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ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. ok RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON,-~ - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - - $2.00 = $3.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING, Rates given on application, Alf 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. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. CLEVELAND, O., SEPTEMBER 27, 1900. LOWERING LAKE LEVELS. ' Many matters of marine interest developed before the last Committee on Rivers and Harbors of the House and the representations of the commercial interests of the lakes differ materially with the prospective changes tending to- wards manipulation and divergence of the waters from the reservoir that empties into the Niagara river, thence to Lake Ontario, to the St. Lawrence and the ocean. The promoters of the improvements have met strong opposition in impor- tant hearings, the first of which was the matter pertaining to the advisability of placing a dam in the Niagara River, and, the second, the proposed canal of the Michigan-Lake Superior Power Co. _ The evidence presented at both hearings creates the im- pression that the Niagara dam was the offspring of the power canal at the ‘‘Soo,’’ and the ignoring of the first pro- ject by the Lake Carriers’ Association, together with the presence of a large delegation from that body at the second, rather confirms the assumption that if the canal project is killed the Niagara dam proposition does not become a vital necessity. The gist of the matter shows that capital is clashing on the lakes, with the Lake Carriers’ Association side of the argument fortified by the fact that commerce must be maintained at all hazards. The testimony of the engineers seemed to be at a premium in opposition to the ‘‘Soo’’ canal. Three millions of dollars have already been invested in the canal, and a like figure is available to complete the work. The object is to divert one half of the volume of water that now goes through the Sault Ste. Marie rapids and take it through the new canal, where it is to be used for electric power purposes, and will pass out of the canal into the St. Mary’s river, two miles below the first rapids. It is approximately stated that 60,000 cubic feet of water goes through the rapids per second under present conditions, and, by the introduction of the canal, 30,000 cubic feet per second will be diverted to that waterway. The process, one side declares, will in all likelihood lower the level of Lake Superior probably two feet, and at any rate, at least two and one-half inches. ———— i oo oe Tur construction of the interprovincial bridge to span the Ottawa river from Gatineau Point, near Oitawa, to Hull, Que., is being pushed with much vigor. It will be com- pleted in September. The anchor arm for the northern part of the cantilever span, and that part of the span itself, are all that are required now to make connection with both - sides of the river. The span is the second or third largest ofits kind on the American continent, the largest, probably, being in Memphis, Tenn. That portion projecting from the southern side is some 275 feet in length. THE MARINE RECORD. DETROIT MARINE POSTOFFICE. Sailors aboard passing boats sent over to be mailed to peo- ple ashore a total of 12,269 pieces last month, while but 8,350 pieces were taken off in May, 1899. The sailors them- selves are beginning to use the mails, and the increase isa fraction less than 47 percent. Actual deliveries to boats numbered 37,761 for this year, as against 25,637 for May last year, an increase of over 47 per cent. This growth has not been caused by a greater number of boats on the lakes, for, indeed, the tendency is always toward larger and fewer boats, and the total passages for May, 1900, are not much ahead of those for May, 1899, the figures being 3,150, against 2,976. Some record days are notable. The leaders for May, 1900, were 2,116 letters re- ceived from main office on the 26th, 602 received from pass- ing boats on the 26th, and 1,706 delivered to boats on Deco- ration Day. In 1899 the’winners were the 30th, with 1,400 receipts from office; 26th, 453 from boats, and the 26th, with 1,233 deliveries. The recently established money order system has jumped into instant favor. It fills a long-felt want, and now sailors can send their money to their families, knowing that it will arrive safely and run no risk of being lost. For the month receipts amounted to $2,881. Within the very near future the registry system will also be inaugurated, and for sending large amounts of money it may outrival even the money or- der business, as the fee will be less. So great is the rush of business that the two,clerks have difficulty in keeping ahead of the press of mail, and it is an- nounced in the main office that Postmaster Dickerson has requested the Washington authorities to appoint another clerk. Te BIG STEAMERS. When the Great Eastern was launched, nearly a half century ago, and proved such a signal failure, as a practical and paying ocean carrier, shipbuilders the world over pre- dicted that no vessel approaching her size would ever again be built. They seemed to be right, too, as for a decade or more there was a general return to shorter models, even than had prevailed up to that time, but at length courage revived and the liners as a general rule began to be built each a little larger and faster than the last, until with the launching of the Oceanic the Great Eastern’s unique place in history as the longest ship was lost. For purposes of comparison we give the dimensions of the 11 biggest steamers ever built for the trans-Atlantic pass- enger traffic: engthy | Breadth, | Deptt leross Tons Great Eastern..... 680 83% 58 22,500 Oceanic........... 704 68 44 17,040 “Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse...... 627 66 35.8 14,349 Campania and Tucania........ 601 65 8 12,950 St. Paul and St. a = Louis ........... 5355 63 26.8 11,629 Majestic and Teutonic........ 566 58 6 New York and 33 oe ie ot. Waste reasons 527 63, 22 10,674 The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse averaged on her maiden trip 21.39 knots, and on her voyage of July 5th, 1898, from New York to Southampton 22.56 knots. i oO a THE MICHIPICOTEN IRON ORE BEDS. Mr. Arthur White, of the Grand Trunk Railway, returned to Toronto recently from a visit to Michipicoten, Ont., where he had been for the purpose of inspecting the Hellen iron mine. He was conveyed to the mine by Mr. Clergue, and had as his fellow traveler Hon. Chas. EK. Turner, Con- sul-General for the United States, who was taking the trip for the purpose of making a special report to the United States government covering the indurstries of Ontario, as now being promoted by Mr. Clergue. When the party reached Michipicoten Harbor they found a bustling railway termini, with large trestle works for the unloading of iron ore, extensive freight yards, locomotive and car sheds, stores, etc., and all the necessary appliances for conducting a heavy freight traffic. Proceeding by special train to the Hellen mine, a distance of twelve miles, they viewed a mountain of almost pure brown hematite ore, which, after careful tests by diamond drills is estimated to contain over thirty million tons. The ore is being worked from the face of the mountain, the foot SEPTEMBER 27, 1900. of which is almost on a level with the crusher now bein: placed in position for the purpose of crushing the ore. Th ore is dropped down the face of the mountain with v: small blasts, and gravitation does nearly the whole of th business after that through the crusher and down the rai way to the trestle works at the harbor. The line is being | equipped with 100-ton locomotives and 50-ton capacity steel cars for the ore. Shipments, when begun, will be at the rate of 2,500 tons per day. Shipments of ore will be m de to Midland, Hamilton and Deseronto, possibly to,Montreal, . and largely to the United States. Ps After the company had got through with the testing of the Hellen mountain mine, water was required in connectio: with the ore crusher, and they commenced to run a lateral shaft into a mountain, but in place of getting water they — were agreeably surprised to find a continuation of brown hematite ore, and up to date they have run two lateral shafts into this second mountain a distance of 250 feet each, find- ing nothing but a continuation of the best brown hematite, making it look as if a supply of iron ore had been deposited here for the world’s use for years to come. The railway isa branch of the Algoma Central, and is intended to connect with the Canadian Pacific Railway at a point near Missan- abie, and then eventually to run on to Hudson Bay. In connection with the railway, Mr. Clergue has purchased four English steamers having 4 capacity of 2,500 tons each, These steamers at the present are being used for bringing 85-pound rails from Lorain, .O., with which to rail the © Algoma Central railway, the latter having under construc- tion their main line from Sault Ste. Marie running north, ~ and another branch from Norton, near Sudbury, tapping — the nickel belt owned by Mr. Clergue’s companies, which will make a connection in the first place with the Canadian Pacific railway, in order to bring the nickel ore to the ferro nickel works, now being erected at the ‘‘Soo,’’ and also to the ferro nickel works, now being constructed at Hamilton, Ont. a oor A‘TExtT book of Mechanical Drawing and Elementary Machine Design, by John S. Reid, instructor in mechanical drawing and designing, Sibley College, Cornell University, and David Reid, instructor in mechanical drawing and de- signing in the same institution, has been published by John — Wiley & Sons, New York. ‘‘Up to the present time no text book that we know of has been published in the United States that could in the best way fill the need as ex. plained,” say the authorsin their preface alluding to the fact that the best practice in design and construction of machinery in the United States, using rules and formule whenever feasible in working out practical problems. ‘“‘Books of a somewhat similar nature have been published in Great Britain, showing the same need has been felt as here. These books, modified to suit American practice, have been. used to some extent in this country because they were the best to be had, but are not by any means all that can be desired for our purpose in their present form,’’ say the authors. They secured samples of various machines from which drawings and sketches were made, while the — best authorities on different subjects were used. Many firms supplied drawings and described their methods which will greatly aid students seeking practical advantages while se- curing an education. The subjects include every essential of mechanical drawing from a description of a complete drawing outfit to materials of construction, strength of materials and many useful tables. The work goes much more into useful detail, in plain, simple language and illus- tration than any book we have seen published on this sub- ject. The book is an 8vo, 389 pages and contains 301 figures. Bound in cloth the price is $3.00. oo AN account is given by Le Yacht of experiments con- ducted at Havre with the life-boat Admiral Cloue, designed to test a new system of calming a stormy sea by pouring oil ~ nit. The motive power is supplied by a bottle of car- — bonic acid in the center of the boat, which develops sufficient _— upon it. gas to project the oil by its pressure through a dozen different apertures outside the life-boat. The results are said to have been absolutely conclusive, the sea being calmed in a very remarkable manner. ——S?[__ aoe It is now turned two years since Lieutenant Peary, U. S. N., the Arctic explorer, has been heard of. He sailed for Greenland—this was his fifth voyage—on July 7, 1893, and the last message he sent to civilization was dated August 13, 1898, and read: ‘‘So far all my plans have been successfully carried out.”’