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THE MARINE RECORD. FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC CEMENTS. The manufacture of cements of the Portland class having assumed such enormous dimensions within the last few years, a reference to their relationship with the original stock as produced in Europe will be of interest to those of our readers who have so kindly appreciated our late observa- tions on this important industry. American Portland cements differ from German or English in three essential points. Our people do not agree with this fact, but usually, one and all, claim that the home materials are identical with the European, and that the treatment being better they produced a superior article. On paper they evidently do, but if we compare the prices of the two goods we find that the average imported often com- mands a much higher price than the home-made product. A consideration of these three points will explain the reason. First, then, the statement that our raw materials are the same as the foreign is sometimes true and more often not. Many cement mills are using raw materials of an impure nature such as no foreign maker would accept, and yet to hear and read their assertions one would think they pro, duced the finest cement in the world. Some time ago it was found inan American mill that the raw materials had too much magnesia, but it wasa surprise to find that the analysis exhibited for the finished product showed no such objectionable feature. Where had the excess magnesia gone to? A second mill announced that its natural raw material is, as quarried, the very acme of perfection, but as it goes on to say that a chemist is continually employed in watching and testing this perfect material it reminds us of “the lady who doth protest too‘much.’’ It is known that some foreign mills have fairly reliable material, so much so in fact that they practically require no chemist. We sup- pose that those of our domestic mills using inferior, irregu- lar, or treacherous material, will have to soon improve on their process and manufacture. : Our people have, unfortunately, often been very reckless, going to work on material selected for them by a profes- sional chemist or engineer, having the smallest practieal knowledge of cement making, but full of book learning and self confidence, they filling all positions of trust and respon- sibility with incapables whose sole recommendation was that they were stockholders. Under such arrangements they drift rapidly to ruin and on their way, in some cases, bring disgrace to the name of American Portland cement. Then, as to burning, it is an old rule abroad that chemical combination of the raw materials of cement is best effected by a continued or soaking heat. Our people, however, largely ignore this idea, supported, as it is, by the evidence of workers in pottery and clay goods generally, and prefer a rapid burning. There is no doubt that the latter system has some advantage in cheapness as a set-off against the reliability of the other methods. Lastly comes the question of reduction. It is an axiom that to do a certain amount of work acertain amount of power is required. There is no way of getting round this, but the market is flooded with a number of reducing ma- chines, all represented as able to perform miracles. It is evident then that the power required by them is much under stated—as in a case brought under our notice recently where 55 horse-power was required to run a mill which the maker represented as only requiring 20!—or that the prod- uct is not ground but only crushed or pounded, a different thing altogether. Our makers and users might with advan- tage reflect on the different values of cements, one pounded and the other ground, and both passing a Ioo per cent. sieve. Portland cements can, therefore, be made as well in the United States as anywhere else, provided suitable raw ma- terials only and the best means of treating them, are used. A disregard of these conditions is at the root of many of the complaints which are made against American Portland cements, and which ‘‘palm oil’? can only cover up tem- porarily. el A SHOAL SPOT LOCATED. Assistant United States Engineer J. H. Darling, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., and party, have returned to Duluth from their cruise on the yacht Pickett, on which they started first for the purpose of investigating the location of a shoal off Raspberry Island, reported by Capt. Stone, of the steamer Roumania. The shoal was located and steps will be taken at once to have it properly marked by the Light-House Board. A chart showing the location of the shoal will be prepared by the engineering department and forwarded to the Light- House Board. There is about 17 feet of water at the shoalest spot and 20 feet at others. The reef is only about 50 feet wide, located about midway between Sand Island light and Bear Island light, about four miles off Raspberry Island, to the northwest, and about four and one-third miles east of Sand Island light. oO OS _ SUN’S AMPLITUDES. The following approximate amplitudes of the Sun’s rising will be given each week in this column during the season of navigation. A second bearing may be taken by compass at sunset, by reversing the east bearing given for the nearest latitude, as the change in declination for a few hours makes but a slight difference in the true bearing of the Sun’s set- ting. The bearing may be taken when the Sun’s center is on the horizon, rising or setting. The three elements which may be obtained by taking these amplitudes are the quanti- ties known as local attraction, variation and deviation. LAKE ERIE AND S. END LAKE MICHIGAN, LAT. 42° N. Sunrise. Amplitudes. Bearing P’ts. ' Bearing Comp. PNA Be asa tie a’ EB. 23°N.=N.6 EH. =E.N. E. RUG EAR seer: B. 23°N.=N.6 E.=E.N.E. UGC Se iieaa BE. 21° N. = N.6% BE. = E. by N. KN. UPTO eee B. 21° N. =N. 6% E.=E. by N. KN. LAKE ONTARIO, S. END HURON AND CENTRAL PORTION LAKE MICHIGAN, LAT. 44° N. Sunrise. Amplitudes. Bearing P’ts, Bearing Comp. AN Res a, EB. 24° N. =N. 5% E.=N.E. by E. % E. Ag: 5 sane EB. 24° N. =N. 5% E.=N.E. by E. & E. ANG! Bio ce Pus BE. 22°N.=N.6 H.=E.N.E. ANG: AO sch sa te EB. 21° N. =N. 6% E. =E. by N. KN. N. END LAKES HURON AND MICHIGAN, LAT. 46° N. Sunrise. Amplitudes. Bearing P’ts. Bearing Comp. UOT I3 tee eens BE. 25° N. =N. 53% E. =N.E. by E. % E. BAU Ser Bi case B. 24° N. =N. 5% E. =N.E. by EE. % E. VAIS. Seis sins EB, 23° N-=N.6 EH. = EN. LE. AAS TO merece as EK. 22°N.=N.6 E.=EH.N.E LAKE SUPERIOR, LAT. 48° N. Sunrise. Amplitudes. Bearing P’ts. Bearing Comp. AUIS eBiecuescc B. 26° N. = N. 55 E. =N.E. by E. % E. Ags e Sie vues KE. 25° N. =N. 5% E.=N. E. by E. % E. Aug (Sc iiasers EB. 24° N. = N. 5% E. =N.E. by BE. % E. INS TONS sate E. 23° N. =N. 6 Nea With a compass correct magnetic, the difference between the observed and true bearing or amplitude will be the vari- ation for the locality. Should there be any deviation on the course the vessel is heading at the time of taking the bear- ing, the difference between the observed and the true ampli- tude after the variation is applied will be the amount of de- viation on that course. If the correct magnetic bearing is to the right of the compass bearing, the deviation is easterly, if to the left, the deviation is westerly. TT oD —E AUGUST ASTRONOMICAL DATA. Astronomical data for August, 1899, furnished THE MARINE RECORD by the Washburn observatory : Mercury passes through inferior conjunction on the morning of August I9, which changes the planet from an evening to a morning star. By the close of the month, if the sky is very clear, Mercury may be seen rising before the sun and from a point of the horizon a little farther north. Venus rises shortly before the sun appears and at nearly the same point of the horizon. As the planet has approached superior conjunction its disk has become more fully illuminated, until in the present month it appears al- most asa full moon. Mars is seen low in the west in the early evening; but the continuous planets of the evening sky are the brilliant Jupiter in the southwest and Saturn almost due south in the early evening. The times of sunrise and sunset for the month at Milwau- kee are as follows: SUNRISE. SUNSET. AMIQUSUH Teac esi ee ath cisew we tessa «4 oe 4:42 7313 Ea i atlas en AS ee a av ler ah ear gether MERE Ca 4:53, 7:00 SE OOD TO aos hea rare a ea Nie areve rainy seareha 5:03 6:45 SSE ATP NA Beles eerie ae te oeete ara aiets 5:14 6:28 The time of the moon’s phases are : New Moonen cision. ketene cen August 6, 5:48 a. m. First Quarter coi. tasonse neues uY 14, 5:54 4. m. Bull Moons) seis a akincis ee one te. fs 20, 10:45 p. m. OnirdiOuarter sa ce ean geste cele ts a 27, 5:57 p.m. The principal fixed stars visible during the month in the evening hours are: To the west, Arcturus, Antares; near the meridian, Vega; to the east, Altair and the bright stars of the constellation Casiopeia, of the Northern Cross, and the Square of Pegasus. or oo Agreement to Accept Payment for Repairs out of Earnings of Vessels.—The refusal of the managing owners to pledge their personal credit for repairs does not justify an infer- ence of the existence of a maritime lien, where the repairer agrees to accept payment out of the earnings of the vessel 2 they accrue. The Jennie Middleton, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 3. AuGuST 3, 1899. SHIPPING AND MARINE JUDICIAL DECISIONS. (COLLABORATED SPECIALLY FOR THE MARINE RECORD. ) Maritime Liens—Repairs in Foreign Port.—Where repairs are made in a foreign port by order of the managing owners, the presumption is against the existence of a maritime lien. The Jennie Middleton, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 683. Maritime Liens—Money Supplied to Vessel.—The mari- time law gives a lien for money supplied for the use of a ship and necessary to enable her to proceed on her voyage similar in all its essential features to maritime liens for other kinds of necessary supplies. The Evangel, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S,) 680. Action for Collision—Both Vessels in Fault.—Where, on a libel for collision, both vessels are held in fault, and, libe- lant’s vessel alone having been injured, no cross libel is filed, and libelant recovers half his damages, each side will be allowed one-half its taxable costs. The Edward Lucken- back, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 544. Surety on Release Bond—Subrogation.—The effect of a bond given for the release of a vessel after its seizure by a court of admiralty in a suit in rem is to extinguish the lien of the libelant on the vessel, and a surety on such bond who pays the claim of the libelant after the vessel has been sold in subsequent proceedings to enforce other liens does not by such payment become subrogated to any right in the fund produced by the sale. The Evangel, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 680. Effect of Sale of Vessel in Admiralty.—All liens upon a vessel, whether impressed by general maritime law or local statutes, or created by bonds or mortgages, are completely and finally extinguished by a sale of the vessel pursuant to an admiralty decree in rem, and no lien for a pre-existing debt can thereafter be created or revived, so as to become enforceable against the fund produced by the sale, to the exclusion of creditors whose liens were fixed before the sale. The Evangel, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 680. Maritime Contracts—Suit for Services in Procuring Char- ter—A court of admiralty is without jurisdiction of a suit to recover compensation for services rendered in procuring a contract of affreightment for a vessel, the contract for such services not being maritime, but merely preliminary to a maritime contract; and it does not become maritime because of a provision of the charter party for the payment of the broker’s commission and reciting that it is due by the vessel. Richard et al. vs. Hogarth et al., 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 684. Maritime Liens—Evidence to Support.—A claim for mari- time lien for money advanced at the special instance and request of the master, will be denied where the deposition of claimant does not show at whose request the money was advanced, and it does not appear that the advancement was necessary for the navigation of the vessel, and neither the master of the vessel nor the agent through whom the money was paid are examined as witnesses, and the only evidence is the unsatisfactory testimony of claimant, as such liens are - strict juris, and will not be extended by implication or con- struction. The Clara A. McIntyre, 94 Fed. Red. (U. S.) 552. Admiralty Jurisdiction—Suit Between Foreigners.—The admiralty courts of the United States have jurisdiction over suits between foreigners, if the subject matter of the contro- versy is of a material nature, and the ship or party to be charged is within the jurisdiction of the court. It is a juris- diction the court may decline to exercise if for some special reason it appears to be inexpedient to exercise it, but a suit by a foreign marine insurance company against a vessel within the jurisdiction of the court, based on a right claimed under a policy of insurance issued in the United States, is one of | which the court is not justified in declining jurisdiction. Fairgrieve et al. vs. Marine Ins Co. of London, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 686. Parties to Suit for Collision—Suit by Underwriters.— Where a marine insurance company has paid the full value of aninjury toa vessel by collision caused by the fault of another vessel, so that there are no other claimants en- titled to sue for the tort, it is subrogated to the right of ac- tion of the insured, and may maintain a suit against the of- fending vessel in its own name; but, when the value of the property destroyed exceeds the insurance money paid, the suit must be brought in the name of the insured, who may recover for the entire loss, as trustee for the insurance com- pany as to the amount it has paid, and in his own rightasto the remainder. Fairgrieve et al. vs. Marine Ins. Co. of Lendon, 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 686. Shipping—Injury to Cargo—Seaworthiness—Effect of Harter Act.—Section 3 of the Harter act (2 Supp. Rev. St. p. 81) does not relieve the owner from the duty of furnishing a seaworthy vessel at the beginning of the voyage, nor af- fect his liability for damage to the cargo arising from un- seaworthiness, but only exempts him from liability for dam- age arising from the risks therein designated when due dil- ligence has been used to make the vessel seaworthy, etc. There is no expressed intention in the statute to replace the carrier’s obligation under the general maritime law to furnish a seaworthy vessel by the less extensive obligation to exer- cise due dilligence to that end, and it cannot be extended by construction beyond its terms. Farr & Bailey Mfg. Co. vs. International Nay. Co., 94 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 675.