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Se Se ee THE MARINE RECORD. ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. Manager. Editor. C. E, RUSKIN, ee iat Tate CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, - -_ - CHICAGO, Royal Insurance Building. CLEVELAND, Western Reserve Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - $2.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, = - = $3.00 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, O. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. CLEVELAND, O., MAY 10, 1900. LABor troubles are still in the air at several lake points and action is active in its inactivity at two or three ports. SOO Olle THE unique device of superimposed turrets on the new battleship Kearsarge, eight-inch guns being placed directly over twelve-inch monsters, has been the subject of consid- erable divergence of expert opinion. Repeated trials and experiments under varying conditions, in heavy weather, etc., will alone ‘‘tell the tale’’ in the face of such an array of technical, expert contrary opinion. OO Oe YACHTING will be the order of the day or rather season, at all lake ports this summer. Never were preparations for fancy and pleasure sailing carried on at so lively a gait as they are now. Yachtsmen are more than energetic in build- ing, repairing and fitting out their little craft, Further- more, itis now quite palpable that this will be the banner and record year for the lake passenger service, and we con- fidently look forward to see more persons carried by the various passenger lines and on excursion trips than during any previous season. oo ol oe THE first total loss of the season must be recorded as that of the schooner R. Hallaran, from Two Harbors to Conneaut, foundered off Stannard Rock, Lake Superior, with a cargo of iron ore. The Hallaran was built at Toledo, in 1880, and was owned in Cleveland. The loss on ship, freight and cargo will be in the neighborhood of $25,000. From the season outlook it is probable that the hull itself could not have been purchased for this amount, and as it was her first cargo for the year her late owners will stand to lose a considerable sum of money, that is, taking the net earnings of a successful and prosperous season into account. oo or cr THE Secretary of the Treasury has sent to Congress the report of the Light-House Board, regarding an additional ap- propriation for the light-house tender for the ninth district on the lakes, with the recommendation that the appropria- tion be made. By the act of March 8, 1899, $85,000 was appropriated for the purpose, but the report of the Light-House Board states that the perils of the lakes during fall and early spring are so great that a lighthouse tender should be constructed with special reference to this fact. Accordingly, an additional $30,000 is asked for, every cent of which we think will be found necessary for the construc- tion of an adequate and capable craft to act as a lighthouse tender for the ninth district. Comparative yawl boats fitted with a coffee mill as a propelling device can’t be used on the ‘lakes as formerly. The best craftin the light-house service has none too much ability for the work which a tender and. supply boat has now to do in the ninth district. TO MAINTAIN A NAVIGABLE WATERWAY. At last due interest is being aroused regarding the navigable, or rather the present unnavigable condition of Chicago river. Just what is now taking place could as easily have been foreseen several years ago, in fact there were not wanting those who pointed out the almost certain effect of a flow of 300,000:cubic feet of water a minute through the narrow “and numerous'y obstructed channel known as the Chicago river. There is not the shadow of a doubt but that the opening of the drainage canal has already caused great damage to marine interests. The river Has’ been shoaled, a dangerous current created, and a serious tapping of the Lake Michigan supply has set in, thus affecting to that extent all ports along the lakes, and the end is not yet. It would appear that the drainage commissioners had landed the sanitary district into an untold list of damage suits, as it is not to be thought for a moment that the losses, damages, detention and extra expenses loaded on to the shoulders of the owners of vessel property, may not be re- covered from the sanitary district benefitted at the positive loss of transportation interests. It is quite true that the then Secretary of War did, on May 8, 1899, grant permission to the sanitary district of Chicago to open the channel and cause the water of the Chicago river to flow into the same, subject to certain conditions, including a condition that the sanitary district must assume all responsibility for damages to property and navigation interests by reason of the intro- duction of a currentin theriver. The commissioners having accepted the terms must agree to the conditions and rein- burse those who have been put to an outlay on account of their action. oo oe THE Chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, Prof. Willis L. Moore, is entitled to the thanks of the lake marine commun- ity for the direct and excellent attention he has been giving, for some time past, to the weather conditions, etc., prevailing on the lakes. For several weeks prior to the opening of navigation, Prof. Moore caused to be issued, a weekly official report of the ice conditions existing at all of the principal ports, thus rendering marked service to varied and im- portant interests. Navigation having been resumed, the first issue of a monthly meteorological chart of the lakes is now before us, compiled under the direction of the Chief of the Weather Bureau, by Alfred J. Henry, Professor of Meteor- ology, Washington, D. C. and Norman B. Conger, Inspector and Marine Agent, Detroit. The good work is not limited, however, to the publication of the foregoing reports and de- lineations, weather signals and display stations are being in- creased and greatly improved at a number of ports, anda mass of meteorological data is being gathered which, after a few years, will prove of the greatest value in determining certain physical economies known to exist, but unaccounted for at the present time. Those in actual service on the lakes will be but working for their own ultimate benefit by render- ing all convenient aid to the Weather Bureau marine agent or other officials, and, as we have said, there is now a chief at the head of thisservice who is willing to, and is taking, the greatest interest in lake marine affairs, this is more than we have ever had before, therefore, we bespeak all assistance for him so as to further enhance the intelligence already partly, developed. oO oO vl Iv 1s astonishing how so many people can be blinded to their own best interests, here, we have had the Chicago drainage canal before us for the past decade, the present condition of the Chicago river was a foregone conclusion and yet not a word of protest had been heard from the ves- sel interests. The drainage canal comissioners seems to have downed, perhaps drowned, would bea better word, all opposi- tion to their project, supreme will and power. It is simply impossible to safely handle large vessels in a sluiceway. On the other hand, given plenty of room and even a ten mile current would not be an entire bar to free and safe naviga- tion. oe or NEW TONNAGE. Within the next thirty days about 20,000 tons of carrying capacity will be added to the merchant marine of the lakes in the form of three large steel cargo boats. The steel steamer Charles Van Hise will be launched at the West Superior shipyard in about a fortnight, for the Bessemer Steamship Co. According to official measurement her registered length is 458 feet; beam, 50 feet 2 inches; depth 25 feet. Tonnage, gross, 5,117.37; net, 4,444.21. The MAY 10, 1900. 4 carrying capacity of the steamer is estimated at 8,000 net . tons, equivalent to 266,600 bushels of wheat. The engine is © a quadruple expansion 20%, 30, 43% and 63 by. 42 inches, and will develop a maximum of 2,500 horse-power. Steam is to be furnished by three Scotch-type boilers, each 13 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Two large steamers will’ also be launched from the Wy- andotte yards of the Detroit Ship Building Co. The Har- vard, a steamer 476 feet over all, built to the order of the Pitts- — 4 burg Steamship Co., (Carnegie Co) is dated for the rgth, a later to be followed by the Lafayette, Princeton, Cornell and very probably Columbia, and as consorts Bryn Mawr, Wel- lesley and Vassar. a Then comes along a steamer built for Eddy Bros., 442 feet in length, to be named the Simon J. Murphy, and ata still later date a sister ship building for the same owners. It is noteworthy and much to the credit of the Detroit ~ Ship Building Co., that the keel for the 8,000-ton steel cargo steamer Harvard was laid just five months ago, and allowing thirty days for completion and equipment, this vessel will likely be in service in 180 days from the time her keel was laid, and this, too, at a time and through a period when it was impossible to get material as fast as construction could be carried on. oo CHICAGO AN UNSAFE PORT—RIVER RENDERED UNNAVIGABLE—TO APPEAL TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. |. Navigation of Chicago river has been made dangerous by the opening the Chicago drainage canal and the consequent lowering of the level of the water in the river. In addition to the trouble with low water, which barely allows the pas- sage of the larger vessels plying the lakes, the current has been increased to five miles an hour, multiplying the danger to big vessels in the river. : The matter has been formally taken up by the Lake Car- riers’ Association and it willinsist that something .be done to ~ change present conditions, which are regarded as intolerable. A special meeting of the Lake Carriers’ Association called at Buffalo on Wednesday was held in the committee room of the Merchants’ Exchange. Frank J. Firth, of Philadelphia, former president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, presided. The trouble in Chicago river was discussed, and it was the unanimous opinion of the members. of the Association, rep- resenting all the big ports on the lakes, that the annoyance, danger and expense of moving ships in Chicago river since the opening of the drainage canal were more than could be endured. It was decided to send a committee to Chicago to confer with the drainage commissioners of that city and insist that something be done for the protection of marine interests. In addition to this action, it was decided that if the com- mittee fails to accomplish its purpose in Chicago, a formal protest will be lodged with the Secretary, of War. The grant under which the opening of the Chicago drain- age canal was permitted expressly provided that the level of water in Chicago river should not be lowered and that the current should at no time exceed 11 milesan hour. It is said that the violation of this provision is unquestioned. F. J. Firth, of Philadelphia, James Corrigan and H. D. Goulder, Esq., of Cleveland, W. C. Farrington, C. H. Keep and J. G. Keefe will represent the Lake Carriers at the con- ference with the drainage commissioners of Chicago, and will go to that city at once. Oe Oe ALL COAL DETERIORATES WHEN EXPOSED. All coal deteriorates or decays to a more or less degree by disintegration or crumbling, and also by the gradual combustion of the volatile element. Atmospheric oxy- gen is absorbed and converts the hydro-carbons into water and carbonic acid. It has been proved in one case in Ger- many, according to Clarke’s ‘‘Rules, Tables and Data,’’ that bituminous coal, after having been exposed for nine months, lost half its value as fuel; coal exposed for three months to a temperature of of 284 degrees F. lost all its hydro-carbons, The coke manufactured from coal thus. deteriorated is in- ferior to coke made from coal freshly mined. The decay of coal proceeds more rapidly in hotter climates; dryness is un- favorable to the change, while moisture accelerates it. When sulphur or sulphurate of iron is present in considerable quantity in coal which is changing under the action of the air, a second powerful heating cause is-introduced, and both acting together may produce spontaneous combustion. The presence of sulphur or iron pyrites alone, if in considerable quantity, is sufficient to excite combustion, . Ze E :