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ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by Le MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. 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, - re $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. CLEVELAND, O., OCTOBER 24, 1901. _. CLEVELAND’S LAKE COMMERCE. It is quite assured that the successor to Col. Smith, the engineer formerly in charge of the conservancy and im- provenients of rivers and harbors within the Cleveland dis- trict, is fully alive to the necessity of Federal help in bring- ing about the best interests of general commerce. ‘On this subject, Major Kingman, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Ai, the present officer in charge, said ina recent inter- ‘view: ‘The freight tonnage of Cleveland harbor is very large. It amounted to more than 7,500,000 tons in Igoo, an increase over the previous year of 178,coo tons. Large as is the commerce, this increase is considerably less than that in many of the other harbors in the district, and this would seem to:indicate that the present business is now very nearly equal to the maximum capacity of the harbor. The harbor room within the river mouth is very much cramped, and the approaches to it by land are difficult and through the heart of,the city. An extension of the breakwater outward, whereby. sufficient docks might be constructed along the lake’shore, seems to be the only relief from this condition.” It will be observed that the engineer does not specify to what point eastward the breakwater should extend. Con- gressman Burton’s idea is to have it built as far as Gordon Park; while Senator Hanna thinks Case avenue is far enough under present conditions. ; Major Kingman next proposes to take the work of dredg- ing in all the harbors of this district from private contrac- tors, and have it done by the government. This reform, in his judgment would be advisable from an economical point of view, and, moreover, would insure more satisfactory re- sults in other ways. Discussing this point, he said: ‘‘The real thing of value to navigation in this district consists of certain areas and channels artificially deepened by dredging, all the other works being now designed for their protection and preservation. No work that can be devised, however, will prevent the beach sand from being lifted and scattered by the waves in time of storms, and no works will prevent. the rivers from bringing down their annual burden of silt, “The utmost that can be hoped for in the way of perma- nence is to secure the construction of jetties and break- waters of imperishable materials, and of sufficient strength to resist indefinitely the forces to. which they are exposed. _ After this it will be only necessary to maintain the depthg which, we desire by redredging. This will, no doubt, be a continuous expense, but it need not be a heavy one, if the district is properly equipped with machinery to execute the work, . “To, de pompelied to. resort to contracts to secure this “dredging is, in. my opinion, slow,-.cumbersome and expen- sive. . L.think the district should be provided with a hydrau- lic’ dredge of modern. construction and design, capable of discharging the excavated material at a distance throngh a, * THE MARINE RECORD. long pipe, or of receiving itin its own hoppers and trans- ferring it with its own power to the dumping ground. Such a dredge should be of the sea-going type. I am of the opin- ion it could be built for $250,000, and the cost of its repair and maintenance would be $60,000 per annum. I believe such a maintenance can do all the dredging of the kind which will be required hereafter at a cost of less than half the price now paid for contract work. ay The amount which Maj ir Kingman suggests should be appropriated for expenditure for the purpose of improving the approaches to Cleveland during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, is $100,000; for futher dredging he recom- mends $175,000. The total appropriations for Cleveland harbor improvements up to date amount to $2,747,631.6I1. Concerning the goverment aids to commerce and naviga- tion at. other ports in the district, Major Kingmau says: “At Fairport great trouble is experienced in maintaining the required depth in the harbor. The shore line to the west- ward of the jetties is advancing rapidly and is now about 1,700 feet out from where it was when the improvement was commenced. It may be necessary before long to consider the expediency of constructing one or more groinsto the westward of the harbor in order to arrest the movement of sand. “The cost of maintenance of harbor at Fairport must very soon include extensive repairs and rebuilding of a large por- tion of the old jetties. On the east side 595 feet, and on the west side 625 feet should be rebuilt as soon as practicable. The cost of this, estimated at $120 a foot, would be $146,400. The cost of sheathing and repairing 1,137 feet more would be $28,425, and the expense. of maintaining the channels, $10,000, making a total of $184,825, which could be expend- ed advantageously within a year. In addition to this $200,- ooo could be expended in the same period on the breakwa- ter project, to complete which will cost $480,000, ‘‘The shore to the westward of Ashtabula Harbor is com- posed of sand, and the shore line is constantly advancing by. accretions washed in by the waves, which obstruct the chan- nel. I think it desirable that the United States should ac- quire title by condemnation or purchase’ to at least half a mile of the lake shore to the westward of the jetties, in order that this movement of sand might be arrested or controlled by a plantation of willows or by suitable sand fences. The jetties are in a ruinous condition and in great need of imme- diate repair. The cost of repairing and rebuilding them would be $205,000, Thisamount is urgently requested. The sum of $300,000 could be expended advantageously next year on the existing breakwater project.’’ Other estimates for expenditure during ‘the year ending June 30, 1903, are: At Conneaut, $210,000; at Monroe harbor Mich., $10,000; at Toledo, $280,000; at Port Clinton, $7,000; at Sandusky, $160,000; at Lorain, $310,000; at Huron, $50,- ooo. To complete the breakwater at Conneaut will cost $407,000 and at Lorain $530,350. If the harbor at Vermil- lion is not to be abandoned the engineer says that provision should be made to restore it to its former condition before it is too late. DS oO ST. LAWRENCE NAVIGATION. Christopher Furness, a prominent English ship owner and builder, has been touring Canada, looking into the pos- sibilities of finding feeders for his ships. If these are forth- coming, the fast trans-Atlantic service will be established. He is backed by Lord Strathcona and the Canadian parlia- ment, and if his service goes through, the needed improve-, ments to the St. Lawrence waterway will be made. It seems rather a remote contingency to depend for lower insurance rates upon a possible improvement of the St. Law- rence to aid a possible fast ship service, the establishment of which depends upon a probable discovery of sufficient _ feeders for such boats, yet the matter is not so remote as it appears. In fact, some industrial leaders claim to have assurance from Sir Christopher that the ship line isto be established, Lord Strathcona was asked concerning: the line in Montreal, ‘That,’ replied Lord Stsatheona; “is a matter feineen Sir Christopher and the government... It is true we talked the matter over during his,stay here, and we both do, as I am sure the government does, realize that the St. Lawrence route should be made as safe as human foresight can make it. If it is true, as Sir Christopher says, that the insurance rate for Canada is from seven and one-half to.eight. guineas, as against three to New York, Boston, and other American ports, we are heavily handicapped, and the government should, and I am convinced will, do all in its power to im- for results. OCTOBER 24,1901. > prove the route, if this.is possible. If such drawbacks exist, as it is claimed, there is no sentiment in this question of insurance; it is purely a business matter. too keen nowadays for any sentiment to intervene; and if it were safe to take lower rates, you may be sure there would be plenty of offers. ie Competition is . crs The best men afloat are engaged ‘in the North American sf trade, and, with adequate aids, to nayigation. the. St. Law- rence route could no doubt be made a successful channel of _ commerce. The Dominion government alone is responsible . —_— OOO OS THE ENERGY IN THE WORLD'S COAL OUTPUT. The total quantity of coal taken in any given year from ah . the mines of the whole world cannot be very accurately as-— ; certained, but from the best available information it may be assumed to have been about 700,000,000 tons of 2,c00 pounds ~ each for the year 1900, the last of the nineteenth century, Assuming that the combustion of one pound of coal pro- duces available energy equal to the work of one horse for one hour, and that a horse-power is equal to the power of © seven men, it is found that this represents in energy the : equivalent of 9,800,000,000,000 hours of work for one man, ~ and allowing ten hours to each day and 300 working days to the year, this is found to be equal to the work of 3,000 millions of men during one year. This is about double the By entire population of the globe, and it follows that the utili- : zation of the energy of combustion is equivalent to an increase of the working capacity of this population to the extent of an addition of two able bodied men for every man, woman, and child; and practically it amounts to much more than this, for these additional 3,000 million stalwart laborers >) make no demands upon the food products of the world; they need no clothing, no matter what the zone of their em- ” ployment, and in faithfulness, loyalty, general docility and © ease of management they are beyond compare. hrs Cas- ~ sier’s Magazine for November. NIAGARA RIVER PILOTING. It séems as if more attention might, in all justice, be given to the commerce of Niagara river and to the Tonawandas. The owner of a vessel, which met with a grounding cas- * ualty recently, made the following statement: ‘‘Marine men have had little or no trouble in getting a’river or har- bor appropriation measure before the House of Représenta- -tives in former years, and for a time their efforts met with apparent success, but in the end they were doomed to de- feat, as Representatives from the west and south, who knew ” not the commercial importance of the Niagara river, oppos- ~ ed the measure most strenuously. sel of the larger type to navigate the Niagara river, and it ‘It is hardly safe for aves- is now time that steps toward bettering the condition of the - river be taken. It has been estimated that for the last ten jeney ‘marine © men, insurance companies and shippers have suffered an ag- gregate loss of about $1,000,000, owing to the lack of afew hundred thousand dollars expended for dredging and other- - . wise improving the stream. eee ear eae eae LOW OCEAN FREIGHT. Deputy Consul-General Hanauer reports from Frankfort: In consequence of the low rates for ocean freight (4s., or 96 cents per ton on grain from United States ports to Europe) Hamburg steamship lines will import American coal. Ac- cording to Hamburg papers, a shipment of American coke is now bound for that port. tion to the fact that a steamship, laden with American coal, has arrived at Cronstadt, which is all the more noteworthy” as coalimports from England and Germany have declined” bila Stal! of late. ANOTHER SHOAL. _ It has been reported to the United States engineer’s office, in Buffalo, that a steam barge drawing 15 feet 2 inches re- , cently struck in the St. Lawrence river about midway, be-. tween McNair’s Island and. the Canadian shore, just below Brockville, directly in the channel where the charts show > Immediate steps will be taken... ; from 50 to 60 feet depth. A Russian journal calls atten- — 25 4 28K 2 ¢ be by Major Symons, the engineer. in charge, to locate and. .; chart this hitherto unknown shoal and, in the meantime, ...+ deeply loaded vessels should exercise care.in navigating the.» waters in the vicinity of the reported obstruction.