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

=> et ee ESTABLISHED 1878. VOL. XXIII, No. 32. CLEVELAND---AUGUST 9, 1900---CHICAGO. $2.00 Per Year. 5c. Single Cop LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. get Toconsider and take action upon all general questions relating to the navigation and carrying business of the Great Lakes, maintain necessary shipping offices and in general to protect the common interests of Lake Car- tiers, and improve the character of the service rendered to the public. PRESIDENT. W. C. FARRINGTON, Buffalo. 1ST VICE-PRESIDENT Cart. J. G. KEITH, Chicago. SECRETARY. CHARLES H. KEEP, Buffalo. TREASURER. GEORGE P. McKay, Cleveland. COUNSEL. HARVEY D. GoULDER, Cleveland. EXECUTIVE AND FINANCE COMMITTEE. JAMES CORRIGAN, Chairman, Cleveland. COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION. Gipson I,, Doucias, Chairman, Buffalo. COMMITTEE ON AIDS TO NAVIGATION. GEORGE P. McKay, Chairman, Cleveland. NEW STEAMSHIPS. (Consular report.) The Grosser Kurfuerst, built by F. Schiban, of Danzig, for the North German Lloyd, has a length of 585 feet, a breadth of 62 feet, anda registered tonnage of 13,200 feet. Her two quadruple engines develop 10,000 horse-power, and her speed is 17 miles an hour. Special attention has been devoted to the quarters for other than first-class passengers. The steamships Minneapolis and Minnehaha, of the Amer- ican Transport Co., have been built, and two more steamers of precisely the same dimensions—6oo feet between perpen- diculars, 630 feet over all, 655 feet beam, and 39.7 feet depth—are being built especially for the transportation of first-class passengers between London and New York, carry- ing no second-class or steerage passengers. They are said to be the largest vessels, with the exception of the Great Eastern, ever seen in the Thames. The following, dated May 3, 1900, has also been received from Mr. Hill, consul at Amsterdam: The new ships of the Cunard Line—the Ivernia, which was built at Wallsend-on-Tyne by Messrs. Swan & Hunter, and the Saxonia, which has just been turned over to the owners at Liverpool by Messrs. John Brown & Co., of Clyde- bank Works, Glasgow—are among the largest afloat. The length of the Saxonia is 580 feet between perpendicu- lars or 600 feet over all, her greatest width 64 feet 4 inches, and her depth to the shelter deck 49 feet 4 inches. Above the shelter deck, which corresponds to the upper deck of many vessels, there are three more decks—the promenade deck, on which is the first-class accommodation; the boat deck, where eighteen boats are carried; and the navigation deck. Below the shelter deck there are the upper, lower, main, and orlop decks. From the top of the wheelhouse on the navigation deck to the water is a vertical distance of 65 feet when the ship is loaded to a depth of 29 feet draft, the measurement from that point to the keel being 94 feet, and from the keel to the top of the funnel 145 feet. The hull is made of a number of water-tight compartments, divided by bulkheads reaching to the upper deck, and a double bottom runs the entire length of the ship, and, together with some other tanks, supplies 4,750 tons of water ballast. The gross register of the Saxonia is 13,988 tons, her cargo capacity is 800,000 cubic feet or 20,000 tons measurement, and her weight fully loaded is about 25,000 tons. Asa troopship, she can carry 200 officers, 3,500 troops, and 10,000 tons of stores; as a cavalry ship, she can convey 200 officers, 1,000 horses, and 1,000 men; and asa horse transport, she has accommodation for 1,900 horses and 400 troops. Her bunkers and reserve bunkers are of sufficient capacity for a supply of coal for forty days’ steaming at 15 knots. She will carry as a regular liner 150 to 200 first-class passengers, the same number of second class, and from 1,700 to 2,000 third class. These last are placedin airy cabins provided with water and basins; they sleep in bunks arranged in two ' tiers only; excellent baths and lavatories are said to be at their disposal; their food is served in saloons, with fixed tables and cushioned seats; space is provided between decks for promenade; and the men have a smoking room and the women a boudoir containing a piano. Nevertheless. steerage rates are lower than formerly. The ship has two screws driven by two sets of quadruple- expansion engines, which are balanced on the Yarrow, Schlick & Tweedy system. Steam for the main engines is supplied by nine boilers. Howden’s system of forced draft isin use. Using forced draft, the engines on the trial trip indicated 11,400 horse-power, and the mean speed realized was 16.6 knots, due allowance being made for the tide, etc. Under natural draft, the horse-power was about 10,000 and the mean speed 15.8 knots. Under date of May 9, Mr. Hill adds: The new steamer Koning Willem II, of the Netherlands Steamship Co., of this city, was built by the Fyenoord estab- lishment, is 392 feet long, 45 feet broad, and 29 feet deep The engines are of the quadruple-expansion system. The boat can carry 72 first-class and 4o second class passengers, besides from Ioo to 150 soldiers, and her loading capacity is 4,oco tons. The estimated speed will be 14 miles per hour rr TONNAGE TAX. Tonnage tax collections during the fiscal year ended June 30, I900, amounted to $890,482 compared with $834,087 for the previous fiscal year. The collections are the largest for any year since 1884 when these taxes were reduced to rates below those charged by the principal European nations. American vessels paid $68,640 during the year. The penal tonnage taxes on vessels not in treaty with the United States. were unusually large, $36,712, as these charges were necessa- rily imposed on Cuban vessels, until Congress granted relief by the act of February 10. The excess charges on Cuban vessels have been or will be refunded under that Act. By the Hawaiian Territorial Act vessels in trade between Ha- waii and the rest of the United Statessince June 14 are ex- empt from tonnage taxes. Averageannual receipts of about $9,000 will thus disappear hereafter. Collections at Hono- lulu and subports for two weeks in June, however, on vessels from foreign ports amounted to $1,241. Congress also ex- empted trade between Porto Rico and the United States from tonnage taxes. Se AN interesting engineering feat which has recently been accomplished is the placing of a steamboat of 550 tons on Lake Titicaca, between Bolivia and Peru, a sheet of water 120 miles long, 325 miles from a seaport, and nearly 13,000 feet above sea level. This vessel was built at Leven ship- yard, Dumbarton, Scotland, temporarily put together, and then transported in sections to Mollendo, whence it was carried in 22 cars up the railroad which skirts the steep side of the Andes to the lake side. There it was once more put together and the boilers and engines installed. The Coya, as the vessel is named, is 170 feet long, 26 feet beam, and has accomodation for 45 first-class and 4o second-class passegers. The distance travesed by this steamer is 100 miles, the jour- ney occupying ten hours. The vessel serves as a means of communication between the Republics of Bolivia and Peru. LUMBER IMPORTS. In the face of a tariffon lumber the imports into the United States last year were heavy. These indicate the enormous demand for lumber in this country. The imports for 1899 of lumber amounted to $7,005,101. The importe- tions from Canada were 673,622,000 feet, valued at $6, 990, - 175; against 348,876,000 feet, valued at $3,464,718 in -1898, and 674,851,000 feet, valued at $6,759,376, in 1897. t will thus be seen that the importations of lumber by the United States last year were almost as great in feet and con- siderably greater in value than in 1897, during more than half of which year lumber was on the free list, and there were heavy importations in anticipation of the imposition of the duty. The shingles imported by the United States last year were 545,484,000, valued as $999,862, against a valuation of $830,298 in 1898 and $414,222 in 1897. De AMERICAN STEAMSHIP LINE BETWEEN TAHITI AND SAN FRANCISCO. During the extraordinary session of the general council of this colony, which was convened yesterday for the pur- pose, a contract was awarded to the Oceanic Steamship Co., of San Francisco, for the establishment of a steamship line between Tahiti and San Francisco for the transportation of mails, passengers, and freight. : The essential features of the contract are as follows: For the annual sum of 156,000 francs ($30,oco in United States gold) to be paid by the Tahiti government and exemption from port charges, the Oceanic Steamship Co. is to operate an American steamship of about 3,000 tons gross register, performing eleven round trips per annum at an average speed of not less than 13% knots. The contract is awarded fora period of five years from the first voyage, which is to be made not later than November 1, 1900, and earlier if possi- ble. It is the purpose of this company to use a first-class pas- senger steamship and to make the service attractive in all particulars, and it is anticipated that this will become a favorite route of travel when the charm of the climate and scenery of Tahiti becomes known. : The inauguration of this line will give great impetus to United States trade with Tahiti, and in general, with other islands of eastern Polynesia. The Pacific coast of the United States will be particularly benefited, as perishable goods— such as fruits, vegetables, and meats—which now are received exclusively from New Zealand, will then come from San Francisco. For over thirty-four years, a regular monthly sailing-ves- sel service has been maintained between Tahiti and San Francisco. This direct means of communication developed a trade insignificant at first, but amounting some ten years ago to over 50 per cent. of the entire business of this colony. Since then, the proportion of trade has remained about the same, notwithstanding the establishment of the steam line to New Zealand and the fact that the sailing vessels are en- tirely inadequate as a means of transportation between this port and San Francisco. It may be predicted that if the Oceanic Steamship Co. continues in this business for five years, the trade between the United States and Tahiti will not only experience a great extension, but that proportion of value will increase from 50 to 75 per cent. The Union Steamship Co. (British), of New Zzaland, which now operates a steamer between Tahiti and Auckland, has for some time past desired to extend its service through to San Francisco; and, indeed, at this moment, it has a pro- position before the local government offering to perform the service for an annual subsidy of $50,000. J. 4,amB Doty, Tahiti, March 10, 1990. Consul,