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APRIL, 5, 900, POPULAR ASTRONOMICAL NOTES. (COMMUNICATED). a The last March of the 19th century will long be remem- ae bered asa record breaker. Even the ‘‘oldest inhabitant’ can with difficulty furnish a parallel. It will probably long be quoted. as indisputable evidence of the wisdom of the mythical ‘‘ground hog.’? Even the legend of the lion and the lamb, generally accepted as infallible, seems likely to be broken to smithereens by this last March of the century. Surely the lion has had more than his share and the poor lamb has been treated with small consideration, though the last half day of the month was grudgingly assigned to him. The fickleness of March renders more noticeable the permanence of the heavens. Mercury will be morning planet during the month and will reach his greatest western elonga- tion from the sun, 27° and 19’, the 2iIst, nine o’clock in the evening. A search for himin the early morning a few days before or after that date will doubtless be rewarded by a glimpse of the shy planet. Mercury follows the sun so closely that opportunity for satisfactory telescopic observa- tion in the absence of the sun is exceedingly rare. Venus will continue to increase in brilliancy and beauty during the month, as she continues to lessen the distance. ' that separates her from the earth. At the beginning of the month she will be about 86 millions of miles from us, and at its close a little more than 67 millions, having thus lessened her distance by about 19 millions of miles. April 28 she is will reach her greatest angular distance east from the sun, 45° 35’.. From that date she will begin slowly to retrace her steps toward the horizon. She is gradually turnixg her ‘bright face away from us, though she will con- x tinue to increase in brilliancy till the first of Fou June. On the evening of April 2d Venus and the crescent moon will be in conjunction and form a beautiful picture in the western evening sky. Jupiter, in Scorpio, rises too late for ob- ‘servation in the evening, but is in good posi- tion for telescopic study in the morning. He will be in conjunction with the moon on the morning of April 18th. At that time they will apparently be separated by only one degree and three minutes. Saturn is still morning star in Sagittarius, about thirty degrees southeast of Jupiter. April 20th he will also be in conjunction with the moon, Saturn passing but one degree and three minutes south. All the principal planets are approaching the earth at present. _\ Two quite large spots were observed toward the western bordet of the sun’s disk. Each was about 20,000 miles in diameter and separated from its companion by 25,000 miles. They ‘were well defined and remained in the same position relatively till they passed from sight at the western edge of the sun’s disk about March 12th. From that date the face of the sun was free from spots till the 27th, when a small spot came into view by rotation and is still making the transit of the sun. D. SATTERTHWAITE. Toledo, Ohio. i oo oo NEW TONNAGE. Reports for the first nine months of the fiscal year, filed with the Bureau of Navigation, show that excluding unrigged _/ vessels, 732 vessels of 196,148 gross tons have been built ‘and officially numbered compared with 632 vessels of 169,- "794 gross tons for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The sail tonnage was 73,098 gross tons compar- ed with 55,035 gross tons for the pervious period; steam ton- nage 123,050 gross tons compared with 114,759 gross tons. . Our steam tonnage for the year will be almost one-tenth of that launched by Great Britain On the seaboard the Comus 4,828 gross tons was the largest vessel launched. Seven other steamsbips over 3,500 tons and less than 5,000 tons were launched, all for the coasting trade, including two for Porto Rican trade, restricted to American vessels by mili- tary order. Since that order was issued the means of commu- ication between the United States and Porto Rico have been ~~ ao eo THE new fish tug built at Capt. J. P, Devney’s shipyard, Ashtabula Harbor, for the Co-operative Fishing Company, see -Jaunched Saturday afternoon. . tory. the best, most frequent and most regular in the island’s his- - THE MARINE RECORD. - CAPT. C. H. SINCLAIR’S PATENT PORTABLE HOIST. — (ILLUSTRATED. ) A drawing of Capt. C. H. Sinclair’s patent here presented is a new device designed primarily for the “‘lightering off” of stranded vessels, but it will also prove of great value to vessels unloading cargoes of coal, salt, etc., at ports or places where there are no facilities for rapid discharge, thus effecting a great saving in the labor account as well as de- creasing the period of time required. The inclined I beam down which the load travels may be obained in any. desired length, and of one or more sections. This incline is. made available, under all conditions, by the use of the telescoping legs or supports and four guys fitted with turnbuckles render the whole apparatus practically _rigid. A one-ton bucket is filled below, and by the ship’s own deck engine, is hoisted to the head of I beam where its bale engages the patent releasing hook’ secured to the traveler. The deck engine then ‘‘pays out’’ and the load travels, of its own volition, down the I beam to the desired point where the bucket is dumped by the one operator, who stands upon a conveniently bracketed staffold. The bucket is then hauled back to the head of the incline where the patent hook relea-es the bale and it is lowered again to be filled. This hoist is so made that it can be folded up, in which state it can be conveniently stowed without trouble. In case of the stranding of a coal, ore or salt-laden vessel, it can readily be set up in a few minutes and fully manned by the ship’s own crew, whereby the ship may be lightered off in less time than, in most cases, is required to get the CAPT. C. H. SINCLAIR’S PATENT PORTABLE HOIST. wreckers alongside, and at only a fraction of the cost of the latter, while in the case of a grain-laden vessel all that is re- quired is a satisfactory vessel upon which to discharge, when, upon the release of the stranded vessel, the lightered cargo may be reloaded by setting up the hoist upon the lighter and proceeding as before. It is recognized by marine underwriters as a valuable mechanism and is fully endorsed by them as the only device on the market which enables a vessel in distress to release herself without outside aid and in any kind of weather. The Salvage Appliances Association of North America, with offices in the Royal Insurance building, Chicago, has been incorporated to handle this hoist. NotE—Holes in end of I beam, scaffold and brackets. ———— i Oo oo THE Maine shipyards are hives of industry. Following is the list of wooden vessels which have been launched so far this year: Five-masted schooner Mary W. Bowen, by New England Co., Bath, 1,907 tons net; four-masted schooner Marie Palmer, by Wm. Rogers, Bath, 1,594 tons net; three- masted schooner Henry Weiler, by H. S. Bowke, Phipps- burg, 275 tons net; barge Iowa, New England Co., Bath, about 1,500 tons net; barge Elk Garden, Kelley, Spear & Co., Bath, 749 tons net; tug N. Y.N. H. & H. R.R. No. 13, Bath Iron Works, about 137 tons net; tug N. Y. N. H. & H. R. R. No. 14, Bath Iron Works, about 137 tons net; barge, New England Co., Bath, 800 tons net; five-masted schooner Helen W. Martin, Percy and Small, Bath, 2,020 tons net; three-masted schooner Wellfleet, Cobb, Butler & Co., Rock- land, 496 tons net. The totals are five schooners, three barges, two tugs, ten vessels, aggregating about 9,715 tons. . FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. Around Marinette, Wis., about all the lumber have closed for the season, and in the region around Dt asimilar condition exists. The Duluth & Iron Range which arrived in Duluth on Monday, took into that ‘to 250 men from camps which had closed. US es Four steamers now building in England, and which w be engaged in carrying the ore down the lakes, will arrive at Montreal during the early summer, just about in time to pass up to the lakes through the new St. Lawrence canal locks. There are to be twelve of the steamers built, all of- them of St. Lawrence canal dimensions—about 258 feet keel. avd 36 feet beam. It is the intention to send the vessels t the Atlantic for winter service. : : ¥ Traffic Manager A. M. Nichols, of the Barry line, | Muskegon last week. With reference to the steamers which | the Barrys will operate between Chicago and Muskegon e named the State of Michigan as one and said that the seco remained to be selected. Capt. Miles Barry was down east’ seeking to make additional purchases, and everything de- — pends upon the success or failure of his mission. Itis an- _ nounced to be the intention of the Barrys to run steamers between Chicago and Muskegon the year round. ee ‘ Edward Patterson has returned from Everett, Was where he has been superintending the loading the machin ery of the whaleback shipyard there on cars preparatory to_ shiping it to Collingwood, Ont., where it will be used in con- junction with the establishment of the new steel shipbuild ing plant at that point. The machinery loaded ten cars, and it is now in route to Collingwood over the Great Northern via Chicago. ‘There is some very heavy machinery in the plant, one pair of rolls weighing 80 tons. — Perret f The steamer Pittsburg will be the name of a handsom new passenger boat uow building at the Collingwood Dry Dock Co. yards at Collingwood, Ont. The boat will be 232 feet over all, 45 feet beam, and have sleeping accommoda- tions for 225 passengers. She is being built for the Windsor, Detroit & Soo line, and will go into commission on her regular run June 26, taking the place of the Carmona, which has been , partially dismantled. The vessel is a side- wheeler, built exclusively for passenger service under the personal supervision of Manager W. J. Brown, of the above line. AS: £ RHE John Jacobs, the Washburn lumberman.who constructed a saw mill and planing mill last — summer, is doing such extensive logying among the islands that he concluded to buy a _ etug in order. to facilitate his work of towing. — He has closed a deal with Capt. John Shea for — the purchase of the tug Jim Puller, paying — $5,000 for the same. Capt. Shea intends remain- ing in the towing business at Duluth and will buy another tug. With the tug the Boutins bought from the Cranberry Lumber Co. and the ~ one Louis Cartier bought at Ludington, this — makes three more tugs for Chequamegon bay. The current issue of the Syren and Shipping, of London, in an appreciative article on the | efforts now being made in the United States to > restore American shipping to its place on the high seas, refers to the record trip of the Amer- ican clipper ship Dreadnaught, from Sandy Hook to Queenstown in nine days, seventeen | hours, as a performance ‘‘which no sailing ship) in the world’s history has ever put toshame.” = Captain S. Samuels, who commanded the Dreadnaught on — that memorable voyage, and for whom the ship was built by — Governor Morgan and other New York capitalists, isone of — the proprietors of the New York Marine Journal. i Ese Capt. J. G. Warren, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., sta- tioned at Milwaukee, opened bids on Saturday for the \ charter of asteamer for the lighthouseservice. Four propo- sitions were submitted as follows: Steamer America—Dur- ing April, May, June, September, October and November, $80 per day, and during July and August, $150 per day. Steamer Minnie E. Kelton—At $108 a day straight through the season. Steamer Francis Hinton—At $110 a day without crew, and $137 a day with crew for entire season. Steamer Alice M. Gill—At $27-per day without crew. . The proposals were forwarded to Washington without recommendation. The best vessels of early steamboat days on the Great Lakes were built on Lake Ontario, and it is certainly sur- prising to note now the power and speed of some of the side- wheelers that were engaged as far back as sixty years ago for the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence river trade. From an old newspaper clipping it is learned that the steamer United States was built in Ogdensburg in 1831 by a company formed for that purpose and known as the St. Lawrence Steamboat | Co., and was launched Nov. 17 1831. This steamer was 150 ~ feet long on deck, 26 feet beam, to feet depth of hold, and measured about 450 tons. She had two beam engines, 4o inches diameter and 8 feet stroke. Wheels were 18 feet diameter, 9 feet face of bucket, draught of water 8 feet. Phe She had two boilers on deck—one on each side of her guard es forward of the wheel. Her speed was ten to twelve miles an Z hour. Consumption of fuel (wood) was about 130 cords ‘ each trip from Ogdensburg to Lewiston and return. William Capes, of New York, was the ship carpenter, and William Avery, of Syracuse, built her engines. Capt. Elias Trow- bridge, of Oswego, was her first commander, and Capt. Bates, from the Canada side, was her sailing master.