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B 4 sf : ; 1 d ; } ; ven me a I Whe Marine Recond. Marine Becavil. Published Every Thursday at 144 gg ctl Street, |Leader Building) Cleveland, O. A. A: POMEROY, EDITOR AND PROP’R TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: One year, postage paid..... Six months, postage paid Invariably in advance, THE MARINE : RECORD can be found for | sale by the following news dealers : CLEVELASD, O.—G. F. Bowman, corner of. Pear] and Detroit Streets. | the vessel on the port tack. ‘This singular | confusion of terms on the lakes arises from the different kinds of steering gear used by | different vessels, In vessels of the schooner class the wheel turns in accordance with the order, while in some steamers the chains croas under the barrel of the wheel. Thi- ar- rangement results in totally different effect- tpon the course in each class of vessels. Thus, if the captain of the schooner gave the order to port the helm the wheel would be put to port and the vessel would go to } | port; while the sieamer captain’s similar order would, by the crossing of the rudder !ehains, send the vessel to starboard. The lake hands on board ship are always chang- ling, so that in an emergency a captain finds Evane & Van Epps, Superior street, Cleve'and; | himself with a wheelsman who has a totally R. A. Castner. 254 Detroit street, Cleveland, ASHTABULA HARBOR, O.—C. Large. CHICAGO, ILL.—Joseph Gray. 9 West Ran- dobph Street, CHICAGO, ILL.—August Semper. 345 Noble Street. BUFFALO, N. Y.—Miss McCabe, Elk Street, near Ohio. DETROIT, MICH.—Ni 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. MATINE CITY, MICH. — McNiff & Son, Subscribers and others are respectfully invited to use the columns of the MARINE RECORD for the discussion of pertinent topics. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland as second- elass maii matter. CLEVELAND, 0., THURSDAY, DEG.30. ee PUBLISHER’S NOTICE. WE desire to invite the attention of sub- scribers to the label address on their papers this week. It there is a blue pencil mark near it, it will signify that the term of sub- scription has expired. In all such cases we respectfully invite them to renew as soon as possible as the list will be revised the first and second weeks in January, and it will be presumed that those who do not renew inside of two weeks do not want the paper continued. Subscribers residing in Chicago can give notice of removal to Thos, Williams, at 9 Weet Randolph street, for con- venience. Itis hoped that all will renew ‘promptly. _ now let us know if you desire to have the ‘Recoxp continued. If it is not convenient to remit — ee CONFUSION OF STEKRING ORDERS. Most people | of ordinary intelligence would be apt to believe that there is but one understood. set of “rules prevailing on the lakes tor the proper steering of a vessel. They would be very much mistaken, how ever. The navigation of the lakes has been very fearfully and wonderfully evolved from individual interests, some of which were more or less primitive while others bore at least the appearance of being influenced by progressive intente. The consequence is that there linger among the navigators prejudices and habits which would very much astonish the aforesaid people of ordi- nary intelligence. If they were told that in the United States army there existed words of command which would be misunderstood or misapplied in different regiments; that it would be possible, for instance, for a general of division to give in one regiment the order to right wheel, which would be properly carried out, and in another the same command with the result of the men promptly performing the movement of turn- ing in the opposite direction—why, they would seriously doubt the statement, but at the same tine would very properly say that, if the facts were as told to them, the rnies for the performauce of military maneuvers must have been drawn up by a set of idiots somewhere, Well, we believe, that our army is at least all right with respect to the uniformity of words of command and their proper per- formance; but there is another service, of little less importance than the army, which is notso. And that exceptional service is the mercantile marine of the lakes. It is possible for a captain of a lake vessel to issue the order ‘‘hard-a port,’’ and the wheel will be put down to port in good shape; but if he were on another ship, with a new wheelsman to deal with,and gave out the same order, down would go the wheel to the starboard side, and yet the| wheelsman could plead that he had obeyed his orders properly, no matter what the re- sulting damage might be. On some steamers the order to port the helm really means to put the vessel on the starboard tack; in others the order to put the wheel a-starboard really means to put different idea from his about ‘porting’? and “starboarding,’’ and the result very proba- bly is a collision, such as took place Novem- ber last, between the Alaska and Oregon on the Detroit river. The last number of the Recorp contained a communication trom a correspondent in Chicago, who pointed out the danger and absurdity of allowing, on these crowded lakes, thé order “starboard” and the order *‘port’’ to have totally different meanings on different steamers or vessels. It is impossi- ble not to agree with him that the result of turning the wheel should be the same on all rudders, and that the government should, throngh its represen‘ative, the commissioner of navigation, issue orders to that effect. It is possible these orders would cause some expense to certain vessel owners; but that is not a consideration which should have any undue weight in a case where the safety of the life and property of one of the greut- est mercantile marines in the world is con- cerned. The interest of the individual in this, as in other social concerns of mankind, must give way before the welfare of the majority, and the REcoRD trusts that the new commissioner of navigation, Mr. ©. B. Morton, will use his power to destroy the dangerous nuisance of having different steering gear emplored with the result that when the wheel is turned the rudder moves one way in one ship and a totally different way in another, although the wheel was turned the same way in each ship. HARBORS OF REFUGE AND THE DUTY OF GOVERNMENT. Now that traffic on the lakes has closed for the season, vessel owners, practical sea- men—inu short, everybody who is interested in the welfare of the internal marine traffic of the country—will have a little more time to consider a good many ways by which that traffiymay beimproved. Weare glad to see that already correspondents of the MARINE RecorpD are turning their attention to marine matters of great importance to owners, man and master, and making suggestions which ‘may prove valuable to the department of government which takes charge of the leg- islation that affects the sctucipuee maritime trade, > f For instance,our Sand Beach correspondent calls attention in this issue to the enormous value of harbors of refuge to lake vessels by citing the case of the harbor at that little | completion of pletion of those already begun but stopped for want of money. Our Frankfort correspondent, in the last issue of the Marine Recorp, pointed out the unfortunate situation in which Portage lake is left through somebody’s fault in neglecting to make appropriations for. the started a long time ago and have had to be stopped for want of money. Mr. Burmeis- ter believes, and apparently with good rea- son, that if the Portage haibor of refuge had been finished, as it should have been, long before the closing of this season, the | tug A. 1. Wright would not have been lost, and the terrible experiences of the crew would have been avoided. Again, the schooner Dewey, in the tow of the Wright, harbor works which were) “The vast hulks Are whirled like chaff upon the waves; the sails Fly, rent like webs of gossaver; the masts Aresnap;-ed asunder; downward from the decks,” Downward are flung, inte the fathotoless gulf, Their cruel engives, aud their sailors arrayed In trappings of the ship, are whelmed By whirlpools, or dashed «dead upon the shore.” All dead except one, the brave Annis, seizes a board, springs into the boiling breakers, and escapes the threatened death, We hope to soon see the day when the gov- ernment will appoint an inspeetion board of sail vessele, and impartially examine their condition, and if found that they begin to decay and are unsafe, to condemn them. Shippers knowing this will refuse to load them, sailors will know the condition of the vessels,and owners will be forced to keep their vessels in ship-shape if they wish to had a narrow escape when she broke away | Secure cargo or crew. and drifted helplessly on the angry waters | of Lake Michigan, and the death of Captain Flynn and his brother life savers, in their gallant attempt to save the schooner, must be Jaid at the official doors of congress which failed to make appropriations for the cow pletion of the Portage lake harbor of refuge. Other disasters may be traced more or less directly to the non-completion of that abso- lutely neceseary public work. The govern- ment’s dilatoriness is all the more exasperat- ing, when it is known ‘that the cost of com- pleting the harbor at Portage is annually lost through marine disasters there, while it would be saved to the country if the work were finished. By the disasters cansed through its present condition the expense of a harbor at Portage has been lost many times over. If the lake mercantile marine, taken as a body, were as thoroughly organized and represented at Washington as the railroad companies, plenty of appropriations could be gotten from congress in behalf of public works connected with their interests. But unfortunately no, such discipline exists among the lake vessel owners, and while a railroad company could get a measure con- cerned with its interests rushed through congress in a few days, it would take as many years for the mercantile marine to move with sufficient energy to get their rights at Washington, What is the result? Only that the railroads are cutting right and left into the legitimate traffle of our mugnificent lake system. GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR OF SAIL VESSELS WANTED. FRANKFORT, MicH., December 28. Special Correspondence to the, Marine Record. When we pass along the shores of Lake ‘Michigan and here ‘and there see strewn ‘a powder at one’s touch, place. During the season no fewer than 1304 | crafts ran into it for shelter, thus helping to protect a trade represented by these vessels of nearly 400,000 tons. But the shelter of so valuable a tonnage in the harbor of refuge is by no means the most important light by which to view the value of such accommodations on the lakes. A glance at the statistics turnished by our correspond- ent will show that in the latter end of the season, when the fair weather was begin- ning to break, the barbor gave shelter to 553 vessels, and when the terrific gales of December began to blow, Harbor-master Wagstaff (who, by the way, seems to be doing first-rate work and giving satisfaction all around), was able to provide shelter tor nine steamers and six sailing vessels and tows. ‘These figures represent the saving of a great many lives, to say nothing what- ever about the saving of property. If the harbor of Sand Beach had not been at hand in these last November and December days there would bave been a good many more disasters to place to the eredit of the year now dying out. Every effort ought to be made by the war department at Washington to secure appropriations from congress for the con- struction of more harbors of refuge like that of Sand Beach. They are badly wanted in a dozen places on Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario,and the incalculable yalue to the mercantile marine of those harbors of refuge that already exist, as is easily proved by their records, ought to leave congress no excuse for delaying appropriations for the construction of new harbors and the com- parts of wreckage from the Menekaunee and Marinette, so rotten that it crumbles to it shows what havoe the ravages of time make on vessels. These barges were built at Saugatuck, Mich., in 1873, where as Longfellow, in his Build- ing of the Ship, says: “Day by day the vessel grew With timbers fashio.ed strong and true, Stemson and keeleon and stersun-knee, Till, framed with perfect symmetry, A ekeleton shi, rose up to view! And around the bows, and along the side The heavy hammers and mallets pled, Till, after a week, at length ' Lovmed aloft the Aon fee bulk,” At last they are finished, the people of the village have assembled at the shipyards to see the barges slide into their element, that same element which after a few years is to engulf them and their crews, spreading want and desolation in the homes of the widows and orphans of the lost sailors. At the word of command ‘Loud and sudden there is heard, All around them and below, The sound of haumers, blow on blow, Knocking away the shores and spurs And see! She stirs! She starts, she moves, she seems to feel The thrill of Jife along her kee And, spurning with her foot the ground, With one exulting, joyous bound, She leaps into the water’s arms iy No doubt these craft were all they were intended to be, lumber luggers on the west shore of Lake Michigan. When behind a powerful tyg that was always engaged in towing them, they could, on the approach of a storm, on a few hours’ notice, seek. safe shelter from the blasts. After outliving their usefulness in that trade, and getting along in years, they are put on the markets, no doubt the rotten planks nicely painted, and sold. Huron and Chicago trade, they leave port on their last voyage, being overloaded, having twelve feet deck load of hase timber; being caught in a gale on Lake Michigsn, they act badly, steer wildly, have no buoyancy, they strain, spring aleak, break steering gear, dismast, break away from the tow and drift helplessly before the gale; the timber with which they are Yoaded helps them, in this case, to keep afloat. The tempest increases, Then, being placed in the Lake | April 1st till Doe? 16. How the lost barges Menekaunee or Mari- nette ever secured an insurance rating, and big insurance in the rotten condition their hulks were in, is a qnery with all mariners who have viewed their remains, When the news of the disaster reached Oscoda, Mich., James Wyatt, whose son Willard was on board of the Menekaunee, requested Mr. J.oud, owner of the wrecks, to look out fur the body of his son. Loud telegraphed back to him that he had exam- ined the body of the sailor buried in the sands on the beach and that it was not his son. Wyatt then wrote to the Frankfort correspondent of the MarINE Recorp, who promptly furnished him with a minute de- scription of the unknown. body, and he at once set ont for Frankfort and found the body buried in the beautiful cemetery, in a nice coffin, by the citizens of Frankfort, and not dumped in a hole on the dreary beach, as Loud informed him. Further, he found it to be the body of his beloved boy and had it disinterred and taken to Oscoda for burial in the family plot. The young man had been known to Mr. Loud for years, and why he should tell the anxious old father that he had seen the body and that it was not Willard, seems strange, to say the least. BURMEISTER, SAND BEACH HARBOR OF REFUGE. Gpecial Correspondence ef the Marine Record. SanD Beacu, Mica.,, Dee. 23. Thinking that a few words in regard to the harbor of refuge would be in order, I take the liberty of writing you a few lines. As is well known, the heavy storms of De- cember 4 and 5,1885, carried away nearly all the sea wall, and made a breach in the superstructure some 260 feet in length, and from one to five feet below the surface of the water. On the opening of navigation 1886, the engineer in charge of the work of con- struction started to rebuild the damaged portion, with two submarine divers anda small crew of men. Work was successfully prosecuted until June 30, when it was brought to a standstiil owing to a lack of funds, congress having failed to appropriate __ the necessary money during the winter, — After the river and harbor bill passed, in ‘August, work was resumed and pushed for- ward with renewed energy, and the 10th of November found the breach repaired and a stronger and better protection wall along ~~ the newly repaired work than the old one. This has been the briskest season for refugees in the history of this harbor, 1804 craft having been in for refuge this season, classified as follows: Sail and : : Strs, tow. Totals. — POPIE wosicsnis.scacas son AO 3 13 INMBYS .cnuensssckesne Uae 83 ADD UME j= snasods vosenesdateclae 2 Roy, Jaly sh cnssens cok vs coset ae g August. ... ssebiecw tae 98 158 September. . eee IIS 171 286 October. ..<..-5- sence 100 133 233 November, .... ... e Seare RAS 162 305 December icccssenauae oO 6 15 Potal oa0 ee eee Tonnage, .... Jha neroees Be The harbor has- afforded shelter for all sizes and shapes of steam craft, from the steam yacht Wm. LaChapelle, of abont two tons register, to the mammoth steamship _ Onoko, of two thousand tons register, — Through the watchfulness and care ot Har- bor-master Wagstaff, this. immense fleet was. ; eas : was taken care of without marring paint or breaking a rope yarn, and steamer captains have been heard to say that they will.not. 6.) run by in heavy weather any more, as they — feel sure that Captain Robert will ha} in. The tug ‘‘Sand Beach,” which from Buffalo in October, ‘adds to Cap! Wagstafi’s comfort and pleasure in t two 6x8 engines and amp and can run twelve ee per ease, The lighthouse has been ronal snug berth ready for them when they come = : 4 eI