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ESTABLISHED 1878. A 4 VOL. XXIII, No. 40. CLEVELAND---OCTOBER 4, 1900---CHICAGO. $2.00 Per Year. 5c. Single Copy LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. Toconsider and take action uponall 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 Capt 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 l,. Doucras, Chairman, Buffalo. COMMITTEE ON AIDS TO NAVIGATION. GEORGE P. McKay, Chairman, Cleveland. THE DEMAND FOR COAL. The report of the United States geological survey gives the production of coal in the United States for the calendar year 1899 as, anthracite, 60,514,201 tons; bituminous 172,- 608,917 tons; total, 233,123,118 tons. The total production of the United Kingdom for 1899 was 220,085,303 tons, or 13,037,815 tons less than the United States. All Europe is more or less agitated by the coal situation. It is felt that a shortage in the supply of those countries from which it has been customary to purchase is among the alarming possibilities of the near future. How best to avoid the results is one of the important questions of the day in the old world. The exports of coal from the United States for the calen- dar year 1899 were 1,707,796 tons of anthracite and 4,044,354 tons of bituminous. Taking the two together the exports were 2.46 per cent. of the production. Taking the fiscal year ending with June 30, 1900, the exports of anthracite were 1,775,168 tons; of bituminous, 5,413,438 tons, or a total 7,188,621 tons. This was an increase for the two varieties ‘of 2,136,688 tons, or more than 42 per cent. over the exports of the fiscal year 1899, when the number of tons cf anthra- cite shipped abroad was 1,571,581 tons, and of bituminous 3,480,352, or a total of 5,051,933 tons. The exports of coal from Great Britain in the calendar year 1891 aggregated 41,180,300 tons, or 18.71 per cent. of the total production. It is the consumption of coal, how- ever, rather than the export of it that indicates the manu- facturing activity of a country, and in this particular the advantage rests with the United States. Practically all the coal produced that is not exported is consumed at home. This would made the British consumption of coal for 1899 178,905,000 tons, and that of the United States 227,370,960 tons, or 48,465,960 tons more than Great Britain. —————<uueonse sa ——_ THE DEUTSCHLAND. The twin-screw steamship Deutschland of the Hamburg- American Line made on her maiden trip an average of 22.42 knots per hour for 3,044 knots from Plymouth to Sandy Hook, arriving in New York July 12. Her daily runs were 308, 557, 553, 551, 532, and 543 knots, making the trip in 5 days, 16 hours and 15 minutes, which beats the best previous record of western trips. On the return trip another new ’ record was made to Plymouth in 5 days, 14 hours and 6 min- utes, the average speed being 23 knots. In appearance the Deutschland resembles the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, but is longer by 38 ft., and has 7,000 more indicated horse-power. The Deutschland is 686% ft. long, her breadth being 67% ft. and depth 44 ft., and dis- placement 16,000 tons. The engines are in two sets, quadruple expansion, with six cylinders each. The indi- cated horse-power is 35,000. There are 12 double and 4 sin- gle boilers, having 112 furnaces. Her propellers are 23 ft. In diameter. She has six decks, 17 watertight compart- ments, and a double bottom divided into 24 chambers. She has accommodations for 467 first class, 300 second class and 300 steerage passengers. A large play room for child- ren, and gymnasium on the promenade deck, are available to first class passengers, and a grill room upon the boat deck, open until midnight. The promenade deck is 520 ft. long. The ship has bilge keels and her appointments throughout leave nothing to be desired for comfort and convenience. oe eave TORPEDO BOAT PRACTICE AT NEWPORT. An interesting sham naval battle occured Sept. 25, at Newport, R. I. The battleships Kearsarge, Indiana and Texas, together with the converted yachts Scorpion and Eagle, formed a blockading squadron off the harbor, A Torpedo flotilla, consisting of the Porter, Rodgers, Gwyn, Morris, Dahlgren and the submarine boat Holland were sent out to attack the blockading squadron in the darkness and permit the tug Leyden to get tosea. The night was very dark and no lights were displayed by either side. The Leyden and Rodgers were destroyed by the Kearsarge, the Scorpion and Eagle were torpedoed by the Gwyn, the Indiana was torpedoed by the Dahlgren, the Kearsarge was picked up easily by the Holland and destroyed before any defence could be made. The Texas was the only one of the blockading squadron that escaped. The feature of the practice was the success with which the submarine boat ap- proached and destroyed the expectant and most important battleship several miles out at sea, on oo rr MOTOR BOATS ON THE DEAD SEA. The Dead Sea, which for thousand of years has been a forsaken solitude in the midst of a desert, on whose waves no rudder has been seen for centuries, is to havea line of motor boats in the future. Owing to the continued increase in traffic and the influx of tourists, a shorter route is to be found between Jerusalem and Kerak, the ancient capital of the Land of Moab. - The first little steamer, built at one of the Hamburg docks, is about 100 feet long, and began the voyage to Palestine on June 16. An order has already been given for the building of a second steamer. The one already built and on the way is named Prodromos (that is, ‘‘forerun- ner’). It will carry thirty-four persons, together with freights of all kinds. The promoters of this new enterprise are the inmates of a Greek cloister in Jerusalem. The management of the line is entirely in German hands. The trade at Kerak with the desert is to-day of considera- ble importance. It is the main town of any commercial standing east of the Jordon and the Dead Sea. Its popula- tion consists of about 1,800 Christians and 6,000 Moslems. The merchants of Hebron are among the chief frequenters of the markets of Kerak. Jno. F. WINTER, Consul. Annaberg, July 10, 1900. —— i oo or THE new St. Icuis Steel Barge Co. launched its first steel hull, light draft, towing steamer Sept. 15. President Potter says the company will be ready to ship grain to New Orleans in October at a profit for 3 cents a bushel. HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE NOTES. Lake Michigan— Waukegan harbor—Sunken rock off city dock.—Information dated September 13, 1900, has been received from H. A. Kennedy, harbor master at Waukegan, that a small rock with 16% feet of water over it lies on the north side of the entrance channel into Waukegan harbor, about 30 feet out of the channel and directly in front of the warehouse on the city dock. Lake Erie—Sunken wreck northwestward of Cleveland. — Information has been received that the wreck of the schooner Dundee, sunk during the gale of September 12, 1900, lies in a position from which Cleveland west breakwater light sta- tion bears approximately S. 56° E. true (S.E. % E. mag.), distant 14 38, (17) miles. The wreck lies on an even keel, heading W. N.W. in about 70 feet of water, with her crosstrees just out of water. The wreck is not lighted, but a flag has been made fast to one of her topmasts. Sheis in the hands of the underwriters and will probably be raised. St. Clair River—Reported shoal water south of Woodtick Island.—Capt. G. P. McKay, of the Lake Carriers’ Associa- tion, reports that there exists in St. Clair river, about a mile below (south) of Woodtick Island, on the American (west) side, opposite William Cottrell’s house, a shoal spot well known to vesselmen. It is indicated by the change ina vessel’s speed when near and may not have less then 20 feet of water overit. (N. M. 28, 1900.) Lake Erie—Pelee Passage—Wreck southward of the Dummy light-house.—Information has been received from Capt. Dunn, commanding the Dominion cruiser Petrel, that the wreck of the Specular, sunk by collision in Pelee Pass- age, lies in 53 fathoms of water on the following approxi- mate bearings: Dummy light crib N. 20° EK. true (N. by E. % E. mag.), distant 3% (334) miles. Pelee Island light-house N. 82° 30’ W. true (W. 3 N. mag.). Also, that a double white light is maintained by the own- ers in the starboard main rigging of the wreck, which lies with her head about W.N.W. rr FROM CHICAGO TO THE GULF. The advisability of creating a 22 foot channel in the lower Mississippiand thus creating a waterway whose passage would be sufficiently large for ocean steamers and the corres- ponding relation Chicago would bear to such a plan, were the principal questions discussed recently before the drainage board. ‘The scheme, which is fathered by Engineer Seddon is based upon the reservoir plan, by the construction of which, added to numerous dikes, it is said that the Mississ- ippi floods can be minimized and in the flood time sufficient water can be stored in these reservoirs to provide an unfall- ing flow of the water in the summer time, when the river as a rule becomes low. The estimated cost of theimprovement isa follows: Flood protection expended, $50,0c0,000; completion of same $20,- 000,000; cost of annual maintenance, $2,000,000; annual amount to be spent in dredging, $250,000; reservoir system $32,000,000, The plan has been examined by a number of eminent en- gineers. The drainage trustees are deeply interested in the plan, as they realize that the deep waterway between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico will in all probability never be undertaken by the federal government until some practical method has been devised to establish a deep chan- nel in the lower Mississippi and so control the flow during floods.