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fg ema Sirens }—__ ev r= ESTABLISHED 1878. VOL. xv. CLEVELAND, OHIO, DECEMBER 1, 1892. NO. 49 LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. | Tovonsider and take action upon all veneral questions relating to the navigation and carrying business of the Great Lakes, maintain nec- essaty shipping offives 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. Brapvey, Cleveland. ‘ Vice-Presidents : - Jotx G. Keita, Chicago. James W. Miunxy, Detroit W, S. URAINARD, Voledo. F. J Fier - - Erie Milwaukee. Tomas Wiisoy, Cleveland NDER McDovsatL, — Duluth. P,P Miuuee, Buffalo Secretary: Cuarvys H. Keer, “Mreasurer: Go. P, McKay, Counsel: — Harvey D. Goviprr Board of Manag: - Ogdensburg homas Wilson, Cleveland, of . - Bri 1 Cleveland, W.E Chipnan, — - F Cleveland, _C T. Morley, Marine City Cleveland. Alvin Neal, Port Huron Cleveland, James Davidsoi Ba - Cleveland. Charles A. Exldy - , re Clevelanc. Alexander BDU, Daruth J. W Moore, : - Cleveland, F,W, Gilehri : Alpena. —13_L, Penninyton, Cleveland. 4.6. Gilehrist,” Vermillion Cleveland, J, L. Higgie, © - (ef Cleveland, - Jesse Spaulding, Buffalo, J, 8. Dunham, Buffalo. John Keith, : se Buffalo, Joseph Austrian Uhicago. Buffalo. David Varice. Milwaukee. - Buffalo. R P. Fitzgerald, Mipra - Buffalo. _-W, Livingstone, Jr , Detroit Buffalo, James Millen, Detroit - Buffalo, ‘ - Detroit. W. 8, Brainard, - Toledo, = Detroit. 8. Sullivan, - Toledo, trey, - + Detroit. A.W Colton, Toledo HS Hodge, - Detroit. ABROGATION OF THE WELLAND CANAL TOLLS ON YACHTS. Col. Rae, an enthusiastic and prominent yachtsman of Chicago, has been in correspondence with the Cana- dian government on the subject of remitting the tolls on yachts bound for the World’s Fair. He has received the following letter, which is self explanatory : Ortawa, Noy. 24.—Sir.—I have the honor to acknow- ledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th inst., and in _ teply to state that on the recommendation of the Minis- ter of Railways and Canals an order in council was passed on the 2d inst. extending the courtesy of free _ passage through the Dominion canals to all pleasure achts attending the Chicago Exhibition in 1893. This etter will be sufficient authority for the public an- nouncement that the Canadian canals will be free for that purpose. I am, sir, your obedient servant, T. TRUDEAU, Acting Secretary. “This act saves an aggregate of at least $50,000 in tolls which would be paid by visiting yachts,’’ said Col. Rae. “Inthe light of our maritime difficulties with Canada I think it is a most graceful thing to do.” : a THE NICARAGUA CANAL. Writing of the ship canal which an American com- _ pany proposes to cut through the Central American isthmus between the states of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, M. H. Moore, who is interested in the undertak- ing, speaks enthusiastically as follows: The first year the Nicaragua canal may not carry a greater tonnage than the Suez canal, but as it is 4,000 miles less distance from Calcutta and Bombay to’ Liverpool and London Via. the Suez canal, the English ships will soon insist upon using the Nicaragua canal, especially as _ the danger of navigation in the Indian ocean and the %, ed sea is much greater than in the Pacific and Atlan- tie oceans. A similar distance is saved between the ports of England and China, a little less between Jand and Japan and Australia. The commerce between our Pacific and Atlantic ports will be enor- us. Not ten per cent. of our railroad traffic is trans- ontinental; the wheat, timber and heavy products of Pacific coast will not bear railroad transportation coast. When loaded in sailing vessels, or Cape St. Roque as they are at New York. When the distance between San Francisco and New York, or be- tween the two coasts, is shortened 10,000 miles, and freight can be carried by water in about the same time as by the average railway freight train overland, there can be no intelligent estimate of traffic made without an actual experiment. The tonnage may soon grow to 20,000,000, the present voluine of the Detroit river, and the tolls, at Suez rates, to $ 000,000 per annum. ee PRESENTATION OF A LIBRARY. A splendid library consisting of 450 books has been presented to the U. S, cruiser New York by Edward C. Spofford a wealthy New Yorker. ‘The collections con- tain the large quartos forming the ‘Narrative and Critical history of America.’’ The rest of the volumes are of library size and include the works of Emerson, Hawthorne, Holmes, Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier, Bret Harte, Aldrich, Howells and those of many other American authors, together with Carlyle, Dickens, Thackery, Scott, Macauley, pec eon and a pew other British authors. * ae Za : MORE NEW LAKE TONNAGE, , The rate of building at the shipyards of F. W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay City, is enough to make people’ dizzy and place even the rush for ‘‘ whaleback”’ construction in the shade. It is now announced that the West Bay City shipyards will build on their own account a steel steamship 328 feet keel and 44 feet beam, with engines having cylinders 23, 37, and 63 inches in diameter by 44 inches stroke. Work is to be commenced at once im the shops but the keel cannot be laid until the steamer for Mitchell and others of Cleveland, is launched, which will occur about January 1. ‘The firm also contemplates building two more wooden vessels, but the plans and specifications for them are not yet completed. This is anticipating the twenty foot chan- nel sure enough. rr a + WANT A NAVAL ACADEMY. ‘The Chicago Yacht Club are arranging the establish- ment of a western naval academy, The location in view is Kast End park on the Chicago lake front, near Fifty- first street. The project also provides facilities for re- ceiving the foreign yachts that will visit Chicago during the World’s Fair. It is proposed that two instructors pe sent to Chicago by the United States government, and that once a year the cadets from Annapolis visit the institution, to obtain a little lake practice. The graduates proper of the Chicago academy, unlike the Annapolis men are not intended primarily for ser- vice in the federal navy, but nevertheless will on leay- ing be. equally competent if necessary to fill the office of lieutenant or midshipman on a man-of-war, or take an officer’s berth on a merchantman. The plan, according to Commodore Rae of the yacht club means the opening for young men of another way into the marine profes- sion than that afforded by crawling in through the hawse- pipes and working their way aft, which may re- mind Some of our readers of the old adage, ‘‘the further aft the more the honor, the further forward the better man.” rr A NEW VANDERBILT YACHT. The yacht Alva, owned by W. K, Vanderbilt, sunk and a total loss, through collision off Nantucket, is to be duplicated by the building of a still larger and if possible, a more handsome craft. An order has been placed with Laird Bros., of Birkenhead, England, by Mr. Vanderbilt, for a yacht of 2,000 tons and 300 feet long, of an average speed of 15 knots, and to receive the highest class at Lloyd’s. Mr. St. Clare Byrne, the well-known yacht designer, has been commissioned to superintend the construction of the vessel, which is to be built from designs furnished by him. Toan American outside of the Anglomania influence, it is simply unaccountable to learn of such a contract being placed on the other side of the Atlantic when there are such excellent facilities offered in the ship- yards of the United States. The English press may well ask, as it has done, on what are our laws prohibit- ing the importation of foreign built bottoms based on, and how is it that so many foreign-built vessels obtain American registry. If a good big slice of patriotism could be deposited under Mr. Vanderbilt's vest, and others like him, at this time, it would be a highly desir- able feature for the shipbuilding industry of the country. $2 WHERE DOES AMERICAN PROTECTION COME IN? The American “tine running from San Wraeies to Australia has been driven from the ocean by British x subsidized competition. By the enormous subsidy of $500,000 a year, the British government is aiming to destroy our American line between San Francisco and Japan and China. The American line from New York to Havana and Vera Cruz is maintained in the teeth of a heavy subsidy from the Spanish government. The American line from New York to Venezuela is sapped by subsidies granted to other ships by Spain, Germany and Holland. The American line between New York and Brazil is in danger from the same foreign sources. All foreign lines ' heavily stbsidized are thereby tempted to prolong their voyages to almost any West Indian or South American port and come into competi- tion with our old transcontinental traffic, via. the Panama railway and canal. . % Ss A report recently presented to Congress by a inember — of the Committee on Merchant Marine declared that the price paid by the United States government to South American steamship lines would barely pay for — the oils used on the engines. Mail subsidies, naval reserve emoluments, govern- ment compensation for the right to engage merchant vessels as auxilliary cruisers, shipbuilding and’ mileage bounties, it matters not under what guise the aid is granted ‘to foreign shipping, it still remains a fact that every maritime nation except the United States fosters — its mercantile marine, and it would appear that such assistance is not only desirable but necessary to con- — struct, equip and hold together under the flag a fleet of © special high classed ships. k ee eee HEROISM REWARDED, From a general order issued by B, F. Tracy, Secre tary of the Navy, it is learned that Gunner’s Mate Henry A. Eilers, serying on board the U. S. S. Phila- delphia, having distinguished himself by extraordinary — heroism, in the line of his profession, on the occasion o: the sham attack on Fort McHenry, near Baltimor September 17, 1892, in remaining at his post in th magazine of that vessel and stamping out the burning | particles of a prematurely-exploded cartridge which were blown down the schute, has been promoted, upon the recommendation of his commanding officer and the approval of the Secretary of the Navy, to the po of Acting Gunner in the Navy, and is hereby aw a medal of honor, under the Provisionsiof | 14 of the Revised Statutes.