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OCTOBER II, 1900. THE MARINE RECORD. CATCHING THE ALBATROSS. By the time that we had approached Tristan da Cunha three or four species of albatross had congregated round the ship, as many as thirty birds settling on the water astern in + manner highly satisfactory for close and continuous obser- un, After half a gale of wind a lull not infrequently oc- en the speed is reduced to two or three knots; then tia hungry creatures literally clamor for food. Directly a " \ intends to alight the legs appear straddling downward o2@ialy fashion—a moment when even an albatross evan ill-balanced goose of unwieldy size. For half a‘inmute it runs along the surface of the waves, treading the water, so to speak, until the enormous wings become manageable. Then the bird swims with both wings thrown back like a pair of lateen sails, a very argonaut on the trans- lucent sea. At length the difficulty is overcome, the wings are packed away, and—like a large gull— it rides the waves with consummate ease. Sometimes it padles to and fro, or, again, it dives gracefully beneath the surface after squids or similar ocean dainties. Half a dozen birds, perhaps, gravely assemble to inspect an empty beer bottle thrown overboard, to bob up and down idly on the waves, and inquisitive bills peck vigorously at the unsatisfactory flotsam, until a battle royal disperses the family party. The wiser ones meanwhile hover in mid-air, craning their necks to throw penetrating glances from a superior height. With the birds setting by the dozen, it is easy enough to capture specimens for examination without causing injury or pain. Any sharply barbed hook is altogether superfluous, The albatrosses absolutely enjoy the excitement, and the sport obtained is not without novel interest. A small metal frame should be made in the shape of a hollow triangle, at- tached to 100 yards of stout line, and kept afloat by a good- sized piece of cork. The sides of the metal frame are then covered with bits of fat pork, the hard skin of which is se- curely bound thereto; the bait is thrown astern, and the line slowly paid out. Presently a great albatross swoops through the air, impelled by curiousity to investigate the nature of the floating cork. It settles before the dainty morsel of food, numbers of birds follow suit, each one made bold by competition, and then the sport begins. At this moment ad- ditional line must be given in order to compensate for the progression of the ship, thus enabling the bird to seize the desired food. With a sudden rush the supreme effort is made. Once or twice the attempt proves ineffectual, but, rendered bold by greediness, a final grab finds the curved bill securly wedged inside the apex of the triangle, as the fierce tugs on the line quickly indicate. Steadily the haul is made hand over hand, until a helpless albatross is bodily lifted on to the poop in an absolutely uninjured condition. A slackened line enables the bird to escape, and if scattered wits permit- ted'such an effort, sudden flight would also obtain release. The other birds invariably commence to attack a captured comrade, a steady pull being required, even if the line does cut your hands, to save it from its friends. Once safely on deck, the mandibles are tied together, for otherwise the bird throws up an oily fluid, a disagreeable habit possessed by all the tribe. Subject to this precaution, it may wander gravely around to survey the new horizon of life. The large eyes gaze with a truly pathetic confidence, expressive of anything but fear. It is a strange spectacle to witness the inquisitive bird solemnly waddle to and fro among the equally inquisitive human beings around. ‘True, it objects slightly to the process of measurement, pecking sharply by way of protest, but a gentle box on the ear soon induces submission as the dimensionsare rapidly noted, the albatross meanwhile reposing affectionately in the: arms of the second officer. The specimen happens to be a small one, but the wing expansion from tip to tip is no less than to feet; the extreme length of body is 3 feet 6 inches, and the formidable bill measures upward of 4 inches. Every- thing about the great wandering albatross (D exulans) is vast—the wings are enormous; the flight is reckoned by the thousand miles, and its very nest may be found within the extinct crater on the adjacent island of Tristan da Cunha— 7,000 feet above the sea level. The plumage varies greatly on different specimens and at different seasons; young ones, like our friend under observation, having a mottled brown “appearance. The bill hasa rosy tinge at the base of the mandibles, passing into horn color at the tip of the curve of theculmen. The head, néck and body, together with the breasts, are principally white; the mantle has beautiful pen- cilings of black. The wings are brown above and white un- derneath, tipped above and below with black—an invariable character of the green albatross, The tail is chiefly white, relieved by blotches of black, which give the appearance of a black bar edging the white coverts. The legs, feet and toes have a peculiar bluish gray, with a suspicion of a livid pinkish hue somewhat difficult to define. The black pupils are bordered with green. I found 11 feet 6 inches to be the average wing measure- ment, although a gigantic specimen in the Sydmey museum extends 17 feet 6 inches with a bill 6inches long. All sailors are familiar with the great wandering albatross in its vary- ing plumage.. While the young and even second-year birds possess every variety of brown coloration, the real mature specimens—especially round the Horn—are nearly pure white, with the black tips above and below. Most of the other species are hopelessly confused by sailors under the general term ‘‘mollymauk’’ (a word spelled in divers ways), and it took me many weeks to distinguish the different kinds.—Cornhill Magazine. - NOTICE TO MARINERS. LicHt-Hovusk ESTABLISHMENT, OFFICE OF THE LIGH?T-HOUSE INSPECTOR, IITH DIS‘., DETROIT, MiIcH., October 9, 1900. Notice is hereby given that the experimental gas and bell buoy recently placed at the St. Clair Flats canal, lower en- trance (west side) has been replaced by the regular gas buoy known as No, 163 in the List of Lights and Fog Sig- nals, Northern Lakes and Rivers for 1900. The experimental gas and bell buoy has been discontinued. By authority of the Light-House Board. J. C. Witson, Commander U. S. N. Inspector 11th Light-House District. ————— 2 FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. The new tonnage put into the water by Scottish builders last month makes, with one exception, the best August out- put for more than ten years past. The figures were 38,185 tons, against 41,350 tons in the corresponding month of last year. The next best August was that of 1895, when the new tonnage lauched amounted to 37,104 tons. The coal sheds of the Sheboygan Coal Co., suffered a loss by fire on Tuesday morning of $7,000. The schooner Board of Trade, with hardcoal from Buffalo consigned to the con- cern, arrived after the fire and was taken by the Reis Coal Co. No more coal can be received this season by the She- boygan Coal Co. The loss is partly covered by insurance. The National Steel Co., will ship this week to New Zealand 1,000 tons of steel rails. This is one of the most important steel rail export orders that has ever been signed. It marks the opening of a new market for steel rails. The shipment will be made in one solid train of 40 cars. The trains will be made up at Youngtown, Ohio, where the rail mill is lo- cated. The Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., has been awarded the contract by the North German Lloyd Co., for rebuilding the large steamship Main, recently burned in _the disastrous dock conflagration at Hoboken. The contract involves between $600,000 and $700,000, and is the largest repair contract ever taken by this yard. The original cost of the ship was $1,500,000. The Main goes to Newport News this week, and it will be about a.year before she will be ready to take her place in the line. The New York Ship Building Co., of Camden, has begun to punch plates for its first ship, and will within afew days lay its first keel. The contract for this ship of the company was made with M. S. Dollarand & Co., of San Francisco. A company is now forming to operate between San Francisco and Honolulu, and this will be the first of its fleet. The new ship will be built for the freight trade distinctively. Her length will be 300 feet. Dollarand & Co., also plan to have built in the Camden yard a larger ship for the Honolulu trade. In consequence of the blocking of the channel of the Shia- wasse river 50,000 acres of land in the southern part of Sagi- naw county are rendered valueless. The river overflows into other channels, the surrounding country is flooded and remains wet until the summer is well advanced, rendering the land useless for agricultural purposes. In 1897 the legis- lature appropriated 5,000 acres of the landin Otsego and Cheboygan counties for the purpose of clearing the channel of this stream. The state board of control, on September 26 last, restored the lands set aside for the clearing of the channel of this stream to market and discontinued further action in the matter of the improvement of the stream, That feature of the Ann Arbor report which indicates a phenomenal growth of the car ferry business is of more than ordinary interest to Toledo. The Ann Arbor is pioneer in trans-Lake Michigan business, and that it should prove to be profitable is an assurance that the Michigan lines will con- tinue to their car ferry routes. The advocates of the Lake Michigan car ferry routes have insisted that business from the Northwest to Hastern points can be handled more:satis- factorily across the lake then by the Chicago route. It has been proved that better time can be made for freight on the car ferry route than by switching through Chicago, but that such traffic is profitable to the car ferry lines has been, in the opinion of some railway managers, a debatable question. The Ann Arbor’s report is looked upon by the car ferry adyo- cates as a substantial victory. CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. . Capt. J. J. H. Brown, the well known vessel manager of Buffalo, was in the city Wednesday. eae On her first trip the steamer Capt. Thos. Wilson took 6,282 tons of ore from Ashland to South Chicago on a little less than eighteen feet. ie eee ik Papers were filed in the office of the collector of customs on Tuesday by which J. H. Reed, of Ashtabula, qualified as master of the steamer Matoa, of the fleet of the Minnesota Steamship Co. fst Mr. Loftus Cuddy, formerly of the Cuddy-Mullen Coal Co., of Cleveland, says that the shipbuilding ports on the great American lakes are gradually supplying the United’ States with a much needed merchant marine. The ore contract season closes the last day of this month, and there is noted a big rush on the part of the owners to. get as much ore down the lakes as possible. Itis altogether probable this will be the banner ore month of the season, and for all time past. The freight market is quiet all around and no changes were made in carrying charges. little wild tonnage. The leading dealers are still complain- ing about the shortage of cars and in some cases shippers have about all they can do to take care of their contract vessels. On Tuesday morning the officers of the Great Lakes Tow- ing Co., received word from Astabula that the little steamer Beta of the Cleveland Canal Steamboat Co., was disabled off. that port, her machinery evidently having gone back on her. She was headed for this port from Buffalo light. The tug Stone was sent to her assistance and towed her into this port It was found that her engine had broken down. In the office of the engineer of rivers and harbors, Col Jared A. Smith, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., on Tuesday opened bids for the improvement work that is to be done onthe harbor of Lorain. The work bid upon is the erec- tion of a new west breakwater, the tearing down and re- building parts of the east and west piers and building two | pier heads. The figures will be given out as soon as they are placed in order for that purpose. Pe LR The ore movement is without change, but few if any wild. charters being made. Most of the vesselmen who have con- tracts to carry a speciffed amount of ore are either ahead or even with their contracts, while those who have their boats chartered to the limit of their capacity until the 1st of No- - vember are rushing to get as many trips in possible. Ifa boat get away from the shipping port before the end of Octo- ber her cargo is carried under the contracts. NN ——— ee LETTERS AT DETROIT MARINE POST OFFICE. October I0, Igo0o. To get any of these letters, addressees or their authorized — agents will apply at the general delivery window or write to the postmaster at Detroit, calling for, ‘‘advertised’’ matter, giving the date of this list and paying one cent: :7 7 Advertised matter is previously held one week awaiting © delivery. It is held two weeks before it goes to’ the Dead Letter Office at Washington, D. C. Ames, D. T., Str. Marshall Lapham, Guy, Str. Hennepin Bennett, Ray D., Str. Monk- Lavely, Peter; Str. Fritz haven Marsden, Willie, 2, Str. St. Baker, Henry, Str. Superior Paul City Manning, H. A., 2, Str. Brahmear,John, Str.E.Smith Angeline ee Bobeck, John Marshall, Fred, Str..Rust Bacon, Mrs. Retta, 2, Sch. J. Morrison, W. A., Str. Pope Martin Brown, H. N. Moulthorp, Mrs. Guy H., Str. Brisk, John, 3, Str. Pasadena Hureka Babcock,Geo. F., Str. Pioneer Mead, Mrs. Wm. Brown, D. T., Str. Lyons McDonald, Eddie, Str. Nyanza Baker, Clue, Str. Rensselaer McDonald, Jerry, Str. B. A. Berentsen, Capt. Jacob, Str. Shores ; ; Reitz McDonald, Peter, Str. Watt Bostwick, Murray, Str. W. P. McKelvey, G. A., Str.’ Eureka Palmer. McMillan, Dan B., Str. Crafford, Chas. Kaliyuga Carroll, P. J., Str. Waverly Cadotte, Henry Cleveland Dingwell, J. McIntyre, Duncan Elsey, Walter, 4, Str. Henne- McCarthy, John, Str. J.B.Lyon pin McLean, Will aD Flanigan, A. L., Str. Siemens Nelson, Fremont E., Str. 131 Fay, Harry Plunkett, Laurence, Str. Lilly Ginac, Wm., Str. E.A.Shores May ; Griffin, Gus Rickerd, O. L., 2, Str. Waverly Gillmore, O. H. Gustin, Mrs. W. H., Str. Eureka Griffly, Fred, Str. Admiral Haywood, Heo., Str. Eads Hanna, Septinus, Str. Raby, George, Str. Sage Ryan, John, Str. Ravenscraig Slattery, Stephen, Str. Curry Smith, W. H., Str. Josie Sprague, Mrs. Ezra H. Schrig, John, Str. Rensselau Spokane Smith, Robert, Str. Lockwood Hartman, J. A. Williams, Jno. E., Str. Waverly Horton, A. Whitney, F. C., Yacht Sylvia Hoffman, Mrs. Catherine, 2 Wallis, R. A., Str. Roby Jackson, Daniel, Str.T. Wilson Wheeler, Edith A. Keinsberg, Wm. Str. Presque Wilson, A. H., Str. Shrigley Isle F. B. DICKERSON, P. M. 3 No orecharters have been re- ported for several days and the coal shippers are taking very Morgan, Harry J., Str.Bielman | McGaw, Wm. A., Str. City of -