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o - which it is claimed does not apply to steam vessels. 8 MARINE REVIEW. MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. JOHN M. MULROONEY, F. M. BARTON, ' : HoMER J. Carr, - - - Associate Editor and Manager Chicago Office, 210 South Water Street. Published every Thursday at No. 516 Perry-Payne Building, Cleveland, O. SUBSCRIPTION--$2.00 per year in advance. Convenient binders sent, post paid, 75 cents. Advertising rates on application. rea \ PRopRI#Tors. The books of the United States treasury department contain the names of 3,600 vessels, measuring 1,154,870.38 tons in the lake trade. In classification of this fleet the lakes have more steamboats of 1,000 to 2,500 tons than the combined ownership of this class of vessels in all other sections of the country. The number of vessels of 1,000 to 2,500 tons on the lakes on June 30, 1891, was 310 and their aggregate gross tonnage 512,- 787.58; in all other parts of the country the number of this class of ves- sels was, on the same date, 213 and their gross tonnage 319,750.84. The classification of the entire lake fleet is as follows: Class. Number. Tonnage. NSLGHUIE VESSELS a snes. eter racer cates srotcesscatanors 1,592 756,751-53 Sailing vessels............00..-« Goouoneitadoscodene 1,243 325,131.06 Saal WOAtSTiiacs sabe corstvee sen Saves ccaceueesee 703 72,515 42 AEBS Stee oteeiciee siaactucins stele oiaamianisle ntl awreacteslemnictas 62 20,472.37 WDOtal. scsi oetisteenge ee. Pe taceestetst aus 3,600 1,154,870.38 Tonnage built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the report of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: No. of boats. Net Tonnage. MOS Han snactenare eva siiaitn cists sean sn estes eolelan= a 152 56,488.32 TOSS ic cesnewseteag sseebes «oceeceocuus sree aecee cl 222 IOI, 102.87 TOSO Mica scsse gee seks os ctwasteas cote scene sensed eases 225 107,080.30 TOO Obes uiescets sens sustees sees ate hetnescstre ses 218 108,515.00 TOO Sar. otss cesncenees svadecsts cost eeenrn se ieee 204 111,856.45 EOtalinfa.G0i. eke te ns pace lanepanceecs se 1,021 485,042.94 St. Mary's Falls and Suez canal traffic: Number of boats through St. Mary's Falls canal in 1890, 234 days of navigation, 10,557; tonnage, net registered, 8,454,435. Number of boats through Suez canal during 1890, full year, 3,389; tonnage, net registered, 6,890,014. Fintered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. THROUGH a conflict of rulings in the different branches of the treasury department, owners and masters of steam vessels on the lakes, who are about to put their boats into commission for the coming season, are undecided as to whether it will be necessary to have their names placed on the bows as well as the pilot house and stern. With sail vessels and consorts the law of Feb. 28, 1891, requiring names on the bows, is of course fully understood, but many owners of steamers have had the names marked in a similar manner while others have not done so and there is no certainty as to whether they will be required to do so or not. Inspectors of steam vessels in all of the lake districts are in re- ceipt of acircular from the office of the supervising inspector general quoting aruling from the solicitor of the treasury de- partment to the effect that section 4,495 of the revised statutes, which provides specifically for names on the pilot houses of steam vessels, was not repealed by the law of Feb. 28, 1891, Under date of April 16, 1891, department circular No. 58, the commissioner of navigation makes a similar ruling with the approval of Acting Secretary A. B. Nettleton, but a later circular, that of Jan. g, F802, passing upon a case presented by the collector of customs at Port Townsend, Wash., holds distinctly that the act of Feb. 28, 1892, calls for the marking of the names of every documented vessel, steam or sail, upon each bow and upon the stern. 'This ruling is accompanied by an opinion in support of it from F. A. Reeve, acting secretary, and thus the department contradicts itself, It would seem that the owners of steam vessels will place themselves on the safe side in this matter by having names marked on the bows, as a ruling from the courts may be required to settle the question. In the case of sail vessels and consorts there is no doubt as to the requirement of the law which provides for names upon each bow and upon the stern. 'These names shall be painted or carved and gilded in Roman letters in a light color on a dark ground or a dark color on a light ground and to be distinctly visible. The smallest letter used shall not be less in size than 4 inches." Tue Engineering Magazine for April contains another art- icle on 'Worthless Government Engineering" by George Y, Wisner, and a '"'plan of reform" is outlined together with ° criticism on the present system by four or five civil engineers. Five of the nine leading contributors to this number of the maga- zine are civil engineers, and through this medium, it seems, an effort is being made on the part of the "outs" to get in. Similar efforts have been made several times in the past, but as in the present case it could not be proven that an engineer is in- competent merely because he is an army engineer,and the efforts proved fruitless. ; ACTING SECRETARY WHARTON of the state department was mistaken when he wrote the Review a few days ago that, asa result of the reciprocity conference between representatives of the Canadian and United States governments, the question of discrimination against American citizens in Canada's canal policy would probably be amicably settled. Canada again pro- poses the canal regulations of last season, and it now remains for our own government to collect at the St. Clair canal the same tolls on grain bound to Montreal that are now collected at the Welland on grain bound to Ogdensburg. Wiru the publication of this issue the MARINE REVIEW has taken up new and enlarged quarters at No. 516 Perry-Payne building. 'This note is made simply as a necessary business announcement. Since a modest begining a little more than two years ago,when the first issue of this journal appeared, we have, without boasting, allowed our friends on the lakes to judge as to its progress. No Case of General Average. An interesting case in which the ship owner claimed a general average comes from the United States circuit court of appeals, Second circuit, Judges Wallace and Lacombe. The schooner Major Wm. H. Tantum, loaded with a cargo of iron, went for refuge inside the Delaware breakwater. A great storm followed and the vessel gradually dragged her anchors. The anchor chains gave way and with but a single one remaining she was drifting toward the beach broadside on. In this situation her master, fearing for the lives of those on board, determined to slip his cable and run ashore head on. -The cable was accord- ingly slipped, and the vessel without canvas paid off and went head on the beach, aftewards turning broadside to the sea, and becoming a total loss. Part of the cargo was saved and forwarded to its destination. The ship owner, claiming a general average, brought suit against the cargo owner to recover $2,939.03, the amount charged against the cargo by the average adjusters. The district court held that the action of the master in slipping his cable was done for the purpose of saving life, and with no other motive, and therefore dismissed the libel. The libelants appeal- ed to the circuit court but the decision of that court was also against them and was as follows: " At the time the vessel slipped her cable she was on the eve, not of foundering in deep water, as her counsel contends, but of going ashore. Her hatches were not even started, she was making no water, and, at the rate at which she was drifting all the indications were that she would in a few minutes, ground on the beach, to leeward of her, broadside to the seas. The master slipped his cable and thus hastened the end, not averting any imminent peril of foundering in deep water, selecting no more favorable locality tor stranding, and though she struck bow on, swinging afterwards broadside to the seas; in other words,as the learned district judge expresses it, stranding her 'substantially in the same place, under the same conditions and with the same result to her cargo,' though by striking bow on there was secured a better chance to save the lives of all on board. No case of general average is made out. The decree of the district court is affirmed with costs." "Naval Architect and Shipbuilders' Pocket Book," by Clement Mackrow, N, A., is a morocco covered reference book containing an immense fund of information and valuable tables. You may order it from the MARINE REvriEw at the list price $5.