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“DEVOTED TO NAVIGATION, COMMERCE, ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE. ESTABLISHED 1878. PusiisHEp Every THURSDAY BY THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO. Incorporated. Om Roser 6 BES OR» SS ... Manager Capt. JoHN SWAINSON.......--- esse eee ee cere ...- Editor CLEVELAND, CHICAGO. Vestern Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One copy, one year, postage paid..... poten eeeeeeeeecs $2.00 One copy, one year, to foreign countries..........-.- $3.00 Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. Sr SSE TS SIN SO I tA Dela ete All communications should pe addressed to the Cleveland : office, , THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, O. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class rail matter. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. oe CLEVELAND, O., MAY 8, 1902. Wks are pleased to receive a copy of a report on the sur- yey of tides and currents in Canadian waters, collaborated by W. Bell Dawson, C. E., in charge of tidal survey work. oo ownXmnr “Tam Recorp acknowledges, with thanks, the receipt of an invitation to attend the launch of the U. S. torpedo boat destroyer Stewart, on Saturday next, from the yards of The Gas Engine & Power Co, and Charles L. Seabury & Co., Con., Morris Heights, N. Y. + ee Government has authorized, is the tidal and current survey in Canadian‘ waters, and chiefly, in so far as the lakes are concerned, over the lower St. Lawrence. The Dominion _ Marine Department is entitled to the thanks of owners, 4 underwriters, masters and pilots, also shippers and con- signees, for the excellent results already accomplished in this direction, and further data will doubtless prove of in- estimable value to the maritime commerce of Canada. 4 own Wat chance has a licensed officer anyway, if he gets - into trouble? In this issue we present an opinion from ‘the Solicitor of the Treasury, wherein he rules “that the decisions of the local and supervising inspectors are final, though they may have erred in their finding of facts, or in their construction of the law in its application to the facts.” Here is a pretty “kettle of fish.” Wrong in facts, wrong in law, yet no appeal tolerated. Under these conditions we must soon begin to parallel the merchant marine service with the Navy in washing out dirty linen at home, and carousing abroad. ‘There is, something, many things, radically wrong with the Steamboat Inspection Service, and one of the features is a widespread individual author- ity on shoulders ignorantly overborne with responsibilities. In the course of a month or two we will have two new ; large steel steamers in the Atlantic trade bearing the same names, to be closely followed by two others also with names duplicated. The vessels we refer to are the Minne- tonka and the Minnewaska. The names being somewhat - The Atlantic Transport Co. in building a fleet of ‘s mers. placed orders for two with a. Philadelphia and two to be built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, land. Whether pre-arranged, purposely or accidental the wilt boats will be obliged to fly the red ensign and 1¢ will be enough to distinguish them from the lake eel steamers Minnetonka and Minnewaska. Of the Philadelphia built boats will fly the Stars and A FAVORABLE and marked feature which the Dominion uncommon, the distinction will rest on reporting their en- ‘probably farmed out to an unresident corporation. THE MARINE RECORD. FOG SIGNAt ING. For the past few decades the subject of imparting course or direction signals in foggy weather has been before the navigating, piloting and marine talent of the world with ‘little or no practicable results. It is in order to state that Germans and Americans appear to think that sound signals indicating a vessel’s course can be given and understood with fair accuracy— other nations, and especially the British, are more skeptical on this point and fear that a babel of whistles would lead,, to dire confusicn, especially in limited waterways. There is, of course, an aspect to the question which per- haps has not received the particular and general atten- tion it actually deserves, and that is, the amount of mental strain imposed upon all responsible for the safety of a ship when she becomes enveloped in fog. ‘Taking this view of the case in point, Capt. H. Leithauser, of the Hamburg- American liner Patricia, has issued a pamphlet wherein he expresses his conviction that the existing rules in respect to navigating in fog are too arbitrary, though we can hardly say that we fully agree with him considering how thoroughly the matter has been threshed out since steam became the dominant factor in ocean and coastal naviga- tion. The greatest danger experienced in foggy weather is found when vessels are in with the land, and as a rule, this means in limited and probably crowded waters, with vessels carefully proceeding in all conceivable. directions. It has also been sufficiently demonstrated that the forma- tion of the land, wind and fog conditions exercise a posi- tive agency in the aberration of the audibility of sound waves, hence, the dissatisfaction and uncertainty to be ex- perienced when two, three or more vessels are in the vicin- ity and within occasional signaling distance of each other. “Number one might in all good faith be replying to number three or vice versa, and the direction of each or both, assumed by number two, not to mention any more than the proverbial three, as therein would begin confusion worse confounded. pee A modification of this babel: of calliope sounds is advo- cated and so that the steam whistle may be made capable of performing the same service in fog that is performed in clear weather by the red and green lights. Upon coming within their sectors, the message is automatically ex- changed between the ships, “I see you on my port,” or “my starboard,” as the case may be. Now, why, asks Capt. Leithauser, could not a similar message be conveyed by sound? ‘The desirability of such a system seems obvious, but in order to introduce it the present rules and regula- tions for preventing collisions, at sea is necessary, and this the officer referred to suggests should be done. He pro- poses that the following signals should be authorized: One long blast, one short blast, to indicate “I hear you on my port side in the red sector,” and one long blast and two short blasts to indicate, “I hear you on my starboard side in the green sector.” As the latter signal is at present as- signed to towing vessels, telegraph vessels, and vessels not under command, a new signal would have to be adopt-. ed for them; one of three long blasts might, for instance, meet the case. And in this connection it should be borne in mind that even for this class of vessels, when signalling in fog, it would be more important to communicate the side sound signals, than simply to indicate their class. The foregoing applies chiefly to salt water rules. The salvation of lake piloting in fog lies chiefly in the fact that all vessels aré steering in similar or opposite courses, so that with this reference, and action accordingly, collisions in fog are at a minimum, considering the great traffic car- ried on, re Tue Dominion Government is being buncoed out of its, or the people’s money, to the extent of the cost of propa- gation as well as shore and floating supervision over the fishing industry. The Canadians ought to inquire into and determine who are the bona fide owners of. their ap- parently locally owned and managed fish markets. By being buncoed, we mean that the industry is not fixed on the basis that they think it is, and that the yield of fish is It-is not the duty of the governments to bolster up ani influential and wealthy syndicate to thé exclusion and derogation of the humble toilers and fishers of the lakes. The fishermen must, perforce, endure “fisherman’s luck,” though we would like to see it tempered with equity and justice, and’ the acquatic laborer receiving fair recompense in all that ‘he can win in his calling. THE LISH COMMISSION—SYN-ICATE STEAL, Several of the lake dailies have been rushing into edito ial gush this week under such captions as “The Lake Fish- eries;2,fFish; as, Food,”, {Food ;Fishes of the, Great Lakes,” Etc. + bape uoOWw. If } Lu eee The New. York. Kishing;, Gazette,argues that, ther never greater, need, of a national fish association,-than < e~ Ft ’ Z Heaey SES 2q05 x Fish association, indeed! One of the greatest monopo-— lies on the face of the earth is the lake fishery association, or combination. It has bought out every independent in- dustry on the lakes and adjoining territory, not to speak of its eastern, southern and western tentacles. It has now ~ in the courts an injunction forbidding the use of or laying — nets in the lake against the Edson Co., formerly one of Cleveland’s most ‘important and fairest firms in the fish industry. A Toledo daily takes up the thread in a similar strain in stating that “the matter is one of local interest, for this © is one of Toledo’s own industries. Why do not the fish men of Toledo get together, and devise means to call the attention of the public to the advantages of fish as food? Or are they taking the narrow view that they may be able to put-up the price of fish as the result of the advance in meats? If so, it is a short-sighted policy. Large sales and reasonable profits would bring them more money than _ the former course.” ee Get together is certainly good when they are bought up © body and breeches by the omnipresent monopoly. | The : syndicate offered positions to the principals in the leading © industries and when the monopoly obtained a full grip on the business these lucrative positions were rendered vacant, fishermen were paid less for their catch and the price to consumers soared away up, and this. too, long before the meat trust thought of getting in their fine work on the gullibles who like to be humbugged at times. pees Coupling editorials from Cleveland and Detroit papers: quoting from the recent report of the U. S. Fish Com- mission we are told that “the high price of animal food is turning attention to the importance of fish food in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. ‘The value of the product of the lake fisheries has hardly been realized even by_ those living along the lake border. ‘The annual product of the Great Lakes fisheries has a value of about $2,600,000. Nearly 10,000 persons-are employed and the capital inves- ted in the fisheries is estimated at about $6,600,000. . This is a vast industrial interest, adding a very valuable food — product to our resources. Yet every one knows that the supply of food fish in the lakes is steadily decreasing, not- — withstanding the efforts of the United States Fish Com-, | mission to restock the waters by -means of hatcheries.” Certainly, the United States Fish Commission and even Congress, should.do their best for the aggrandizement Of the beneficent and humane monopoly which owns each _ catch taken from the lakes throughout the season and at their own price. Nor dare fishermen refuse to part with their catch at the foreordained and upset figure offered. Realizing the existing conditions it must appear to, those who have watched the industry, like a log rolling burlesque when informed that “What is needed on the Great Lakes is a permanent biological station, with a staff of trained scientific men, which should be devoted to the ascertaining of all the facts regarding our food fishes, the methods of: replenishing the waters and of protecting the young fry against their natural-enemies—those varieties of fish which prey upon them, while themselves valueless as food. A bill for this purpose was introduced in’ the Senate at the present session by Senator McMillan, of Michigan. The committee on fisheries, to which it was referred, has re- ported it favorably through Senator Bard, the chairman. It carries an appropriation of about $10,000, which is ample’ to inaugurate this important work. All concerned in com- mercial fishing, and all who realize’ the importance ‘of the maintenance and increase of the supply of food fishes, should take up this matter, and urge upon the senators from their states the importance of passing the bill. The matter is one of especial interest to all lake cities and towns, and particularly to those on the shores of Lake Erie, where the fishery interests are mast important.” pee, It is surely a charming situation wherein a syndicate of exceedingly wealthy monopolists may command hard labor, facilitated by government. scientists to sow, produce and reap .a rich harvest to add to their already overflowing coffers. Before Congress appropriates one cent of the people’s.