of the final outcome of this apparent craze or wave of scien- tific, industrial, technical and professional momentum now enforcing a consolidation of interests in all branches of financial pursuits. THE IVARINE RECORD. JuLy 27, 1899. cre a SS SOY SHOAILING THE LAKES. Rather a spirited discussion took place in the Dominion Senate on Monday last: on the subject of dumping ashes or other refuse or waste im the inland waters. Senator Forget said that the Richelieu & Ontario Naviga™ tion Co. had just constructed a steamer which threw out the ashes as she went along. She would, if the bill became a law, have to be be ta’xen off the route. She burned 60 tons of coal in 28 hours. That is rather steep burning of fuel for a Lake Ontario steamer, yet, that is beside the question. What we now want is a smart statistician who can figure the displacement of a million tons of the various grades of fuel reduced to ashes, then apportion to each lake route its pro rata share of the expense for dredging at decennial periods, or more frequently if desirable. A beneficial feature in this con- nection is the fact that steamboat routes can be projected on all charts, so that when any vessel is doubtful of her position, from any cause, she may sound for ashes, being careful only that she is not on a divergent highway by the ash route. To come back to the Dominion Senaie, we find that the House went into committee on the bill ‘‘to reduce the depth into which it was prohibited to dump refuse in navigable waters from 12 to 7 fathoms.’’ Senator Forget, the repre- sentative of the largest steamboat line in Canada said ‘‘it was absurd to make this law apply to the inland rivers. | There was an average depth of 42 feet of water in the chan- nel of the St. Lawrence between Toronto and Montreal. This bill would place such companies as the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company in a very awkward position. They were always careful not to dump ashes where the water was shallow, but under this law they would not be able to dispose of their ashes at all. The Secretary of State instanced the case of the Ottawa river, where at one time there had been 20 feet of water, and now there was only sixin places. It was impossible to longer permit this indiscriminate dumping of ashes from steamers into navigable streams and waters. There being an average depth of seven fathoms on the Lake Ontario route, makes it appear that the bill is advanced expressly for the benefit of and to facilitate the dollar-grabbing propensities of the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., Senator Forget being its advocate first and the National Legislator after. Besides, the channel of the St. Lawremce does not extend between Toronto and Mon- treal, nor can he keep in territorial waters on that route. The United States Secretary of War has something to say and do in the event of such a question arising. There are, however, too many instances where private interests overbear the rights of a majority. International, as well as neutral natural waterways are as free as the air, to use, but not abuse, in the sense of making them impass- able. Too little attention has perhaps been given to this feature in the short and shoal water routes on the United States side of the lakes, and, as traffic increases, more adequate and inclusive rules should be laid down for the guidance of those engaged in such a trade. It may not be necessary at this time to insist upon all ashes and other waste refuse, when accumulated between certain points, being landed, yet, in the absence of stringent rules regulating the dumping of ashes, etc., the supposition or belief may gain ground, that the waters of the lakes are being shoaled through the ignorance or carelessness of those traversing them. There is every evidence that the purely natural sentiment and feeling still exists (as it has done and always will) that sufficient for the day is the evil thereof, or, rather, that if the ordinary methods will suit our time that is all we care about. The stronger this feeling is known to become, the more are we bound to throw such safeguards around the conditions as to conserve for posterity the same privileges which we have enjoyed, and, by all means in our power strive to enhance same, at least such is the province of our form of government, of, from, by and for the people. oO WE may once more repeat that the fleet of vessels recently permitted to load cargoes of grain were not re-classed, their class and rating was not changed at all. There should be no mistaken impressions about the class and rating part of that story, as the RECORD made it clear enough ‘several issues ago, we also briefly explained, in part, what a ve-sel’s class meant to her owner or underwriters, Ratings can not be changed unless mistakes are made, at the same time it appears that shippers can make terms with underwriters re- garding a vessel’s ability, and this too, without a change of class or a consultation requesting the acquiescence of the owners of floating property. An improvement in freights calls for more tonnage, hence, those who were pronounced unfit, are found fit, whether the owner wants it or not. How- ever, as it is mostly want, with the owners, they had no need to be looked to, to do what the other interests could do for themselves, mostly themselves. The owners of the smaller class of floating property know whether their boats have been chalked up or not, in rating as well as valuation. The owners of large, valuable fleets of high classed steel vessels won’t interfere in any case, they don’t know or care what is done with the other man’s property, unless the doing of it touches their own pockets, then they’ll want to know all about it. The moral to this episode is that in classing ves- sels on a scale of valuations, the value of vessels when busi- ness is depressed and freights low should not be chalked down so low as to influence underwriters, for, and as in the present case where a fleet of three or four score of vessels were concerned, freights might, perchance, fluctuate occa- sionally, whether the hulls were rated up to a re-valuation or not. ——_—_— rr a Now that we have several governmental scientific depart- ments, whose province it is to study, explain and dissemi- nate useful information relative to the physical geography, hydrographic and meteorological conditions existing on the lakes, we naturally look to see such a phenomenon as was telegraphed from Ashland, Wis., a day or two ago, fully ventilated. In this instance we refer ‘to the following dis- patch: ‘‘Chequamagon Bay was visited by a tidal wave this forenoon, Saturday, July 22nd, which raised the water in the bay three feet. This is the highest recorded for many years. Many lumber docks were flooded and the mills were compelled to shut down for the time being. At 3 o’clock this afternoon the water had dropped again until it was nine inches below normal.’’ Here is a maximum rise and fall of 3 feet 9 inches, and no reasonis offered to explain the ap- parent phenomenon. Ordinary squally weather, and, or rain showers, seems to be heralded with increasing regularity, but a three feet upheaval of the surface of Lake Superior is allowed to pass unnoticed, or, rather, this has been the fashion hitherto. Oe INSTEAD of immediately enrolling the individually owned tonnage on the lakes ina syndicate form, as has been sug- gested, would it not bea more possible matter to corral the several large company fleets under one management? Then the fleets owned by the various railroad lines, known as ‘‘package freighters.’’ After that it might be advisable to have attention turned to the several passenger lines on each lake ; this indeed would be a fruitful field, as there is more or less competition, and, in some instances, a good chance to inflate, or, water the stock. So much being accomplished, it would then be required, or at least in order, to combine these several units in one grand whole, so that the building and handling, including underwriting, wrecking, repairing, etc., might all be controled by a central bureau of shipping and commerce. In fact, the possibilities are too enormous and far reaching for our limited space to enumerate at this time. Let’s all combine!!! ee A 700 FOOTER. A dispatch has gone spreading over the country this week stating that a steamer 700 feet in length would be built by the Cramps, of Philadelphia, to the order. of the Inter- national Navigation Co., for the Atlantic trade. It is announced that sister ships of 610 feet in length will first be built, to be followed by the leviathan. In 1894 and 1895 the St. Paul and St. Louis were built, the first frames being raised July 27, 1893. The length over all was 554 feet 2 inches and their gross tonnage was 10,700. Twenty knots was the speed developed, and Americans applauded the skill of the Philadelphia shipbuilders. Now, after the lapse of five years, the same firm, under the impetus of favorable conditions, again assumes the pleasing task of upholding and asserting the genius of American workmen by constructing ships that will rival in size and speed the greatest and fastest vessels e er built, FSB OOS A dredge designed to facilitate navigation, to be used in deepening harbors and channels, and removing obstructions from navigable rivers, and to bear afloat heavy machinery for that class of work, may become subject toa maritime lien McRae vs.B owers Dredging Co., 86 Fed. Rep. 344.