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Detroit, Ee ffaio, N. Y, Buffalo, N. Y. oit board of trade, on Saturday, March 1888, at 10 a. m. The president will ita report showing the work of the tion during the year. A new board agers will be elected, and other im- nt business will come before the meet- A number of important measures now nding before congress will be discussed. {embers are urged to make an effort to be ‘present, and to bring with them other vessel owners. All vessel men are cordially invited toattend, whether members ot the associa- on or not. INTERNATIONAL STEERING AND SAILING RULES CONFERENCE. We stated in our impression of the 26th anes: that the Maritime Exchange of New York had taken up the question of amend- - ing the regulations for the prevention of - gollisions at sea; and it is highly gratifying ‘that our American cousins have taken this matter in hand. The rules were framed in asked to adopt them, Considering that the _ British were the most interested in perfect- 4ng the rules of navigation, all the other _ powers accepted the regulations appended to the merchant shipping act, 1862. The @lauses in the order in council were never eritically examined to see whether they were nautically and literally correct. ‘The con- sequence was that the first order made mast- head and side lights to be exhibited from _ sunrise to sunset, or by day instead of night. It may be said that the transportation arose from acicrical error. That is no defensible excuse. If those who are entrusted with are incapable of concocting a few paragraphs | without committing mistakes, some person of education and nautical ability should be charged with the duty. We have stated on several occasions that the rules require editing. They are loosely worded, and got up in a slipshod manner. The movement in the United States, which has been some time gathering force, has culminated in the in-! troduction of a bill into congress, which | -. geeks to anthorize the president to invite | each maritime nation to send delegates to an international conference, to meet on Oc- tober 1, 1888, at Washington,.to revise and nee amend the rule of the road at sen, und to be place the regulations in harmony with the at international code of signals; to adopta uni- : form system of signals denoting the direc- tion of vessels moving iu fog, mist, snow or thick weather, and at night; to compare and discuss the various systems employed for saving life and property from ship- wreck; for reporting, marking and removing dangerous wrecks or obstructions to naviga- tion, and for the designating of vessels for «conveying to mariners notice of approaching storms, of dangers to navigation, of changes in lights, buoys, and marks, and other information; and to formulate and submit for ratification to all maritime nations proper international regulations for prevent- ing collisions and other avoidable marine dlisasters. As regards a revision of the rules, we have so often described their i weak points that we have not left much to add. They do not want lengthening, but need simplifying and harmonising. The regulations cannot be made so perfect as to leave no room for indecision, but they can ‘be drawn up in plain and intelligible Eng- lish. The English judgesin the admiralty - court have been condemning shipowners in eollision cases because their masters or mates could not always make out, by lights at night, whether ships weie close hauled or - apoint or two free. We pegged away at this admiralty ignor- ance, and had the satisfaction of reporting _ that the house of lords reversed the judgment! Rand and statesman on appeal. We will not say that the ten degree range of the side lights {should be done away with and another arc substituted; but we insist that judges and assessors should be possessed of sufficient brains to comprehend that lights which show from right ahead to two points abaft the beam are not positive indicators of a vessel’s course. Articles 1 and 6 want an addendum to bring steamers when under sail and not being pro- pelled by their engines, or when not using sails or steam and in tow, within the rules. itimperative that lights shall be displayed to warn overtaking ships and that the lantern shall be hung over the quarter, or stern, when a vessel is being overtaken by another. A ship coming up to another from a direction abaft the beam is an overtaking ship, but the savans in the admiralty court who murder the rules have pronounced a dictum to the effect that the light must be exhibited over the stern and nowhere else. This is tying up the rules with red tape and destroying their sense. Articles 12 and 19 should be modified to the extent of making a distinction between one blast for a fog signal and one for a course signal. The articles do not define what kind of fog signal shall be made on board asteamer in tow with machinery disabled, or being towed when not under steam. The bill before congress embraces all the essential conditions pertaining to the systems in force or that, might be recommended for the saving of life’ from shipwreck, The maritime code of signals is very comprehensive; but it should be ex- amined to discover whether in certain eventualities it is ample for the purpose in- tended. We think that a few more questions and answers could be introduced with great advantage. In America the storm signalling methods have been brought to perfection. The organisation is compiete, and the reports are of a practical nature and comprehensive. The president of the United States, should the bill pass, is to appoint five delegates, and to invite other nations to send the same number each to the capital of the United States. Such an - England, and other maritime nations were | 4ssembly of experts might, as proposed, con- sider the various means applied in saying life. In England we have had royal commissions, committees of state departments, and com- mittees of the house of commons on life say- ing appliances, but all who investigate the subject are overwhelmed with the multitude of schemes placed before them, and the objec- tions, per contra, urged. If aconference could settle what should be done by all nations to lessen the sacrifice of life, without injury to shipowners and the enhancement of rates by sea, a grand success would be achieved. Our only fear lies in the probability of visionary theorists being selected as delegates. With making laws for lessening loss of life at sea ; Tespect to the regulations for preventing col- lisions, no clongations are wanted. The rules are excellent in their way, but demand textual interpolations to make them so intelligible and positive that admiralty court lawyers should not be enabled to distort their mean- ing.—From the Liverpool Journal of Com- merce February 17, 1888. A life-boat propeled by steam is wanted. | The ordinary life-boat now in use at our life- saving stations is excellent for the purpose, but the chief trouble is that to launch and row it to a vessel in distress oftentimes exhausts the strength of the crew and they are therefore ill- fitted to carry on the rest of their work. Anex- amination of models and plans for life-beats propelled by steam or electricity was recently held in England, but we'believe nove of these plans was considered as satisfactory. A life- boat propelled by means that would leave the crew free from the work of rowing would cer- tainly be an immense addition to life-saving ap- plances and that one cvuld be made is appar- ently within the compass of our inventive tal- ent, The great difficulty seems to be to find some means which can be utilized at amoment’s notice and yet be more effective than oars.— Maritime Reporter. A very good paper upon ‘Our Naval Reserve and the necessity of its organization’? by Cap- tain Cooke, U.S. N., was read last week at a meeting of the New York branch of the United States naval institute. The ca; tain treated his subject very clearly and demonstrated to the Satisfaction of his audience, who could well ap- preciate the importance of the measure, the ad- vantages that the country would gain from the establishment of a naval reserve. Weare glad to see the officers of the navy taking such an act- ive part in this maiter and it would be very pleasant if the officers of the merchant service would evince an equal interest in a subject which is of such importance tothe shipping of the country, At present naval men and yacht owners seem most concerned in having the meas- ure become successful, but without the aid of parka service officers the plan must necessar- y fail. A naval reserve is wanted and must _ established, and it is sivcerely to be hoped that ship-masters and their officers will consider the subject favorably and give their hearty sup- port to a scheme which isso much for their ad- vantege.—Maritime Register. Article 11 also requires amending by making VARIATION AND DEVIA TION OF OF THE COMPASS. CLEVELAND, February 21. To the Editor of the Marine Record: We notice in your last issue an article en- titled “Deviation of the Compass,” and the science and laws of magnetism will have to be more generally recognized, etc.; and as you say, how to know the correct deviation in any latitude.’ The variation of the compass is evi- dently greatest in high latitude, and least near the equator. And, how to find the correct deviation of the compass is simple to an ex- perienced navigator, and masters of all ships ought to be well informed in the use of an azimuth compass; should know how to take an amplitude when the sunrises or sets. The sun then is said to be on the prime vertical circle, and bears nearly east and west; but it would be necessary to know the latitude and sun’s declinationn for the day of the month in order to correct the amplitude. In high latitude when the meridian altitude is low the variation may be found at noon from the magnetic azimuth observed; but to do this it is necessary to have a clock previonsly regu- lated to apparent time at ship, so that the sun’s bearings may be observed the instant the watch shows 12 o’clock, because the sun is then true south in north latiwde, and true north in aouth latidude, and the deviation, as shown by the compass, is the true variation found, A common steering compass may be made a very good substitute for an azimuth, in the following manner: Place the compass as near the binnacle as possible, and in such a position that the sun, either rising or setting, can be seen over it, then take a plane-scale or a thin straight-edge and place it over the center of the cord in the direction of thesun. Look along the edge of the scale and see that the far end of it points to the sun center. Then the point or fraction of a point of the compass, which is under the edge of the scale, wil) be the sun’s observed amplitude, which must always be reckoned from the east or west, points toward the north or south. When the sun’s declension is at 00 then the sun rises upon the true east and sets upon the true west point of the horizon. The rules above may appear somewhat com- plicated to one inexperienced, but it is evideat to me that masters on the lakes should haye a knowledge of these simple methods in correct- ing a faulty compass. There are several other methods worked by inspection, which would require some study to master. Our opinion is this, a revival of the laws of magnetism is not necessary, but a revisal of masters. L. oo THE SHIPPING PROBLEM. A correspondent writing to the Boston Evening Transcript says: “The relatiye cost of sailing foreign ships and of our own does not, as it seems to me, have the attention it should have in the discussion going on. If Lam rightly informed, the steward of al- most any one of our three-masted coasters gets more wages than the captain of an English iron ship, carrying wheat from San Francisco to England. Not that the stew- ard is overpaid for the care of the larder he must have in charge on our ships, but whep the ships are manned by the sailors of the same nationality, why the enhanced cost of living? or does it all go through the cabin? Surely the first cost of the ship has nothing to do with the cost of sailing. On ships of wood there is always a large outlay in over- hauling, to fit for a wheat freight, not called for on the ship of iron. The difference in favor of the iron ship in the matter of in- surance is no small item. ‘There must be good reasons why iron ships can carry wheat from San Francisco fo Queenstown, for orders, for less than twenty-eight shillings, when our ships would starve their owners at ten shillings more. In the harbor of Queenstown in February, 1882, I saw a hun- dred flags flying from as many grain-laden ships lying at anchor, waiting orders, and there were but two of our own American flags among them, and the two were us handsome wooden ships us one would wish to see, while the others were all of iron, many of them as handsomely turned and rigged as our Gwn ships, Toan American ship owner it was not a sight that gratified his pride of country, or his long vherished admiration for our Amerivan built ships, several of which he had been interested in from the laying of the keel. Many of the tine ships beilc in New Eng'and, for the India and | China trade, are now termed barges, and are towed from port to porv, with holds tull of coals, not spices, coffees and teas,”’ a a ge United States Engineer Poe suggests that the new railroad bridge over the Sault canal should be under the canal management, with a view to reducing to a minimum dalay to both trains and vessels, Mhe Marine Reconil i of ite admiralty division in the Theodore H. THE YORKIOWN, East Rockport, February 20, 1858. To the Editor of the Marine Record: In a recent issue I saw the question who owned and sxiled the schooner Yorktown, on her ocean voyage. She was sailed by Captain Tupper, a resident of Cleveland, and owned by Mr. Bradley. She was loace: with staves and petroleum and left Cleve- land in August, 1864. ONr oF HER CREW. {Around the Lakes Continued from 1st Page.} ee Bc! ERE RNA oom IE CHICAGO, Special to the Marine Record, Mesers, Davidson & Holmes have sold the schooner Mary L, Higgie for James L. Hig gie, of this city, to H. A. Estell for $8000. Also, the schooner Gage for J. 8S. Dunham to Charles Sirbon for $8 500Jcash. The following veasels have been chartered to load corn for Buffalo at 244 centa: The T. W. Primer, David Vance, P. F. Marsh, and Foster. The Hiawatha and Minnehaha have been chartered for corn to Ogdensburg at 5 cents, At the Chicago drydock they are finishing the work on the Kelderhouse, and she will go out about Thursday. Captain Neil Bla- ney, who has been looking after the work, is well pleased with the condition of the boat, and says she ought to%rate Al with a star, She has been thoroughly overhauled, and is as good now as wood and iron ean make her, Frank Boughton has sold his steambarge, the City of New York, to the Chicago Lum- ber Co., of this city, for $14,000. The Miller Bros. are finishing up a lot of work they have on hand, and are hurrying business as fast as possible. There are twenty-five or thirty boats waitiug their turn. Since our last report they have com- menced work on the steambarge Wyoming, which will have a thorough recalking, and the tug Munson will have a general over- hauling to put her in first-class condition for the coming season, There is no anticipated trouble here among ship carpenters and calkers, "Two weeks ago the men at Miller Bros.’ dock received $3.00 per day for ten hours’ work, and Mon-} day the men at the Chicago drydock began |. working at the same rate. There is good feeling prevailing between owners and men. | gaged pe master of th The chief engineer of the Lake Michigan and Escanaba Transportation Co., is doing considerable work on the Rhoda Emily and Inter Ocean, getting their machinery in shape, and in about two weeks will go to Cleveland to do some work on the Argo- naut. Captain Miles Barry, the well-known tug man of Muskegon, spent a couple of days in the city last week, calling upon his Chi- cago friends and making some business ar- rangements tor the coming season. The schooner Margaret A. Muir will load curn for Georgian Bay at 234 cents. There will be no changes in either keeper or surfmen in the life-saving station at this port this spring, all of last seson’s crew be- ing re-engaged. They are placed as fol- lows: Keeper, Captain T. St. Peter; No.1, Edward Dionne; No.2, Benjamin Langlois! No. 8, Thomas Wilson; No. 4, Jos, St Peter; No. 5, Frank Latond; No. 6, Thorwald Maa- land; No. 7, Frank Lanzi. Captain St. Peter intorms your correspondent that he wants more room. He is compelled to live with his family in the station building, and with the crew, boats and apparatus, He finds the place too small for comfort and utiilty. We hope he may get the new building which for some time has been under the consideration of the powers that be, The life-saving service has earned a reputation that certainly dese: ves the recog- nition of the government, and instead of cutting down the staff of men at each sta- tion and neglecting to appropriate tunds sufficient to defray the expenses of the ser- vice, let keepers and crews have living salar- ies, good quarters, and the best facilities for doing the work they have to do. Hopkins. EAST SAGINAW. Special to theMar ine Record. The past week in the Saginaw Valley has been an exceedingly spring-like one. The sound of calking could be heard on all sides. Painting, repairing, and getting ready for | business was the order of the day; butloand behold the change. A blizzard came Sun- day, and they. have all erawled back into their boles again, waiting, as it were, the turn of the tide. Captain Tip Hunt has chartered his steam- | barge Martini. to carry lumber from any | port to 'Poledo for Clark & Terhune; terms private. Y The owners of the steam sand sucker Ida Burton have struck luck indeed. They are getting $70 a day, all winter, for their cen- _| tain English bas purchased Be Ne eres trifugsl sand pump, for railway construction — parposes, % Wildman Bros,, Excelsior boiler works, - have just completed a large marine boiler for the tag River Queen, of Chieago; also, one for the tug Nat Stickney. ‘The immense — boiler for the steambarge A. A. Turner is fast ncaring completion, a:d will be de-— livered at Port Huron by April Ist. This firm cun not be beaten on murine work, The popular tug office of Messrs. Cornell & Statford is enjoying a good business among the marine men, for which this might be called headquarters. The proprietors are gentlemen in every sense of the word. S'rangers coming to our port will always find the Marine RecorD at the tug office. The barge Norway, owned by Shaw and others, of this city, is to have $1,000 put on her in repairs at the Wolverine drydock, Port Huron, Captain George King, of Bay City, ,has sold the tug George B. Dickson toa railroad company at Fairport, O.; consideration $4,600. Captain King will get another tug. The tug Edgar aight, owned by the Shaw Transfer Co., has bad $500 werth of repairs put ow her boiler during the winter, and she will come out in the spring better than ever, Captain R. Armstrong has taken a one-third interest in this tug, over which there has been considerable trouble with the former owner Fred Barclay. Captain Hancock is busily engaged calk- — ing and painting the barges G. K. Jackson and R. Botsford. ‘They present a fine ap- pearance, A. C. McLean’s barge, the B. B. Buekhart, has been entirely rebuilt at Dunford & Al- verson’s drydock, Port Huron, Sbe would make a fine steambarge. Captain Wm. Brown has been transferred from the barge G. W. Wesley to the barge Ida Corning which L. P. Mason recently ) purchased from Captain Rogers. : Captain J. E. English is now at Escanaba, looking after his fine propeller Lucile. tain Stewart is one o: men, having run the first stea tween this city and Saginaw cit: in the sixties. The captain says 1] well-known old settler, Curtis Emerao} a had a steam ferry about that time, which was used for teamsonly. In the year 1862-8 th captavn says he run his ferry the whole ke year. Such was the open winter the river did not treeze fairly over. SHaw. LOGS AND LUMBER, Bliss Bros,, the Bliss Lumber company and J. W. & E. 8. Bliss, have sold 6,000,000 feet of lumber since Jan. 1, which is being moved by rail. The N. & A. Barnard Lumber company expect to manufacture 10,000,000 feet of hem- jock next season. They are shipping at pres- ent from three to five carloads of hemlock daily. 8. J. Murphy & Sons, of Green Bay, pro- pese putting in about 20,000,000 feet of logs on the Mencminee and its tributaries this winter, for their mills there. They have abeut 10,000,000 feet hung up which they ex- pect to get out. Their plaining mill will probably go into operation about the first of Mach.r Delta county, in which Escanaba is situated, contains 13 operating saw mills. In 1866 there was manufactured 82,310,000 feet of lumber, 20,000,000shingles, of which amounts but 17,000,000 feet of lumber and 3,000,000 shingles remained on hand December 31. During 1887, 100,055,000 feet of lumber was manufactured, making, as will be seen, an in- crease of 17,755,000 over the previous year. While there was a considerable decrease in shingles, there was an increase in lath, The amount of lumber on hand at the com- mencement of the present year was 10,550,000 feet. As near as can be ascertained from va- rious sources 25,000,000 feet of logs remained unsawed last season, which, together with the cut of this winter, will but slightly, if any, increase the logs on hand at the inauguration of the manufacturing season, the superabund- ance of snow impeding the cut to a considera- ble extent, Cleveland Dry Dock Co, Shipbuilding, Drydocking, Re- pairing and Spar Making. CLEVELAND, OFTO. Bees