The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

‘THE MARINE RECORD. : “ FEBRUARY I, 1900. ol Ra ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. Cc. E. RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, — - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, Bees - $2.00, , . $3.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, 0. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., FEBRUARY 1, 1900. FS CONGRESSMAN WapsworTH will have to work hard to release that Weather Bureau re-construction bill from the gut that he seemed to drive it into, despite the overwhelming endorsements which the measure received from all sources. oo OO { ANYONE in wrongful possession of a st: amboatman’s license should be punished. The fellow that lets it go ~ wrongfully should be suspended. The license of an incom- petent should be revoked, how many such have been given out? ee a ; INSTEAD of penalizing candidates who undergo a volun, tary examination to secure a license as a steamboat officer let the man wrongfully using such a license be fined or im- prisoned. The grantor of the license should see that the grantee is competent, then punish the fellow “who steals what isn’t his’n.”’ ae ene ee DUNKIRK, N. Y., is on the south shore of Lake Erie, if anyone should inquire, $900,000 has been already spent on its harbors and another $75,000 is ‘asked for. California, Oregon and Washington will help pay for this breakwater, if it is built, but the donation won’t do them a cent’s worth ‘of good. The citizens of Dunkirk must be good tappers— of the U. S Treasury. ‘ : ee one SURELY local inspectors of steamboats are not getting ready to lay back in their offices and grant licenses to offi- cers of steamboats solely on the strength of the candidate’s affidavit, or affirmation, or the weightiness of his letters of reference, or testimonials. If so,they are taking a step back- wards and picking up the old style instead of advancing. Local inspectors of steamboats cau surely tell, after a few honrs’, or days’ examination, if the would-be sailor or engi- neer is an impostor, or not.—otherwise. — or THERE is quite a furore being raised, chiefly at the minor lake ports, on account of there being no river and harbor bill to be brought before this session of Congress for lump sums, or appropriations on the continuous contract plan. Such a “‘tempest in a tea pot’’ sort of a ripple is made in some quarters, that it would almost be in order to ask what these projected improvements are worth to the locality, or : rather, how much money, or to what extent they would be willing to contribute in order to facilitate an increased com- merce reaching their docks. Half ina spirit of contradic- tion, we may say, that Uncle Sam is paternally generous to his national proteges, but he can only return that which he receives, and little communities should not expect the entire Union to be taxed solely for their immediate benefit. Nor should the federal purse-strings be loosened, only for, and when, adequate national returns are, at least, susceptible of _ demonstration. , MAINTAIN LAKE LEVELS. With the advent of cargo carrying steamers having the general hull dimensions of 497 feet in length, 52 feet beam and 30 feet in depth, the question of maintaining lake levels is of more vital importance to the commerce of the Great ‘Lakes and the vast country and territory tributary thereto, than any other subject affecting the industrial and commier- cial welfare of the northern Middle and Western States. This season, for the first time in the history of lake ship- building and transportation, will steatiers closely approx- imating 500 feet in length be put afloat on the lakes, and, as a national industry, one also which is vety much in evidence in the country at this time, we can but look to our govern- ment at Washington for a conservation of the rights of free, facilitated, untrammeled and unhampered methods, whereby the vast commercial, industrial and transportation interests of the illimitable West and North-West may be economically carried on. When the first Cleveland-built iron cargo steamer, the Onoko, was launched in 1882, she was aptly termed ‘‘ the bull of the woods,” pronounced as being too immense, large, unwieldy and altogether too stupendous and mammoth a craft to navigate the lakes, or be safely conducted through their rivers, and an impossibility, in so far as lake harbors were concerned. The general dimensions of the Onoko are 257.3 feet in length, 38.8 feet beam and 20.7 feet deep, tonnage 2,164 gross and 1,933 net. The last steamer launched, and the first of a fleet of the same size now building to the order of the same owners, is double the length of the Onoko within 77.6 feet and will nearly quadruple her carrying capacity, while, in point of cons:ruction, equipment and ability, is, without detracting one iota from the staunch built Onoko, as far ahead of the latter vessel as daylight is from darkness, which, in this instance, means a development period of eighteen years. It is necessary for the RECORD to point out the won erful and enormous strides taken within the past decade or two, in the methods of transporting waterborne traffic over thousands of miles, from East to West, and vice versa, so that due attention may be given, and interest aroused, to the necessity of preserving the means whereby this magnificent advancement has been made possible, viz.: the conservation, improvement and maintenance of lake surface levels. To further touch upon what has been, we may truthfully and advisedly state, that it is well within the business career of men actively engaged in commercial pursuits to-day, when the freight on iron ore from Marquette to Cleveland was $6 per ton, it has been carried at one-fifteenth of that cost since, and millions of tons from the more distant port of Duluth have been transported, in round figures, at one-twelfth of that figure to a port 200 miles east of Cleveland, involving another fair day’s steaming to reach the port of destination and discharge. Furthermore, grain brought from the sur- rounding country to Chicago has been taxed within the fore- going space and period of time, 20 cents per bushel freight for delivery at Buffalo; millions of bushels have since been carried over the same route, better cared for and more expeditiously handled, for the sum of 1 cent per bushel, and this almost inconceivable economy has been brought about solely through the facilities offered to, and for, waterborne traffic, hence our argument in favor of maintaining lake levels so that further and still more wide-reaching commer- cial advantages may be made possible in this age, and with the advent of steamers 500 feet in length carrying at least (twenty cargoes in one, as reckoned three decades ago) 8,000 tons of cargo, safe and punctually and almost irrespective of weather conditions, for a period of two-thirds of each year. With the development of the country bordering on and tributary to the chain of lakes, the desire to increase and accelerate waterborne traffic is occupying the talented atten- tion of engineering scientists, energetically and eagerly backed and supported by the untold wealth of circumspect and commercially discreet capitalists. The possibilities of manufacturing industries and transportation projects are as immense as they have been unknown and untold until the present age or decade. The natural supply of the lakes is to be levied on for all conceivable purposes until artificial canals and aqueducts of lesser pretensions are projected to spread from the lakes like the tentacles of an octopus. The natural outlet from Lake Superior is being diverted; Geor- gian Bay, which may be considered an arm of Lake Huron, lying solely within Canadian territory, is to senda portion of its supply to Lake Ontario; Lake Michigan now supplies a miniature Niagara in waste water, through its recently opened drainage canal; the inlet at the mouth of St. Clair river is to be diverted by making a cut through Black river, also, for. drainage and sanitary purposes, as at Chicago; the eastern end of Lake St. Clair is to feed a canal emptying itself into Lake Erie nearly opposite Cleveland; the Lime Kiln Cross-" ing andthe Ametican channel is to be deepened and widened so as to permit of a greater outflow; a canal is in contempla- tion at Niagara through United States territory;and a Buffalo nian recently advocated an aqueduct from Lake Erie to New” York City so as to supply the metropolis, and incidentally all cities, towns and hamlets en route, with an unlimit © amount of pute water for all purposes. ‘ BS From the foregoing, we gladly hail the joint resolution” which Senator Platt, New York, introduced in the Senate few days ago and contained in another column of tLis 1ssue © the RECORD. Nor can we believe, but that, if proper repre sentations are made to the British Ambassador, he will be a eager to recommend his government to join in the formation ~ of an International Commission to report on the best method of maintaining the level of the lakes, as the Senate and House of Representatives will be in authorizing President McKinley to appoint an American Commission to act con jointly with that of our neighboring power. a It is but just to state that work on all of the foregoing projects is not as yet being actually carried on, at the same time we have not enumerated some of the minor schemes of interlake tapping. It further appears that the Dominion of Canada awaits, and is quite willing that this country should take the initiative in any measure having for its object the conservancy, maintenance and improvement of lake levels, rightly judging that, as the citizens of the United States. have the most at stake, they should be the most zealous in attending to the majority interests. We may further state that dredging the bottom surface, — on which so many millions of dollars have been spent, is % highly commendable, but there is an adage about “ saving q at the spile and wasting at the bung-hole’’ which applies — with particular emphasis to the subject of lake level surfaces. — JANUARY is always th: month when the lake marine fra- 4 ternity get together and enjoy dances, socials, re-unions, eter In this respect the month just closed has been no exception to those of previous years, and, in fact, if anything, re-unions haye been more numerously attended and more enjoyable — than ever before, each class trying to surpass their former occasions and make the social more enjoyable. The ship- masters, marine engineers and 1ugboatmen hold these an- — nuals regularly,and vie with each other in offering their ship- i mates, associates, friends and patrons the greatest amount — : of possible enjoyment that can be squeezed out of afew — hours leisure. This coming together once a year at each — port makes for the best interests of the several branches of 4 the sailing community, revives and cements old friendships. z and tends to make people more generally satisfied with their occupation and calling. Some of the balls given this winter have been quite pretentious affairs, notably those held at the principal lake ports. It can here be stated, and to the credit of lake-farers, that all of these socials are strictly se- lect and exclusively participated in by the members and their individual friends or the personal friends of their — friends. This is not always the case when socials are given by some of the shore communities. ED STO THE Secretary of War has transmitted to the House his answer to the request for information as to the proposed canal project around St Mary’s rapids. It includes the report of Lieut. Col. Lydecker, Corps of Eugineers, U. S. A., made in September, 1898, which states that the Americav Lake Superior Power Co., by commencing the work of ex- Un cavation in the navigable waters of the United States has violated the law, ‘‘knowing the same, informed and believe,” and giving it as his opinion that the work should not be al- lowed to proceed. It concludes with Secretary Alger’s per- mission, granted March 22, 1899, informing the power company that it can proceed with the work. We learn on what may be considered excellent authority that the President and Secretary of War is in favor of an international com- mission being appointed to take up the question of “‘tapping the lakes,’’ but how the British ambassador and the Canadian government regards the matter, is not as yet positively — kpown. ut SE aa Sa Ae nnd as THE Merchant Marine Subsidy bill is running against snags and traveling over a foul bottom these times. The en- © tire country says the measure should go through Congress, now, let legislators rectify the bill, or re-construct clauses, but, give us something, 2