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THE MARINE RECORD | Bhe Marine Record. Published Every Thursday at 144 Superior Street, (Leader Building.) _ Fa A. A. POMEROY, Editor and Proprietor. StH TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: One year, postage paid... Six months, postuge pa Invariably in advance. Subscriptions will be continued until ordered stop- ped by a written order, or at the publication office The MARINE RECORD can be found for sale by the following news dealers.: CLEVELAND, OHIO—G F Bowman, corner of Pearl and Dotroit, streets. CHPeaG 0, ILL.— Joseph Gray, No. 9 West Randolph street. BUFFALO, N. Y.—C. Robmer, Michigan street Swing Bridge. ‘i DULUTH, MINN.—C. F. Johnson, 117 West Supo- rior street. SARNIA, ONT.—D. M. McMaster & Co. EsCANABA, MICH,—William Godley. MANISTEE, MICH.—J. EL. Somerville. Articles, letters and queries on all subjects are solici- ted. ADVERTISING RATES. Ten cents per line, nonpareil measurement, or $1.20 per inch, each insertion; four weeks $4.00; with a liberal discount on orders amounting to $40.00 or over. All checks and drafts should be drawn to the order of A. A. Pomeroy. Entered at the Post Office at Cleveland as second- class mail matter. CLEVELAND, OHIO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6. LOSS BY NEGLIGENCE. ‘On another page will be found an opinion which can be studied with profit by ship- pers and ship owners. ‘The cause is brought aguinst the owner and master of the vessel for apparent negligence, based on the non- delivery of the quantity of freight receipted for in the bill of lading. [t is evident from the testimony that there was negligence, but it was on the part of the master in not hav- ing the freight tallied, at the time of ship- ment, with the bill of lading, and on the part of the consignee in not taking care of the goods after the same had Leen detivered on care at the port of destination acvord- ingto contract It appears from the evi- dence, that the staves, the eargoin question, remuined on cars subject to the depredations of a populous city six weeks before they were invoiced, when it was found that 631 bundles, out of a cargo of 5,226 bundles were deficient. It was held by Judge Coxe, in his opinion, that these goods could not pos- sibly tempt the cupidity of the seamen, that they could have no use for such unnegotiable property and that the loss of such part of the cargo must have occurred after it had been discharged fromthe ship. Public pol- ity will not insist that the shipowner should uesume the loss, under such circumstances, aga common carrier, and we consider the points advanced by the judge well taken, notwithstanding the fact that the bill of lad- ing signed by the master of the vessel called for the full cargo entered. A bill of lading is not conclusive, and like other receipte, may be subject to explanation. There was no evidence advanced to show that any part of the cargo had been surreptitiously ab- tracted before delivery, and even if there had been the shipowner might justly claim that it would not be right to throw the re- sponsibility of the loss upon him, especially if he has taken the precaution to man his ship with good seamen and true and honest men. In this case, therefore, it is apparent that an uniform bill of lading could bear un fairly upon the owner, although, asa gen- eral rule the shipper has no guarantee what- ever in regard to the character and class of the crew of a ship. It is true, the ship own- er is really responsible to no one,in the mat- ter of engaging his officers ancrew. The shipper has to trust entirely to the self in- terest of the ship owner, and entirely to the business tact of the latter that a compe- tent and honest crew shall be shipped. Un- der such circumstances he cannot. but refuse to relleve the ship owner from liability for losses arising from negligence or fault of the crew, but it would scarcely be fair to ask the owner to nesume the loss where the fact is so palpaple that it occurred after the goods had been delivered, THE SUBSIDY SYSTEM. ‘The fact that the Dingley shipping bill repeals section 3976 and 4203 of the -revised statutes of the United States and all other compulsory laws that oblige American vessels to carry mails from and to the United States, or that shall prevent the clearance of vessels until they shall have taken mail matter on board, which measure will take effect April 1, 1885, leads the Chicago Inter Ocean to comment as follows upon the English sub- sidy system, which has been the principal factor in making that country the Queen of the Ovean and which policy could be profitably adopted by thiscountry: ‘The British Government dispenses her subsidies at the discretion of the Board of Admiralty. ‘Though the carrying the mails is made a condition of the subsidy to each line yet the amount of the subsidy is graduated by the judgment of the admiralty as to the probable deficit in the earnings of the company to sustain the route, and not by the value of the mail service to be rendered. The pay- ments of subsidy are also annual suma in gross to the line, and not a postage per letter. From 1850 she also paid $705,666 per year to the Cunard Company; to four companies she paid a total of $4,523,666 per annum, graduated according to their needs. From 1848 to 1854 she paid to bring her steam fleet up to 804,559 tons a total of $23,390,020, a subsidy equal to $93 per ton, which is more than such a fleet would sell for to-day. She also induced Brazil and other countries to join her in subsidy schemes in favor of her own vessels to the extent of $1,500,000 per annum, making her entire eubsidy fund be- tween 1849 and 1854 6,023,000 per year. From 1854 to 1860 England spent $36,308,632 in subsidies on her steam merchant marine, and increased her tonnage from 304,559 tons in 1854 to-452,352 tons in 1860. From 1861 to 1865 England was making war on our commerce so much more effectively through the rebel pirate ships sent out from her dock yards than she had been able to do by sub- sidies, and American competition in the ocean carrying trade was so rapidly disap- pearing that she quickly reduced her sub- sidies, until In 1865 she paid less than at any time since 1849. Indeed her economy had dated from the year 1854—the very year in which, under the pressure of her competition, our merchant marine began to decline. In 1854 England began to diminish her sub- sidies in ‘onsequence of the refusal of the Amerivan Congress to aid Amerivan ship- ping, and in 1870, in consequence of the United States having tor the first time granted a subsidy to the Pacific Mail, Eng- land for the tirst time jumped her subsidies up toa higher figure than they had been since 1854, In the intermediate perlod Eng- land had eaved in reduced subsidies, com- pared with those she was paying while the United States wasa successful competitor, exactly $19,472,094, or $5,000,000 more than was necessary to-pay the Alabama claims, which was the whole cost of her war on our commerce. This will appear from the fol- lowing schedule of the amounts saved by Great Britian, in subsidies, in each year after the decline of our commerce began, compared with her expense for subsidies in 1854: Saved rela- Subsidies tively to Year, paid, the year 2 1865, $5,950,559 snstestees 5,741,033 208,926 5.713.560 236,999 5,133,485 817.064 4.679,415 1,271,144 4,740,190 1,110,369 4 349.760 1,600,799 4,703,285 1,247,274 4.105.353 1,845,206 4,188,275 1,762,274 4.503,050 1,347,509 3.981,99 1,968,564 4,227,01 1,723,541 4.079.996 1,870,563 4,047 586 1,902,973 5,481,690 468,869 O;107,76E~ asctsaesesees Tt. .cseececssees eects cesees eeeees BIQ,472,094 ‘From these figures 1t appears that if England had set apart the sum she could save annually in subsidies by the effective demolition of our ocean-carrying trade as an insurance fund to indemnity her against all cost of making war on our com- merce, even to the extent of fitting out rebel privateers to destroy our vessels, she would have made a net profit merely on her savings of $5,000,000, to suy nothing of the fact that while these savings were going on she was increasing her shipping to 5,150,000 tons, valued at $1,000,000,000 all of which repre- sented wages paid for British labor, and was giving employment to 240,000 men in the construction and repairs ot her ships, and to 220,000 more in sailing them, the latter of whom would increase her national earnings by $350,000,000 a year. “Between 1854 and 1882 Great Britain has paid in subsidies to her shipping $164,000,000 while the United States in 1881 actually col- lected postage on her mail matter going to foreign countries to the amount of $1,560,- 679.90, and paid for carrying all her miils to foreign countries only $239,141.21, thus taxing her mail-carrying ships and making a profit to the department of $1,821,548.69 toward running the lard mail service. “England’s mail contracts are let at the diseretion of her board of Admiralty, which corresponds to our Naval Depart- ment, “The United States pays 2 cents per letter for carrying muils. England pays such annual sums ag she thinks necessary to maintain such mail lines as she desires, her subsidies being about twenty-five times as great as our muil expenses. “England’s tariff is protective as to manu- factured tobacco and a few other articles. The general intent of her tariff 1s not to protect any manufactures.” ———_—=___ On Monday last George Wilson,deck hand on the steambarge Oscoda, made complaint before Commissioner Bill that the boat owed him for a balance due as wages the sum of $13.80, anda summons was issued to the master of:the barge to appear and show cause why the nmount was not paid. Upon the hearing the evidence showed that the master had fully paid the sailor all the bal- ance dye him by cashingan order drawn on him by Wilson for $8.45 in favor of a repre- sentative of the city authorities, in the shape of a policeman, in order that he, Wilson, might regain his liberty, after having been locked up in the central station on the charge of being drunk. Complaints of this kind are continually being made by seamen, and the value of the method adopted by the United States authorities will be better appreciated by a perusal of the statute under which shese proceedings are instituted, which is as fol- lows: Revised Statutes of the United States, “Section 4,516. Whenever the wages of any seaman are not paid within ten days after the time when the same ought to be paid, according to the provisions of this title, or any dispute arises between the master and seamen touching wages, the district judge for the judicial district where the ves- sel is, or in case his residence be more than three miles from the place, or he be absent from the place of residence, then any judge or justice of the peace, or any commissioner of a circuit court, may summon the master of such vessel to appear before him, to show cause why process should not issue against such vessel, her tackle, apparel and furni- ture, according to the course of admiralty courte, to.answer for the wages.””! Until the practice adopted by this statute became gen- erally used masters of vessels suffered greatly because of their vessels being libeled on un- just and unworthy claims made by seamen, and were put to considerable annoyance. But, as will be readily seen, the practice above alluded to is a protection both to the master and seaman, for the reason that be- fore a boat ia libeled for the wages of any seaman both the seaman and master ure put under oath and fully examined. THE funeral of Virginia Loyall Farragut, widow of Admiral Farragutt, took place from the Church of the Incarnation. Among the pall bearers were D. O. Mille, Chief Jus- tice Daly, Commodore Young and Admirals Rhind, Smith and Nicholson. Among those present in the church were General Ulysses 8. Grant and wite, the Hon. Wm. M. Evarts and wife, General Martin ‘T. McMahon, and Admiral Porter. ‘I'té body was interred in Woodlawn cemetery, Mr. Nimmo’s recentatatistical exhibit of the growth of manufactures in the United States tells a wonderful story of development and prosperity, This country is now the largest manufacturing nation on earth, and the statistics show that ninety -per cent of our products are consumed st home, ‘The in- dustries of the United States have been buily up chiefly under a protective system, but now that our industries are established, the burdens that a protective system imposes on the people should be lightened. Protection to industries that bave passed beyond the need of protection results in over production and then stagnation in business. ‘THe Emperor of Germany has forwarded tothe Marine Department a valuable gold watch and chain and fifteen pounds, the former to be presented to Charles William Murphy, the second mute of the steamship Nellie Moody, of Yarmouth, N, S., and the latter to be distributed among the seamen for services rendered the crew of the German ship DuKlein Heinrich, ETHAN ROGERS, CLEVELAND, November 8. Editor of the Marine Record. It is my desire to bring to the mind of the old time marine engineers one of. our number. Mr. Ethan Rogers, of whom I speak, was a conscientious mechanic of in- domitable will, enterprising and original in his undertakings and aliost invariably suc- cessful. He was, however, modest and un- assuming, and was ever engaged in study- ing the advancement of the science of engi- neering, for which he was well qualified. He came to Cleveland about. the year 1838 and went to work for Samuel Hathaway, on River street, where he nesisted in building engines tor the General Wayne and Roches- ter. He went on the steamer Rochester as en- gineer one season, long enough to demon- strate the entire success of the engine which he had built, after which he was employed by the Ohio Railroad company building a machine for driving and sawing piles, a work of his own invention, which proved highly satisfactory. He then became general master mechanic of the Cuyahoga Iron Works, then in its infancy, but now a great manu- facturing establishment, and many improve- ments in wachinery attained shape under his direction and skill. While in this posi- tion he built the first locomotive ever built in Cleveland, the Pontiac, for the Ohio rail- road, which was taken to Detroit to run be- tween that city and Pontiac, on which route it done vood service and where it is proba- bly still running. He also built the first lo- comotive put on theC., C.,C. & I. and Lake Shore roads. It was thought that Mr. Rogers had one of the best heads tor mechanical invention of any person living at that time and the courage to follow to a conclusion the bent of his geniue, and his engines have not up to the present day been materially improved upon. Thinking it will do the old friends and fellow werkmen good to be reminded of some of the marine works of Mr. Rogers, I will recall the names of the steamers that he engined, beginning with the first propel- ler built in Cleveland, the Emigrant which all old timers will remember; then the engines for the steamboats Empire, a new style high pressure ; Saratoga, Headrick Hudson, Boston, Arrow, Pacitic and Ohio, and the propellers Oregon, Paugasset, Ohio, Republic, Sciota, Montezuma, Manhattan, Alleghany, Cleveland, Comet, Rocket, Men- dota, Wenona, Galena, Dacota, Jersey City, Elmira, Olean, City of Superior, Earl Cath- cart, and Northern Light. He then went to New York City and was employed as one of the engineers building the Harlem bridge on 3d avenue, He was also employed by the Neptune Steamship Company, and de- signed the engines for fifteen ships for them, namely, the Warrior, Electra, Galatea, Nep- tune, Nereus, Glaucus, Metis, Thetis, Doris, and others. He returned to Cleveland and was a partner in the firm of Lyman Strong & Co., Marble Works. When he disposed of his interest in that business, he retired and resided at Asbury, Park, N. J., where he died in 1888. Mr. Rogers was twice mar- ried, his second wife surviving him, whom he lett in very good circumstances, having amassed a fortune of about $200,000. Ho was quite a traveler, and during a two years’ sojeurn in Europe learned much that he took pleasure in recounting to his friends on bis return. ENGINEER. ee Notwithstanding the boisterous character of the weather for some time past, the opin- fonts prevalent that there will be a late closing, extending until December. é