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i} i H DEVOTED. T ESTABLISHED 1878. CLEVELAND, OHIO, OCTOBER 27, 1892. NO. 44 LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. 2 . “Toconsider and take action upon all general questions relating to the navigation and carrying business of the Great Lakes, maintain nec- _ essary shipping offices and in general to protect the common interest of Lake Carriers, and improve the charac- ter of the service rendered to the public. President: M. A. Brapury, - . Cleveland. ‘s Vice-Presidents : Chi: James W, Mien, = - Detroit - Toledo, F. J. Fiata, . - Erie D, - Milwaukee. — Tuomas Witson, Cleveland ALEXANDER McDoveatn, Duluth. P. P. Muse, Buffalo Secretary: CHArLEes H. Kerr, . Buffalo. Treasurer: Gro. P, McKay, Cleveland. 4 Counsel: Harvey D, Gounper, - Cleveland, = Board of Managers . FW. Baldwin, ~ Ogdensburg. Thomas Wilson, Cleveland. BJ. Firth, és > Erie. H. M. Bradley, + Cleveland, W.E Chipman, - Sandusky, _ Jas. Corrigan, Gleveland. Morley, Marine City. “H.M. Hanna, - ~- Cleveland. - - Port Huron. G P. McKay, Cleveland. - Bay City. H. G. Dalton, =» Qleveland. Bay City. Harvey H. Brown, - Cleveland. ~ Duluth. J. W. Moore, + - Cleveland. F, W. Gilebrist, - Alpena. 8. L. Pennington, Cleveland. J. 6, Gilchrist, Vermillion. Henry A. Hawgood, - Cleveland. Chicago. W. C. Richardson, Cleveland, Chicago. S. D, Caldwell, Buffalo. Chicago. Peter P. Miller, Buffalo. - Chicago. E. T. Evans,” - Buffalo, Chicago. James Ash, - Buffalo. Milwaukee. W. Bullard, - . Buffalo. Milwaukee. J.J. H_ Brown, - Buffalo, - Detroit W P. Henry, - - Buffalo, Detroit John Gordon, . =. Buffalo, - Detroit. W, 8, Brainard, Toledo. - Detroit. L. 8. Sullivan, - Toledo, se Detroit. A. W Colton, Toledo = Detroit. THE REMOVAL OF ERIE LIGHT. At the instance of the Light-House Board, the engi- meer in charge of the 10th district recently asked the opinion of the Cleveland vessel owners regarding the - discontinnance of the main light at Krie, Pa. The ques- tion was left to the discretion of Buffalo vessel owners, _ although the engineer reported that the main light had lost its usefulness since the establishment of the light _ on Presquile as a coast light. It now appears that some opposition is being develop- ed, and it is learned that commercial circles at Krie are somewhat stirred up by the proposition to remove the land light-house, which is one of the oldest on the chain of lakes, and a landmark on Pennsylvania shores. Many vessel owners have signed a petition asking for its retention, but general manager Evans, of the An- chor line has refused to sign it. Pennsylvania railroad officials and Erie business men, it is stated, will join in a general protest. ee eee UNITED STATES COAST LINE. A receni official estimate of the coast line of the ‘United States, including islands, indentations, and estuaries, gaye as the total 90,900 miles. Of this the Atlantic Ocean accounted for 36,500 milgs, the Gulf of Mexicc for 19,100, the Pacific Ocean for 8,900, and Alaska for 26,400. Considering only the general coast lines, neglecting estuaries, bays, and islands, the ; tic margin measured 2,000 miles, the Gulf of Mex- ico and the Pacific Ocean 1,800 each, and Alaska 4,300, a total of 10,400 miles. rr a ; LARGEST STEAMSHIP COMPANIES OF THE eee WORLD. ; The new list of the international steam merchant ma- ‘compiled by the Bureau Veritas, gives some inter- Statistics concerning the great ocean steamship nies of the world. > people will be surprised to learn that the trans- are not the leading ones in aggregate number of vessels. The British India, of e British India Steam Navigation Com- British India Associated steamers, all one concern, head the list with 103 steamships, their ag- gregate tonnage being 239,635 tons. Next stands the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company with 36 steamships, representing 216,887 tons. Next in order comes the Campagnie des Messageries Maritimes, with 61 vessels, whose aggregate tonnage is 202,622, The fourth on the list is the Norddeutscher Lloyd, of Bre- men. This company has 66 steamers, measuring in all 197,169 tons. Other important lines are the Naviga- zione Generale Italiana, 106 steamers, 170,725 tons; the Campagnie Generale Transatlantique, 66 steamers, 167,- 487 tons ; the Hamburg-American Packet Company, 56 steamers, 165,442 tons; the Wilson Line, 86 steamers, 158,089 tons; the Austrian Lloyd, 73 steamers, 128,359 tons; the Allan Line, 39 steamers, 123,038 tons; the Spanish Compania Transatlantica, 34 steamers, 94,163 tons; the White Star, 20 steamers, 95,370 tons; and the Cunard, 26 steamers, 85,913 tons. rr TO CARRY THE UNITED STATES MAIL. The Postmaster General has executed ocean mail con- tracts with the International Navigation Co., whereby the company are required to operate a line of steamers between New York and Southampton, Eng., with at least one sailing every week. The steamers are re- quired to be of American construction and not less than 8,000 tons register; also a line of the same class, of American construction, to make 52 trips each year be- tween New York City and Antwerp, Belgium, touching at Southampton, Eng., and Bologne, France. These contracts will require an expenditure for new ships of between $8,000,000 and $9,000,000. Seven vessels will be required. Five new ones will be built, and the City of New York and the City of Paris, having already re- ceived registers, will be used to complete the quota of steamers necessary to fulfill the mail subsidy contracts. NN ee THE REVENUE MARINE. Capt. Shepard, chief of the reyenue marine division, has made a report to the Secretary of the Treasury in regard to the operations of the vessels of the revenue service during the past fiscal year in patroling the coasts rivers and harbors of the United States for the protec- tion of the revenue, &c. The number of vessels boarded and examined was 37,521, of which 1,233 were found to have violated the reveuue laws. The fines and penalties in these cases amounted to $363,174. Fifty persons were saved from drowning, and assistance was rendered to eighty-four vessels in distress, the value of which, with their cargoes, was $2,417,745. Capt. Shepard says that five new vessels are urgently needed for the proper maintenance of the service, viz., two on the Pacific coast, two on the Great Lakes, and one on the New Eng- land coast. ‘The necessary: withdrawal of the steamers Rush and Corwin for duty in Alaskan waters has caused serious embarassment to the service on the Pacific coast. The expenditures on account of the revenue service during the year were $975,551, of which $20,444 were spent in enforcing the law regulating the anchorage of vessels in New York harbor. To September 30 the Bear had cruised more than 10,000 miles in Alaskan waters, and with the United States ship Adams will remain as a guard in the vicin- ity of the Seal Island until December 1 next. Po ee NOMENCLATURE. The large steel “‘straight-back” freight steamer now under construction at the Wyandotte yards of the Detroit Dry Dock Co., is to be named the Selwyn Eddy, in honor of the gentleman of that name who is one of the well-known firm of Eddy Bros. & Co., of Bay City, Mich., large shipowners and lumber men, SHORTAGES IN GRAIN TRANSPORTATION. In an article on the proper method of handling bulk shipments, the Rat/way Review enunciates some markedly pertinent truths, in the interests of the railroads, on the bill of lading question. This feature, which has be- come so annoying to vessel owners, is ably dealt with in the following manner: 3 “The receipt given by the carrier, ordinarily called a bill of lading, is not conclusive of the fact which it re- cites, at best. It may be rebutted or denied, or qualfied or explained.’ It is evidence of the fact which it recites only so far as those facts are true, and it has happened that bills of lading have been given for goods which actually had not been received, and the fact that the company had signed a receipt for them did not and could not prevent it from showing that the goods in fact were never delivered. It is a question of fact, and purely a question of fact, whether goods are delivered to a common carrier or not, and what amount of goods are delivered. This may be proved by the receipt or bill of lading if that document correctly recites the amount of the shipment; but if it does not recite the amount of the shipment correctly, then either party may show by other testimony what the actual shipment was. The receipt or bill of lading is merely prima facie evidence of the transaction, and is only evidence for what it is worth. It will not prevent the introduction of other evidence to contradict it, and if it is incorrect, it is simply valueless and cuts no figure in the transaction. Inasmuch as it is futile for the rail- way company to attempt to escape any of the liabilities of acommon carrier by the ambiguous wording of its bill of lading, it would seem to be the better policy to make the bill of lading conform strictly to the facts, and relieve the carrier from the imputation of attempt- ing to evade his liability. If the bill of lading correctly recited the exact amount of grain weighed in, and the grain was then weighed out at the other end, and the carrier was responsible for the difference in weight, it is highly probable that there would be much less difference between the loading and out-turn weights. Under such circumstances a business system would be applied to what is now conducted on a 7 decidedly haphazard plan. The weights at the elevator at the point of shipment would be verified and checked by the carrier’s representative, while the weights at = destination would be so guarded as to admit of little , opportunity for error or dispute. Under the present : system the railway company is entirely at the merey of > the local shipper, who, if he operates an elevator, strives 3 to make his house ‘‘weigh out,’”’ and is therefore not - 7 likely to give the railway company any the best of the ; weight; while when the shipment reaches the terminal point, it is weighed out by the storage or tranfer ele- vator, or track buyer, all of whom are interested in ob- taining as full a weight as possible. It is well. known that in railroad yards where cars stand waiting in tran- sit there is a greater or less amount of shrinkage, re- sulting from the predatory proclivities of various resi- dents along the line. Taking these three elements into consideration, there is not, as the situation exists to-day, a very roseate outlook for the railroad company which attempts to stand good for the loss between the weight given by the elevator at the point of shipment and the result at the scales at the point of receipt, or to the shipper when such is not the case. ‘These things should be corrected. There should be a system! of checking which would make the weights at the country elevator correct; there should be a police system which would insure those weights in transit, and there should be some system which would guarantee proper weighing at the point of receipt.”’ 7 as Hitherto it was generally believed that the “haphazard plan” existed only or chiefly in the shipments by lake, the differences varying any way between 50 and 1,000 bushels. If the railroads are also suffering a pecuniary penalty for not giving up what they never received, — there are some hopes that the “‘cut throat" bill of lading may soon be amended. : 3 PE — = PREPARATIONS are well under way by the English s} dicate for building its first two whaleback stea One will run between England and Baltimore, and other between England and the River Danubi