Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Record (Cleveland, OH), 8 Sep 1892, p. 3

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‘EN ESTABLISHED 1878. art omar Sen CLEVELAND, OHIO, SEPTEMBER 8, 1892. NO. 37 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM J. WHITE. {ILLUSTRATED.] 2 Hoty “The subject of the following brief biographical'sketch,' in connection with the accompanying portrait, will serve to make our readers literally acquainted with the career of William J. White, a vessel owner of wide popularity, and an aspirant for congressional honors from the 20th District. William J. White is still a young man, being barely 42 years ofage. The early years of his life were passed on a farmin Geauga county, Ohio, until 1868, when he came to Cleveland, where he has since resided. His youth was one of privation and hardship, and it was not until 15 years ago that he hit upon the manufacture of chewing gum from paraffine. For ten years he was thus engaged, meeting with varying success, until 1886, when he first placed upon the market his Yucatan gum; his success “was instantly so phenomenal that his business to-day is without doubt the largest in the world, and Yucatan gum is as well known in the antipodes as in Cleveland. Mr. White is essentially a self-made man. There is uo element of luck in his case, nothing but hard work, long years of ener- getic and:iititelligent application and’ un- ceasing industry. Nobody will grudge him : * the profits hehas derived from his business: i He is the inventor of all the machinery in use in his'factory, and knowshis business from the ground up. Beyorbitiy naincem— ployment, he is a director teseteral Banks; * owns large-and important Vesselititerests,:: and finds time to look after his ‘T'wo"-Minute Stock farm, oie of the largest and” finest” in’ the countryjswhere he has gathered togéther some of thé'choicest animals ‘that ever de-": lighted the lover of the thoroughbred“horse. With his amiable wife, zee Miss Ellen M. Mansfield, and ‘their seyen children, Mr. White lives in a model residence, Thorn- wood by name, oi the bank of the lake,~ about midway between the citysand Rocky river, where his /ares ef penates .are»found in solid home comfort, and all that can make home life pleasant and attractive. A’ man of. strong characterand marked ‘individual- ity, he is generous to a fault, a liberal con- tributor to every worthy charity, and a man who will ever lend a helpirig hand to the poor and the needy. That his humane views are of a practical nature is evidenced by the fact that ‘his three hundred employes are better paid than any others performing simi- lar work, There 1s not the first jot of affectation in the man. He is just what he stands for, a good and en- terprising citizen, a clever and successful business man, and a whole-souled, large-hearted gentleman, who is voted % a Prince of good fellows among his associates, both in marine and commercial circles. ee a rae INADEQUATE RANGE LIGHTS, - calling attention to the aver tihay: of the private range q “lights at Point Edwards and Fort Gratiot. In reply to Millen’s letter, marine-reporter J. J. Lynn, of Huron, has written to Capt. George P, McKay, of In THE RECORD of August 18 we epee a commu- | rundown. He statesthat the lights did not show upon 14 nights during August. He has procured an oil light forthe red light, which is now in position, and he asks thaticaptains teport to him now how the light appears at a:distance of four miles, a feature which it is hoped will be strictly comipliedowith as the lights to be of ben- efit to the general comimerce!ought ea to be: visi- ble at that distance. vi a SEAMEN’S UNION, VERSUS LIFE SAVERS. The Chicago Branch of The Lake Séamen’s Betiévol ent Association, has offered a reward of $10 ‘for the re covery of any of the bodies from the City of ‘Toledo, re- cently lost in Lake Michigan. A request will alsé'be sent to the Secretary of the Navy for an investigation into the conduct of the life-saving crew at Manistee, at , WILLIAM J. WHITE, the time the City of Toledo was lost. The Union charges that the crew acted with great cowardice on that occasion. It is also stated in. the communication that the Association can prove that two-thirds of the crew at all the life-saving stations on the lakes are not fit for the positions they hold as life-boat crews. ED OO a ‘The Cyclone elevator at Buffalo has fotind a resting- place again. She will hereafter do'business just inside the Erie basin breakwater, where a good otit of the way place has been found for her. It ought to be handy, too. Besides, it will keep canal boats out of the creek. rn It might not be a bad idea,to devote the money voted to put an exhibit in the Ohicago Exhibition to paying the tolls taken on Canadian vessels at the “‘Soo,”—Mon teal Star. «fed . ‘feet of water throughout the entire chain of fi ‘ment. MARITIME STATISTICS OF THE GREAT LAKES. From advance sheets of the forthcoming report on the “Commerce of the Great Lakes,” by Chief Brock, of the Census Bureau, Statistic Department, much interesting information is obtained. La Salle and Father Hennepin launched the first reg- ular vessel on the upper lakes in May, 1679. She was called the Griffin, and went as far west as Green Bay, but was lost with a cargo of furs on her return voyage. ‘The first American vessel launched was built at Erie, Pa., in 1797, and the first steam vessel that navigated the lakes was built at Sackett’s Harbor, New York. ‘The schoner Illinois was the first vessel to reach Chicago froni the lower lakes, July 12, 1834. On that-occasion all ‘the male inhabitants of the village, including the boys, about one hundred in number, assisted in dragging the craft across the bar. ‘The first American vessel launched upon Lake Superior was the John Jacob Astor, in 1835. The fleet navi- gating the lakes now consists of 2,125 ves- sels, (not including small tugs and steam canalboats), with a tontiare ot more than 870,000 tons, and a value of more thau $57,- 000,000. There are more than double the number of American vessels engaged in the lake traffic’of the United States than there are engaged in the foreign trade, even tak- ‘ing in all the ports on the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts. The tonnage carried during A the past year, if loaded into freight cars, would have covered more than 13,400 miles of track, and. would have stretched, from New York to Chicago and back nearly eight times. ». The basin area of the lakes, which is 270,000 square miles. embraces more than half the total fresh water area on the sur- face of the globe. Its total coast line is over 3,000. miles. |The eight great States which border on the lakes have’a population of over 26,000,000. . All of these facts are of. course more or less familiar to many, but their grounding: together in a connected form makes very interesting reading. Concerning the im- provements of the channels connecting the lakes Chief Brock says: ‘Liberal appro- priations have been made in the past that have resulted. in the great improvements in the channels, and the policy now appears to be to enlarge and deepen all chantels:so as to render the lakes west of Buffalo naviga- ble for vessels drawing twenty feet of water. By this means, not only will the channels be available for the increasing size of the ves- 2 sels, but the traffic of the lakes will be greatly — increased. Conimendable progress has been made in this. direction, and the work is still advancing. ‘The promi- nent points at which these improvements are being made are Lime Kiln Crossing in the Detroit River, St. Clair Flats Canal, at the upper end of Lake St. Clair, St. Mary’s Falls Ship Canal, )through which Canadian sels by the recent proclamation of the President are : required to pay 20 cents a ton on all freight,) Hay Lake Channel, St. Mary’s River, and several other points. When these improvements are completed the very much desired result of navigation for vessels drawing twenty above Lake Ontario will be accomplished, a will be not only of incalculable benefit to the on these inland seas, but of great credit: to. ? ‘There has been expended on up to 1891 the stim of $37;247,000."" E teres

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