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THE MARINE RECORD. 9 7h INLAND LLOYDs. Tue meeting of the lake marine insurance companies held in Buffalo on Tuesday resulted in a continuance of _ the Inland Lloyds and a generally more compact uniform- ity in agreements that has heretofore existed, although another session must be held to formulate a tariff for |rates, which will take place in Detroit March 22d. WE are pleased to note the coming together of the _ varied interests, as no classification association could be found to carry on the work on the same lines as the In- - land Lloyds and a suspension of the Register would but cause an indiscriminate confusion in writing risks, THE best interests of the lake marine are subserved by the unanimous agreement to carry on the work and ‘the revision of the Register willbe made by Captain McLeod, the manager, with the assistance of S. V. Parsons, of Buffalo, and W. C. Keith, of Chicago. The names of the officers are given in another column of this issue, and it is noticeable that Chicago representatives are in - the majority. . ; EBD oe oe APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS. ©. C. Barnes—Capt John Cunningham; John Schuette—Capt. Frank Henrich. Chas. Beyschlag, St. Clair, Mich., has appointed to the steamer P. J. Ralph—Capt. W. Leisk, Engineer John J, Burns; Schooner Alleghany—Capt. Thos Leisk. 3 M. P. Lester, Marine City, Mich., will mann his fleet as follows: Steamer Cherokee—Capt. John Hagan, Engineer F, A, Cado te; new steumer Iroquois building by Curtis & Brain- ard—Capt William Hagan, engineer not yet appointed. Steam er Miami—Capt. John A. Ward, Engineer C. G. Pierce; Schooners Chippewa—Capt. William Barrett, Dayton—Cupt. A. Snellgrove. _ Prank Clark, Detroit, Mich., has appointed Capt. Charies Bush and Chief Engineer William Bennett to the Maggie Duncan: und Capt. L. J. Johnson to the barge J. E, Potts. W. E. Chapman, Sandusky, 0., has appointed to the Steamer Chauncey Hurlbut—Capt. A.C. Reimers, Engineer George Marquart. Schooners D. K. Clint—Capt. C. H. Wood- ford. Masters for the S, L. Watson and A. J, Rogers have not yet been appointed. P. P. Klein, Milwaukee, Wis., has appointed to the steam- er City of Charleyoix—Capt. Ira Bishop, Engineer J. R. Ma- son; William Finneam—Capt. Lawrence, Engineer Frank _ Bowen. GW. Close, Berlin Heights. O., has appointed to the steamer C. W. Elphicke—Cuapt. Charles Z. Montague and Engineer Alex Bain. ee — RESCUE THE LIFE-SAVERS. A somewhat startling proposal shoots athwart the Life Saving Service trom the current issue of the Hank and File, an enlist- ed man’s journal of wide circulation and influence, as follows: “The great number of petitions sent into Congress in favor of improving the condition of the life-saving men shows that the people appreciate the services of this hitherto badly treat- ed class of public servants, and that if proper efforts had been made, they could have have been put on the footing they merit. The proper place for this service is under the Navy, The exposure and hardships to which its members are subjected makes their calling vastly more hazardous to life and health than service in the Army and Navy, and they should be placed on an equality with the soldier and sailor in the matter of pensions and other benefits of military service. Under the existing condition of things, the man who becomes disabled in this service is cast aside without a thought, and left to sink or swim. Thisis heartless. The widows and orphans - of these men who sacrifice their lives for others, are not given athought by the Government in whese service they died. This is not the fault of the Government, which has never been sufficiently urged to do justice to this most worthy class of men, It is partly the fault of the men themselves, but principally of those who should have looked after their interests. ‘Lhe officers connected with this service are seeking transfer to the Navy. The reasons for transferring the men are equally forcible. Wake up, Mr. Life-Saver, your service should entitle you to pension or retirement in your old age, just as much as that of any other class of enlisted men, You cun never get it under the Treasury Department—the * place for you is the Navy. a i A WORLD'S FAIR VISITOR. ‘Lieut. A, C. Baker U. 8. N., detailed to take charge of the _ Marine Exhibits at the Columbian Exposition, is on a visit to all lake ports, and is now at Cleveland en route for Boston, ‘The lieutenant has called upon all prominent firms in the ~ marine industry, and many interesting and educational exhibits will be sent to Chicago in consequence. It would seem that Lieutenant Baker’s visit was most oppor- tune, as he furnished direct information to intending exhibitors, Lieut. Baker is a worthy scion of the U. S. Navy, affable, courteous, and better than all—a thorough seaman. Mr. John Pankhurst, general manager of the Globe [ron Works Co., ode diy doing the honors of the city and has placed every lity at the service of the Lieutenant who desires Tu MAr- to express his hearty thanks for the courtesies THAT TOLEDO QUERY. CLEVELAND, March 2, 1892. To the Editor of The Marine Record. As an answer to the working problem contained in your issue of the 25th ult. I would say that the actual distance A was from B at the moment of sighting the vessel was 59 miles on a course N,N. E. northerly, Should B steer along to this position and then follow the course of A he would steam 4203 miles, A steers N, E. by E. for 232 miles, time 24 minutes; then B will steer N, E. } B. nearly 2 tercept B, time 24 hours 42 minutes. J.C. Tompson. es hours 42 miles to in- Continned from paged. any body of men now serving in lower capac tion would have to be strictly according to this bill from which chief engineers could be recruited. Yet this class includes all of our lake steamers with only a few exceptions. The going into foree of such a requirement would actually paralyze our lake business by throwing hundreds of steamers out of com- mission through denying employment on them to entirely com- petent and efficient men, Another objection to the bill is that it puts it in the power and direction of an officer to be appointed under this bill to declare finally and irrevocably how many men shall be em- ployed on a steamer, as well as the qualifications of those men; for as we read the bill, the inspector general has the ultimate disposal of that question, We do not believe that any other business of individuals and corporations, with millions of dollars inyested in active legitimate business, in the care and safety of which they are more deeply interested than any others can be, are put under such dictatorial power in an officer of the Government. Otir experience has taught us that a man who has learned a trade connected with engine build- ing, or who may be able to construct and properly set up an entire engine, is not always a better engineer to operate the engine than one who has been brought up in the engine room of a steamer in the operation of that kind of machinery. On the other hand, some men who have learned aad are masters of the trade of machinist or engine builder have proved unjuc- cessful and inefficient in charge of the operation of marine engines. The members of this committee could, if necessary, instance cases in which this has been true. On account of the accessability of ports of repair on the lakes, where the tools and facilities for all kinds of repair work are available, our vessels are not provided with facilities for repairing any serious or considerable breakage in machin— ery. [fa machinist were on board competent to rebuild an en- gine or repair aserious breakdown, it would involve a great loss of time and much additional expense to hold the vessel while he should repair it instead of quickly getting her to a place where repairscould be made with good facilities and with quick dispa‘ch. . It is unusual for vessels on the lakes, whcre customary courses are pursued from point to point, to be even out of sight of some passing craft which can render assistance in towing to a port of safety and repair, and your committee cannot now recall an instance where a vessel which has suffered a breakdown of her machinery has subsequently been lost or met with further disaster of serious character on that account. Such an instance we believe is unknown on the lakes. We call attention to the above mitters as indicating the essential difference between the subjects of sea- going naviga- tion and the use of vessels on our lakes, The two subjects can only be dealt with, with propriety as distant subjects by sep- arate legislation, if legislation is to reach any of the parts and details of their equipment for navigation. Calling attention now to some specific objections to this bill, they are, that section 6 requires regulations for the inspection and equipment of lake and coastwise freight barges being towed and lake sailing vessels and the owners of such vessels. Asa matter of experience and judgment upon experience, we say that this is wholly necessary, involving expense, annoyance and delays, to the owners of these craft, and a vast anoual outlay by the government to no purpose. That section 33 provides for the marking of the draft of our lake vessels. This is unnecessary, The provision is essen— tially uncertain, no standard being fixed. Tne law might be apparently broken in this regard through the malice of any one who would interfere with the marks, an incentive to caus- ing annoyance and expense being furnished by the division of the fine, one-halt to any informer. Section 47, rule to find the pressure of steam allowed, only 75 per cent of the strength of the shell plates is allowed on account of riyetted seams. In the inspection district of Cleve- Jand, not a boiler has given out in the rivetted seams when being tested, A reduction of 25 per cent in the strength of the plate is therefore not required, The effect of sections 47 and 85 would be, that substantially all the boilers in use on the Jakes which have been built in etrict accordance with existing laws and regulations, and have been regularly inspected and have been performing well, would be cat down in their working pressure 20 to30 per cent., a result which would so impair their usefulness as to practi- cally require their abandonment and the substitution of new boilers which could under the proposed legislation be allowed the necessary working pressure for the type of engines in vogue and in substituting new boilers of the character re- quired a largely increased weight would have to be carried. The expense and inconvenience of making the change is in itself sufficient objection when it is considered that the boilers which we have been and are using have proved sufficient and safe in operatiou. Section 66 requires a valve between the feed-pump and the check-valye. This is defective, as it does not require a relief valve. Should the engine be started, when the valve is closed the pumps of the valve or pipe would burst, causing a break— down which would cripple the boat. Sections 37 to 41, inclusive, provides for the inspection of iron and steel plates to be used in the construction of marine boilers. That is not necessary. Practice has demonstrated the law and rules now in force for the inspection of plates and bracing to be all that is necessary. Section 87 requires spring safety valve, that is, the springs are protected from escaping steam. No such valyes are now in use on the Jukes and they are not required. The valves now in use have answered the purposes, and it would involve great expense to change them. Section 87 also requires that the valye chambers must be bolted to the shell of the boiler. This would be impracticable on boilers having large domes, 'y whose promo- j in the cases of a majority of our Inke steamers, a—SeSeSeSs—e—e—e—eoaoaoo00C@CO0N0n0nanauS0T and objectionable in all cases, as there would bea tendency to blow water with the steam. Sections 147 requires chief engineers to be at least thirty years of age and to have served at least three or five years at sen, according to size of engine. We do not regard the age of thirty ycarsas material if he hus reached the age of majority, nor can we say in what respect experience at sea should be re- quired in a man who proposes to run an engine on the lakes and thoroughly knows how to do it, Sections 148 to 167, inclusive, provide for the examinat’on and classification of engineers, That is not necessary on the lakes, as the engineers that have been raised on the lakes and passed the present standard of examination are capable of performing all the duties that are required of them. Seetton 98 provides for a fine of $100 again to be divided, one-half to the informer. Speaking in regard to this and the other sections of similar import, we desire to call the attention to the fact that the movement of our vessels is confined to a period of seven or eight months of the year. During the re- mainder of the year the vessels, representing an investment of many millions of dollars, lie idle. These and other causes have brought about a system for the rapid handling of car- goes. A temptation is held out to men to complain of all ves- sels for some breach of the details of this law, so timing their complaint that the vessel would be seized, when to take the ordinary measures of defense would result in the detention of the vessel perhaps over night, or from Saturday evenivg until Monday. A modern lake freight vessel, representing an in- veatment of over $200,000, would frequently incur a loss much greater than $50 or $100 by delaying until she should ba dis- charged upon bond. The danger would be that a system of petty black mail might be established. We do not believe that the Government ought to again bring into vogue the pernicious moiety system, Section 179 provides for a system of lights and signals in- consistent with the requirements of lake navigation. For in- stance, it would be impracticable to carry a light on the stem In a heavy head-sea the sprays and solid seus would go over it to such an extent that it could not be kept lighted. In spring and tall it would become coated with ice to such an extent as to become useless in even a moderate sea. Again, the only available place for the after light of the range would be above and near the pilot-house. The light shining on the ferward deck and bulwurks would have the ef- fect to blind the helmsman in the pilot house, and the officer ou the bridge, as well as the lookout. We say this advisedly, because that the present masthead light often carried forty to fifly feet above the deck frequently becomes an annoyance in this regard, The provision that side lights should never be carried for- ward of the foremast would frequently put those lights aft of the bridge and pilot house, where their effects and usefulness would be in some instances impaired. Besides, it would re- quire some fixture along the side of the ship, which would have to be removed in port, and being movable would be lia- ble to derangement, The present practice is to carry the side- lights at the bridge where the vessel reaches her full beam and they are entirely clear of anything forward of that, and inde- pendent of the foremast, which varies considerably in differ- ent vessels according to the taste of the owner and the arrange- ment of the deck plan of the vessel. Relating to fog signals, we are of the opinion that any such change as recommended in article VII., page 87, would be to complicate, and hence confusing, thus enhancing the danger rather than tending towards greater safety. Inconyenience and danger arise now from the fact that the single blast has a double othce to perform as a fog signal and a passing signal, and we emphatically object to legislation which would give the two blast signals also such a double office, and any attempt at giving a signification to a series of whistle blasts according to their length must lead evidently to uncertainty because of the different notions which men may have as to what constitutes a long or a short signal and the difficulty of blowing them with nice discrimination in moments of excitement and peril. We also regard the provision as to life and yaw! boats for freight steamers unreasonable as to the number of boats and places to be carried, The present provisions of the law are ample in that respect, and no change is necessary. Your committee finds other objections to the bill as printed, but the same being of the character of those already indicated, we do not specify them particularly, and we recommend that The Cleveland Vessel Owners’ Association protest and use all its influence against the passage of the bill under considera- tion, OEE ee FLOTSAM JETSAM AND LAGAN. Capt. M. J. Galvin of Buffalo has bought a three-fourths interest in the steamer J. H. Sarigley, formerly owned by Bar- ber, Scully & Co. of Dunkirk. The steamer, now wintering in Buffalo and lately damaged by fire, is undergoing extensive repairs, = The ice on the lake off Dunkirk is broken up. An early opening of navigation is much more likely than it was 10 days ago. P The census gives the following vessel tonnage to the three leading lake ports: Cleveland, 163,000 tons; Buffalo, 128,000 tons; Chicago, 71,000. The commerce of these cities is giyen as follows: Chicago, 7,984,000; Buffalo, 6,730,000 tons; Cleve- land, 8,621,000 tons, : ; William Lacroix is building a sailing scow at Algonac for the river trade, Her length is 60 feet on deck, 16 feet beam and 84 feet depth. The scow will be called the Leader and will take the place of the old scow Leader which was disabled by the propeller Dean Richmond last fall, Capt. A. C, Chapman, last season on the Menominee Line steamer Roman, resigned his position in the Line— and although he is one of the most qualified and successful masters on the lakes, gives up sailing for this season and has been appointed wrecking master and agent of the American Steel Barge Co. at Sault Ste. Marie, He will’have charge of a lighter, with steam pumps, etc,, which will be stationed there for the purpose of assisting and light- ering any whalebacks that may ground in the Sault river. ‘This will be done with as complete a wrecking outfit as thiere 8 on the lakes, including six powerful centrifugal pumps, ho engines, steel wire cables, submarine diving outfit and all ac cessories, if