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up, “ay \ i aa fr was thought to be rather good work for the ice crusher | THE MARINE RECORD FEBRUARY 15, 1900. | ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. E, RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, ~ - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - 5 Invariably in advance. $2.00 $3.00 ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. Alf 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., FEBRUARY 15, 1900. ee Ua UE IIE EIEN EIIE SSIES AT LAST the Board of Supervising Inspectors of Steam- . boats recognize that the steamer which has the other on her own starboard side must give way,-at least, in the Atlantic and Pacific coast inland waters. oOo ov—mn NAVAL-MILITIA is in common, ordinary shore parlance sailor-soldier. Anything unsailorlike is soldierly. Naval reserves are a naval auxiliary, not militiamen—rather, the opposite arm when in actual service. The State militia identifies itself with the Army, Naval-Reserves with the Navy- oO Ol vwnXn lr _ ADAM at Niagara is the entering wedge for lock gates at a dozen other places on the lakes. If Lake Michigan is to take the supply from the lower lakes, it will be necessary to span the Straits of Mackinac, so as to regulate the flow to Michigan’s natural supply. The span across the Straits might be pierced in several places with lock gates. 2 oe From his report before the River and Harbor Committee on Wednesday, Mr. George Y. Wisner, C. E., Detroit, is a strong advocate of the project to build a dam near Buffalo so as to maintain the level of Lake Erie. Major Symons, Corps of Engineers, U.S. A., stationed at Buffalo, advises the most ‘careful consideration of the matter before any steps are taken, andthe majority of interests are at one with Major Symons. oe or oO PREPARATIONS are now completed by the Weather Bureau for the issuance of ice reports from all lake stations. The exact state of the ice at all harbors, as well as at the connect- ing links of the chain of lakes, will be given for any day up to the opening of navigation. It is likely that the service will be further enhanced by giving out ice reports in the fall of the year also, thereby rendering a boon to all special lake interests and the general commerce. rr oa or and car ferry Algomah to get through 24 inches of ice this week on her passage from Sturgeon Bay to Menominee, al- though it must be said that the windrows showed 5 to 8 feet thick in places. The late new Russian ice crusher Ermack has made a speed of ten knots an hour through ice two feet thick, and, on one occasion encountered a pack which was found to be of a total thickness of 34 feet, 9 feet being above the level of the field through which she successfully forced her way. It is expected that the Ermack will suc- ceed in keeping the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic open for winter navigation to St. Petersburg, which leads us to mention that the construction of ice breaking craft is still _initsinfancy on the lakes. Tae first ice breaking experi- . ence is credited to the Britannia, of the Cunard Line at Bos- ~ ton, Mass., in 1844. RELATIVE to the licenses of steamboat officers and the complaints about these pieces of paper falling into wrong hands, etc., we would suggest that the Supervising Inspec- tors instruct their locals to issue duplicate forms and frames for hanging up on exhibition aboard of all boats, the other and original, to be held by the owner thereof. The steam- boat inspection service is always looking for ridiculous inno- vations and will do nothing rlght until forced to do so by public clamor, otherwise, a form could be devised embody- ing the names and talent of those engaged in pushing a craft along without original licenses being displayed so as to tempt the dishonest to steal. Officers would do well, during their winter session, to consider if the certificates they have gained through a voluntary examination does not belong solely to themselves as individuals, and refuse to part with their well, or otherwise, earned honors. A man’s license is his own as long as he legally holds it, nor can he be held responsible for its safe keeping when the law compels him to publicly exhibit it under a piece of glass and place it out of his reach for months ata time. This feature is more especially repre- hensible in the passenger and excursion trade whete there are so many different sorts of people mauling and examin- ing the light and insecure license frames. A ship builder, manager or owner could well refuse to go to the expense of finding a receptacle for these license forms, and licensed of. ficers could in all conscience demand, that when their cer- tificates were compulsorily taken from them, they should at least be placed in a position of ordinary security, as in the ‘event of theft, slight fire, or other ordinary casualty it is found to be considerable of a nuisance and waste of import- ant time to procure duplicate issues of the license form. Finally, giving the licensed officers of the United States mercantile marine the benefit of the doubt as to their capa- bility, honesty, etc., let those who steal or are in wrongful possession of licenses be punished, but don’t keep the peni- tentiary hanging over the heads ofa class of men who are the equal of their compeers in any line of bread-winning exercised in the universe. — Pa Now that so many large steamers are tied up for the sea- son in the iron ore trade, it would be well for their owners, managers or ship-husbands, notwithstanding the deeper water bottoms of the latest built boats, to consider the ad- visability of placing temporary wooden bottoms or platforms, say six feet higher than the tank tops, so as to ease the hulls and facilitate discharging of cargoes in the ore trade. This is not a new idea, nor is it by any means original with the REcoRD. It is a well tried custom in other iron ore carrying trades and only needs to be mentioned here to be _adopted in lake vessels where iron ore is carried exclusively, or almost so: Vessels built ten years ago and used in the iron ore trade would have saved large amounts of money in strengthening and repair bills if they had adopted the plat- form custom as presented in the RECORD at that time. With the 500-foot class of boats there is now more reason than ever for its adoption, although it is not to be thought that shipbuilders, dry-dock owners, repairers Or surveyors would be enthusiastic in their praise of such an innovation on the lakes, rather does it more nearly and directly concern the owners and underwriters. oO eon Ir 1s a favorite expression when making sailing and steer- ing rules for steamers, to use the word ‘‘running,’’ as for instance, ‘‘when steamers are running in a fog.’? Now, the remark is pertinent from a windjammer’s standpoint, why give steamers a fair wind always? (unless it’s a fidley wind) nothing can run without the wind being abaft the beam at least; why not give steamers a head wind sometimes, or let the wind be on either side occasionally in a natural sort of way. The action of the propeller may cause a steamer to steam against a head wind, just as the same agency can put her ashore, but it is not shipshape parlance to be running against a head wind, nor is it usually done either in sail or steam. ‘Those who never had to ‘‘up stick and run” are a good deal like Patsy working at decimals, viz: a ‘‘beauty”’ at it. ——_——$ $$$ > rrr WE are this week in receipt of a copy of the ‘‘Annual Re- port of the Light-House Board’’ for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1899. The executive members of the Board are Rear-Admiral Francis J. Higginson, U. S. Navy, Chairman; Commander Thomas Perry, U. S. Navy, Naval Secretary; and Major Richard L. Hoxie, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, Engineer Secretary. _Hon. Lyman J. Gage, Secretary of the Treasury, is ex-officio President. The entire Board consists of eight members taken from the Army, Navy and Coast Survey Departments. It would appear, and, in fact, the question has been brought up now and again during the past several years, that the salaries of light-house keepers and their assistants — are miserably below par. A lake correspondent writing us this — week says: “I learn from the Port Huron news in last week’s MARINE RECORD that the salaries of light-keepers average — $600 per year. “This is rather deceiving, as the first assistant — keeper averages only $450 and the second assistants $425 per year, out of which uniforms must be purchased, and yet they are all light-keepers and held personally reo £) for carrying out their duties punctually and in due order.” In this connection we can but say that the executive officers of the Light-House Board, annually and invariably, for the 4 past few years, have asked Congress for a more liberal ap- propriation to pay the salaries of light-keepers. Last year the Board’s request for salary appropriation was cut down — $100,000, and this, too, in the face of the Secretary of the 3 Treasury being ex-officio president of the Light-House Board. : The RECORD is pleased to state that Senator McMillan, of — Michigan, also Congressmen from that state, are interesting themselves in a re-classification of the salaries of light-house keepers, and with the assistance of other legislators, we — hope that the appropriation requests of the Light-House — Board will meet with more favor and attention in Congress, so that a very excellent class of men may be furnished with an adequate stipend in return for their trustworthiness and very important services to the water-borne commerce of the country. ; OOO OO Dl As each season comes around, new and younger men are entering the field of lake transportation and vessel owning interests. These men are not apt to forget, or to remember what they never heard of, it therefore behooves those who were and are in the business to keep in mind the promised and projected Poe memorial to be placed at St. Mary’s Falls Canal. The late General O. M. Poe, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., accomplished more work for the benefit of lake trans- portation and general marine interests, both in his official and unofficial capacity, than any one individual in any way connected with the lakes. Last season was a good one for all marine interests; the coming one is expected to be still — better; now, a long, strong pull altogether and a fitting me- morial of merit will adorn the gateway to Lake Superior by the time snow flies next fall. Among others, the Rocke- feller, Carnegie, Hanna and half a dozen similar immensely influential interests are concerned in this gracious acknowl- edgement and merited tribute to one of the best friends that the lakes ever had. ‘There seems a certain amount of in- ertia waiting to be overcome, also a susceptibility of dilatori- ness, but the accusation of ingratitude can never be laid at the doors (or as a consideration of their bank account,) of the earnest, affluent and energetic men carrying on the transportation adventures, with which is closely allied the mining and manufacturing interests engaged in the traffic of the lakes and principally that of Superior. Sor It is a small matter for the Light-House Board to seek to adjust the pay of mates on light-house tenders, one or two of which only are on the lakes. A wide, liberal, inclusive and comprehensive measure should be drawn up so that the salaries of the actual light-keepers and their assistants could — be re-classified. The Lake Carriers’ Association pay light- keepers according to their services ; the paring down of the salary appropriation for light- espe by the Federal govern- ment is picayunish, to say the least. The light-house ser- vice, in its admistrative and executive branches, is one of the best departments in the country, and Congress should at least vote adequate compensation for its proper up-keep, as evidenced by the splendid services rendered the government by its coast guardians of commerce, life and property, through the always alert and trustworthy light-house and light-ship keepers. i a THE Merchant Marine shipping bill has been discussed in the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries. but no definite action taken. It is understood that the Frye _ amendment may be incorporated in the bill. This amend- _ ment makes provision for the subsidizing of slow cargo steamers of prescribed capacity, and is intended to meet objections which have come from certain quarters that only the ocean greyhounds would share in the benefits of the law. It is thought that the bill will be discussed at two or three | more sessions before final action is taken by the committee, The indications point to a favorable report, but the concensus of opinion still seems to be that no action will be taken by the House at this session of Congress. The prospects of its passage by the Senate, however, seems to be more promising.