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THE MARINE RECORD. ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. Cc. E. RUSKIN, - - - - Manager. CAPT. JOHN SWAINSON, - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance 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. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. i eae ’ CLEVELAND, O., DECEMBER 20, 1900. — ee OO _—————eEeoelo THE ST. LAWRENCE CANAL. A special from Ottawa says: Inquiries frequently reach the department of railways and canals, especially from Cleve- land, Buffalo, Duluth and other inland shipping points, with respect to the Canadian 14-foot channel; and there appears to be animpression at some of the shipping points that there is not really a genuine 14-foot channel to the sea- board, but that it is shallow in places and vessels loaded well down in the 14-foot mark are liable to ground in some parts of the channel. This impression is declared to be erroneous. drawing fourteen feet can go quite safely from any of the inland lake ports to Montreal without the slightest danger of grounding. If the new channel is strictly adhered to, and only such pilots are employed as have studied this channel and are thoroughly conversant with it. Cases have occurred where vessels have grounded, but it has heen found the cause has been either that the pilot was out of his course or that the captain of the vessel had not gone down the canal, but preferred to take his chances out- side in the river. : oe This year’s experience has shown that a very thorough overhauling of the pilots is necessary. Few of them have taken the trouble to make themselves familiar with the buoying of the new channel, and they blunder into the old channel, and run their vessels ashore. Then the new chan- nel gets blamed instead of the pilot. A case in point occurred recently where the steamer Eureka, on her way from the Soulanges canal to Montreal, touched bottom at a spot within a hundred feet of a channel from twenty to thirty feet deep and 500 feet wide, which was thoroughly well bouyed. But the pilot appar- ently did not know that and insisted upon trying to go down the old channel where there was not water enough to float his vessel. a rr oo or _ THE CHICAGO DRAINAGE CANAL. The opinion prevails that Chicago has succeeded after strenuous effort in opening the way to the ultimate conver- sion of its great drainage canal into a ship channel, to be fol- lowed by the assumption of its control by the Federal Government and finally by the reinbursement of the Windy City by Congress for the immense expenditure incurred in the construction of the big sewer and its operation, In the river and harbor bill there is an item approxi- mating about $200,000 fo¢ a survey of certain sections of the Illinois and Desplaines rivers, with a view to obtaining a chafinel fourteen feet deep-to connect the Mississippi river with Lake Michigan. Were such a channel built the drain- age canal necessarily would become a part of it, in which event it naturally would come under the jurisdiction of the Vessels: ‘National Government. Then to induce Congress to pay back to Chicago the $25,c00,000 or $30,000,000: which was expended on the canal would be the next_step of the Illinois delegation. It is said by government engineers that the construction of a 14-foot channel in the Illinois and Desplaines rivers would have to be followed by the dredging of the Missis- sippi river as far down as Cairo to that depth, else the other proposed improvement would be valueless. While the Mis- sissippi at high water is almost that deep now, still at low water the depth is but six feet. To secure a uniform depth of fourteen feet from Cairo to Chicago by the route in ques- tion would cost, it is estimated, between $30,000,000 and $35,000,000. Therefore, before the Chicago hustlers witness the full realization of their supposed dream, Uncle Sam will have gone down into his pocket to the tune of something like $60,000,000 or $65,000,000. OO OO THE LARGEST DOCK IN THE WORLD. Liverpool’s importance asa great sea port has been con- siderably increased during the last two years by the opening of the new ‘‘Canada”’ graving (dry) dock, a part of the general system of improvements upon which operations were commenced some years ago, and upon which about $25,000,000 are to be expended. This is the largest dock in the world. Its length is 925 feet 6 inches; width at en- trance, 94 feet; width of top, 124 feet 2 inches; width of bot- tom, 94 feet; depth on sill and blocks at high water of ordin- ary spring tides, 32 feet. Its cost was about $100,000,000. The main body of the dock and the entrance are constructed of Portland cement concrete, 8 to 1; finished with ‘concrete 6toi. The dock is filled by two rectangular culverts, one on each side of the entrance, each 8 feet high and 6 feet wide, closed by valves or cloughs of greenheart wood, worked by hydraulic power, with stand-by or emergency cloughs worked by hand power. The dock is emptied by means of of three centrifugal pumps each having-a suction pipe 51 inches in diameter. These pumps will, if required, empty the dock when filled to high water level of ordinary spring tides (representing a volume of water of about 3,5c0,000 cubic feet), in an hour and a half, ‘There is also one small pump 14 inches in diameter for dealing with leakage. The gates are opened and closed by means of hydraulic cylinders with multiplying sheaves and chains, The Dock Board is having under construction a still larger dry dock of the following dimensions: Length, 1,000 feet; width of ‘entrance, 95 feet; depth of sill at high water of or- dinary spring tides, 37 feet. Improvements are also under way by which the depth of water over the sill of the ‘‘Canada”’ dry dock can be made anything desired. - -_ OO OO THE suggestion of Ryerson Ritchie, late of Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, suggesting the organization of an American Board of Commerce, is being widely discussed. Speaking of it, President William R. Door, of the St. Paul Chamber.of Commerce, said: Mr. Ritchie has sounded the key-note of what is going to bea great movement. The chamber of commerce of various cities as now constituted cannot make themselves felt beyond their own communities. A national body like the one proposed would be powerful for good. For example, should an iniquitous bill be pending in Congress, a special session of the national chamber could be held, and Congress would hardly dare to ignore its de- mands. My idea would be to havea call issued by every chamber of commerce in the country, to select one delegate and alternate—say, the president and vice-president. Let these delegates meet and organize the national chamber. The latter body should not be so large as to be cumbersome. It should be small and compact enough so that full, general discussion and emphatic action could be held and taken, ' which could hardly be done were the chamber unwieldy from point of numbers, when all the talking would be done by a few, resolutions adopted and the matter practically dropped. The delegates thus brought together could organ- ize the national chamber and formulate details for active work, Itis not necessary to add that such an organization must be absolutely non-partisan politically. Almost every local and national commercial body now in existence is from some cause or another bound hand and foot, and ton- gue-tied by political considerations. a a THE output of anthracite coal from the minesin Penn- sylvania during November was just a few tons short of five millions, and the largest of any month in the year. The to- tal production for the year is estimated at 44,000,000 tons. Last year it was 47,665,000 tons, DECEMBER 20, 1900, * EFFECTS OF THE CANADIAN PREFERENTIAL TARIFF. The increase in the Canadian preferential tariff from 25 per cent. to 331% per cent. in favor of imports from Great Britain has gone into effect. It is too early as yet to estimate the increased business resulting therefrom, but it is not believed that the effect on trade with the United States will be very noticeable: Canada imports from the United States in all one hundred different lines, while there aré only four lead- ing lines in which England is prepared to compete with us, viz., wool and manufactures, iron and steel and manufact- ures, cotton and manufactures, flaxand hemp and manufact- urés, ; : There were two. avowed objects in view in establishing the preferential tariff: (1) to divert Canadian trade from the United States to Great Britain asa protest against the en- actment of the Dingley bill and (2) to cultivate closer rela- tions with Great Britain. . It is manifestly impossible for England to supply Canad with what she has not; consequently, the new tariff in- many cases diverted trade from home manufacturers in- stead of from the United States manufacturers. The loss, however, has not been serious to Canada as yet, as the im- ports from Great Britain from 1896 to 1899 only increased about $8,000,000, the normal growth in trade accounting for fully half this total. On the other hand, United States exporters to Canada ' were stirred to renewed activity over the prospective loss of their valuable trade, and the results have surprised every- body. Instead of losing trade, the United States exports to Canada rose from $61,649,041 in 1896 to $101,642.950 (revised . figures) in 1899, or nearly three times the total of British ex- ports to Canada. It was this unexpected result that largely decided the in- . crease of the preferential tariff this year from 25 per.cent. to . 3314. per cent. Lae A protest now comes, however, from the Canadian manu- facturers. Ata meeting of manufacturers just concluded at . Toronto, it was the unanimous decision that, ‘‘while the members of the association favored measures calculated to increase trade between Canada and other parts of the Em- pire,’’ they were opposed to the increased preference of 8% per cent., as it would injuriously affect certain lines of man- ufacture. The Canadian industry that will feel the effect of the new tariff most seriously will be the woolen manufacturers. Over $20,000,000 are invested in Canadian woolen mills. As theim- ports from the United States last year of wool and manufac- tures were only $953,887, against $83,381,147 from Great Bri- tain, itis evident that Canadian manufacturers do not see the particular advantage in being forced into stronger com- petition with Great Britain. While trade was not diverted from the United States to Great Britain, as was prophesied in both the United States and Canada, still the second object of the preferential tariff has fully met the expectations of its framers. The British importers, as a result of the preference and asa result of a closer relationship between the Mother Country and the colony growing out of the Transvaal war, are undoubtedly favoring Canada whenever the market justifies it. Senti- mental reasons influence trade always, other things being equal or nearly so, and United States exporters and searchers for trade will find thisa strong factor in Canada’s behalf, Exports from Canada to Great Britain has grown from $66,- 690, 288 in 1896 to $99,091,855 in 1899, a growth of nearly ‘50 per cent. in three years. An influential proportion of Canadian manufacturers and: exportors is insisting that if. England is to have the benefit of the preferential tariff, a proper quid pro quo from England would be an imperial tariff on food supplies, admitting the products from Canada, India, and the colonies free. This would be a severe blow to the United States and would prove a trade alliance that would at once lift Canada into a com- manding position. In reply to these overtures, however, Mr. Joseph Chamberlin says, according to the Toronto Globe, ‘‘that, except on the basis of free trade within the Empire, he would not touch a preferental tariff with a pair of tongs.”” Canada is not by any means ready to accept free trade within the Empire, as British manufacturers would swamp her home industries; so this danger to United States trade interests seems to be remote. HARLAN W. BRusH, Consul. NIAGARA FALLS, September 4, 1900. _—ee.— OOS The steamer Mary Mills was destroyed by fire Wednesday, while lying at McKachem’s dock, Sturgeon Bay. The dock en warehouse were also destroyed, together with 300 tons of hay.