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| bY] 4 Ihe Marine Record. Mlavine Becord. Published Every Thursday at 144 Supertor Street, |Leader Building) Cleveland, O. A. A. POMEROY, EDITOR AND PROP’R TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: One year, postage paid..........ecccecee sereeenee $2.00 Six months, postage paid..........sc00eseeseeeee 1.00 Invariably in advance, THE MARINE RECORD can be found for sale by the following news dealers : CLEVELAND, 0.—G. F. Bowman, corner of Pear] and Detroit Streets. Evans & Van Epps, Superior street, Cleve'and, R. A. Castner, 254 Detroit street, Cleveland. ASHTABULA HARBOR, O,—C, Large, CHICAGO, ILL.—Joseph Gray, 9 West Ran+ dolph Street. CHICAGO, ILL.—August Semper. 345 Noble Street, BUFFALO, N. Y.—Miss McCabe, Elk Street, near Ohio. DETROIT, MICH.—N. F, Stewart, Ft, of Woodward Av, DULUTH, MINN.—C. F. Johnson, 117 West Superior Street. MARQUETTE, MICH.—J. A. Vannier. ESCANABA, MICH.—Wm, Godley. SARNIA, ONT --D. McMasters, | | ST. CLAIR FLATS, MICH.—MeNiff & Son, Subscribers and others are respectfully invited to use the columns of the MARINE RECORD for the discussion of pertinent topics. ss red at the Post Officeat Cleveland as second- elass mail matter. DECEMBER PO NeRRRIB SS RE IOS THE. GRAIN ELEVATOR MYSTERY Upon a number of occasions the MARINE ReEcorpD has called attention to the serious question of shortages in grain cargoes which are unloaded at Buffalo fromupper lake ports To say the least, it was mysterious how a cargo, loaded at any of the lake ports under the supervision of properly qualified tally- men, and certified to consist of so many bushels, shrank whenever it came in con- tact with a Buffalo elevator, On the 22d of last October, V. D. Nickerson, Duluth, wrote to the RecorD, describing the extra- - ordinary care with which grain was weighed nevertheless, upon ite ar- into vessels at that port, bu’ somehow or other, the ¢ all shortages reported, the dis- appearance regularly of hundreds of thou- sands of bushels at Buffalo became a ques- tion of very serious importance to lake var- riers. Grain was beginning to be to them a cargo to be avoided, if not positively dreaded. They knew that by some occult means, and no matter how careful they might be, a cer- tain quantity of grain would disappear as soon as it had anything to do with Buffalo, They knew also that as they were held re- sponsible for shortages they might carry to Buffalo a cargo of grain at a dead loss from any port on the lakes. Where the grain went to when it reached Buffalo nobody could tell. Whether it disappeared in thin air, or percolated through the bottom of the hold, or deposited itself comfortably in the capacious pockets of the crews, was a ques- tion which no vessel master felt qualified to determine. All he knew was that when his cargo of grain reached Buffalo some invisible agency was bound to scoop up and disappear with a considerable quantity of it. There- fore he shunned grain cargoes invoiced for Buffalo. He never felt quite sure, if he took such a cargo, that thefgraiu would not own him and the ship before he managed to escape again out of Buffalo creek, Light, however, has come out of the east, as usual—ex Oriente lux. A systematic plan of grain robbery has been discovered in con- nection with the Richmond elevator, and the Buffalo papers are naturally very full of the subject. They do not seem to see that the disclosures connected with the grain rob- beries at the Richmond elevator have a most important interest for the entire grain- carrying trade of the lakes. Buffalo has managed to prove not only how robberies have been committed in one of her elevators, but, inferentially, how she has been system atically robbing others for many years. So far as the cereal carrying trade was con- destroy that tyranny which compelled ves- sel owners to pay for shortages which they could not account for, but for which they felt perfectly satisfied they were neither morally or legally responsible. In the district court of the United States for the eastern district of Michigan, Judge Brown afew months ayo, in deciding the ease of Robert Law vs. John E. Botsford and others, struck the firat blow at the tyranny which bound vessel owners to pay for shortages due, as i3 now apparent, to the systematized work of Buffalo thieves. The case was a remarkable one, inasmuch as it was about the first stand made against the monstrous custom of holding a vessel owner responsible for the delivery of cargoes which were specified in the bill of lading, but not, as a matter of fact, placed upon his hull. Asarule, the old bills of lading stipulated that the amount stated in them should be conclusive as between shippers and carriers--that is to say, that a carrier might be held responsible for the delivery of cargo which he never received, or, if he did receive it,for cargo whieh was afterward atolen by the Buffalo elevator gang. In this way a bill of lading might be brought up against a ma-ter although, perhaps, never a bushel mentioned in it, was ever placed on board, or, if put on board, was afterward stolen at the Buffalo elevatorst Judge Brown held that such a ,contrac§ could not be binding upon a vessel owner. The master might ‘sign it at his own risk, but he had no right, so far as the responsi- bility of the owner was concerned, to sign it before the cargo specified in the bill of lading was on board and consigned to his care for delivery. In like manner, it was held, and held rightly, that a carrier could be made responsible only for what cargo he received and not tor what might be set down in the bill of lading by the owner or own- ers of the cargo. If carriers followed this ruling, it would protect thein from paying for the rascalities perpetrated by the Buffalo elevator workers. A master might exercise all the possible care in the world in order to prevent acargoof grain from being tam- pered with, but he could not justly be held responsible for that cargo after it was man- ipulated through a Buffaloelevator. Short- ages,under the old hide-bound bill of lading, amounted to a most unjust discrimination against the carriers. Just how unfair the discrimination was the Buffalo grain steal- ing exposure shows, Practically, vessel= ‘owners were paying for the rascality prac- ‘tised in Buftalo elevators. It is to be hoped they will do so no longer—that they will in future insist upon a bill of lading which shall hold them responsible only for what grain they receive and for what grain they deliver before an elevator at Buffalo or any where else has a chance of manipulating it. Mr. James McCredie, manager of the Richmond estate at Buffalo, regrets that the systematic robbery practised for years at the Richmond elevator has been made pub- ‘Vie because “the general impression made among western operators and forwarders will be one of distrust toward all the Buffalo elevators.’”? The Recorp has to differ very seriously from Mr. McCredie. It is a good thing, and not a misfortune, for the whole western grain trade that the rasealities prac- tised in at least one Buffalo elevator have at last been exposed. Lake grain carriers have long suspected that there was something wrong with the Buffalo elevators. Now they know it as a fact. Vessel owners wil! now be justified to the tullest extent in demanding from rhippers a fair bill of lading, which shall hold them responsible for grain as it is measured from the hold and not after it has passed through a Buffalo elevator. If this were done there would soon be a satisfactory diminution of the curse of unjust shortages. Mr. McCredie sa,s—and from his’ thirty years connection with the Richmond eleva- tor he certainly ought to know--that it is a very easy matter, provided the man in charge were in the scheme, to steal small lots of grain from any elevator. A boat could be taken from one elevator to another and fully loaded in this way, and then the cargo could be stored at any particular ele- vator, and sold whenever it was found con- venient todoso. ‘The elevator gentry have numerous ways of stealing grain. In loading give them a flaw in the shutes through which grain will drop, and in time there will be quite a handsome little pile of ‘‘over-. ftow’’ or “oyerrun.”? ‘This process repeated upon every barge would soon result in pro- ducing a cargo which could very easily be got rid of as “damaged grain’’ through con- venient brokers, who are little else than un- cerned, Buffalo was the barpy of the lakes. | convicted “fences’’ of stolen goods in the The revelations made in connection with} shape of cereals. Colonel John Byrne, who the Richmond elevator are of immense/has been doing detective work upon the value to the whole maritime public in| Richmond elevator grain-stealing business, this part of the world, and will go tar to| estimates that in two years the aggregate amount of grain, pilfered systematically, in small or great quantities as the case might be, was over 10,000 bushels Now, thatis only one elevator, be it remembered. There can be little doubt that the convenient “‘over run’’ business is conducted by the employes of other Buffalo elevators, and if they all steal in the same proportion millions of bushels must have been paid for as “short- age’? by vessel owners who had really per- formed their contract honestly and thor- oughly. This systematized stealing is a serious tax upon the grain carrying lake trade, and it is to be hoped that when John A. Campbell, of the grain and com- mission firm of Campbell & J Ritcliffe; John Kennedy, of the firm of Kennedy, Pfohl & Co., dealers in damaged grain; Andrew Egather, of the firm of Andrew Egather & Co., forwarding and commission merchants; and Henry P. Elmslie, overseer of the Richmond elevator—all of whom have been indicted In Buffalo—are placed on trial, ample evidence of Buffalo elevator rascality will be forthcoming, so that car- riers will know how to form bills of lading which shall not place them at the mercy of a pick of elevator thieves who flourish on an iniquitous custom of ‘*shortages.” THE WEATHER BUREAU. Washington dispatches announce that General W..B. Hazen has sent in to the sec- retary of war his annual report of the weather bureau during the last fiscal year. As usual, it is an interesting and valuable report. Since the establishment of the me- teorological department,the scienve of mete- orology has made enormous strides. It is no longer a mere theoretical and speculative subject, worked upon by scientists provided with plenty of time and money. It is a practical blessing to the people of the United States. By ita aid the laws governing storms have been re..cy,inized with great accuracy, as may be judged from the fact that out of 1065 cold wave signals sent out last year, 911, or over 85-per cent, were correct fore- casts of the weather. The value of these warnings can not be estimated by mere figures. Lives and property to an incaleu- lable extent were doubtless saved through their agency. So trustworthy have they become that it is unsafe to disregard them. Had it been possible, during the last fort- night, for all the vessels that were caught in the hurricane which swept from Superior to Ontario, to give due heed to, the storm signals issued from the weather bureau, many a vessel would not row be lying at the bottom of the lakes, and many a brave seaman’s life would have been spared to face the elements under happier auspices. It is by no means only toour mercantile marine that the federal signal service is valuable. As an example, for instance, of the value of the flood signals issued by Gen- eral Hazen’s department, an experience of the residents along the Cumberland river is eloguent. During March and April sig- nals of approaching floods were issued throughout Tennessee. ‘The result was that at one point alone, Nashville, property val- ued roughly at $128,000 was saved. The expense to the yovernment in communi- cating the flood warnings was only $27.80. In that single instance the weatther bureau paid for itself many times over. As the years roll on, the work of the weather bureau will be extended. At pres- ent the cold wave signals are displayed by orders from the central office in Washing- ton at 290 cities and towns, and trom these points are distributed by telephone, tele- graph and railways to 20,000 additional stations. ‘’he number of signal stations in operation at the end of June was 452. In addition, by co-operation with the Canadian meteorological service, reports are received from twenty-four Canadian stations, so that through this wise precaution the central office at Washington is able to issue warn- ings of storms brewing in northwestern Manitoba, ana ready to burst across the territory of the states. General Hazen’s department has also established co-operative relations with foreign meteorological bu- reaus, so thatin his annual report hej has been enabled to embody reports from 294 foreign weather stations and 616 naval and merchant marine vessels. From these re- ports valuable deductions by scientists have been made with respect to the general me- teorological conditions of the whole globe and their relations noted to the meteorolog- ical phenomena of thiscontinent. The work done by the weather bureau, and the broad results achieved, are briefly summarized by General Hazen: “Many very important laws nave. been re- cently deduced theoretically, and confirmed by observation and experiment, solar and terrestrial radiation, the conditions deter-} mining temperature, the relations bipedal the amount of solar heat received b responding resulting temperature, the effect of the deflecting force of the earth’s rotation on the mechanics of the atmosphere, and the theory of the general motion of the at- mosphere, and of cyclones, tornadoes, etc. are subjects which have recently received much attention.”’ The comprehension of these natural laws means, of course, the saving of life and property toanincaleulableextent. That is the practical result of the work carried on by the weather bureau at Washington. In order to elevate the character of the signal service, General Hazen will endeavor 'o secure young men whose education will qualify them for making scientific observa- tions. The military service has hitherto done the bulk of the signalling in the in- terior of the states,with the result of effecting a great saving tojthe government. During General Miles’ recent campaign against the | Geronimo, out west, bis officers made 4 num- ber of valuable obsverations. Of course» these men, with their West Point education, were exceptionally well qualified for making scientific observations, and it will be General Hazen’s endeavor to atiract to the observa- tion service the best educated men available, Of three hundred and eighty-seven efilist- ments made during the last five years ninety- seven were college bred men. The result has shown itself in the immense improve- ment in jhe character and scope of the observations made through thecountry. In wave signal branch of the meteorological department, General Hazen asks congress for an extra appropriation of $5,000, and it is to be hoped be will get it, for there-is no part of the work done by his bureau more popular than the weather forecasts. When the citizen gets his moining paper, he does not put it aside without looking at the official weather indications. General Hazen also wants an appropriation of $10,000 for the extension of the system of warnings by the display ot flags—a feature of the signal service which gives to many cities and towns the advantages of a signal station without expense to the government. Con- gress might do much worse than make the desired appropriation, for there are few de- partments of the government more valuable to the public than the meteorological de- partment. There is one feature of General Hazen’s report which has a peculiar interest for the mercantile marine of the great lake system. He recommends a considerable addition to the cautionary stations on the lakes, on the ground that experience has proved the necessity of such an extension. Almost at the moment the chief signal officer was for- warding his annual report to the secretary of war, circumstances were occurring on the ee lakes which demonstrated the fact that not: only are more cautionary points needed but also more life-saving stations. These two institutions are almost inseparable. The work done by the life-savers was excellent during the recent storms, but that they had more to do than they could accomplish is proven by the fact that on Lake Superior one crew had to ride one hundred miles by rail before they could reach certain wrecks, while on Michigan another crew had to spend hours in toiling through snow, sand, and ice to the scene of a wreck and then arrived too late to be of any service. The increasing tonnage on the lakes ought to be accompanied by an extension of every means possible for protecting lite. Not only should the additional cautionary stations, recom- mended by General Hazen, be erected and equipped,but the treasury department should also effect a proportionate increase in the number of life-saving stations on the lakes. LIFE SAVING ON THE LAKES, In the issue of the Marine Recor. witieh contained the article quoted from by Super- intendent Kimball deserved commendation was given to the life savers of Frankfort, Portage, and Sturgeon Bay, for their gal. lantry in rescues and attempted ues. The fact that the crews of those stations — were compelled to travel great distance: in order to reach the scenes of the several wrecks shows that the stations on he lakes are too far apart, and the Recorp has bee dilligent in its efforts to have other stations established. It was not our flect on the apparatus with hich tions now in existence are p vided /we can not. compliment th | highly), but to direct -attent that the stations were too each other, and that with t for transportation offer to save life. In. gins Cleveland pee r order to extend the operations of, the cold ;