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“RVING B. SMITH. THE MARINE RECORD. Marine Record, Published every Thursday, at 144 Superior Street (Leader Building,) CLEVELAND, O. SAPT. JOHN SWAINSON } in ‘ BRANCH OFFICE, " yarcaco Tun, 3 ts 5 35 Franklin St. ‘THOMAS WILLIAMS, Associate Rditor. oe ie ee Seek eee SUBSCRIPTION. ‘One copy, one year, postage paid, - - 6 ¥, One copy, one year, to foreign countries, - : Invarlably in advance. Proprietors. $2 00 ADVERTISING. Tates given on application. Sane te en CLEVELAND, O., NOVEMBER 24, 1892. ———————eSeSeESeSeSSSSSSSS— On account of Thanksgiving day falling upon the date of our regular issue,we have gone to press one day earlier than usual, so as to admit of all hands on TnHr Record _ being in a position to put up their Thanksgiving in a proper, ship shape style and according to Gunter, who was a recognized authority on matters maritime. See ee From present indications a large quantity of lake ton- nage will winter at Chicago. Owing to the peculiar con- ditions of the markets there is a margin of about 6 cents a bushel for boats loading grain cargoes for spring delivery at Buffalo. Some vesselmen are figuring on buying the grain and selling options against it as a neat way of turn- ing a profit. It is not likely, however, that conservative owners will indulge in this method of business during the winter months. Duluth and Superior ought also to secure a fair share of vessels to winter at the head of nayigation, as winter storage will no doubt be in brisk demand, though the later opening of the season in the spring is not in favor of winter moorings being secured at the latter ports. OD OO oe THE next annual meeting of the Lake Carriers’ Asso ciation ought to develop a humane committee to take cognizance of extreme cases of destitution brought about through the unavoidable casualties of the season) and kindred subjects, that might come within the province of such a committee to act upon. Recognition of signal acts of bravery in the saving of life or property: cases wherein a shipmaster proves technical skill worthy of emulation, assistance given in finding employment for aged, infirm or incapacitated seamen who may have sailed for a number of years in the vessels enrolled in the Association, and other similar features could be dealt with and much good humane work accomplished each year. eS See Ay effort will be made during the next Congress to place the steamboat inspection service outside the pale of poli- tical preferences in the appointment of officers, supervis- ing and local. This is as it should be. As well might the official heads of military and naval officers be decapitated at each change of politics,as to move for political reasons the men serving a branch of the national service in the inspection of steam vessels. If to the victors belong the spoils, the adage has been more honored in the breach than in the observance thereof, in so far as the oflice of inspectors of steamboats is concerned. Merit and tech- nical ability should be the only direct requirements nec- essary to appointments, otherwise, if the service is whirled into a great political machine it will be at the expense of reliable and competent inspection of the steam tonnage of the United States. ee Tr is possible that on account of the frequent strand- ings, ploughing through shoal places and the invariable bottom damage customary on the lakes, that too much attention has been given to bottom construction, to the sacrifice of longitudinal strength in the upper works, which, after all, in consideration of, and in a great measure including the continual pounding the bottom receives,is the most vulnerable and important part in the construction of lengthy and shallow metal vessels. How. ever hard the treatment a hull may receive it must be flagrantly weak in the original construction to show signs of punishment within the first few years, and it is, or should be, only after several seasons’ work that the actual signs of structural inability becomes apparent Farther, it may be considered as a foregone conclusion, that ary hull will sooner or later show up clearly wherein it is lacking in ability, and in metal vessels as in wood it is simply a question of time and treatment, LOCATING DANGERS TO NAVIGATION. Tur United States district officers on the lakes, both in the Corps of Engineers and the Navy Department, have expressed a strong desire, ably endorsed by the Lake Carriers’ Association, to have submerged dangers care- fully located by masters and pilots, at such times as the dangers present themselves during the season of naviga- tion, yet, on account of the fact that officers desire to get their vesssel afloat again at the earliest moment after striking or grounding, and the consequent work. re- quired at that time, few efforts have been made to prop- erly locate dangers to navigation now existing, and be- ing regularly met with on the lakes. Last spring Col. Wm. Ludlow, Corps of Engineers, U. S. A., requested masters to mark or buoy any dangers, such as wrecks, reefs or shoals, that they might meet with or discover, and if such measures were carefully carried out, the record proves that it would be the means of saving many lives and valuable property. The act of throwing a buoy overboard to mark a sus- picious or known danger locality requires that buoys of some description, and with the attendant connections, be kept at hand ready for casting overboard, and if. such precautionary measures are not taken the spot is likely to go unmarked and remain a menace to navigation un- til the next and following casualties eventually makes the spot become known to the lake marine community. Hitherto, there has been no other means of marking an obstruction than by first taking soundings and then dropping a sinkerjand buoy overboard, with sufficient line attached for the buoy to reach the surface, and in actual practice, it is almost impossible to keep one or more of these buoys on deck ready for instant use. This asser- tion would seem to have been amply proved during the past season, for, notwithstanding the well-advised re- quest of Col. Ludlow, and the printed cards sent out at intervals by the Lake Carriers’ Association, there has not been a single danger buoyed by shipmasters, although many shoal spots have been found where good and clear water was previously thought to exist. Such being the case, it would appear that some incentive ought to be ad- vanced, making it of personal interest to masters and pilots to locate and mark unknown permanent or sub- merged dangers, the award to bear some relative pro- portion to the importance of the discovery. In this con- nection the general government could best subserve the interests of the lake mercantile marine by inaugurating a system whereby due and proper credit would be meted out to the skillful and energetic few, who would closely follow the work necessary to accarately locate sunken obstructions, such as would come under the head of wrecks, shoals and reefs. As a further incentive, the Board of Marine Underwriters might be urged to join in making the award something to be valued and sought af- ter, for there seems little chance of the Corps of En- gineers, under whose jurisdiction the lake charts are compiled, undertaking a general lake survey in the near future, and even should the measure be authorized by Oongress, some years would necessarily elapse before the revised charts and sailing directions would be available. To enhance the value of the present charts and to bring them if only partially up to date, we would suggest an appropriation from available funds, or, if necessary, by special act of Congress, to provide a certain number of vessels trading on each of, or on the several lakes, with a mechanical and accurate device to be thrown over- board so as to mark unknown dangers until these first marks were replaced by permanent buoys, stakes or beacons and properly inserted on the charts. he first step in this direction has already been made possible by an ingenious contrivance invented by a personin Detroit, so arranged, that afew hours after the foundering of a vessel the buoy comes to the surface, thus accurately locating the position of the submerged object. This mechanical device is found to work equally well when detached and thrown overboard, and forms a compact, reliable means of buoying sunken dangers. Commander Heyerman, U. 8. N., recently light-house inspector of the eleventh district, tested and examined the appliance spoken uf and found it to be admirably suited for the purposes for which it was invented, yet, it now appears that here the matter rested, nor have we heard of any further steps being taken to introduce the device where it would be found a most valuable adjunet to a ships equipment, especially so, in the United States navy, in the light-house, revenue marine and other maritime depart- ments. There would be of course the usual departmental forms, if not inertia, to be overcome in the adoption of this or a similar appliance, yet, so valuable, original and unique a method of marking submerged obstructions, or for determining the exact position of a sunken vessel, ought not to be left in desuetude on account of the moderate outlay required for such an equipment, and there seems but little doubt but that the subject if prop- erly presented to the several departments, would meet with a wide endorsement and be the means of furnish ing the lake marine with an improved system 0 ting natural and other obstructions until a thorou vey of the waters of the Great Lakes has rendere measures of no further utility. emaneeensese en ra ST ee THANKSGIVING DAY. early for the sailing community of the lakes to enjoya — feast of the palatable “gobbler” in their own homes, but, let us hope that the season has been such, that the fam- ilies of all who sail for a living will still find some measure of gladness and comfort to be thankful for, even in the enforced absence of him who has labored” late and early to provide a bountiful table for the dear " ones at home. ae If we place the lake fleet at 2,500 vessels, with an aver: ee erage of ten men to each, there are not less than 25,000 men on duty through these fall storms, many of whom “ have families, and it is fair to assume that the largema- jority will be absent from their homes on ‘Thanksgiving - day. This feature, however, may be classed as one of the exigencies of the occupation engaged in, not alone in the sailing community, however, as many thousands” . of others who go to make up the 70,000,000 of population of the United States are also at other places than they ; may desire to be on this our national Thanksgiving hol- iday. With this cruinb of comfort the seaman must rest content until all the work of transportation is taken out of the season of navigation that it is possible to encom- pass. For those who are connected with the marine interests on shore there are many who can look to a long row of figures representing a goodly bank account, and it is a pleasure to note that many of these have, as usual at this season of the year, donat da sum to provide for the aged widows and orphans a bountiful repast for the day of Thanksgiving. Especially is this the case at the port = of Cleveland, the center of lake shipping, where an almost unlimited supply of turkeys and provision baskets will be presented to the worthy poor by Chaplain J. D. Jones of the Floating Bethel. who, fortwenty-five years has la- bored well ana faithfully on the chart courses of a true christian, and as one of whom we are told “loved well his fellow man.” Others of our community who are not so well favored in the matter of a bank account, may still give thanks for robust health (although all poor people are not robust) for a spirit of contentment, for the pleasure of enjoying the day with their families, and with the firm hope that although their turkey may be somewhat seldom, or as sailors say, having the one fault, of there not being enough of it, yet, another year may see the best the mar- ~~ ket can afford, health to enjoy it, and a thankful outlook for the future prosperity made more possible under the stars and stripes than under the national emblem of any other country. All citizens of the United States may be thankful that the great comet which profound astronomers calculated would probably collide with this sphere and drive us off into eternal space the day after Thanksgiving, has altered its course, and instead of even knocking a chip off the crust of this little planet in its celestial gyrations, will be, say billions of miles away evoluting in its erratic course for the edification of another perhaps less favored world than the earth. : + ANOTHER ENGINEER OFFICER FOR THE GREAT LAKES. The successful completion of the twenty and twenty- one foot channel will no doubt engage the future atten- tion of Gen. O. M. Poe, and probably for this reason the appointment of Major Milton B. Adams as engineer of the ninth and eleventh light-house districts, which in- clude the now notorious district of St. Marys river, has just been announced from Washington. With the extra duties recently imposed upon Gen. Poe, he must have found the work most arduous and trying, and when it is understood that the General does everything he under- takes in the line of duty, in a thorough and efficient ~ manner, it is easy to conceive that the increased duties were more than even so experienced an officer ought to ave been saddled with for any longer a period than was absolutely necessary for the best interests of the service. — The important engineering works now being carried on at the St. Mary’s Falls canal and in the Hay Lake channel will no doubt be left in charge of Gen. Poe, in addition to the several branches of work required on what we are proud to call a deep water channel through- out the connecting waters of Lakes Erie, Huron and Superior, and these stupendous works of engineering — skill should more than fully occupy the attention of any — one man, however gifted he might be; therefore, the relief of Gen. Poe from distinctively department, rather district work, is a matter of congratulation, especially as the order not only furnishes the lakes ’ askilled member of the Corps of Engineers, U.