The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

{ | { peter tiie - terfere, ar plated in Quest _ of the cargo of the vessel in distress, if nec- “there be 2 ready and ng to render the necessary assistance: ef Mie At eae vessel should not in- tance of another American vessel that ground er otherwise be in distress in ; ditan waters, While bound on a voyage trom one American port to another, without designing to call av any port or place in Canada, unless (1) the assistance required is towing, and there beat hand a Canadian ves- sel, able and willing to render the necessary assistance by towing; (2) unless a receiver of wreck has taken charge of the vessel which is wrecked, stranded or in distress, pursuant to the provisions of the Wreck and Salvage Act of 1873, and has given orders to the contrary. : It will be convenient to mention bere that “wreck,” properly so called, is wreck cast upon the land; and in the absence of a defi- nition of the word in the Act of 1873, it would probably be confined to that which is cast upon the land. By the Merchants’ Shipping Act, 1854, “wreck”’ is defined to include “jetsam,” “flotsam,”’ “lagan,’’ and “derelict, found in or on the shores of the sea. : “Jetsam” is when goods are cast out of a ship to lighten her, and afterward the ship perishes. ‘‘Flotsam’’ is where a ship sinks or otherwise perishes, and the goods float: ‘*Lagan”’ is where heavy goods are,to lighten . the ship, cast out and sunk, tied to a buoy, or cork, or something that will not sink, in order that they may be found again and re- covered. “Derelict’’ is ships or goods totally abandoned and forsaken. : It would be sater to assume that the word “wreck” as used in the Act of 1878, would receive the same definition as that given to it iz the Merchants Shipping Act. The second question is as follows: ‘‘Is there anything in the laws or decisions of Canada to prevent an American craft, as part of the assistance contemplated in Question 1, from lightering’a part of the cargo of. such vessel in distress, if necessary to re- lieve the distress ?”’ Answekr.—I have already explained that the Act of 1875 applies only to the case ot an American steam vessel towing a ship, etc., from one port or place in Canada to an- other. In my*opinion there is nothing in the laws or decisions of Canada to prevent an Amert- eraft as part of the assistance contem- estion 1 from lightering a part essary to relieve the distress, unless the ves- | in distress has been lawfully taken charge by a rec 8 of wreck who has given in- structions to t e contrary. It must, however, be borne in mind that all persons, whether British subjects or for- eigners, who take possession of wreck, must obey the directions of the act of 1873 as to the dispesal of such wreck, and must also conform to the provisions of the revenue laws relating to the subject. Section 6@ of the Customs Act of 1888 pro- vides, that goods derelict, flotsam, jetsam or wreck, or landed or saved from any vessel wrecked, stranded or lost, brought or com- ing into Canada, shall be subject to the same duties and regulations as goods of the like kind imported are subject to. The Customs Act prevents the landing of goods from a vessel or the breaking of bulk between the time of versel coming within the lin its of Canada and of making the nec- essary report to the Custom House. Section 30 declares, that the necessary dis charging of any goods for the purpose of lightening the vessel in order-to pass any shoal or otherwice for the safety of such ves sel, shall not be deemed an unlawful lund- ing or breaking of bulk. To avoid any doubt on the subject and to save any trouble which otherwise might en- sue, it would be well to report at once to the nearest Custom House the fact of the light- ering of the cargo, and the circumstances connected therewith, in order that the in- structions of the collector may be taken with respect to the necessary entries (if any) to be made. The third question is as follows: “Is the term “distress,’? ag used in this connection in Canadian law, intended to refer to any sort of marine mishap, large and small, and if not, to what is the meaning restricted and on what authority ? ANSWER.—In answering the first question | I have said all that seems necessary on this | subject. The fourth question is: ‘‘What recourse has an American vessel owner in case his vessel is illegully detained by a Canadian officer ?”’ Answer.—The first proceeding is to serve without delay and within a month a notice in writing on the proper collector or other person under whose authority the vessel was seized, claiming the vessel on the part of the owner. If a release cannot be obtained by negotia- tions with the proper department of the government, the only recourse would be to present a petition of right to the Crown and prosecute the same in the Exchequer Court of Canada, where the legality of the seizure might be decided. If the whole action on the part of the offi- cersfot the government were illegal,the per- son actually detaining the vessel might be | but if in} : such action the judge certified that there} Forester, 504 tons, Captain J. Robertson, was probable cause of seizure, the claimant | Detroit and Port Huron. might be deprived of costs and could not re- sued for the damages sustained ; cover more than 20c. damages. S. H. BLake. Toronto, 16th December, 1885. et SSS “HISTORY OF LAKE NAVIGATION. | Plymouth Rock, 1,991 tons, Captain P. J. Ralph, Detroit and Buffale. --Western World, 2,000 tons, Captain J. H. Barker, Detroit and Buffalo. Mississippi, 1,829 tons, Captain 5S. G, Langley, Detroit and Buffalo. ; ~<Arrow, 373 tons, Captain J. W. Keith, Detroit and Toledo. —Dart, 297 tons, Captain S. Dustin, Detroit and Toledo, ~ Bay City. 479 tons, Captain J. M. Lundy, Detroit and Sandusky. Southern Miecnigan, 1,470 tons, Captain Goldsmith, Buffalo and ‘Toledo, Western Metropolis, 1,880 tons, Captain I. 't. Pheatt, Buffalo and Toledo, eCity of Buffalo, 2,200 tons, Captain A. D. Perkins, Buftalo and ‘Toledo. ve Crescent City, 1,740 tons, Captain W. ‘I’. Pease, Buffalo and Cleveland. eeQueen of the West, 1,850 tons, Captain D. H. McBride, Buffalo and Cleveland. —Clifton, 247 tons, Captain H. Van Allan, Buffalo and the Falls, ohawk, Captain Hollywood, Buffalo and Port Stanley. Navigation commenced at Buffalo May 2, 1856, and at the Straits of Mackinaw on the same date, the schooner David Tod the first to pass through, bound west, ‘The valuation of itnports at Buffalo for the year 1856 by lake, was $45,684.079, a de- crease from the previous season of $4,662,- 740. The quantity ef products received at that port during 1856, from the difterent States, by water, were from Ohio ports, flour, 641,155 bbls; wheat, 826,016 bushels; corn, 1,717,130 bushels; oats, 1,094,015 bushels. From Michigan, flour, 208,125 bbls.; wheat, 495,289 bushels; corn, 164,497 bushels; oats, 42 314 bushels. From Illinois, flour, 122,- 472 bbis.; wheat, 5,127,917 bushels; corn, 7,922,461 bushels; oats, 548,826 bushels. From Wisconsin, flour, 115,427 bbel.; wheat, 1,707,798 bushels; corn, 52,702 bushels; oats, 39,146 bushe!s. From Canada, flour, 60,906 bbls. ; wheat, 386,067 bushels. ‘Total, flour, 1,143,085 bbls.;_ wheat, 8,543,117 bush- els; corn, 9,846,790 bushels; oats, 1,723,801 bushels. : . Arrived, American vessels from foreign ports 112, tonnage 17,745 tons, crews 508, Arrived, foreign vessels from various ports 718, tonnage 71,089 tons, crews 5,314. ‘Total, arrivals 880, tonnage 88,784 tons, crews 5,912. Cleared same season, American ves- sels to fureign ports 181, tonnage 30,607 tons, crews 1,193. Cleared,toreign vessels to vari- ous ports 6382, tonnage 62,888 tons, crews 5,580; total 813 vessels, 93,440 tons, crew 6,773. ‘The losses on the lakes in hull and cargo by steam and sail for the month of May was $142,600, June $118,550, July $266,- 130, August $67,750, September $342,860, October $882,039, November $1,059,395, De- cember $159,550. Total loss by steam and sail in 1856, $3,038,874, an increase over|1855 of $241,035. Total loss of life 407, an in- crease over 1855 of 209. The loss on steam hulls was $782,800. J.oss of cargoes by steam $645,300, making a total loss by steam of $1,378,100. Loss on sail vessels $863,675. Loss on cargoes by sail vessels, $797,099. Total loss by sail vessels in 1856, $1,660,714, The number of vessels employed on the lakes in the fall of 1856 was steamers 107, tonnage 62,863 tons, cash valuation $3,320,- 400; propellers 185, tonnage 54.675 tons, cash valuation $2,741,200; barques 56, ton- nage 21,773 tons, valuation $673,800; brigs 108, tounage 27,045 tons, valuation $701,850; schooners 850, tonnage 173,380 tons, valua- tion $5,487,100. Total number of craft 1,256 tonnage 339,736 tons, valuation $12,944,850. The exhibit of losses for 1856, as above noted, was the largest ever before recorded, and exceeded those of several subsequent years, notwithstanding the yearly increase of tonnage. The valuation of commerce which passed threugh the St. Clair flats during the season of 1856 was placed at upward of three hun- dred millions of dollars, while the coasting trade not included in the above estimate amounted to at least a hundred millions more. The improvements in the way of hand- ling grain up to this period, over the old way, by buckets, was an increase of eleva- tors at all the principal ports of shipment. The first of these important inventions on the lakes was constructed at Buftalo by Joseph Dart during the winter of 1842-743, on the north side of Buffalo creek, and was burned in 1862, ‘The first vessel which un- loaded there was the schooner Philadelphia, Captain Charles Rogers, a vessel of 128 tons burden, and had on board 4,515 bushels of wheat which was consigned to Kinne & Davis. ‘The first cargo of corn which dis- charged there was the schooner South America, Captain A. Bradley, which had on board a trifle over 3,145 bushels, also the schooners H. M. Kinne, Captain M. Capron jand Wm. Brewster, Captain Wood, all of | which arrived and discharged in the month lof June. ‘Beside these there were seventy BY J. W. HALL. Written tor the Marine Record : . CHAPTER LIII. For several years, beginning as early as 1854 parties in Canada indulged in the hope of aequiring a sufficient appropriation from the British government for the construction of a canal between Georgian Bay and Lake Ontario, the terminus to be at or near To- ronto, ‘The proposed canal would be about eighty miles long, penetrating from Notta- wassaga Bay, through the valley of the same, thence to the Humber river at To- ronto, The summit is 650 feet above the waters of Lake Ontario, and would require a succession of locks in the ascent and descent to Georgian Bay, the latter descent being only 310 feet, Lake Ontario lying 340 feet below Lake Huron. This projected canal, had it sueceeded, there can be no doubt would have proved of great importance to the great norchwest in the shipments of grain and the various other products of that immense region, beside the saving of water navigation of nearly a thousand miles, and avoiding the dangers of an intricate charac- ter through Lake Huron, the St. Clair river and St. Clair flats, and onward through the Detroit river,through which many thousands of dollars have yearly been sacrificed at the Lime Kiln crossing; Bar Point and through Point au Pelle passage,as well as the weari- | some passage through the Welland canal. The geographical position of the intended canal, so far as regards the Atlantic sea- board and various cities of the United States, which were striving for the trade and trafic of the great west, would give to Toronto the power to make those vast countries, to a certain extent, tributary to her. These im- mense productions would seek the seaboard through this canal, and as a writer truly ob- serves “would, ere long, be pouring its flood of trade and traffic through the proposed channel.” Westward are vast and fertile countries, adapted to all the pursuits of agri- cultural life, susceptible ot the highest culti- vation and improvement. Between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods, the soil is inferior to no part ot Minnesota, and adjacent thereto lies the valley of the Red River country, as it is generally known. As a wheat growing country it’ is unrivaled. This valley contains about 350,000 square miles, and is intersected in every direction by navigable rivers. Beyond this lies the valley of the Saskatchawan, which contains about 400,000 square miles, a valuable and productive region. Attention was also called to another source of trade which would con- tribute to swell the traffic through the in- tendedcanal. Hudson Bay would give to Canada a seacoast of three thousand miles, Itabounds with whales and all kinds of fish, and, Strange as it may appear, tkat great bay lies as it were in the center of Canada, This great project has for many years been lying in a dormant condition, but sooner or later, there can be no doubt of its ultimate success, and the wonder will be why so important a work was not sooner carried out. ‘The opposition which the pro- jectors have had to meet was chiefly railroad corporations on either side of the line; yet time will develop the fact that there will not be a sufticiency of this kind of transpor- tation to meet the wants ot the great com- merce which is rapidly advancing, The line of steamers which were put upon the route to Lake Superior in 1856, through the Sault canal, then in the second year of its opening were as follows: ~Steamer [llinois, 926 tons, Captain John Wilson. «Steamer North Star, 1,106 tons, Captain B. G. Sweet. Steamer Planet, 1,154 tons,Captain Joseph Nicholson. Propeller Manhattan, 320 tons, Captain John Spaulding. “Propeller Mineral Rock, 560 tons, Captain John Frazer. Propeller General Taylor, 462 tons, Cap- tain Redmond 8. Ryder. Propeller B. L. Webb, 862 tons, Captain C. K. Dixon. The Webb had been rebuilt and did not come out until late in the fall, and on ber first trip was burned in Waiska Bay with the loss of one life and the boat a total loss. | Steamers plying between Buffalo and | Green Bay, were as follows: Michigan, 642 tons, Captain Albert Stew- art. “Sultana, 650 tons, Captain N. Mead. On other routes steamer appointments were as follows: ‘Sam Ward, 483 tons, Captain H. Fish, be- | tWeen Detroit and Saginaw. .Ploughboy, 300 tons, Captain D, Rowan, Detroit and Goderich. .Mazeppa, 250 tons, from Detroit to Sagi- naw, }~xForest Queen, 462 tons, Captain 8. D. | Woodsworth, sume route. : ~A riel, 165 tons, Detroit to New Baltimore. Albion, 132 tons, Detroit to Mt. Clemons. | vator during that season. WINDLASSES AND CAPSTANS. ' The American Ship Windlass Company, Providence, R. [., will supply the following vessels: ' The schooner building by Henry Sutton at New Haven, Conn., a ‘Providence’’ pat- ent pump brake windlass of latest style,with Grater’s patent friction locking gear, also main deck capstan. The fishing smack building by Robert Palmer & Son, at Noank, Conn., a ‘‘Provi- dence”? steam pump brake windlass, with Grater’s patent triction locking gear, and a pair of 6x8 inch engines, fron side ané pawl bitst. Windsor Foundry Company, Windsor N.S.,. a “Providence” capstan windlass with Gra- ter’s friction locking gear, 1% inch chains, tor ship of 1800 tons. The steamer building at East Boston, Mass., by Montgomery & Howard for Old Colony Steamboat Company,a “ Providence’” steam capstan windlass with Grater’s patent friction locking gear, counter balance for engines, Emery & Cheney’s patent rubber stoppers and latest improvenients; also main deck capstan and rudder supporter. — Dredge boat building at Jersey City for Ross & Sanford, four windlasses connected to donkey engines, with Grater’s friction locking gear and Emery & Cheney’s patent rubber stoppers. Yacht Intrepid, Lloyd Phenix, owner, of New York, a ‘Providence’? pump brake 2 yacht windlass with Grater’s friction lock- ing gear, iron side and pawl bitts and latest improvements, oe Yacht Nooya, of New York, a “Provi- aes dence” patent yacht windlass with Grater’s Lay friction locking gear and latest improve- — eee ment. / Steam yacht Reva, Pierre Lorillard, New York, a “Providence” steam yacht windlass = with Grater’s friction locking gear in barre} i of capstan. It isto have many novel fea- | tures that are new. i seis Ss ee ; United States revenue steamer Crawford, === at Baltimore, Md., a “Providence” pump. i: brake windlass, new style, with Grater’s friction locking gear and clamps and iron side bitts, : : Car float, at South Amboy, N. J.,a “Provi- a dence”? pump brake windlass with brakes to 4 work fore and aft to save room, Three steamers at Detioit, building by Detroit Drydock Company, the ‘“Previ- dence”’ patent capstan windlass with Gra- ter’s patent friction locking gear and iron side bitts. Steamer building at Harlan & Hollings- worth Company, te run on river in South America, a “Providence”? steam dock cap- stan te pull steamer up the rapids. English steamer Pomona, at New York, a “Providence’’ steam pump brake windlass, to replace English windlass, broken by col- lision with another steamer. Steamer building at Trenton, Mich., by John Craig for Captain Cuson, a **Provi- dence”? patent capstan windlass with Gra- ter’s friction locking gear, gvpsey ends and all improvements. Steel steamer building by Union Drydock Company at Buffalo, a “Providence” steam capstan windlass, with Grater’s patent fric- tion locking gear, counterbalance for en- gines, iron side and pawl bitts. Also steam capstan to go alt, for hadling stern lines when warping to the wharf, turning round ete, Steamer City of Duluth, at Buffalo, New York, a ‘‘Providence,’’ patent capstan wind- lass, with Grater’s friction locking gear and latest style throughout to replace her pres- ent windlass. Schooner building at New Haven, Conn., by John Doyle for Captain Curtis, Van- Name & King, and others, a ‘‘Providence,” new style, pump brake windlass, with Gra- ter’s friction locking gear and clamp. Also main deck capstan. Barge building by Milwaukee Shipyard Company, a ‘Providence’? patent pump brake windlass. Coal barge Electra, belonging to Staples & Phillips, of Taunton, at Noank, Conn., a “Providence”? patent steam pump brake windlass, with 6x8 inch engines. It is to have Grater’s patent friction locking gear and clamps, iron side and pawl bitts, ete, Steamer Minnesota, at Milwaukee, is to have ends put on her windlass and iron side bitts. The steamer City of Cleveland, at Detroit Drydock Company, has a windlass with Gra- ter’s patent friction locking gear. The pub- lic are requested to examine it. All windlasses should have this locking gear, as it prevents breaking of windlass and parting of chains, as it has an elasticity under sudden strains. One man only is re- quired to unlock under the heaviest strain, where two men ure required with old style, as the friction band and lever is discarded. Captain Thomas Collins and his son will } soon commence work on the yacht Vision, lothers, composed of barques, brigs and | to put in a new sister keelson and new cen- schooners which discharged at the same ele-| ter board box and other repairs that are | needed.