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’ aS, Sinclair & Co., at Toledo. _ chapters has been given the names of other NAVIGATION, ntered into the ship chandlery Detroit xs successors to E. W. nd soon established a brisk trade. & Co., at the foot of Second as managers of the North Shore teamers between Detroit and Baffalo. John Hutebings commenced a storage om mission and steamboat agency at the f Griswold street, Detroit; also Chas. Bancroft, at the foot of Shelby street. a C. B. Swain assumed the agency of steam- ers between Detroit and Butfalo, at Detroit; In preceding houses which were kept in continuance save in few instances where changes were made, or retirements, which usually follow all branches of trade. - The Sault canal was completed this year, opening up cormunication with the Lake Superior region. The steamer [llinois, 927 tons, Captain Jack Wilson, was the first boat to pass through that thoroughtare, which occurred on June 18, 1855. She was fol- lowed by the steamer Baltimore, Captain John Shook, the Sam Ward, Captain Easta- brook, and the North Star, Captain B. G. Sweet, respectively, the same month. The Baltimore continued plying there, changing eventually, between Chicago and Lake Su- perior, until the fall of the same year, when she was wrecked at Sheboygan, on Lake Michigan, freighted with supplies. Shipbuilders were by no means Idle at this period of lake commerce, there being no less than one hnuné@red and seventy eratt of all classes, launched at various lake ports,stimu- lated by good freights, which prevailed throughout the season. The new propeller Mary Stewart made her advent this season at Detroit, built tor and owned by J. L. Hurd & Co., of Detroit, to run on the North Shore, between Detroit and Buffalo, commanded by Captain Henry Watts. The propeller Potomac, 818 tons burden, built by Luther Moses at Cleveland, came out this season. The steamer I’. F, Parks, 386 tons, built by D. Bruce, at Malden. Propeller Old Concord, 457 tons, built by W.E. Difon at Newport, River St. Clair. Propeller TI. M. Bradbury, 445 tons, built by L. Moses at Cleveland, Propeller Chicago, 758 tons, built by Bidwell & Banta, Buffalo, Steamer Forest Queen, 462 tons, built by D. Bushnell at Newport. Steamer Planet, 1,153 tons, by Bushnell at Newport. Tug Relief, 362 tons, by Van Slyke & Notter, Buftalo. Tug Rescue, 275 tons, by Bidwell & Banta, Buffalo, beside sail vessels, suffi- cient to make up the complement above noted. Soundings were taken of Buftalo harbor by Marine Inspectors Captains E. P. Dorr, D. P. Dobbins and John Munson, who re- ported a very dangerous and threatening condition of things for vessels. They found only ten feet of water and a narrow chan nel from the lighthouse to the breakwater’ and recommended improvements to beim mediately carried out. The Toronto Colonist reports a brisk trade in cereals, and the demand for flour increas- ing- During one week 13,500 bbls. were sold at $8.50 and $9.00; wheat at $2.60 per bushel. The receipts of Canadian bread- stuffs at Oswego for one week, 29,029 bbls. of fiour, and 54,000 bushels of wheat; the latter commodity realizing $2.25 per bushel. At Milwaukee choice winter wheat brought $1.85 per bushel. Ata convention of railroad magnates held at Detroit, it was resolved that no annual or general passes be given except to general officers of respective roads, and that half- fare passes to the clergy be at once discon. tinued. The following craft passed out of exist- ence during the season ot 1855: Steamer Baltimore, wrecked at Sheboy- gan, $15,000. Steamer Queen Gity, burned at Toronto dock, $30,000. Steamer Porcupine, burned at Prescott, Lake Ontario, $6,000. Steamer Sebastapol, lost at Milwaukee; seven lives lost, $350,000. Propeller Oregon, exploded above De- troit, with ten lives lost, $8,000. Propeller Rossiter, wrecked on Lake Michigan, $7.000. Propeller Charter Oak, foundered in Lake Erie, ten lives lost, $10,000. t#@Propeller Delaware, wrecked at Sheboy- gan, with loss of eleven lives, $35 000. Propeller Fintry exploded and sunk in Lake Erie, with eight lives, $80,009. Bark L. M. Hubby, lost on Lake Michi- gan, loss of eleven lives, $18,000. Bark North Star, wrecked on Long Point, $12,000 Pint ig he season of 1855 Wilcox, Luff troit, entered upon the shipping |$ Jthe Marine Reronil. Bark Pathfinder, lost near Chicago, $25, Bark Black Maris, wrecked near same place, $25,000. - Bark Halliwell, wrecked at Long Point Cut, $16,500, ; Brig Jo-ephine, wreeked at Port Burwell, an nw ,000. Beig Allegheny, sunk by brig Young Ameviea in Lake Erie, $8,000. Brig Tuscarora, wrecked at Chicago, $9.500. Brig Baltic, wrecked at Port Stanley, 3.500. Brig Julia Dean, wrecked on Skillagalee, $50,000. Brig H. Wheaton, wrecked at Long Point Cut, $22,000. Brig John Irwin, wrecked at I'wo Rivers, Lake Michigan, $20 000. Brig Virginia, lost off Long Point, Lake Erie, $5,800. Schooner Sylph, lost near Oswego, $6,000. Schooner Saratoga, lost near Chicago, $4,000. Schooner Defiance, foundered in Lake Ontario, loss of ten lives, $8,000, Schooner Visitor, sunk near West Sister, and one life lost, $4,000. Schooner Cygnet, sunk by steamer West- ern World on Lake Erie with loss of one life, $4,000. Schooner E. M. Lyon, sunk by propeller Delaware in Lake Erie, $4,000. Schooner Mansfield, sunk by the schooner Telegraph in Lake Michigan, $27,000. Schooner Napoleon, sunk off Erie, $4,800. Schooner Julia, burned trom combustion, $1,000 Schooner Asia, sank by propeller Forest City in Lake Michigan, $20,000. eas Sparrow, wrecked near Buffalo, 80 Schooner Brittain, lost on Long Point, $12 500. : Schooner Ivanhoe sunk by schooner Arab in Lake Erie, $7,000, Schooner Wiman, lost at Point au Barque, $2,500. : Schooner G. W. Weeks, lost at Pere Mar- 7 quette, Lake Michigan, $3,000. : Schooner H. David, sunk in Lake Ontario, $8,000. E Schooner S!. Clair, sunk off Point au Bar- que, $2,000. : Schooner Dean Richmond, wrecked near Racine, $17,000. Schooner Sam Strong, wrecked at Pere Marquette, $7,400. Schooner Liverpool, lost at Grand Haven, $2,000. nasa ye Schooner Koefer, wrecked at Brie, $4,000. Schooner Reindeer, lost near Chicago, $3,000. Schooner Belle, sunk off Sodus, Lake On tario, $5,600. Schooner Pearl, wrecked on East Sister, $16,000. tee Schooner Lodi, lost at Grand Haven, $1,000. Schooner Hope, lost at Beaver Island, $25,500. Schooner James Hughes, wrecked near Muskegon, $2,500. Schooner Crescent, wrecked on North Fox Island, $35,000. Schooner De Witt Clinton, lost near Kala- mazoo, $2,000. Schooner J. B, Skinner, lost on east shore of Lake Michigan, $2,500. Schooner Vermont, lost at Grand Haven, $5,000. Schooner Rockwell, wrecked near Muske- gon, $1,500. Schooner Steinhart, foundered in Lake Michigan, $2,000. Schooner Knickezbocker, lost on Lake Michigan with one life, $2,000. Total loss of property during the season of 1855, $2,797,839. Number of lives lost, 118. Steamers 4, propellers 6, barks 5, brigs 8, schooners 81. The machinery and other parts of the steamer Mayflower which was wrecked at Point au Pellee in the fall of 1854, were re- covered by the steamer Huron during the season of 1855, which came near being wrecked while engaged in the undertaking. Early in the season of 1855 the steamer Pearl, owned by Captain Ward, was sold to A.D. Dickenson and Captain J. B. Good- sell, of Detroit, and placed on the rovte be- tween that city and New Baltimore, making daily round trips. The total receipts of grain at Chicago in 1855 was 20,487,953 bushels. The value of imports at Buffalo were $50,846,819, an increase over 1854 of $5,315,- 888. There were 9,281 arrivals at that port during the season, with a tonnage of 3,360,- 233 tons, The tonnage owned at Sackets Harbor was 6,227 tons, at Oswego 42,460 tons, Gen- essee 2383 tons, Niagara 468 tons, Oswe- gatchie 4,485 tons, Buffalo 76,952 tons, Cape Vincent 6,609 tons, Presque Isle 9,269 tons, Cuyahoga 51,078 tons, Sandusky 8,051 tons, Maumee 3,763 tons, Detroit 65,058 tons, Mackinaw 4,431 tons, Milwaukee 15,673 tons, Chicago 50,972 tons. The tonnage entered and cleared at Cuya- hoga was 1,782,498. Value of imports and exports $162,185,640. Entered and cleared at Buffalo 5,330,232 tons; value of imports and exports, $333,023,000. At Sandusky, value ot imports and exports, $59,966,000, Maumee, $94,107,000. Entered and cleared at Chicago, 2,632,000 tons; value of imports and exports, $233,878,000, Entered and cleared at Detroit, 1,538,000 tons; imports and exports,$140,000,000. At Oswego,1,607,- 000 tons; exports and imports, $145,235,000. The total valuation of imports and exports throughout the lake region were $1,216 .620,- 640. The losses by shipwrecks were $578, 000, by stranding $11,350, and by collision $36,600. THE FORMS OF SHIPS FOR: WAR AND FOR PEACE, Among a collection ot very valuable papers recently published by the British institution of civil engineers, is a report of a lecture of exceptional naval by the great naval architeer, Sir Edward J. Reed. The address was a short one, but very comprehen- sive. The speaker begins by comparing the conditions affecting the long and the short ship of equal weight-carrying power, show- ing that the character of the work for which the vessel in intended, and even the nature of the material of whieh its hull is ecom- posed, are circumstances affecting the torm of maximuin efficiency. The long ship ot small wave-making action, but of great triction producing power, is shown to be best for the case of light bull and heavy loading ; the short, broad vessel, on the other hand, is best for the case of the heavily plated, lightly loaded ship. ‘he heavier the armor, the shorter and broader, pro- portionately, must be the hull chosen to do the best cvork, The tact that the shorter and broader, though for a given displace- ment the lighter, ship demands greater engine power, brings another complication into the problem; and it is for the naval architect and engineer to seek the form which, on the whole, will be best for his purpose. On the whole, it is found that, for war vessels, the heavier the armor to be carried, the fuller the form to be chosen; in other words, the value ot a ship for purposes of war is not to be judged at all by the magnitude of the so-called ‘constant of per- formance’ (cube ot the speed, multiplied by the two-thirds power of the displacement, divided by the indivated horse power.) A ship with a high coefficient may be a very bad vessel for war purposes, even though easily propelled through the water. ‘This is a very important principle in naval architecture, and is the more to be kept in view from the fact that it has been customary for many years to judge the value of a de- sign by the magnitude of this constant or some similar quantity. The application of acorrect method of comparison shows the Belerophon, a short ship of 300 feet length, to be superior as a war vessel tu the Minotaur,—a ship of 400 feet length, and of much finer form. The smaller ship was ‘handier,’ attained the same speed, carried an equal battery better protected, had the same engine power, and cost less than three- quarters as much as the larger. But her voefficent was about 15 per cent lower. This comparison effected a revolution in naval design of Great Britain. The later iron clads are built with a length only about five times the breadth, though steaming 16 and 17 knots. It is found, on carrying out the investiga- tion, that the short, broad ship, which should be given, nevertheless, fine ‘entrance’ and ‘run,’ may often be subject to less re- sistance than a rival craft of greater length and less beam. This was shown by Froude’s experiments on the Ajax and arival form. The magnitude and position of the ‘bow wave’ relative to the stern of the ship is one of the important modifying conditions. Should that wave take the right position, the resistance may be much less than where it comes in the wrong place. The action of the screw, in relieving the pressure of the water under the stern, is another serious consideration. Froude found, that, if it could be placed one-fourth or one-third the ship’s beam from the stern of the vessel, the resistance to propulsion would be very much decreased, The introduction of a lengthened middle body may or may not aid; but no principle or formula has yet been found to determine what the effect will be. Of the three principal-elements of re- sistance, the friction of the skin of the ship the wave making effect, the eddy resistance, the first is usually the greatest. In very fast vessels the second and third may ap- proximate to equalty with the first. At low speeds the friction may be nine-tenths the total; at high speeds, such ss now are becoming common, the frictional resistance may become as lew as one-half the total. Comparing war vessels, it is seen that fine- lined ships having thick armor would re- quire to be of,enormoas length, size, cost, and power, while the same offensive and de- fensive power may be obtained in full lined ships at much less sacrifice of all desirable qualities. No ivsuperable obstacles exist to-day to the production of armored war vessels capable of defying all the ordnance of the world, and of carrying their own armament at a speed of 18 or 20 knots into the waters | of auy enemy. ‘lhe cost of such vessels has becomes so great, however, that progress in this direction has apparently nearly or quite ceased for the present. The engineer and naval architect is prepared to do his part of the work wheuever the nation shall call upon bim. This was the closing lecture of a course covering the general subject of hydro- mechanics, and was considered a very fitting final address. —Science. ECONOMY OF BRAIN WORK. “Pa, Pm not going to learn any more geography lessons.”’ “Why? Have yon been excused from geog- raphy lessens ?”’ “No, but—’’ : ”T presume your teacher has got tired of | such a stupid pupil.” “Teacher nothin.? Um the feller that’s |got tired. I read ina paper that the geog- jraphy of over half the globe would be} | changed by future explorations and I’m go- | ing to wait. I want to get it straight be- | fore I put in so much hard work.” ‘ re LITERARY NOTICES o HARPER’S MaGazine for January, in rich- ness of illustration and in its literary attrac- tions, seems like another Christmas num- ber. It has, indeed, several articles espe- cially appropriate to the season. Not the least remarkable of these is a Christmas sketch—‘an echo of plantation life” en } “Une, Edinburg’s Drowndin’,” by Thome N. Page, the author of “Marse Chan.” It is as faithful in its pictures of plantation life as itis in its reproduction of the negro dia- leet, and is strikingly humorous and pa. thetic. Archibald Forbes, the famous war correspondent, tells the story of a Christmas holiday spent with Germans on the fore- posts of Paris during the Franco-German war, ‘The narrative is graphically ilustra- ted from sketches made on the spot and ut the time by Mr, Sidney P. Hall. Mr. How- ells, in this number, gives the first install- ment of the new editorial department which be has undertaken to conduct in Harper’s Magazine—the Euitor’s Study. It follows the Easy Chair, and Mr. Curtis, in the lat- ter, gracefully introduces his readers to the adjoining department. ‘The “Study” itself Is quaintly described by: Mr. Howells. Its “vast windows of flawless plate,” he says, “look out upon the confluent waters of the Hudson und the Charles, with expanse, in the middle distance, of the Mississippi, the Great Lakes, and the Golden Gate, and, in the background, the misty line of the Thames, with reaches of the remoter Seine, and glints of the Tiber’s yellow tide,’’” Among the other notable papers is that by Major General George B. McClellan, on the “Militia and the Army,” which “may be considered as his last words to his fellow countrymen. ‘ St. NICHOLAS FoR January, 1886, is both in point of time and contents another Christ- masnumber. W, D. Howells leads off with his long-promised story, which is delight- fully unconventional, and has the bewitch- ingly suggestive title, “Christmas Every Day,” and some amusing illustrations by his little Caughter. Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett follows with another installment of her charming serial, “Little Lord Fauntle- roy;” Horace E. Scudder contributes the opening chapters of his story of the life of se George Washington, which will be allustra- ted from many sources; in the department for ‘Middle-aged Little Folk,’ Palmer Cox tells about “I'he Brownies Tobogganing;’? and in the pages devoted to ‘Very Little Folk,” Laura H. Riebaids, a-sisted by a full-page picture, explains ‘‘Why Coralie the was Ill.’ ‘There is not room to t many other attractions of this nui THE January number of the ATL oe gins with the first two chapters of Charles Egbert Craddock’s new serial, ** In the Clouds,” which shows the same strong touch and remarkable deszriptive power that have distinguished her other novels of Tennessee: life. This is followed by a paper on “The Free Negroes of North Carolina” (who were free during the slave regime), by Mr. David Dodge, who writes most entertainingly of this little known class. The editor of the Atlantic, Mr, Aldrich, has a very bright short story called ‘“I'wo Bites at a Cherry,’’ which only Mr, Alrich could have written. Dr. Holmes has « paper in the New Port- folio series, ‘‘A Cry from the Study ;” ‘The Political Consequences in England of Corn- wallis’s Surrender,’’ forms the subject of a thoughtful article by Mr. John Fiske; In- teresting installments of ‘*The Princess Casamassima,’’ by Henry James, and Mrs. Oliphant’s “A Country Gentleman,’’ are also giver in thisissue. ‘The last number of L’Art forms the subject ot an able criticism, while the Contributors’ Club is full of the stimulating thought and pleasant tancy that distinguish this department. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston. Tur January Crentory —C: nspicuous among the varied features of the January Century are the short stories.‘ ‘Trouble on Lost Mountain,” by Joel Chandler Harris (Uncle Remus), is even more powerful than his louger character novelette, “At Teague Poteet’s,’’the scene of both being laid among the moonshiners of northern Georgia. Lost Mountain is a neighbor of the Kenesaw mountain of Sherman’s Atlanta campaign ; and that its people are curiously individual, with a bent for humor and dramatie action, is most artistically revealed by Mr. Harris, and also by Mr. Kemble, who supplies the character sketches. In the other short story of the number, ‘Ihe Cloverfield’s Car- | riage,”? by Frank R. Stockton, the humorous motive is the desire of a negro coachman who had left his former owners, in order to make his freedom appear a reality, to re- cover his former dignity as a trusted servant of the family. Mrs, Mary Hallock Foote’s new serial of western life, “John Bodewin’s Testimony,’’in the third part points strongly to dramatic situations, Mr. James’s *‘Bos- tonians”’ assumes new and interesting phases as it approaches the conclusion, which will be reached in the next number. In the war series we have General John Pope’s pungent and personal description of ‘“Vhe Second Battle of Bull Run,” which in its fighting, its depressing results, and in its controversies was one of the most remarka- ble events of the war. Few of the war arti- cles have been so fully illustrated with map and pictures; and the “Recollections of a Private,” describing ‘lwo Days of the Sec- | ond Battle of Bull Run,” is replete with in- cident and attractively illustrated. SUSE The sides of the steambarge Indian, which is lying sunk near Belle Island, are rapidly disappearing. A number of planks are missed daily.