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THE MARINE RECORD. | CROSSED THE RIVER. pk Dopsins, SuPERINTENDENT U. S., Li. S. 8. -His Loe Ciosep Arrrr A Wevn Spent Lire D,P. Dobbins, Superintendent of the Ninth Life- District, died at his home in Buffalo, N. Y., on Satur- after a brief illness, lasting only one week. Accompanying engraving, taken from 1 recent photo- jh, isa fair representation of the late superintendent, and to record his features more truly than so brief a sketch “fis this can his estimable career. [n looking back over the -— life-record of the late captain, we but call 4» memory the _ eareer of his progenitor and note that his father, Daniel Dob- vt ins, layed, like himself, a prominent part in the history of the lakes. Daniel Dobbins came from the East to Erie in 8, and two years later was sniling the echooner Harlequin, and afterwards other schooners, mostly in the service of the ; on Bay Company. iis boat was captured at Mackinac yy the British and Indians in oue of the opening scenes of the war of 1812. He escaped to Detroit, was there when the ritish took that place, reached Sandusky by canoe, worked his way by sail and horse to Erie, and was dispatched at once Washington with the news of the loss of Detroit and Macki- nac, Capt. Dobbins received a commission from the United ‘tates Navy, and was ordered hack post—haste to Hrie to cut “timber and build vessels. With his own hands he cut the first stick of timber for Perry’s fleet. Capt. Dobbins was put in command of the Ohio in Perry’s fleet. After the war he ~ continued in the Navy for atime, then entered the revenue service #8 acaptain of the Rush; afterward built the cutter _ Erie, went to sea for a time, returned to the command of the Erie, and finally died in Erie in 1856 at the age of 85 years. _ His wite, Superintendent Dobbin’s mother, lived to be 100 years old. David Porter Dobbin, the subject of our sketch, was born in Erie, Pa., in 1820, and began sailing about the year 1833, first ay on the steamer William Penn, and afterwards on the schoon- er’s Maurice, Buffalo, brig Indiana, and revenue cutter Erie. When ouly about 19 years old he bought the _ schooner Marie Antoinette, rebuilt her at Erie, and changed her name to Nick Biddle. After _ sailing her for some years Capt. Dobbins sold her and retired from the lakes for one year, at the expiration of which he took command of the schooner Henry Norton, then of the schooner Woodbridge; then he bought the schooner Emily, and sailed her for some years between Buffalo and Chicago. He finally sold her to take com- mand of the fine steamer Lexington. Shortly after he built the propeller Troy at Cleveland. He navigated her for a few years, then sold her, and in 1851 he stayed ashore and went into the insurance business at Buffalo as marine inspec- tor for the old time firm of Durfee & Atwater, : at which he was more than ordinarily successful. ‘i Capt. Dobbin’s chief work, however, the one by Which he hus won a wide and honorable fame, was the saving of human life. He organized and led the first relief expedition that ever put out of Buffalo to a sinking wreck, and the episode ably recounted in the ///ustrated Buffalo Express of August 21, is as follows: On the uight of Octo- ber 3rd, 1853, the schuoner Oneida was sunk off Point Abino, Vessels coming into port next morning reported that she lay on the bottom, , he with a dozen feet or so of her foremast out of : Water, and several men lashed thereto. A litue i later another yessel arrived and reported that P three survivors were clinging to the mast. Later a] still another vessel came in with the news that one mun was clinging to the mast. The incoming vessels had been unable to go to his relief. There was excitement in Buffalo. In vain were steamers’ captains urged to put out to the wreck. Finally Capt. Dobbins organized a yolunteer crew, including Capt. Eugene New- man, Capt. Gunning, Capt. Glass, and other mas- ters of vessels. They loaded a boat on wheels and with four horses hauled it to the Black Rock ferry. When landed on the Canada side, a rough and fatiguing 12-mile tramp was made along the shore to Point Abino. The wreck was some miles off shore and the weather boisterous. The boat was launched, reached the sunken wreck with great peril, and got ashore again with the one half-dead survivor. Just as they took him off, the steamer Mississippi hove tardily in sight, too late to give aid. A night was spent at Point Abino for rest. So heavy was the work of haul- “ing the boat along the shore that two horses were killed, The citizens of Buffalo presented to Capt. Dobbins _ and each of his comrades a gold watch, suitubly engraved. In 1860 Capt. Bobbins again distinguished himself by the Tescue of the «rew of the schooner Comet, ashore at the Tifft Farm. He saved the crew, but the new metallic life-bout _ used was dashed 10 pieces. ‘This boat was the Fraucis corru- Rated iron boat. Its use marks the beginning of the Govern- ment life-saving service. The Government about 1855 had ippropriated $10,000, with which to furnish these boats to y Pees points on the Atlantic Coast and the lakes. Capts. Jobbing and Dorr had charge of the boat, being uuder bonds t its safekeeping. In 1875 ihe Life-Saving Service was reorganized, In 1876 Capt. Dobbias was appointed superintendent of the 9th Dis- » und with that is told the history of the remainder. of his life, for he died inthe harness, The 9th District comprises tie Coasis of Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the Ohio River to the falls at Louisville, a coast line of about 1,000 miles, Un- der his administration the district has ranked second to none, he has been one of the best kuown men in the service. It td in this service that he did his great work for humanity in e life. vention of the best Jife-boat in the world, The Dobbins b at is so well known vow that it néeds co description ‘Only to suy that it is unsinkable, rights itself if capsized, bails itself out if filled. onally Capt. Dobbins was loved of all men, and we but the encomiums passed by others when we state that o pee enomledae, he was kind-besrted, true and ge- \churacter that had uo bitterness in it. He was in- and enterprising, and had a strong will, but he did it upon other pe ple, He was a model citi- fe life-bout was his hobby, and outside of that his chief intere-t his home and church. He was 2 member of Hiram Lodge, of Buffalo, F. & A.M. His wife died 7 years ago last spring. He leaves a married daughter, with whom heliyed, and a son, Col. John R. Dobbins, of San Gabriel, Cal., a veteran of the 116th N.Y. Vols. One sister survives him, Mrs. Fleeharty, of Erie. Tum MArtne Recorp con- doles with his family and friends in their bereavement. + THE OHIO NAVAL RESERVE. While the subject of lake naval reserves has been fre- quently written upon and generally talked about among ves- selmen, also receiving the endorsement of the former Lake Carrier’s Association, it must be admitted that there is still considerable inertia to b» overcome before the principal lake ports will take a sufficient interest in such an organization as to muke it a success, News now comes from Toledo, ., that at a well attended meeting recently held at that port the fol- lowing resolution was adopted: “We, the undersigned citizens of Toledo, hereby signify our desire to volunteer ourservices to the Governor of Ohio, Hon. Wm. McKinley, Jr., and request his excellency to muster us for special naval service as a detachment of the Ohio national guard, and when organized to be recognized as an organization of the Ohio naval reserve.’’ The plan is to organize and equip a force which shall be ready to act for the government whenever there shal] be need, and act on the water in a similar manner to that taken by the military on land, It is expected that this movement will be- come general and that all lake cities will join in. Se ———— —— HARD UNTRUTHS. Our unusually well advised New York contemporary, Zhe Safety Valve, ov. rhauls the navigators of the North Atlantic in the following unjustly trenchant style anent the record day’s work of the white Star Liner Teutonic. “But how do we know that the Teutonic really made 528 knots in twenty-four hours’ run? It is very easy for a deep- water navigator to make a mistake with the sextant in getting the sun and, again, in plotting the ship’s position. Lt is strange that the master’s calculation should have made it ex- actly twenty-two knots an hour for the whole twenty-four hours. There is an unwritten law that records to be relixble must be checked by disinterested authorities. Thus the departure and first sighting of a ship from Sandy Hook to Queenstown is telegraphed by the signal station operators at both ends of the route; the officers of the ship not being able to influence it, but a day’s ruu in the open sea can readily be ‘‘cooked’ to suit the taste and fancy of an enterprising master or may be expanded to absurd limits by mistakes in observations, mis- calculations, ignorance, or forgetfulness of the differences in the length of geographical degrees due to sphercidicity of the earth’s surface and other causes.”” The foregoing are terribly hard untruths, and propounded by an individual who we surmise has but a scant knowledge of the causes involved in the careful navigation of a transatlantic passenger steamer. The half digested notions which our contemporary appears to have adroitly concealed under the (to him) vague terms of the ‘geographical degrees due to the spheroidicity of the earth’s surface and other causes’? are simply so much gush, and proclaims an entire misappreten- sion of the duties of ship’s officers, besides giving the lie pre- sumptive to the engine room, the bridge and chart room. Our eminent contemporary should not stoop to vilify a worthy and skil!ful class of men for no cause; hence our protest at this time. >) wilunstye J April, 1882. THE CANAL TOLLS. Special Corsespondence to the Marine Record: President Harrison’s proclamation imposing a tax of 20 cents per ton on freight passing through St. Mary’s Falls to Canadian ports has crested quite a furore here. Mr, W. A. Geddes, one of Toronto’s well known vesselowners, is con— vinced that tolls will disastrously effect Canadian shipping. In an interview, he said: ‘* There is a feature in thia mat= ter that seems to have been overlooked, and that is that the toll cannot be collected by the American Government on bot- toms registered in Great Britain, such as the Algonquin, owned by Thomas Marke, of Port Arthur. They can not tax a bottom registered in Great Britam, and if they do there is going to be international trouble. British vessels have rights in foreign waters that Cxnadian vessrls don’t enjoy,” “How will the new toll affect Canadian bottoms?’ Mr, Geddes was asked, “Tt will affect Canadian bottoms very disastronsly for this season. The new Soo Canal can be got ready by next year, Fy and it will render us independent of tne Americans, [don’t _ think the toil will affect contracts to any appreciable extent, as there are no charters made for more than one or two cargoes. ‘The toll of course will injuriously affect our ship- ping. At the same time, if our Government will hold their backs up and stand firm we will beall right. I would sugyest . that the Dominion Government impose a corresponding dis« . criminatory tax upon American versels passing through our x canals with which to reimburse Canadian vesseluwners for the loss they will sustain by reason of the new toll. Almost 50 bushels of grain are carried through the Welland Canal in American bottoms to every bushel in Canadian bottoms, and that will give the Government cufficient money to recoup Canadian vesselowners for their extra outlay at the Soo. Mr. J. T. Mathews, of the firm of J. & J. T. Mathews, shipowners and agents, admitted that the imposition of the toll tax isa v ry serious matter to Canadian shipping. ‘*As [ understand it, ”’ he said, ‘‘:he toll applies only to cargoes sent by the Kingston’ und Montreal route, I don’t think it applies to Canadian grain shipped to Buffalo, audit just means that all Manitoba grain will go that way. In other words, it will prohibit it going by way of Mou- treal, and will therefore be a discrimination against Montreal and Kingston, There are many Canadian vessels that will not be affected, and they can carry cargoes to Buffalo,” “What course do you think the Government if should adopt ?” ; “I know what the English Government should do. It should put a tax of 30 cents a bushel on American corn, and if England cared anything for her colonies she would do it, Some action will have to be taken by the Canadian Govern- ment for the selief of Canadian shipping. I would suggest taking the tolls off altogether and muking the canals free,” “H w do you regard the action of the Do- ; minion Government in deciding to abolish the = rebate at the end of the season? ”” “The Dominion Government could do nothing else under the circumstances tnat I can see, just now, unless they take the tolls off altogether. There is ove thing in regard to this question that the people do not seem to understand, and that is there is no discrimination in fayor of Canadian yess Is whatever. American vessels oy receive the same rebate on grain transhipped at Kingston as the Canadian vessels do.’” Mr. Henry Beatty, Manager of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, feli certain that the Compan)’s vessels wculd continue th ir regular trip-. The action of the President would cer- tainly affect injuriously Canadian shipping, es- pecially the C. P. R. and the Sarnia line. The Jc vying of the toll meant a straight loss to this ex- tent on all freight bundled, but it meant more to the majority ot vessels running throug the Sault, It meant that they would be unable for any great length of time to continue to do busivess on Lake Superior. He thought that they might — find trade, however, in Lakes Huron and Michi-— gan, which would recompense them for the toss of the northern water. ‘The Presidents action was undoubtedly a political dodge, but it was none the less an eyil, as it meant, . wing to le lateness of the ‘election in the States, that the order would continue in force till the elose of 1avigation. This would hurry on the construc- — tion of the Canadian canal, although he feared that thiy work would not be finished by next summer. I was possible, he supposed to push it through by that time, if the work wee carried on night and day, but this would mean a considerable Joss, not only to the contractor, but to the Governme: t. » AG, oo THE LAKE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION. The Finance Committee of the Lake Carrier’s Associ tion held their regular meeting in the office of Mr. M. ‘A. Bradly, Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday afternoon, wit Captain James Corrigan in the chair, The meeting was a well attended one. bring before the attention of the Light-House 3 the wishes of the Association regarding the dispositi ¢ the original appropriation for a Light-House at Pen: i sula Point. Tbe Light-House Board will also be to take charge of the floating lights at the Li Crossing, now being voluntarily supported by, ners. sins vthe usual raise in the card rate of wage: upon, and firemen’s wages were advanced to wheelsmen and seameu on sail and con! the advance to take effect on September 1s sels in the Association, and whether on the port. All other rates remain the same