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Wh My Yy ig by ESTABLISHED 1878. [PP senanmannss VOL. XXII, No. 49. Lg ~ CLEVELAND---DECEMBER 7, 1899---CHICAGO. $2.00 Per Year. 5c. Single Copy. LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. Toconsider and take action upon all general questions relating to the navigation and carrying business of the Great Lakes, maintain necessary shipping offices and in general to protect the common interests of Lake Car- tiers, and improve the character of the service rendered to the public. PRESIDENT. FRANK J. FIRTH, Philadelphia, 1ST VICE-PRESIDENT. Capt. THos. WILSON, Cleveland. SECRETARY CHARLES H. KEEP, Buffalo. TREASURER GEORGE P. McKay, Cleveland. COUNSEL HARVEY D. GOULDER, Cleveland, EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, JAMES CoRRIGAN, Chairman, Cleveland. COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION. Gipson L,. DouGLas, Chairman, Buffalo, COMMITTEE ON AIDS TO NAVIGATION GEORGE P. McKay, Chairman, Cleveland. RESTORE THE MERCHANT MARINE. The value of an American merchant marine to the exten- sion of our commercial trade and the strengthening of our power upon the sea invites the immediate action of Congress. Our national development will be one-sided and unsatis- factory so long as the remarkable growth of our inland in- dustries remains unaccompanied by progress on the seas. There is no lack of constitutional authority for legislation which shall give to the country maritime strength commen- surate with its industrial achievements and with its rank among the nations of the earth. The past year has recorded exceptional activity in our ship- yards, and the promises of continual prosperity in shipbuild- ing are abundant. Advanced legislation for the protection -of our seamen has been enacted. Our coast trade, under regulations wisely framed at the beginning of the government and since, shows results for the past fiscal year unequaled in our records or those of any other power. We shall fail to realize our opportunities, however, if we complacently re- gard only matters at home and bind ourselves to the necessity of securing our share in the valuable carrying trade of the world. Last year American vessels transported a smaller share of our exports and imports than during any former year in all our history, and the measure of our dependence upon foreign shipping was painfully manifested to our people. Without any choice of our own, but from necessity, the departments of the government charged with military and naval operations in the East and West Indies had to obtain from foreign flags merchant vessels essential for those operations. The other great nations have not hesitated to adopt the required means to develop their shipping as a factor in national defense and as one of the surest and speediest means of obtaining for their producers a share in foreign markets. Like vigilance and effort on our part cannot fail to improve our situation, which is regarded with humiliation at home and with surprise abroad, Even these sacrifices which, at the beginning, may be involved, will be offset later by more than equivalent gains The expense is as nothing compared to the advantage to be achieved. The re-establishment of our merchant marine involves in a large measure our continued industrial progress _ and the extension of our commercial triumphs. I am satis- fied the judgment of the country favors the policy of aid to our merchant marine, which will broaden our commerce and markets and upbuild our sea-carrying capacity for the pro- ducts of agriculture and manufacture; which, with the in- Crease of our navy, mean more work and wages to our countrymen, as well as a safeguard to American interests in every part of the world.—From President McKinley’s mes- sage to Congress. nr ti st CONGRESS OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. An International Congress of Naval Architectnre and Con- struction will be held, under the patronage of the French Government, in the Palais des Congress of the Exposition of 1900. It will be open on the 19th of July, and will last three days. This congressis of interest to engineers and constructors of ships and of motor and mechanical apparatus of every kind employed in ships, to the manufacturers of material and objects of whatever kind that may be used either in naval construction or in yards and workshops, to sailors, shipowners, and yachtsmen, and to every one who is in any way concerned in the progress of maritime locomo- tion. All such persons are earnestly invited to help the con gress with the fruit of their experience, investigations, and studies. They can do this by presenting communications to be read and discussed during the sessions, by taking part in the discussions, or as listeners. The printed report of the communications and discussions will be presented to each of the active members of the congress. The questions coming under the consideration of the congress have been divided among six sections, without ex- cluding other communications that belong to the art of naval construction. On all such points the Organizing Committee will be glad to receive correspondence. Section A, Naval Architecture; Section B, Construction of Hull; Section C, Machine Construction; Section D, Special Disposition for Various Classes of Vessels, Transportation, Freight, etc.; Section E, Heavy Outfitting of Ports; Section F. Miscellaneous, History of the Progress of Naval Archi- tecture, Development of Merchant, Pleasure, and War Ships, etc. The fee for membership is 15 francs, this entitles the holder to a copy of the report of the proceedings. Persons who desire to present communications to the congress are asked to give timely notice to the secretary, indicating sub- ject, treatment, etc. All papers, which should be accom- panied by a short summary and summing up of conclusions must be handed in before the Ist of June, 1900. Members who cannot present their communications in person should intrust them to some other active member of the congress, after notifying the committee of organization. The Secre- tary General is M. Hauser, ingenieur de la Marine en re- traite, 4 Rue Meissonnier, Paris. OO OO Sele CLOSING OF NAVIGATION. Dates of closing of navigation at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and Duluth, Minn. oy : uo , o ae) q ‘t q t iI } i S a g 3 Y i: @ Year “3 a Year ac _ ear. v.2 ar. AS ; A 2 z as | & aa | € a3 | 3 2 3 a = = Z | A 3 3 S 5 B B Ss & 1855..| Nov. 23! Dec. 16]; 1870. .|Dec. 1, Nov 21|) 1885../Dec. 2] Nov. 29 1856. .| Nov. 28} Nov. 22]| 1871..|Nov. 29'Dec. 6|| 1886..)/Dec. 4! Dec 14 1857..| Nov. 30] Nov. zo]| 1872. .|Nov. 26|)Nov. 24|| 1887../Dec. 2] Dec. 28 1858. .| Nov. 20] Nov. 20); 1873..| Nov, 28 Dec. 30)| 1888..|Dec. 4] Dec. 31 1859..| Nov. 28| Nov. 9]| 1874..|Dec. 2/Dec. 11]| 1889../Dee. 4] Dee. 4 1860. .| Nov. 26} Dec. 4j]| 1875..|Dec. 2)/Dec. Io]! 1890..)Dee. 3] Dec. 8 1861. .| Nov. 14] Dec. 12}| 1876..|/Nov. 26}Dec. 19]| 1891..|Dec. 8] Dec. 7 1862..| Nov. 17| Dec. 16]| 1877..|. Nov. 30]Dec. 17|| 1892..|Dec. 6] Dec. 6 1863. .| Nov. 24] Dec. 7|| 1878..;Dec. 3 * 1893..|Dec. 6] Dec. 8 1864..| Dee. 4} Dec. 1!| 1879..)Dec. 3}/Dec. 12]| 1894..|Dec. 6| Dec. 5 1865..| Dee. 3] Dee. 5j| 1880..|Nov. 15|Dec. 17]| 1895..|Dee. 9] Dec. 9 1866..| Dec. 3] Dec. Io|/ 1881..|Dec. 5]Nov. 26/| 1896../Dec. 11] Dec, 11 1867..| Dec. 3] Dec. 1]|| 1882..;/Dec. 3]/Dec. 30||/ 1X97 |Dee. 13] Dec. 13 1868..| Dee. 3] Nov. 21|| 1883..|Dec. 11)Dec. 24]| 1898..|Dec. 14] Dec. 15 1869. .| Nov. 29| Nov. 12|| 1884..|Dee. 10)Dee. 25|| Aver.|Dec. 1] Dee. 8 *January 2, 1897. SOME LAKE HISTORY. “Some history of lake shipping and much information about the enormous trade of the Great Lakes,”’ is the subject of an article in the December Ainslee’s. The story of the invention of the tug is particularly interesting. Without vouching for the remarks we quote in part as follows: “At the time of the battle of Sandusky the typical lake vessel was a single-masted craft of some 100 tons burden, able to nose her way up into creeks and shallow harbors, and light enough to be dragged into its dock, when necessary, by a yoke of sturdy oxen. Now-a-days the hustling little harbor tug has taken the place of the primitive ox, and the little one-master has been superseded by the whaleback and the twin-screw steam barge. Before that time, of course, there has been sailing craft on the lakes. Butit isa far cry from the day of the aboriginal Indian ‘dug-outs’ and the batteaux of the early French explorers, to the period of such palatial passenger steamers as the North Land and the North West. “The first American vessel on Lake Erie was the Wash- ington, built near Erie, Pa., as early as 1797. In the next year the Jemima was put together three miles below Roches- ter, by one Eli Granger, and was the first of our vessels to plough the waters of Lake Ontario. It was not until 1817 that a steamboat appeared on the lakes. This was the Ontario, which was made after the pattern of the Sea Horse, then running on Long IslandSound. During the following year Walk-on-the- Water appeared, and surprised the marine world by steaming from Black Rock, New York, to the prosperous little town of Detroit. It was a clumsy but wonderful thing, that primitive side-wheeler, with her belch- ing funnels and cranky machinery, for on her first trip, we are told, she was greeted with cheers and cannon at every port into which she put. Her journey took her five days, and her passenger list was limited to 29, but she was a slight improvement on that original canal boat, with a great upright engine in her hold, which constituted the first lake ‘tug.’ ett was on the Great Lakes that the three-masted schooner first made her appearance. The unique character of lake navigation created the necessity for this type of sailing craft, because of the fact that with this class of vessels, sailors could handle the sheets from the deck at times when it was impossible to go aloft in one of those sudden storms which makes the life of the lake skipper an uncertain and anxious one. “But in time the screw propeller made its appearance and the triple-expansion steamer at last elbowed the sailing vessel out of her time-honored place on the lakes. The dethroned sailboat, once on the downward path, degenerated into the barge. She became the weaker vessel to her puffing husband, and dared not venture up the Detroit, or the St. Clair, or the ‘Soo,’ without a friendly line from her portly spouse swaggering along in the consciousness of his big boilers and twin screws. But in time, forsooth, he took to polygamy, and instead of taking in tow his one helpless schooner, he attached unto himself half a dozen dependent sister craft, and today he may be seen puffing importantly up and down river and lake with his five or six schooners trailing meekly behind him.’’ ee Navigable Waters—Bridges—Negligence in Construction of Draw.— Where the draw of a bridge maintained by a city over a navigable stream is provided by a lock at one end, sufficient to hold it in position when open, under ordinary circumstances, the city is not chargeable with negligence because such lock is not sufficiently strong to withstand the impact of a vessel striking against the side of the draw at the opposite end, or because the draw is not locked at both ends. Ae of Chicago vs. Wisconsin S. S. Co., 97 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 107.