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4 MARINE REVIEW. ED eee Lake Builders Bidding for Light-House Tenders. In this issue of the REVIEWis an advertisement from the light-house board stating specifications and information will be furnished shipbuilders who wish to bid on the light-house ten- ders Lilac and Columbine. They will be almost counterparts of the Marigold, recently completed by the Detroit Dry Dock Com- pany. They will be 155 feet at the water line, 145 feet inside, 26% feet molded beam and 15 teet depth of hold. The engines will be inverted cylinder fore and aft compound, 22 and 41 by 30, steam for which will be furnished by two cylindrical boilers, 10 feet 8 inches by 10 feet 9 inches and the wheel will be 9 feet 4 inches. Several lake builders have requirements and - specifica- tions under advisement, but the boats must be delivered within ten months, which would be about January 30 of next year. This will practically bar out lake builders for at that time the canals and lakes will be frozen up. November 15 is as late as they can count on getting the boats through to salt water, there- fore they will have, if this requirement is insisted upon, less than six months to build. Some provision should be made to overcome this difficulty. The appropriation for the Marigold was $85,000 and the contract price about $80,000. The Outlook in Ore. Rumors of Ashland ore contracts at $1 a ton have been free - during the week but they have received only passing attention by vessel owners who seem less interested than at any time during the winter. Ore dealers generally expect to get Ashland ton- nage at $1, and the few among them who have sold a little ore would take some tonnage now at that figure. Vessel owners feel that the ore men may be successful in this but the an- nouncement of charters at such a figure will not create a sensation. Only a limited amount of tonnage may be expected to accept such a price. The Demand for Arbitration. . It is seldom that the findings of a federal court are criticised openly among lake vessel owners, but the decisions given out in two or three cases in Detroit last week by Judge Hammond, of -Memphis, Tenn., have been the subject of a great deal of un- favorable talk, and only go to prove the advisability of at least giving earnest attention to the matter of arbitration in lake losses. The appointment of United States judges for life and other sur- roundings of the office that establish its integrity beyond the conception of a doubt are features of the highest importance, but it can be said without fear of contradiction that the many changes - among judges in lake districts of late years has wearied vessel owners, who have millions of dollars involved in law suits each season, and whose interests in this regard have increased in such -amanner as to excite wonder throughout the entire country, This was clearly shown in the discussion at the last annual meet- ing of the Lake Carriers’ Association when a committee of lead- ing vessel owners, of which Mr. H. M. Hanna, of Cleveland, is chairman, was appointed to secure legal assistance and present a plan of arbitration that will be made, if possible, as binding as the federal courts. Returning to the decisions of Judge Hammond, it can be said that the disapproval of them will go a great way toward _ ‘strengthening this demand for an arbitration system. His con- __, elusions in the Siberia-Ohio-Mather, case may be left without », comment as far as the triple division of damages is concerned. oi The decision is probably satisfactory to the owners of the Mather, | +2 which was made a party to the libel, but it was decidedly unsatis- factory to the owners of the Ohio and Siberia, and it is only natural that the defeated party should complain. It is with re- gard to the light manner in which the court dealt with the ques- tion of “suction,” however, that a storm of disapproval is shown "by vessel owners and competant masters all around the lakes, who have permitted their names to be used in connection with _and had ridden into danger. forcible criticism of the wording of the decision in this regard. A setback has been given to efforts of vessel owners and govern- ment authorities in charge of the canals and other connecting waterways of the lakes, who have labored for three years past to put a stop to reckless navigation. If the conclusions of the court had been given in thiscollision case irrespective of the weak expression of opinion regarding the matter of “suction,” the decision would certainly have been ac- cepted on its merits without the disapproval that is now so plainly shown. But Judge Hammond decided another case in which his conclusions are accompanied by agreat flow of “ flowery” language that is criticised as poor reasoning and decidedly unbe- coming a suit in which many thousands of dollars are involved. In this case reference may be made to what would appear like a direct contradiction in the decision itself. It is the case of the owners of the barge midnight against the propeller Wilhelm. On Nov. 27, 1889, the schooners Mears and Midnight, in tow of the propeller Wilhelm, loaded with lumber, were overtaken by a storm, off Thunder bay, Lake Huron. ‘The steamer did not put into Thunder bay, and the storm was weathered for some time before the tow line was finally parted by the abrupt turn of the steamer in hauling to, and the schooners went ashore. The owners of the schooners made the claim that the master of the Wilhelm had not properly regarded the condition of the weather Other specific faults imputed to the Wilhelm were that of not laying her head to the wind until the storm abated, when she first hauled away; of taking a shoal water course the second time after previous warning of the necessity of keeping out; of not clearing Fish point before haul- ing out the second time, and of hauling out too abruptly at the time of this second maneuver. It is with regard to the breaking of the tow line at the time of this second hauling out that the decision seems particularly conflicting. After admitting that the storm had abated when the steamer hauled out a second time, and that it was for the purpose of avoiding the danger of passing a point of safety, the court charges the breaking of the tow line not to the abrupt turn but to the “furious, violent and destructive storm,” and then portrays a flooded engine room, diminished steam, cargo being swept from deck, etc. Truly there is need of an urgent movement for arbitration. The new law regarding circuit judges will place final jurisdic- tion in admiralty cases in the hands of district judges whose de- cisions are now criticised on account of insufficient knowledge of the complications attending such cases. Judge Hammond, even, may be made one of the circuit judges who would have to do with final jurisdiction in cases from this district. ‘The circuit court for this district will probably first be made up of Justice Brown, Judge Jackson and an appointment from Ohio, but Judge Jackson is growing old and Judge Hammond has been spoken of as his successor. The Steering Gear Must be Watched. A decision given out by Judge Swan, of the United States district court in Detroit, Monday, contains a warning to vessel masters to look after their steering gear. On April 28 of last year, the steamship Cayuga, entering the St. Clair river, met the propeller Wilson towing the schooner Manitowoc. ‘The steam- “ers passed all right, port to port, but the Cayuga had hardly passed the Wilson when she suddenly sheered, until she caught the tow line of the Manitowoc on her stern, She then scraped down the line until she struck and sunk the Manitowoc. ‘The Cayuga’s defense was that the accident was unavoidable. It was claimed that the chain of the Cayuga’s steam steering appa- ratus became suddenly and inexplicably out of order, and that as soon as this was discovered she was reversed at full speed. Upon these proofs Judge Swan decided Monday morning that the Cayuga was entirely to blame. The Manitowac showed that the chain of the Cayuga was very improperly adjusted to the quadrant. The latter is a fan-shaped device attached to the rudder shaft provided with grooves for the chain to run in. It was shown that when the helm of the Cayuga was put hard over one way or the other, the free chain would become so slack as to slip out of the groove in the quadrant and became useless _ when called upon again in putting the helm the other way, un- less replaced in the groove. This Judge Swan held ae clear negligence. sie ee : — : ‘dndes Sw eld be ecg F a)