Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Record (Cleveland, OH), February 14, 1889, p. 4

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_ Highty-eight sail and consort, agerenahe 54,664 tons _bula Harbor. Regulates wages, protects crews, and members and of the lake commerce generally. smali increase in wages has little or nothing Marine J Hecora. Published E Every orhureday: i at “144 Superior Street, [Leader Building) Cleveland. 0. A. A. POMEROY. EDITOR AND PUB BRANCH OFFICE: 252 South Water Street, Chicago, Tilinols, THOMAS WILLIAMS, Associate Editor. TERMS OF SUBSCKIPTION: Jne ves, , postage paid... Zebeviersonsdse $2.00 Si.. wonths, postage paid.. Sree y a ean THE MARINE RECORD can ve found for sale by the following news dealers: CLEVELAND, 0.—G. F. Bowman, corner of Pear] and Detroit Streets. Evans & Van Epps, Superior street, Cleveland, R. A. Castner. 254 Detroit s'reet, Cleveland, ASHTABULA HARBOR, O.—C, Large. CHICAGO, ILL.—Joseph Gray. 9 West Ran-| dolph Street. CHICAGO, ILL.—H. B. Hansen, 33 West | andolph Street. BUFFALO, N. Y.—Miss McCabe, Elk Street. near Ohio. DETROIT, MIC H.—Connors’ Marine News CCILWAUKEE, WIS.—T. S. GRAY, CO. 126 Wisconsin St. SAULT STE MARIE—1. P. Haller. ASHTABULA HARBOR—O. M. Kahne ERIE. PA.—Reed Caughen, 816 State St. DULUTH, MINN.—C. F. Johnson, 323 West Superior Street. MARQUETTE. MICH.—J. A. Vannier. ESCANABA, MICH.—Wm. Godley. ESCANABA,. MICH.—George Preston, SARNIA. ONT.—D. McMasters. OWEN SOUND, ONT.—J. Sharpe, Jr. KINGSTON, ONT.—F, Nisbet, corner Brc ok and Wellington Streets. Subscribers and others are respectfully invited to use the columns of the MARINE RECORD for the discussion of pertinent topics. BPntered at the Post Uthce at Cleveland as second- class mail matter. CLEVELAND. O., FEBRUARY 14. CLEVELAND VESSEL OWNERS’ ASSN ORGANIZED IN 1880. (Membership, 1888.] Fighty-three steamers, aggregating.........+ . 93,186 tons Maintain shipping offices at Cleveland and Ashta- takes cognizance of all matters in the interests of the OFFICERS, to do with the decline of American foreign shipping, and we draw this inference chicfly from the fact that the nation predominant in marine affairs to-day pays more wages than any of her competitorsin the traffic of the seas. If the American seamen’s wages ex- ceed those of Great Britain, so also does the wag s of the latter power exceed the average of all other nations, and as they have the ships to sail Danes, Americans, Germans, Swedes, and Norwegians, are found sailing! them, and in point of facta foreign crew is always given the preference in an Buglish ship so that although the nation has attained the point of superiorty in her merchant ma- rine it has not been arrived at by purely na- tive talent and energy. The food served on the English vessels is also better and more | plentiful than that supplied by any other na- tion, excepting our own, and with the same pear viz.,progression a said above in all the maritime branches of commerce and coloniza- tion, hence it may be clearly shown that the small increase of expense as represented by the extra pay and diet is no factor in the pros- perity or decline of a merchant marine; hence the apparently insurmountable obstacles which this country’s mercantile service would have to face would dwindle into insignificance. Notwithstanding the croaking of the individ— uals who show at aglance that American ship- ping can not prosper when handicapped as it is both on wages and food bills. If we had the ships Lascars might handle them, even if it took double the number, but without vessels for our foreign trade we are compelled to foster and encourage alien inter- ests, knowing at the same time that the field is open for all and that this councry is as boun— tifully supplied with the necessary material as any other. Quoting froma report of the commissioner of navigation this authority says that we have “foreign skill, experience, and along established business to contend with,” but we should make the attempt to compete with them or the next twenty-five years may see us without any ships except our fleet of lake craft and coasters. The importance of a great commercial navy to a country that possesses it has recently been the subject of much investigation and study, and our ablest economists and statesmen on both sides of the question agree that a large and important merchant marine should be an established quantity in the elements of a flourishing nation, and haying these facts ac- ‘knowledged, congress still seems to hesitate in legislating for the encouragement of ship- building, being us it were humbugged by the sel| inconsistent belief that we dare not. mpete _ | because it apparently takes more money to sail MARINE RECORD—OFFICIAL PAPER, MERCHANT MARINE. We have received, with the compliments of Joseph R. Oldham, civil engineer, a blue print diagram of American and British ship- building and transportation between the United ~tates and Great Britain, and on re- ferring to the curve of transportation we find that the British tonnage for the period ending last year, towers 7,000,000 tons above the American, and the British tonnage is still raising while ours is going down ata similar angle, which, if not assisted to rise or prevent- ed from falling, will reach zero in 3} years from now, and our 8 per cent of remaining trade with Britain will be gone by June, 1892, i the best on the seas, and the an 2 ‘The difference in shipbuilding for the same period shows 4,500,000 tons in favor of the British, notwithstanding our lake tonnage built, which amounts to 70 percent of the total last year, is included. In the diagram referred‘ to the columns on the left show that in 1853 our steam tonnage building was about twice the amount of the British, while theirs now building is five times as much as ours and their transportation looms still larger. Our shipbuilding for the foreign trade is about dead, and if nothing be done to revive it, our transportation will share the same grave, for it is shipbuilding that pro- motes shipowning all the world over. The question of wages paid men serving in the merchant service is frequently put for— ward as one reason for the decline and stagna- tion of the American merchant marine. An- other subject often discussed at great iength is the dietary system, which is always spoken of as being much more liberal and conse- quently more expensive than the scale set forth and signed by the seamen of other na- tionalities. According to the above remarks the daily expenditure being greater, our ves— sels required a better rate of freight than those of foreigners, simply to meet the wages and ship chandlers’ accounts, and it was thought advisable sometimes, in the past, even to send a ship to sea with fewer men, depend— ing on quality to make up for numbers, so that the American ship could compete successfully in the freight markets of the world. How- eyer, we may venture to say that the average an American vessel than ae other. Re our best citizens embraced the _ profession eagerly, and when they were put into compe- tition with the rest of the world a spirit of |emulation was aroused in them which aided in creating seamen unsurpassed by any nation. With the decline of our shipping the mari time epiritof the rising generations were checked, and now we are in an unenviable position, without ships or Americans to man them. As our commercial interests increase we will feel more keenly he effects of this deplorable condition, and although we do not wish to take a gloomy view of our future pros- pects, we cannot hide the facts that unless something is done at an early date the ever— growing trade of the world will pass entirely out of our hands, and the distinctively Ameri- can merchant seamen will be a personality of the past. From advices at hand we now see that Eng- land is going through a crisis in connection with her shipping on account of a general strike among the seamen and firemen for in- creased wages, opportunities of this sort even might be taken advantage of and a spur giyen to American tonnage in the freight markets which would materially assist in forming the nucleus of a merchant marine, manned by men who, from the pure motive of patriotism, would always uphold the honor and prestige of the stars and stripes on the seas, and in the various ports of the world to which they may be trading. The United States can not afford to be isolated from the commercial pursuits of the world, and our coast line admits the pos— sibility of our becoming the first maritime power. boom is not to be desired in the creation of a powerful merchant service, and any measures tending in this direction ought to be severely i sat down upon for the simple reason that a reaction would probably ensue, working more harm to the interests at stake than the benefits of an artificial impetus given to the industry at large; and in this connection we wish to point out that the tonnage bounty, or naviga~ tion premium, which has been so frequently and clearly explained in the columns of this paper, must not be regarded in the light of a pension, enabling vessels to lay at anchor, or be tied up toa wharf at the expense of the nation, but on the contrary, the ships must be kept at actual service patroling the oceans with freight, commanded and oflicered by Americans, to become entitled to the benefits of a navigation preraium for a limited num— ber of years. Legislation favoring a system of this sort would permit the gradual intro- Yet a mushroom growth or mammoth | } duction of native brain, sinew, and talent without involving the country in international treaty complications which might possibly arise under the system of discrimination fol- | lowed out in the early days of the republic, | ‘when foreign bottoms participating in the transportation of our imports and exports had | to pay a larger duty than was imposed On| home tonnage, the object, however, is not to | cripple ocean tonnage, but to revive, rebuild, and reman our merchant marine by equita-| ble and far reaching Pindieeibl $$ — } THE CLEVELAND DIS F TRICE. It has been our fortune to receive from the | | TRAFFIC OF | deputy collector of customs, Mr. Owen Kane, | | the following statistics of entrances and clear- ances, which has been put in tabular form for lreference Ag will be seen it shows the class Ps of vessels entering and clearing, both coast— wise and foreign, and is made valuable on ac- count of its authority. It must be observed that we have this year, notwithstanding the lower rate of freight, made great advances in the volume of business, and believe next year that something better will come out of Naza— reth. The outlook for the season of 1889 is much better than that just closed, and we ‘rust that the readers of this article will be easily convinced of that fact. It may possi- bly be said that this is nota fact; neverthe- less, we insist that it is; and we have too much conscience to to say one thing and mean another. It has a'so been held by many that too much tonnage is being put afloat. That is also a bug—bear, inasmuch as the growth of tonnage does not equal the demand for it. It is possible that in the towns, or ports where this tonnage is built, a feeling of security pre- vails, as a mat er of course, but it is necessary to establish a feeling of security with outside people, we therefore say that it is utterly im- possible for our shipbuilders to put afloat more capacity than can be used. Again, we thank Mr. Kane for his kindness in furnish— ing the following tables: CLEVELAND. Vessels entered, coastwise:— | Number. Tonnage. we 1,233 490,744 13.2 898,002 2,575 1,388,746 Sail vessels... Steam vessels.. 1,148 506,426 1,370 939,144 "2,518 1,445,570 Sail reeebla Steam vessel Ore received, tons.. oo) dg L915: Lumber received, fee 269. ieee Coal shipped, tons.. 723 Oii shipped, worth.. eat 15 se ‘406 } ASHTABULA, 2 Vessels entered. coastwise : — Number. Tonnage. 281 199,448 613 685,775 Sail vessels.. Steam vessels.. SEACOLHL enzsbecescer +» 894 885,223 Vessels eleared, coastwise Sail vessels...... .. 215,713 Steam vessels .... 670,741 otal Nscoosreuessstess 886,454 Ore received, tons.. Coal shipped, tons ... ' FAIRPORT, Vessels cleared, coustwise:— Number. Tonnage. 189°: 122,860 Sail vessels.. Steam vessel: eTotalicrrat ects Vessels entered: oReuMIe oad Sail vessels .... Steam vessels.. Total.....:.. cette roeeee Ore received, tons... Coal shipped, tons..... LORAIN. Vessels entered, coastwise:— Sail vessels seereosne, BOL Ore received, tons Coal shipped IN DISTRICT, Coastwise:— Number. Tonnage. Total vessels cleared. . 4,273, 2,840,230 Total vesssels suierens 4.251 2,830,630 Total ore received... wee 3,231,310 ‘Total coal shipped..... 1,627,825 Vessels that entered and cleared, foreign:— pba Tonnage. Vessels entered. 01,235 Vessels cleared 159,328 Coal shipped, for 8,966, Oil shipped, foreign, 119,573 Captain Day, superintendent of the N, Y., P. & O. ore docks, has kindly furnished this oflice with the quantity of iron ore received each year by the company, at Cleveland, since 1869: Ton 1869. 198, re 1879. 1870 235,139) 1880. 1871 180,512)188 1 872 226,822) 1882 Total .. Th have been compiled from he books. of Mr. JN. Booth, agent of the N. Y., P.a 0. Ry. Uo, There was on February 1, 221,000 tons of ore on the docks, and it is being taken away at the rate of 1,200 tons per day, though it is ex— pected that a much larger quantity will be moved-daily from now until the opening of navigation. The shipments from Escanaba to Lake Erie ports for the past 11 years, are as follows: The lowest freight paid during the season of 1888, from Ashland to Lake Erie ports, was ‘iutendent of the company, and his wife, at- tended the lanneh, this being the only vessel of |" like manner in whieh Jobn Smith, the su Je the steam scheme sealing business $1.10, and highest $1.90. The general aver— age paid was about $1.40 per ton (rather les® than more). Shipments from Ashland dock® for the past season amount to: sit 372,091 -- 1,016,411 Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Ry. Co... Wisconsin Central K. K. docks.. Total from Ashland harbor. ARE COMPARISONS ODIOUS? Seacoas papers claim that the big schooner Governor Ames can carry more lumber than jany veesel afloat, having a total capacity of 1,750.00 feet. She can carry a deck load of 500,000 feet. The barge Wahnapitae, owned by the Emery lumber company of East Sagi- | naw, beats her, haying carried over 2,000,000 | lfeet of lumber in a single trip.— Milwaukee | Kvening Wisconsin. There is an eternal fitness in matters mari- time, as well as in other affairs, as all marine men willallow. We pointed out ina previous issue that the lake schooners, David Dows and the Golden Age compared favorably as | regards size, build, carrying and sailing quali- ties, with the large salt water schooner, Gov- ernor Ames, which, by the way, was evidently sparred too heavily as she has thrown her first sticks out of her, and is now receiving shorter lower masts; yet if downright gall could make the comparison less odious, we would award the cake to the Milwaukee Evening Wiscon- sin, which :Jaims that the square, scow built, double ended serving mallet, barge Wahna- pitae, owned by the E mery lumber company of East Saginaw, beats the Governor Ames in carrying capacity. Where the similitude comes in when comparing a fine, well built and able to take care of herself all alone at night time, with a bruise water who is just one remove from a raft, and unable to move anywhere, or place, unless she is pushed, palls our imagination, and in pitting vessels trading on our inland seas, against sea coast vessels, let us show like for like, instead of holding up a dug out in comparison with a fine, staunch, seaworthy craft as the Governor Ames cer- tainly is, eee THE STEAMER NORTH SHORE. The fine steel steamship North Shore was Jau .ched from the Globe Iron Works shipyard at 3 p.m. last Tuesday. Besides the officers of the company there were present, as usual, a large number of marive men, visitors and sight- see's, Who Knowirg the custom of the firm were punctually on time to witness the virgin plunge of another splendid specimen of our inland merchant fleet of steamers, The christening ceremony af this midwinter Jaunch was performed by Miss Carrie ,E. Asn- bars, with her usual grace and composure, and the contents of a bottle of Pomerky Sec be- sprinkled the stem of the Nortn Shore as her keel touched the water. Amid the blowing of whistles and the cheers of the crowd of sight- seers, the vessel steadied and sat upright, the figures showiug her draft tobe 6 feet § inches aft aud 4 feet torward, or a mean draft of 5 feet 4 inches, The North Shore is numbered 22 by her build- ers, and. is the sixth. steel steamer built by the Globe Tron Works” Co. for the Northern line, the pioneer of the fleet, named the Northern LAUNCH OF Light, having been launched April 17, 1888. | ‘James J. Hill, -Minnrapolis, Minn,, the super- LAUNCH OF STEAMSHIP THOMAS W. PALMER. y Derrort, February 12. Special to the Marine Recora. About one hundred invited guests boarded a special train on the Michigan Central rail— road at Detroit jast Saturday afternoon and proceeded on to Wyandotte to witness the launch of one of the largest steamers ever built on the Detroit river. The launch of the steamship took place with the usual prompt- ness and success which always attend the launching of a vessel at the Wyandotte yards of the Detroit Drydock, Co. It may not be generally known that the telephone plays an important part on these occasions. Yet such is the case, and Mr. Frank E, Kirby usually standing at the fore foot of the vessel, talks easily and quietly to Mr. Fitz A. Kirby, who has the control of the after end of the launch. On Saturday afternvon, when the prelimi- nary arrangements had been completed, the telephone was brought into use as usual, and amid a large and distinguished group of vis- itors and sightseers the Kirbys telephoned the Thomas W. Palmer gracefully off the ways into her natural element, The success of the launch and the fine, smooth appearance of her / hull brought forth congratulations from all sides, while the profuse display of bunting over Messrs. Savage & Farnum’s Grosse Isle stock farm, called for remarks, and an expla- nation by Mr. Savage, who claimed it was Percheron day, alluding to the compliment paid the noble animals of that class in the } | a 2 a i > and fully equipped vessel: thatis well fitced, | Conor of the company, the Percheron | Navigation Co., and as an expression of wel- fare in the career of the pioneer of the fleet the members of the American Percheron Horse Association present, the Thomas W. | Palmer with a beautiful set of colors. The new steamship is of composite con- struction. Her framesare of steel. Her | bottom and about twelve feet on each side are of six inch oak plank, and above that the sides and bulwarks are of steel. The steel plating at her sides is connected to a steel bilge strake by diagonal strapping, which adds greatly to the strength of the ship. The steel bilge strake is under the planking of the bilge. Her decks are also diagonally strapped with iron. She hasa collision bulkhead for- ward, and one aft, and is divided into three freight holds by iron bulkheads. There isa water ballast tank aft under the main deck for trimming purposes. She has three masts ance resembles the E. M. Peck. Her - modations for officers and crew are unusually well fitted up. Here dimensions are: Length of keel 283 feet, length over all 299 feet, bea: 42 feet, depth 22 feet 6 inches. She has Scotch boilers 12 feet diameter 1 pee the Lake Erie. “Works, the fleet which be has seen put afloat, He was! 16 greatly pleased at the }unetual aud workr tend: nt of covstruction atthe shipyard, han- dled the large mass of steel. - The dimensions of bull and machinery are | the same as the preceding five Northera line| — boats, and at the risk of a repetition we duph.- | cate the figures: 312 feet over all, 292 feet keel, ; 40 feet beam, 24 teet 6 inches molded depth. Triple expansion eugine, cylinders 24, 38 and | ; 61 inches, with a 42 inch stroke now placed on board. The boilers, which have been built by the | ¥! Globe Lrou Works Co., will be taken on board |? at once, and the vessel will be completely fitted | if out by the opening of navigation, Awong ‘the gentlemen who attended the launch wenoticed J. J. Hill, president St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad, who was the contractor with the shipbuilding company for the Northern fleet, Captain Mureh, who was Superintending the construction of the buats for the owners, Capiain Heury, manager of the | Lehigh Valley Transportation Co., Buffalo; Captain De Woif, local Captain Frank and C. W. Brown, Captain Brad- tord, navigation instructor, Captain Williams and many others, ‘The estimated cost of the steamer as per con. tract is $220,000, aggregating receipts of the Globe Iron Works Co, of $1,320,000 for the i of the Northern line. M. Winter has rebuilt about 175 feet of | dock, east from Eighth street bridge, Am-| ‘ herstburg. Nic. Stone did the work. inspector, |' = At a meeting of the Quebec board of trade|* resolutions were adopted asking the federal | government to take the necessary steps toward making the navigation of the gulf a oS ga bility as early as the first of March; have a permanent light placed t Traverse, nd and telegraphic communication extended as |, far as the straits of Belle Isle. In keep the signal service office winter, so as tb keep the re the moy ony ‘ in- and one smokestack, and in general : ppear-

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