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ESTABLISHED 1878. VOL. XXV, No. 1. CLEVELAND -- JANUARY 2, 1902 == CHICAGO. ATUL t $2.00 Per Year. toc. Single Copy LAKE CARRIERS’. ASSOCIATION: To consider and take action upon all 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 toimprove the character of the service rendered to the public. PRESIDENT. A. B. WoLvin, Duluth. 1ST VICE-PRESIDENT. Capr. 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 I,. DotGias, Chairman, Buffalo, COMMITTEE ON AIDS TO NAVIGATION. GrorGE P. McKay, Chairman, Cleveland, ST. LAWRENCE TRAFFIC. The western grain traffic from Manitoba and the ad- joining districts, has been diverted largely to American ports, owing to the fact that the Montreal season is so short and ends so abruptly that the grain harvest cannot be transported to tidewater in the St. Lawrence before the river freezes. And Montreal lacks good elevators where grain could be stored for the winter at such cheap ‘rates as would make it worth while for western handlers to ship there and await the opening of spring, when a fleet of tramp steamers could load at once if reasonable insurance on freights and hulls could be secured. But as it is there are no adequate storage facilities, and the grain finds an outlet to market through Portland, Boston and New York,, where ships can load all the year round. This year the Dominion, Johnston and other lines withdrew from Montreal altogether, and established themselves at Port- land, giving Canadian passengers free railway transporta- tion to the latter city so as to hold the trade. It is feared that other lines will adopt the same policy ere long, unless the difficulties in the way of the St. Lawrence are re- moved, for, apart from the lowering of the insurance, there is an absence of the excessive risk associated with the more northern route. As the populatign of Manitoba grows, and its production of wheat increases, the need for Canada to provide an adequate and efficient route for her own grain products become greater, and the ill effects of delay are intensified. The marine insurance rate is 4 per cent. to New York and Boston, as against 9 or 10 per cent. to Montreal. ‘This makes a difference of $5,000 to a vessel in favor of Amer- ican ports, and as the vessels going to Montreal make only about five trips each season it puts the port of Montreal under a disadvantage of $25,000 for the season for each ves- sel that plies there. The adoption of remedial measures is earnestly urged. ‘These are, chiefly, the providing of - coast aids for the Cape Race region, the establishment of a better lighting system along the waterways giving access to the gulf, better charts, and a hydrographic survey of the river and approaches, and a reorganization of the pilotage system. —— oe LAUNCH OF THE JU. S. S. MISSOURI. The battleship Missouri was successfully launched at the Newport News shipyard on Saturday last. Fully 15,000 people saw the big craft floated. Miss Marion Cockrell, daughter of Senator Cockrell, of Missouri, was sponsor for the ship, and she performed the duty assigned her with the traditionai bottle of champagne, using a bottle of Missouri product for the purpose. The number of dis- tinguished guests gathered around the fair christener on the christening platform was larger than ever seen before. Among them were Secretary of the Navy Long, Secre- tary of the Interior Hitchcock, Rear Admiral Melville, U. S. N.. chief of bureau of steam engineering; Rear Ad- miral O’Neill, U. S. N., chief of ordnance; Judge Advo- cate Lemly, U. S. N.: Lieutenant Governor J. A. Lee, of Missouri, acting for Governor Dockery; Governor Tyler, of Virginia; Corwin H. Spencer, of St. Louis, representing the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Co.; Congressman Rixey, representing the House Committee on Naval Affairs; Senator Cockrell, and a number of army and navy officers. Mrs. Roosevelt, wife of President Roosevelt, came up from Old Point on the United States dispatch boat Dolphin, with her guests, and viewed the launching from the steamer’s deck. When the big ship had glided off the ways into the water the crowd on the guests’ platform gave three cheers for Miss Cockrell, three for the army and navy, three for Sec- retary Long, then three for the shipyard. After. inspecting the various departments of the plant the guests repaired to the shipyard wharf, where they boarded the steamer Washington, going to Old Point. At the Chamberlin Hotel the customary post-launching banquet was given, the guests mentioned above being on the program as the principal speakers. ae a eae" THE NEW FRENCH LINERS. In a recent issue, Le Genie Civile describes the two new liners—Savoie and I,orraine—recently put in service by the Compagnie Generale T'ransatlantique. The two are practically sister boats, differing only in some details of the internal arrangements. ‘Ihe length between perpendic- ulars is 537.74 feet; the breadth, 59.05 feet; the mean draught, loaded, 25.43 feet, and the displacement 15,410 tons.. About three-quarters of this displacement is due to the dead load, and but one-fourth is available for coal supply, cargo, passengers and crew. As the bunkers hold about 3,000 tons of coal, the displacement actually availa~ ble for paying load is only about 7.5 per cent. of the total displacement. On trial the speed reached by Lorraine in calm water was 21.91 knots, whilst with the Savoie, tried under less favorable conditions, the speed on the measured mile was 21.65 knots. The twin-screw engines fitted are of 22,000 indicated horse-power in the aggregate, and they are supplied with steam by rettirn-tube boilers of the ordi- nary type, designed for a working pressure of 170.7 pounds per square inch. The total grate area of these amounts to 1,224 square feet. ‘here are also.on the upper deck a couple of small Belleville boilers which supply the.auxiliary machinery. The latter includes a number of Laval turbines driving the generating machinery for the electric light. EE MR. LONG INTERVIEWED. The following from a Duluth paper will be read with some interest by vesselmen: “The steamer Huronic, that was launched a short time ago at the shipyard at Colling- wood, Ont., will be the fastest steel boat on the Great Lakes, said Charles ‘I. Long, of Toronto, at the Spalding. Mr. Long is of the shipbuilding company and interested in various Canadian transportation lines. Continuing he said: ; “The Huronic will be the first boat of the Northwest Transportation Co. to arrive at Duluth next season and three more, just like her, are to be built during 1902, to go in com nission in tlie spring of 1903. ‘During the season of 1903 the Northwest Transporta- tion Co. designs to have a boat leave there every day in the week, except Sunday, for Duluth. The four new boats in connection with the United Empire and the Monarch will enable us to do that. ‘They will ply along the usual route via Port Arthur between Sarnia and Duluth. “But. I started out to say something about the speedy qualities of the Huronic. She will be able to steam 18 - miles an hour, and. she is the only steel steamer on the lakes . that can do it, except the North-West and the North-Land. I know that these latter boats are reputed to be very swift, but as near as I can find out they never come up to their expectations as regards speed. “The Huronic also is the only double deck steamer on the lakes with accommodation for 250 first-class passengers. The first and second-class passengers are to be kept strictly separate. The Huronic is a first-class passenger steamer and she will attract no little attention when she comes out. The freight capacity is 3,000 tons. “It is an interesting fact that the three new sister boats to the Huronic, which will be built in 1902, will be Cana- dian products in every sense. They will be constructed from steel made at the Cramp plant at Collingwood, which will begin operations April 1, next, and the ore from which the steel is made comes from the Helen mine on the Michi- picoten range.” THE PRINCIPLES OF COAST DEFENSE. We referred recently to the lecture on “The Principles — of Coast Defense,” delivered at Ithaca, N. Y., on Dec. 10, by Capt. John P. Wisser, Art. Corps, U. S. A., before an audience of Cornell students and townspeople. In the course of his remarks, as reported in the Cornell Daily Sun, Captain Wisser said that the vulnerable points in a coast to be defended are the bays and the mouths of the navigable rivers; these points are usually occupied by large cities. ‘““Phe means ot defense of such places,” he said, “are two—the navy and coast fortifications. The de- fense by navy requires points of support, which shall fur- nish men and supplies. These points serve as bases of operation in offense and as harbors for repairs in case of defeat. Coaling stations and magazines must be a part of their equipment. The defense by fortification is ap- plied to such points of support. Strong strategic points are usually selected for these bases of operation, points convenient for concentration, so that the defensive fleet may readily take the offensive. Fortress Monroe and Key West are two such strategic points on the Atlantic coast, because if either fell into the hands of an enemy, two portions of the defending fleet would undoubtedly be separated. ‘ “In placing the fortifications, the following tactical prin- ciples are followed. An enemy’s advance must be obstruc- ted without impeding the movements of the defense. This is done by placing torpedoes, mines, and’ submarine dams. The armament must be superior to that of the attacking force. ‘The flanks must be protected by closing all unneces- sary channels, by placing guns at vulnerable points, and by carefully watching the approaches by the aid of search- lights. Counter mines must be prevented by torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers.” ee LIFE SAVING SERVICE, The story of the work of the government life saving ser- vice, “Its Heroism and Some of Its Heroes” thrilled the Boston Boot and Shoe Club last week at its 96th dinner held at the Brunswick, says the Boston Herald of the roth instant. For about an hour Major Horace L. Piper, of Washington, D. C., the assistant General Superintendent of the United States Life Saving Service, told something of what the service means—of the half century past, during which the system has been developed, how it shook’ itself free from the sloth of mismanagement and from tlhe cor- ruption of political spoils, the efficiency brought about through the discipline of drill, the apparatus, and, more than all these things combined, the high standard-of cour- age, man and crew,-which has made the United States the proud possessor of the best life saving service of the world. : The men who go out to vessels in distress, Major Piper said, fight: with a valor that is peculiar; theirs is the fight against the wrath of gods, and not men—no pageantry, no inspiring drum or bugle, and under ‘the further disad- vantage of being few in number. What seemed most strongly to appeal to the men of commerce.gathered about the tables was the element of personality and grim perse- verence demarided in the men, and Major Piper went into the details of two incidents of life-saving work that seemed to carry his listeners with him to the scenes of storm and night. ; , One of the heroic acts of service told was that of Fred E. Hatch, of Cleveland, Ohio, who jumped from a main- boom of a stranded vessel, thrashing and slamming and pounding in the seas,-onto a mizzen rigging, eventually res- cuing two men who were clinging there. The other in- stance told at length was that of the rescue c* the crew of seven of an English ship on the Rose and Crown 15 miles off Nantucket, by Capt. Walter Chase and his ~ RY Rr, gallant crew of Coskata station on Nantucket island— the remarkable management in taking the frenzied marin- ers into the 23-foot boat,-and the long struggle back against sea and wind in 10 degrees above zero weather, The heroism of effort was in the service, he pointed out; and in both these two cases, he emphasized, the men who had taken part in them settled strictly down to the drudgery of routine—the patrol, the drill, the housework, ready for the next case to require their services. SS OOS The Scotch. type boilers for the barge Australia, which undergoes conversion into a steamer at Manitowoc, will be built by the Manitowoc Steam Boiler Works. ted,