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e Marine Record e /V\arine record. ESTABLISHED 1878. rf Published every Thursday, at 144 Superior Street, (Leader Building,) CLEVELAND, O. nena B. Smitx. } = 2 Capt. JoHN Swainson, BRANCH OFFICE, Cricaco, In18., - - *. 252 South Water St. (4 THOMAS WILLIAMS, Associate Editor. Proprietors. . SUBSCRIPTION. One copy, one year, postage paid, — = - - - : ‘One copy, one year to foreign countries, - - Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application, #a- Subsoribers and others are respectfully invited to use the columns of THE MARINE REOURD for the discussion of pertinent topics and all matters relating to the welfare of the Lake Marine. N.B.—We do not hold ourselves responsible in any way for the views expressed by our correspondents. Contributions must in every case be accompanied by the full name and address of the writer, and be at this office not later than Wednesday morning. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland as second-class mail matter. SSeS CLEVELAND, O., MARCH 10, 1892. ee THE new clause added to the duties of the local steam - bout inspectors, whereby the examination of all candi- dates for licenses must be reduced to writing, is a step in the right direction. Hitherto, the examinations have been simply a verbal interchange of questions and answers The new clause requires the examination to be written and placed on file as an official record. This departure is ahighly commendable one, and is a feature which ought to be extended to a general system of examining candi- dates, as opposed to the personal, and no two places alike style of to-day. -_— EP ee SENATE Bill No. 153, introduced by Mr. Gibson of Louis. iana, and reported by Mr Frye with amendments, is to provide American registers for the foreign-built steamers * Foxhall and 8. Oteri, of New Orleans, La. In the face of the recent articles on American shipbuilding, showing that better vessels can and are being built in the United States than in any other country, the legislation asked for above ought to be severely sat upon. The recent con. vention of lake shipbuilders embodied such a clause in their proceedings, and as long as this country builds bet- ter ships than foreigners, none of the imported articles are required—not one! SSE pe ae In the list of aids to navigation compiled and endorsed by the Vessel Owners’ Associations, the Lighthouse Board seemed to have acted in a manner to prove that lake interests are in no way slighted. In their report to the House Committee out of sixty-four items the Board recommends fifty-one, and in wading through the entire bill $60,000 has been added to the amount of appropria tions asked for. Commander Coffin, secretary of the Lighthouse Board, has been especially interested in the aids askedfor. After consulting the reports of the district engineers, the Board recommends that a liberal appropri- ation be granted, so that the aids petitioned for might be got into active use at the earliest time possible. ED oe a Capr. ALEX, MCDOUGALL, general manager of the American Steel Barge Co., denounces the reports ema. nating from Washington relative to the opposition of his company to the deep water channel he says: “All the vessels under construction here in our yards are 25 feet deep, and the shoalest vessel that we own, with the exception of the 101, is 22 feet deep, our shoalest ves- sels requiring 17 feet of water, and the deepest vessels 20 feet for their maximum cargo; in fact there is no one or no other company so much interested in a deep water channel as we are. I think 25 feet is the deepest iron boat on the chain of lakes. There may be one boat that is 26 feet, but I do not know which it is. This newspaper man who drew his own conclusions, or who had some bitter enemy of the American Steel Barge Co. to help him, is entirely mistaken, and is certainly ‘barking up the wrong tree’ this time.” eo LD a A VALUABLE series of statistics, showing the com- merce, tonnage and products carried over the Great Lakes, is now in the hands of the Census Bureau for publication. To Special Agent Charles H. Keep, secre- tary of the LakejCarriers’ Association, is the marine in- dustry indebted for this compilation, which, in assisting beneficient legislation, is the greatest lever which could possibly be brought tobear. Ex-Senator Thomas A. Pal- mer stated at the Detroit Deep Waterways Convention that lake statistics in the past had been subject to con- tradiction, but, thanks to the Census Bureau, every ele- ment of uncertainty has now almost been overcome and THE MARINE RECORD. thege valuable statistics stand out pre-eminently in the ecommerce of the country. Major Brock, Chief of the Bureau, will, at an early date, have these all important statistics published and they will then bear all the weight of national records. ——_——_—_— From the Census Bureau or some other reliable source we would like to ascertain the number of mariners en- gaged in active sailing service on the Great Lakes, If it comes to computing, we are equally as good at that as any known source, but, what is wanted, is official and undeni- able statistics of the numbers shipped and discharged during, at least, one season of navigation. There is not a bureau, individual or source in the United States where such particulars or figures could be obtained. A caleu- lation might reveal an approximate and then it would fall short in actual numbers of men employed and earn- ing their living through the sailing industry. There is positive inertia and something like neglect to be overcome here! How would the appointment of a few shipping commissioners affect this loose way of shipping and dis- charging? What proportion of our citizens are engaged in the vast commerce of these lakes anyway ? ———_—_—_—— eee THE time is approaching when an effort should be made to obtain an historical exhibit of lake relics for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Unless a degree of in- terest is inculcated into the minds of our people there is a possibility of the section of the building dedicated to lake exhibits being somewhat sparsely furnished. In this connection, we would suggest that a committee of three be appointed to represent Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo for the purpose of collecting and arranging such a display. Lieutenant Baker, U. 8. N., the officer in charge of marine exhibits, points out that unless an ef- fort-is made to contribute and preserve all such relics they will rapidly disappear. In this guadri-centennial of the discovery of America all interesting heir-looms, frontier appliances in former use, lake marine relics and each noteworthy object, should be massed together. This collection would form a basis of a grand museum and illustrate the development of the domestic, commercial and shipping interest of the lake States from the days of Father Hennepin, La Salle, Joliet and other early pioneers of the far West. er ‘THE Lake Seamen’s Unions are directly opposed to the bill introduced by Congressman Clarke, of Alabama, pro- viding for Government shipping commissioner for the lake ports, they evidently fail to see that -all interests would be fairly subserved by the appointment of such officials, and imagine that their organization would be rendered nugatory. Such, however, is not the case, as whether shipping commissioners are appointed or not, the present organizations would be equally in force as they are to-day, in so far as shipping and discharging is concerned, It is only necessary to point to the Pacific coast, where probably the strongest union now extant flourishes, yet, a shipping commissioner is at the port of San Francisco to take cognizance of all matters affecting the employment of seamen, and the same is equally true in England, where a still more rigid system of shipping and discharging the crews of vessels is in force, and yet masters, officers, engineers, seamen and firemen have all their unions or what is equally the same, aclass com- bination of interests. A discreet shipping commissioner stands aloft and acts impartially in all cases, not know- ing officially any association, union or other combination of interests, nor is it within the scope of his duties to re- cognize only those who come before him for the purpose of shipping or discharging. Whatever the wages of the port is, and this is ruled by supply and demand, so will the commissioner witness the agreemeat between em- ployer and employee and.see that the terms of the agree- ment are faithfully carried out, of the commissioner this alone is the principal office and duty so there is little cause for disaffection on the grounds of unionism on any other combination. es eee eee LIGHT-SHIP COMMUNICATION, A bill has been introduced in the House of epresen- tatives by Mr. Cummings, to provide and maintain com- munication by telegraph, telephone, or otherwise, with light-ships, light-houses and life-saving stations on the coasts and shores of the United States, at such points as may be deemed practicable and necessary, in order to secure prompt information of vessels stranded or in dis- tress. The following sections in the bill direct the Secretary of the Treasury,.to institute experiments to determine the most effective ieans by which such communication may be made and maintained. Among the numerous measures beneficial to the mercantile marine now before Congress, there are few, if any, of more direct importance to the vessel owner and mariner than this measure, and it is to be hoped that a ruling fair wind will waft it through the halls of legislation to a complete enactment, Legislation in any way detrimental to the best interests of commerce meet with a perfect storm of and our people are not one whit too slow in known that bills emanating from a diseased or foisted upon.& Congressman from an ign signing source must be laid over. But what widely beneficent acts, such as this Cammings bill venture to say, that from no private or formerly un source will congratulatory letters reach the Cong and yet, such missives would certainly streng position of the legislator in his noble stand taken half of the nation’s commerce and those who carry! The question of opening communication with ships and the shore is now oceupying the attention of English light-house departments, as it has done for eral years past. A successful method for general useh not yet been determined on, but, there is no occasion the United States to wait and adopt a system introdt by any other nation, rather let us devise our own and means to accomplish this desirable result. The isolated light-houses and the few light ships fl are now on the lakes might render inestimable benef the lake commerce through being connected with | shore, while a wire to each light-house ought to be sidered as part of the equipment in all cases where ports of accidents in the locality would be of value f the vessel owner, wrecking and towing companies and other interested sources. — or THE TWENTY FOOT CHANNEL. Representative Whiting, of Michigan, evidently wis the citizens of Port Huron to imagine that his ree protest against the twenty-foot channel is to their in— terest. : It is possible that the Grand Trunk Railroad would | desire to make Port Huron the natural terminal of the deep waterway, and a square, flat-footed assertion to that — effect would reveal an interest at issue. t Mr. Whiting has given an impression at Washington } that Port Huren is the actual and geographical deep — water terminal from the upper lakes. The fact is, that he either knoweth not of whereof he speaketh, or that he — deliberately prevaricates, for it is an indisputable fact, as” a glance at the chart can easily prove, or a moment's — consultation with a shipmaster may verify, that for a mile from the mouth of St. Clair river there is very little | more water than there is at Grosse Point on Lake St. Clair, and the former portion of navigation is by far the most dangerous, as the bottom is composed of large” boulders, which have caused more extensive damages to — boats and cargo than the entire strandings throughout the river or from Lakes Huron to Erie. p This total rejection of the rights of commerce by Rep-_ resentative Whiting ought to make his rejection from — Jongressional honors a final result, and in this eonnec-— tion we would whisper one talismanic word in the ears — of the marine community actually engaged in the sailing - interests. Vote! Here is one of your own representa— tives desiring you to keep pounding the bottoms of your commands, getting yourselves into trouble with the old | ery of being off the ranges, and in the end ruining the reputations of the principals in each end of the boat, and | ail this is done under the shadow of being your spokes- man at Washington. stg Now, let measures be taken to permit of lake seamen — voting by proxy, by oath, or aflirmation within thirty days, on, or before the closing of the polls. Farmers als would hold their rights of representation better con- 7 served if such a method could be legalized, however, for — the tillers of the suil we can’t vouch, but, the ploughers — of the waters are eminently and specially subservient to the duties of their calling and there is little justice in dis-franchising so large a body of intelligent voters — simply because their occupation is imperative as to time and place—Out upon Mr. Whiting’s method of obtain: — ing aresult, Port Huron is no more the geographical termination of the deep waterways than Sault Ste Marie — is, for either up or down bound fleets, and no amount of — illogical speechifying ought to exercise the slightest bear- ing on this important question. SE el + ee LAKE HULL AND CARGO INSURANCE. It should be highly gratifying to the lake interests é Isrge to note that a continuation of the Inland Lloy¢ Vessel Register isnow assured, There was a time, in thi near past, when this desirable result seemed to waver the balance and even a light influence would, in all p ability, have left the lake insurance companies no but last year’s valuations to base their 1892 risks 1 On March Ist an informal meeting of representa of companies insuring lake risks was held in New for the consideration of and exchange of views con ing the methods that have hitherto prevailed on the in the conduct of the business of marine insurani hull and cargo. The extent to which the Briti other foreign companies have walked into the lake u writing and the efforts put forth to absorb edged” risks, has at last awakened our people to sense of the commercial importance of this busin