ratus. 8 ASTRONOMICAL DATA FOR DECEMBER. Astronomical data for December, 1899, furnished by the Washburn observatory: Mercury and Venus are both eve- ning stars at the opening of the month; but, while the lat- ter daily appears higher in the southwestern sky after sun- set, and more brilliant, the former is receding toward the sun and passes through inferior conjunction Dec. 5. It then becomes a morning star, and may be seen later in the southeastern sky before sunrise, most favorably about Dec. 24, on which date the planet reaches its greatest distance west from the sun. Mars and Jupiter are too near the sun for observation the present month; but Jupiter is becoming visible again, and may be seen asa brilliant, steady star in the southeastern sky in the morning. The times of sunrise and sunset for the month at Milwau- kee are as follows : SUNRISE. SUNSET. PORCH ers Pelee Mem ee to te tins oyeaee ees 7:04. 4:18 Sons Digan RASS EE pie. eg Grae vee Mean DE 7:14 4:16 Sb Ronee ea ita Baer neni ep Re SEO rt Lode 4:19 LeU Rania le iN Ad ier ieee Gc a 7:24 4:26 The times of the moon’s phases are: ENGR AINO OHI) fics eee iene esc Star eas Dec. 2, 6:48 p. m. POTS ts OUARCC Es fos, od tree tie aie shanties ory = shores fk. Q; 3103p, Tl. TERWO EDs ne RoloS ape ae SS es ae nee caenti pon SS 16, 7:31 ps tH WIT | OUALTET ces ies reaeeee Hoes ties ot cietes re 245-9:57-ps Il. The principal fixed stars visible during the month in the evening hours are: \ To the west; Vega, Altair, the bright stars of the constel- lation Andromeda. To the east; Aldebaran, the Pleiades, Sirius, Procyon, the stars of the constellation Orion, Capella, Castor and Pollux. There will be an annular eclipse of the sun on Dec. 2, in the early evening according to the time of the western world; but no phase of the eclipse will be visible outside of the Antarctic, southern Pacific, and southern Indian ocean, The path of central eclipse passes near the south pole. There will also be an eclipse of the moon this month, on the evening of Dec. 16, visible in all or a large part of its duration throughout the continents of the world. It will be, strictly speaking, a partial eclipse although barely one edge, the southern limb, will be left outside of the total shadow of the earth at the middle of the eclipse. The moon will rise a few minutes before the sun sets and enter the earth’s shadow at 5:45. The middle of the eclipse will be reached at 7:26, and the moon will leave the shadow at 9:07, thus making the whole duration 3 hours 22 minutes. This eclipse is so nearly total that it may be utilized large- ly as such for purposes of observation. Total eclipses of the moon are valued by astronomers chiefly for the opportu- nity they present for observing faint stars at or near the edge of the moon, stars too faint to be seen near a bright moon. The elements of observation are the times of disap- pearance of the stars behind the moon, and their reappear- ance, as the moon moves eastward in the sky, and any rela- tive displacements of the stars due to a possible lunar atmos- phere. Temperature effects at the surface of the moon are also studied by the aid of suitable and very delicate appa- ——$—$——— ee PRECIPITATION IN THE LAKE REGION, OCTO- BER 10, TO NOVEMBER 13, 1899. DECEMBER METEOROLOGICAL CHART. On the whole raintall was a little less than the average, although there was an abundance of rain in a number of lo- calities. The Lake Superior region from Marquette west- ward to Duluth received more than the normal amount, and it is quite probable that the water which fell on the lake equaled, if it did not exceed, the amount that was lost by evaporation. The northern shore received about 2 inches on the average, and the whole lake surface probably half an inch more, viz., 2.50 inches. The rainfall of the week that ended October 16, was especially heavy over the western end of the lake. Over an inch fell at Port Arthur, nearly 3 inches at Duluth, and an inch anda half at Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, respectively. The total rainfall on Lake Michigan probably fell short of the normal amount by at least an inch and a quarter. From Chicago to Escanaba the actual rainfall did not exceed an inch and a half, but on the eastern or Michigan shore the fall was nearly double that of the western shore. The rainfall on Lake Huron was probably as much as 3 inches, or nearly double what it was on Lake Michigan. The rainfall in the Lake St. Clair and Detroit river basin was also heavy, the average amount being about 3.50 inches, THE MARINE RECORD. DECEMBER 7, 1899 ss 2 ee) ee ee The precipitation on the western end of Lake Erie was equal to the average, but from Lorain eastward it fell consid- erably below the normal amount. The average for the entire lake was probably 2.25 inches. Heavy rains fell over the eastern end of Lake Ontario, but the fall on the western end was not up to the average. The average for the whole lake was not far from 3 inches. The mean height of water in Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, above mean tide in New York for October, 1899, respectively, as shown by observations of lake levels made under the direction of officers of the En- gineer Corps, United States Army, is shown in the following table. ‘The rise or fall in level since the preceding month is also shown : October, 1899. Feet. | Change. Lake Superior, Marquette.............. 602.79} — .03 Lake Michigan, Milwaukee............. 580.09} — .33 Lake Huron, Harbor Beach............. 579.94| — .4I Detroit River, Amherstburg............. 571.89 | — .18 Lake Brie, Cleveland.............0..... 571.72| + .06 Lake Ontario, Oswego. ... 20 oo. lc alee en cee | eaten eee Lake Superior has remained at practically the same stage as obtained during the previous month, thus insuring the transmission of a volume of water to the lakes below almost equal tothe maximum transmitted supply of the year. Lake Michigan, while a few inches higher than for the cor- responding month a year ago, fell about 4 inches as com- pared with the stage of the previous month. As hereinbe- fore stated the rainfall in the Lake Michigan basin fell short of the normal amount by about an inch and a quarter. For the corresponding month a year ago, rainfall in the upper lake region was above normal, on the average of all stations, about aninch. The levels of both Lakes Michigan and Su- perior during that month remained at about the same stage as for the previous month. The heights in feet above mean tide at New York are as follows: Lake Michigan, Septem- ber, 1898, 579.94; October 579.93. Lake Superior, Septem- ber, 1898, 602.26; October, 602.20. Isolated facts like these, while suggestive of a closer con- nection between rainfall and lake levels than some have been disposed to admit, are not necessarily conclusive. A further study of the subject should be made. The level of the Detroit river at Amherstburg was but little below the average stage of the previous month, while the observations made at Cleveland, on Lake Erie, show a very sniall rise in level as compared with the preivous months, The local supply, dne to rainfall in the Lake Erie basin, was a little less than for the previous month, but the transmitted supply from the lakes above may have been greater, owing to more general and heavier rains on the upper lakes. a It 1s safe to say that among the many members (several of whom come from out of town) of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers who met in New York re- cently none received heartier welcomes than did Stevenson Taylor, the general superintendent of the North River Iron Works, Hoboken, N. J., who has been ill since last July, due to typhoid fever. This popular and highly esteemed engineer was surrounded by friends who kept him busy shaking hands and receiving their hearty congratulations upon his restoration to health. Mr. Taylor is now on the highway to recovery and ought to be himself again before the end of the year. Another prominent and well known engineer who received much attention was Geo. W. Dickie, general manager of the Union Iron Works, who kept his hearers on a broad smile by his brilliant repartee and Scotch humor. Among the younger men who appeared much in demand was the clever white haired naval architect and engineer, W.I. Babcock, manager of the Chicago Ship Building Co. His handsome young face and grey hair attracted much attention, and the qnestion often asked by strangers was ‘‘Who is that good looking young man with white hair?’’ When Mr. Babcock was with the Morgan Iron Works he used to pass fora German, his hair was so light, but he has turned prematurely grey in the last five years, and the responsibility of carrying on a great shipyard may have had something to do with making silver threads on his head.—American Shipbuilder, New Vork, NOTES. ‘aE British admiralty are experiencing great difficulty in obtaining the requisite number of skilled mechanics to properly man their vessels. An English paper says: “‘Previ- ous arrangements made with the object of attracting a regu- lar supply of properly qualified engine room artificers for | the navy having quite failed, and the establishment being about 500 below the necessary number, the admiralty have adopted a plan in which Great Britain has been mapped out into five marine engineering districts. In each of these districts is to be appointed an admiralty agent, who must be a consulting engineer in touch with all the marine engineer- ing works in the district, and consequently be in the best position to obtain and select the best men.” WIRELESS telegraphy, Marconi’s system, has finally been . introduced into the British navy asa branch study. The old hulk Hector, lying at Portsmouth, has been fitted out as a school of instruction, and signalmen from her will be at- tached to the battleship Camopus, which goes to the Medi- terranean in December, taking Marconi instruments as a part of her regular equipment. She will be the first British ship to do this. In a reported conversation Signor Marconi said that cannonading would not interfere with its success. It has been tried when the biggest guns in the British navy were being fired, and not the slightest difference was percep- tible. Experts at the war office are thoroughly satisfied of its value in actual warfare, and will fully test its capacities in South Africa. Here the only important step taken by the government is to ask for estimates for stations in England. CLOSELY associated with the magnetic pole isthe myster- ious phenomenon, the aurora australis. It would be interest- ing to have a prolonged series of auroral observations to add to the first records taken by the “‘Belgica.’’? This information will help to solve the puzzling questions of the physical character and the origin of the mysterious celestial lights. Some of these questions are: What is the difference between the aurora australis and the aurora borealis? Is there any coincidence in the appearance of the phenomena at both poles? What is the relation of the exhibits with the sunspots? What relation have auroras with meteorological phenomena —with weather, the clouds, the atmospheric electricity? What are the connections between auroras, earth-magnetism, and telluric currents?—From ‘‘The Possibilities of Antartic Exploration,’’ by Frederick A. Cook, M. D., in the Decem- ber (Christmas) Scribners. THE United States Commissioner of Shipping .is deter- mined to educate the people up to the great height of the argument of the advocates of shipping bounties: He has’ issued a remarkable statement of the amounts paid by the various nations for bounty, mail service, and naval subven- tion. According to this statement France pays £1,528,000> Great Britian £1,152,000, Italy £423,000, Germany £379,000 and Russia £345,000, per annum, in the subsidising of their . shipping. The absurdity of regarding our mail contracts and naval subventions as in any sense in the nature of bounties has been repeatedly exposed in these columns. Still the Americans goon advertising and swallowing the delusion. The French bounties and subventions work out, it seems, at 27s. 2d. per gross ton, the Italian at ros. 8d., the Russian at 8s. 1d., the German at 3s. 9d., and the British at Is. 11d. But France, Italy, and it may now be added, Japan, are the only countries that pay direct bounties on their shipping. France pays £373,000 bounty on navigation, £200,000 bounty on construction, and £24,000 in fishing bounties. The British payment of £1,152,490 consists of 4753,300 for carriage of home and foreign mails, £153,000 for carriage of colonial mails, £63,000 for naval subvention to merchant cruisers (now discontinued), £121,400 to naval reserve men, £30,o00to the Canadian fishermen, and £30,- ooo rebates in support of apprentices. And it is by such ~ payments that the advocates of American subsidies delude themselves by thinking, or try to delude others into be- lieving that the maritime supremacy of Great Britain . has been acquired !—Fairplay, London. re or or Seamen not Co-Charterers.—The fact that the master, who is part owner of a fishing vessel, charters it for his co-owners for a voyage on the ‘“‘quarter clear lay,’’ and afterwards en- gages a crew, agreeing to give them the same share of the catch as though they had together chartered the vessel, does not render the members of the crew co-charterers; but they — x have all the rights of seamen, including the right toa lien — on the vessel, as for wages, for the value of their share of the catch. The Carrier Dove, 97 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 111.