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et 8 LAKE COMMERCE THROUGH ST. MARY’S FALLS CANALS. The following statistical report of the commerce pass- ing through canals at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and Ontario, during the season of rgor, has been compiled by Major W. H. Bixby, Corps of Engineers, U. S A., and will form part of his annual report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1902, as submitted to Col. G. J. Lydecker, Corps of En- gineers, U. S. A., at Detroit. : : The total freight traffic of 28,403,065 net tons 1s the maximum traffic in the history of the canals. It exceeds the traffic of 1900 by 2,750,992 tons, or II per cent. The total number of passengers was 59,663, an increase of 1,108, or 2 per cent. The season of navigation was open for a period of 8 months and 6 days, during which time the average monthly traffic was 3,463,788 tons. The American canal passed 25,582,038 freight tons, be- ing an increase of 1,974,684 net tons over the year 1900, or § per cent.; the number of passengers was 29,701, a de- crease of 6,612, or 18 per cent. as compared with r1go0. The Canadian canal passed 2,821,027 freight tons, being an increase of 785,308 net tons or 39 per cent. The number of passengers was 29,962, an increase of 7,720, or 35 per cent. as compared with 1900. Of the total freight the American canal passed 90 per cent. and 50 per cent. of the total number of passengers; the Canadian canal ro per cent. and 50 per cent. respec- tively. : The total vessel passages through both canals num- bered 20,041 as against 10,452 for the year 1900, an in- crease of 589, or 3 per cent.; the total lockages numbered 11,321, which is an increase of 636, or 6 per cent. The American canal was opened April 26 and closed December 11, 1901; season, 230 days. ‘The Canadian canal was opened April 20 and closed December 21, Igor; season, 246 days. While the traffic exceeds that of the preceding year by 41 per cent, yet this is less than the average annual per- centage of increase; but the actual gain of 2,759,992 tons is the largest for any one year excepting that of 4,021,146 tons in 1899. The gain was made wholly after Septem- ber 1. The falling off in the early part of the season was due to the ice blockade in the St. Clair river and to the marine engineers’ strike. The increased tonnage was general for all the prin- cipal items of freight with the exception of soft coal, copper and building stone. ; The depth of water in channels permitted a safe draft of 171%. to 19 feet during the season. Most of the 52 new vessels put in commission for the Lake Superior trade, were large steam freighters ranging from 375 to 450 feet in length. he growth of the Lake Superior commerce during the past half century has been phenomenal. The estimated amount and value of articles which crossed the portage at Sault Ste. Marie in 1851, to and from Lake Superior, was 12,600 net tons, worth $1,675,000. In 1861, a decade later, the traffic through the state locks was 88,000 tons, valued at $6,000,000. In 1871, 585,000 tons, estimated value, $13,000,000. In 1881, through the state and Weitzel locks, 1,567,741 tons, at $30,000,000. Ja sion through Weitzel lock, 8,888,759 tons, at $128,- 178,208. In 1901, through Weitzel, Poe and Canadian locks, 28,- 403,065 tons, at $280,906,865. Thus, the average annual percentage of increase of each year’s traffic over that of the preceding year has been as follows for the decades: IS51-1861........... 21 per cent. TOO LSL OZ Ts te sc cistor wens 21... per. cént. LOZ U=LOOU cists casters 10%4 per cent. TSSIAIBOL iscsi ges 19 per cent. I8QI-I901......:....12%4 per cent. Average... 2; 16 2/3 per cent The largest cargoes carried through the canal averaged 8,202 tons, the aggregate being 49,213 tons, comprised of six cargoes carried in large steel tow barges. The largest cargoes of steamers shows a mean of 8,184, and an aggre- gate of 32,738 tons, comprised in four cargoes. The steel tow barge Manila, Pittsburg Steamship Co., carried the largest single cargo, 8,288 tons, and the steamer Wm. Edenborn, of the same company, 8,222 tons. ‘I’he steamer Presque Isle, owned by the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., carried the maximum record for the season, of 161,375 tons. For miles run the Buffalo, owned by the N. Y. Central & Hudson River R. R. Co., traveled 41,370 and the record for mile tons is credited to the steamer J. J. Albright, owned by the Aetna Steamship Co., show- ing a total of 132,822,226. The maximum traffic for a single day was on Septem- ber 2, when 230,156 freight tons were passed by 150 ves- sels, whose registered tonnage amounted to 202,525 tons. The minimum traffic for a single day was on April 24, when 1 ton of freight passed through the canals by 9 vessels, whose registered tonnage amounted to 1,092 tons. American vessels carried 96 per cent. of the total freight and 28 per cent. of the total passengers. Canadian vessels carried 4 per cent. of the total freight and 72 per cent. of the total passengers. Unregistered American crafts carried» 30,666 tons of freight in 232 passages, or an average of 132 362-2,000 tons per passage. 1 ee THE MARINE RECORD. Unregistered Canadian crafts carried 19,134 tons of freight in 181 passages, or an average of 105 1,425-2,000 tons per passage. Of the 20,041 passages for the season, 3,719 were by 91 vessels under 100 tons register, or an average of 37 tons each. ~The total freight carried by such craft amounted to 1,858 tons. = The relative values of the different commodities are as follows: per cent. Coal, (anthracite and bituminous). ......6-..+++. +55 ; Cereals (wheat, rye, oats, corn, barley, flax and flour). 28.9 Iron, (iron ore, manufactured and pig iron).....-.-- 20. Copper seek Oo FR otro elit intraday oF 9.1 Tavera esi 6s cocks See Gate dS Gal basis Atay ake ornnve slash SAN 5.7 Allother products.4). Jc. f. eviees eve tiene ede rine 24.4 The American canal records show that vessels necessaril spent 25,042 hours and 34 minutes in canal or an average of 1 hour, 34 minutes and 52 seconds, which includes time waiting for lockage and passage through locks and canal, the latter being 1 3-5 miles long. Other delays at canal, which included taking on supplies, waiting for daylight or favorable weather, amounted to 17,581 hours and 16 min- utes. Statistical summary of lake commerce through canals at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Ontario, for season of 1QOI: Total mile-tons 23,383,861,087 Total freight carried, net tons .........+-. 28,403,005 Total valuation placed on freight carried... $289,905,865 Average value per ton of freight carried... $10.21 Total amount paid for freight transportation. $23,217,974.07 Average distance freight was carried, miles. 823.3 Cost per mile, per ton, mills .............. .99 Average cost per ton for freight transportation $0.82 Total number registered vessels using canals. 803 Total number of passages by unregistered crate. carryine treight) (2. ow des bales: 413 Time American canal was operated, days.... 230 Time Canadian canal was operated, days.... 246 ‘otal valuation placed on registered vessels.. $60,550,100 Total number of passengers transported... 59,003 Freight carried by Registered vessels, toms ....-..---..0.++5- 28,353,205 Unregistered vessels, tons ........++.+.05 49,800 American vessels; percent... 20022... 0s. oe 06 Canadian vessels, per cent...............: 4 Passengers carried by Americans vessels, per Cent. tear ied. yee 28 Canadian vessels, per cent..i............. 72 The canal post office delivered 118,270 pieces of mail during the season, consisting of 107,643 letters, 4,920 pos- tals, 5,046 newspapers and 655 parcels. In addition to this, 905 pieces were returned to the city postoffice after being held 30 days uncalled for, and 2,441 pieces were for warded to new addresses. This shows an increase over the previous year of 13,683 pieces of mail. The carrying, distributing and delivery of marine mail was done by the office watchmen in addition to their regular duties of re- ceiving masters’ reports and keeping the traffic records. << umrs ae —— — PROGRESS ON NAVAL VESSELS. In the official statement of the degree of completion of vessels under construction for the U. S. Navy, July 1, the greatest progress.made on any one vessel was on the armored cruiser Colorado, being constructed by the Cramps. She has advanced five per cent. in completion between June 1 and July 1. The average advance on other vessels where advance has been made, has been from two to four per cent. Commencing with the battleships, the Maine, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, and New Jersey, have advanced one per cent., and the Rhode Island and Virginia two per cent. The keel of the Nebraska not hav- ing been laid a month yet, no advance could be reported on her. Of the armored cruisers, the California has advanced one per cent., the West Virginia and the Maryland three per cent., the Pennsylvania four per cent., and the Colo- rado five per cent. No advance has been made on the South Dakota. The record as to the protected cruisers shows that an advance of one per cent. has been made on the Des Moines, Chattanooga, Galveston, and Cleveland, two per cent. ad- vance has been made on the Denver, three on the Tacoma, and four on the Charleston. No advance was made on the St. Louis and Milwaukee. On the monitors Arkansas and Florida an advance of one per cent. has been made, and three per cent. on the Wyoming. No advance has been made on the Nevada, which is 93 per cent. toward completion. On the torpedo boat destroyers, the Hopkins has been advanced one per cent., the Truxtun and Worden, two; the Hull, Paul Jones and Whipple, three, and on the re- maining seven no advance was made although they are well on toward completion. Five of them are as high as 99 per cent. toward completion, and the remaining two 72 and 98 per cent. No progress was made on any of the seven torpedo boats, although like the torpedo boat destroyers, they are well up toward completion. The submarine torpedo boat Pike, which is 74 per cent. toward completion advanced two per cent. during June, but no advance was made on the remaining six, which are from 74 to 99 per cent. finished. JULY 31, 1902. OVER-CAPITALIZATION AND THE REMEDY. The New York Sun publishes a list of large trusts that are supposed to be in more or less financial trouble, and clearly traces the cause of their woe to over-capitalization. he country has had a long era of prosperity, and is more prosperous to-day than at any previous period in its history. Most of these over-capitalized trusts were organized since the period of good times set in, and if they had been on a sound foundation and properly managed, there is no rea- son why they should not have made money, nor why their stock and securities should not be gilt-edged in the market at a time when good four per cent. stocks are selling above par. The Sun quotes the head of one of the largest and one of the healthiest of industrial corporations, to the effect that the trouble with the concerns that are in difficulties lies within themselves rather than without. ‘They were conceived of folly, launched upon wind, and are kept going by public credulity. They are loaded down with a weight of capital under which they can: only stagger.” The only salyation of concerns in this fix is reorganization and the scaling down of capital until they reach a solid financial basis. If this is not done in time, many- will have to go into the hands of receivers the crash will be felt by thou- sands ‘of small investors, and the whole business of the country will be affected. It is the duty of men who have to do with large finan- cial affairs to sit down on these shaky concerns at once, and to sit down hard. Such concerns are by no means confined to the East. ‘The West has its full share of companies that are over-capitalized. Perhaps they do not average so large in size, but are quite as tenuous when assets are compared with liabilities. One of the great business men of the West advised. sometime ago, a perfect remedy against the organization of corporations upon an over-capitalized basis, and that was the requirement by law, that every share of stock subscribed be paid for at par in cash before it could be issued: With such a requirement as this the corporation would be subject to only the ordinary vicissitudes of bad management and bad general business conditions. The foundation would be solid. But upon a shaky foundation no skill and no good fortune will suffice to build a solid structure. This is demonstrated by the existing condi- tions wherein we see ‘one unsubstantial business structure after another toppling over because it is like a pyramid set upon its apex. or “BRITISH SHIPPING AND TONNAGE. According to the annual statement of the navigation and shipping of the United Kingdom for 1901, just pub- lished, 130,931 steamers andsailing ships, aggregating 97,- 351,013 tons net, entered and cleared at British ports with cargoes and in ballast from and to foreign countrics and British possessions last year (105,461 vessels, of 79,- 655,540 tons, having cargoes), against 136,696 vessels, of 98,523,693 tons, in 1900, and 134,175 vessels, of 97,782,887 tons in 1889. Of the total for last year 59,381 vessels, of 34,501,172 tons, were foreign owned, as compared with 61,385 vessels, and 35,812,857 tons in 1900, and 57,272 ves- sels of 32,138,808 tons in 18990. Last year 78,001 British vessels, making a total of 10,- 128,676 tons net, and 1,033 foreign vessels, of 969,500 tons net, entered and cleared at British ports for British pos- sessions with cargo, the foreign per centage being 9.57. The above total of 969,500 tons of foreign vessels en- gaged last year in carrying cargoes between the United Kingdom and its possessions, was made up as follows: Russian, 39,833 tons; Swedish, 32,117 tons; Norwegian, 460,988 tons; Danish, 22,365 tons; German, 215,539 tons; Dutch, 30,097 tons; Belgian, 3,012 tons; French, 50,449 tons; Spanish, 19,651 #ons; Italian, 62,261 tons; Austro- Hungarian, 12,102 tons; United States, 7,432 tons, and other foreign countries, 13,654 tons. In the total of vessels entering and clearing with cargo and in ballast, London stands first with 19,661 vessels, totalling 17,275,645 tons; Cardiff second, with 10,979 ves- sels, and 12,737,057 tons, and Tiverpcol third, with 6,517 vessels and 12,636,225 tons. : In the British coasting trade 566,024 vessels of 110,- 263,288 tons net entered and cleared with cargoes and in ballast cf which 11,981 vessels, of 6,374,540 tons were for- eigners. Of these vessels 344,756 of 60,779,321 tons had corgoes, of which 1,586 vessels, of 378,108 tons were for- eign owned. At the end of last year 35,353 vessels of 11,120,388 tons net, were. owned in the United Kingdom and her colonies, against 34,875 vessels and 10,751,392 tons net in 1900, an increase of 83 vessels, and 303,270 tons. Most tonnage was owned at Liverpool, 2,364,919 tons; Tyondon coming second with 1,850,809 tons. Excluding vessels employed in inland navigation and yachts, 14,112 British vessels, totalling 9,175,930 tons, were employed on the 31st December last, with 230,691 persons, of which 35,950 were foreigners and 36,254 Lascars. rr or _Towage——The fact that a tug did not report for ser- vice in taking out a tow at the time agreed upon, and did not start until several hours after the appointed time when the tide was not so favorable, will not support an action for an injury to the tow on the voyage where the owner accepted the service of the tug after her arrival and the tow was then taken out with his consent. The Startle, 115 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 555.