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IN FAVOR OF A SHIPPING SUBSIDY. The Senate Committee on Commerce has authorized 2 favorable report on Senator Frye’s ship subsidy bill. The report will be made by Senator Frye. The Democratic members of the committee voted against reporting the bill. They also voted solidly for a motion offered by Senator Mallory to strike ont the general subsidy provision of the bill. ‘he committee made several amendments to the bill, the most important of which were: Allowing mail-carrying vessels under the bill to be either iron or steel, instead of ‘steel only, as originaliy provided, and another reducing to 1,000 gross registered tons, the vessels receiving a bounty under the bill. The report prepared by Senator Frye was read to the committee. It says that the purpose of the bill is to es- tablish the maritime supremacy of the United States in trade with Asia and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Car- ibbean Sea; to estzblish securely trade between the United States and South American Republics. and to give the United States a respectable representation on the North Atlantic. The claim is made that all these results will be accomplished within ten years. : The report also asserts that the bill will so extend ship- building as to transfer in time from abroad to the United States the center of that industry, as the centers of other industries recently have been offered, and also that it will- give to the United States a measure of maritime indepen- dence corresponding to our industrial and agricultural independence. : Senator Frye furnished the press the following sum- mary of the report: “The establishment of this complete American ocean mail service, involving much shipbuilding will require several years. It will render the United States as indepen- dent. of foreigi powers for its ocean mail service as 1s Great Britain. The cost of the American service by Amer- ican mail steamers will be $4,700,000} the cost of the British and colonial service by British mail. steamers is $4,700,000. Receipts from ocean postage by the United States are now estimated at $3,000,000. The annual deficit under the new American system proposed, including minor services, will be about $2,000,000. The annual deficit under the British colonial system is $2,188,000. j “The postal subsidy provisions enable the Postmaster General to establish an American ocean mail system superior to the systems of Great Britain, France and Ger- many. “he sccond part of the report deals with the general subsidy to all American vessels, steam and sail, except mail steamers. It quotes President Roosevelt’s message, showing that the cost of building American ships is - greater than the cost of building ships abroad; that Amer- ican. wages on shipboard are higher, and that the govern- ment should remedy these inequalities. Discriminating duties, export bounties and subsidies based on export cargoes are in violation of our international obligations, so direct subsidies, it says, is the only practical method. The subsidy proposed is not a naked bounty, for it is based on public services to be rendered in return. “Americans have absolute free trade in foreign-going ships, so no shipbuilders’ trust is possible under the bill. Shipbuilders can import now free of duty materials for ships for foreign trade, so no combination to raise prices of materials is practicable. “Tf an. American ship owner will build his vessel in the United States, employing home labor, employing Amer- ican. officers and crews, performing certain services for the American government and using the vessel to promote American commerce he: will be paid a subsidy sufficient to put him on an equality with the foreign ship owner, employing foreign labor and serving a foreign govern- - ment. “The average cost of building ocean steamers mainly for cargo is $102 a ton in the United States and $76 in Great Britain. Average monthly wages on ocean steam- ers mainly for cargo are, American, $36; British, $26; German and Scandinavian, $17. ‘The general subsidies pets “equalize American and foreign costs on these ases. ¢ The bill will promote the building of new vessels of large: carrying capacity which promote export trade at low freight rates. Combined with our geographical posi- tion it gives special advantages to American vessels in the Pacific trade. “Based on actual navigation of American vessels in foreign trade in 1900 the subsidies proposed would amount to $1,072,000 ‘divided as follows: Steam (excluding mail vessels), $559,000; sail, $513,000; geographically, Atlantic Ocean, $444,000; Pacific Ocean, $467,000; square rigged ships on both oceans, $161,000. “Full compliance with all requirements for the bill would fix the initial expenditures at between $800,000 and. $900,000. : “Under the general subsidy increase in expenditure de- pends. on increase in shipbuilding. The completion of 200,000 tons of ocean steamers for foreign trade in one year involving. $1,300,000 in subSidies, will place the United States in advance of Germany as a shipbuilding nation. “The deep sea fisheries bounty is to encourage an in- dustry which, from the battle of Lexington to the battle of Santiago, has furnished more men proportionately for the national defense than any other American industry. “The annual expenditure is estimated at $175,00. ‘This amount offsets $160,000 paid to promote fisheries by Can- - States who comply with the requirements. ada, which uses for the purpose the annual interest on THE MARINE RECORD. $5,500,000 paid by the United States to Canada under the Halifax award in 1878. For seventy years the United States paid bounties to deep sea fishermen. “The President of the United States has general super- vision of regulations to enforce the act.” ASSISTANT INSPECTOR OF BOILERS. SrEAMBOAT-INSPECTION SERVICE. February 26-27, 1902. The United States Civil Service Commission announces that on February 26-27, 1902, an examination will be held at the places mentioned in the accompanying list for the position of assistant inspector of boilers in the Steamboat- Inspection Service. — The examination will consist of the subjects mentioned below, which will be weighted as follows: 1. Letter-writing. . .(Third grade).. 10 Zi ATIMIMEOE.... = wie. Scace 10 3. Boilers and machinery. . 60 Ge EXPCHERCOs aise cee oe sees et 20 LE Ryy leu SSN api esl ce See NR AE . 100 Information relative to the subjects and scope of the examination may be found in sections 37 and 163 of the Manual of Examinations revised to January I, 1902. Age limit, 25 to 55 years. From the eligibles resulting from this examination it is expected that certification will be made to the position of assistant inspector of boilers of steam vessels for the district of New York, at a salary of $2,000 per annum, and to other similar vacancies as they may occur. his examination is open to all citizens of the United Competitors will be rated without regard to any consideration other than the qualifications shown in their examination papers, and eligibles will be certified strictly in accordance with the civil service law and rules. Persons who desire to compete should at once apply to the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C., or to the secretary of the local board of examiners at the places mentioned on the accompanying list, for ap- plication Form 1087 and a copy of the Manual of Exam- inations. ‘The application should be properly executed and filed with the Commissioner prior to. the hour of closing business on February 17, 1902. January 18, 1902. ——$— $$ ee ANNUAL MEETING M. E. B. A. At the second day’s session of. the annual meeting of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial’ Association the following officers were elected: President, Geo. Uhler, of Philadel- delphia; first vice president, Frank A. Jones, of Alameda, Cal.; second vice president, Evan Jenkins, of Cleveland, O.; secretary, Geo. A. Grubb, of Chicago, and treasurer, A. L. Jones, of Detroit. The advisory board of 1902 will include William Sheffer, of Baltimore, Joseph Brooks, of Philadelphia and John Sterrett, of New York. Immedi- ately after the election the national officers were installed, Mr. William Yates, of New York, being the installing officer. : The matter of securing changes in certain of the regu- lations governing the light-house service with regard to the engineers’ position was then taken up and thoroughly discussed. It was decided to take positive action before the proper authorities to secure a remedy for the evils that exist under the present regulations. The committee on time and place of the next meeting reported in favor of Washington, and it was: decided to meet again in January, 1903. or or NAVAL COALING STATIONS. - The problem of naval success in war is a problem of coal. A fleet cannot operate with success if it must limit itself to defensive operations with a home base; it must be ready to strike offensively in the spot where the stroke will be the most effective, and to do this it must have ac- cess to coal supply at widely distributed points. The report of Admiral Bradford, chief of the Equipment - Bureau of the Navy, shows how we are progressing to- ward a provision of sources of coal supply. The pro- gress is slow, but a gain is being made. We are as yet without a proper equipment of coaling stations on our own coast; and while we now have coaling stations on Mexican and Japanese territory, we have none in Cuba, and none in the direction of Europe. In the Pacific and in Philippine waters we shall soon be so well equipped in this line that we shall not be at a disadvantage in the far east. An immense sun: nas‘ properly been spent in the last fiscal year to deposit American coal at these widely scattered stations. from Pichilinque, Mexico, through Hawaii, Tutuila and Guam to Japan and the Phil- ippines. Another war would not see our navy so nearly paralyzed by a coal famine, says the Black Diamond, nor so dependent upon the friendly offices of another power, as it was in the Spanish war. oor oro ‘he steamer Tempest No. 2 has been sold by J. C. Mil- ler, of Marine City, to H, Leonard Wilton and others, of Detroit, for $15,000. She measures 369 gross tons and will be used between Grace Harbor and Detroit in the lumber trade. JANUARY 23, 1902.7 WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. ‘ The vast extent of our sea and lake coasts and the it mate communication between the weather bureau sta-__ tions of this department, which are distributed along these, . coast lines, and the vessels of commerce have induced the Secretary of Agriculture*to authorize persistent and systematic experimentation in etheric space telegraphy. * Substantial improvements have been made during the past year in the department’s system. The line of research has been’ divided into three classes > First, the perfection of a more powerful transmitter, in ~ which the energy of radiation shall be vastly increased; second, the devising of a more delicate receiver—one that. — would be positive instead of depending upon an imperfect — and variable contact, as do all systems now in use; and, third, the perfection of system of selective telegraphy™ ° whereby messages may become responsive to the waves . of ether. The first of these problems may be said to have been successfully solved, and a transmitter devised capable of radiating all the energy generated. ‘The second: is believed * to be nearing a successful solution. The third is thought © to be well demonstrated theoretically, but it has not been - fully tested in practice. ae While there is much experimental work yet to be done befure the present system is reliable for intership commus nication, or before any two systems can work within,,the same field without each rendering the other useless, such , progress has been made by the government. experimenters that, with nc interference by private systems, stations can é be operated over at least 156 miles of coast line, and. they . are now in operation on the North Carolina and Virginia, coasts, and soon will be instituted between the Farallone, Islands and the mainland and ‘Tatoosh Island and the mainland on the Pacific coast. or Oo MERITED RECOGNITION—A CANADIAN LAKE . — CAPTAIN HONORED. 1: Sees Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, president of the C, P. R, presented to Capt George McDougall, of the company’s. . lake steamer Athabasca, on. Saturday a valuable gold. _ watch and chain, the timepiece bearing this inscription, © “Brom the President of the United States to Capt. George .,. McDougall, for humane services performed in the rescue,. of the captain ton, on Lake Superior, June 29, 1901,’ Bi It will be recalled that on that date the Athabasca - sighted the Preston, which was lumber laden, flying ae flag of distress and in a sinking condition. Coming to the barge’s assistance the captain of the Athabasca, seeing no chance of saving the barge or its cargo, put all his _ efforts to save the crew, which he succeeded in doing with. one exception, the wheelman, who was crushed between. the two boats. The crew of the Athabasca contributed $100 toward the relief of the unfortunate sailor’s widow. ae This handsome token of recognition for humane services. — was sent. by President Roosevelt to the office of Foreign’ Affairs in London, and turned over by Lord ji,andsdowne to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Cham- berlain, and by him sent to Jord Minto, Governor Gcneral of Canada, who forwarded it to President Shaughnessy for final delivery. . ——$— — rr ANOTHER YACHT CHALLENGER. After a lengthy interview held with Sir Thomas Lipton there is no reason to doubt the correctness of the ar- rangement already announced that William Fife, of Fairlie on the Clyde is to build Sir Thomas Lipton’s next chal- lenger for the America’s cup. It need only be added that no contracts have yet been signed, and that this fact constitutes the basis for the technical denials of the pre- vious announcement. It may also be added that the association of William’ Fife and George L. Watson in the construction of the next challenger is likely: to be very intimate, these two yacht designers apparently being now willing to form what amounts to a partnership over Shamrock III. That: Mr. Fife is to have the major share of the work in construct- ing the new yacht is greatly due to Mr. Watson’s declina- - tion to leave home again for any length of time. oe , Marine Insurance.—Loss Due to Wrongdoer.—The fact that a marine ‘nsurance company, which had paid a loss due to the wrongful act of another, was not a party.to the suit by the insured against the wrongdoer, or liable in- any way for the costs connected therewith, did not defeat: its right to a proportionate share in the recovery, where it.» was never requested to hecome a party or to contribute to- ward the prosecution of the action. Egan vs. British & Foreign Marine Ins. Co., 61 N. E. Rep. (Ill.) ro8r. yo SS a rr Obligations of Owner Under Charter—Furnishing > Electric Lizhis For Discharge of Inflammable Carso.—I: is doubtful whether a charterer can require the shipowner to furiish electric lights to facilitate the discharge of a: cargo which by reason of its inflammable nature cannot be” handled safely by the use of lamps, and, at any, rate,-a>” claim for damages for delay which might have been there- by prevented will not be allowed where no demand was made on the master to furnish such lights. Matthias vs. Beeche et al., rtr Fed. Rep. (U. S.) g4o. ‘ d crew of the United States barge Pres-