The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

10 MARINE REVIEW. MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED NEL SAS: a on ee nt PROPRIETORS. HOMER J. CARR, Associate Editor and Manager Chicago Office, Western Union Building, 110 LaSalle 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. ; 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. GC TeatevieSSelSicrccacncesnesntccccm canter qersacerl 1,592 756,751-53 Sailing vessels..........cccssere coeseeneserteseoees 1,243 325,131.06 (Cannell Toe ME Soeccconconenosncndbce apod0vacceouunecd00cd 703 72,515.42 BAL GCS... cccccvcrscnsnsessneevepsrasennsenseenscoetercss 62 20,472.37 PINGalleeceee on erases ease se ene. 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. Oy ac sect ociaemer twa creas senna teense 152 56,488.32 TSS Oue ee seca acetaereeaeceemststee eects 222 IOI, 102.87 SAG fanise eesti ee eee eaeneee secre cesnccencr 225 107,080.30 SO seces «fe cnerian tea mane teaeesaee reese 218 108,515.00 TORO lear see ale Wee ees eetnee ee etna eects 204 I11,856.45 Wotalseier seco cce ee enoseies T,02I ~ 485,042.94 St. Mary's Falls and Suez canal trafic: 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. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. As FINALLY sent to the president the river and harbor bill carries direct appropriations aggregating $21,153, 618,and author- izes contracts amounting to $31,555,401, a total of $52,709,019. The Fifty-second congress has certainly shown its appreciation of the benefits of water transportation to the country at large, and the wonderful reduction shown in carrying charges on the great lakes has been an important factor in bringing about this result. The importance of the continuous contract system, as adopted originally in the first session of the Fifty-first congress, can be measured by the liberal amount of appropriations insured for the future. There is no doubt of the benefits to be derived from the continuous contract policy. 'These contract works will require about four years to complete them, and four into $53,000,000, the amount involved, is only a little over $13,000,000 per annum for the next four years, "an insignificant sum," as Congressman Blanchard said on the final passage of the measure, "in comparison with the magnitude of river and harbor interests in this country." BEFORE Gen. Poe and Col. William Ludlow of the army en- gineer corps became favorably known, in their work of directing river and harbor improvements, to the shipping interests of the lakes, there was no such regard here for army and navy officers as that now existing among vessel owners. These officers have done much to show that the heads of the service which they represent are desirous of keeping in touch with the interests di- rectly concerned in river and harbor improvements. Col. Lud- low has been especially active in this regard and his intentions have always been for the general welfare. It is only right, therefore, that nothing should be left undone in the efforts to convince Washington authorities that his suspension from the light-house service resulted from a misapprehension of the facts in the case. WrruIn a few days there will be delivered to the officers of the United States light-house service in New York two lake- built vessels for coast service. The first is one of four light-ships building by W. F. Wheeler & Co., of West Bay City. This vessel, to be known as Cornfield Point light-ship, No. 51, is un- doubtedly the finest light-ship ever constructed in this or any other country. he second vessel, which will arrive a few days after the light-ship, is the light-house tender Lilac, the first of two vessels for which a contract was made with the Globe Iron Works Company, Cleveland, about a year ago. The tender Lilac is in appearance as fine a ship as has ever been turned out on the lakes, and there is little doubt that all of these boats will reflect credit to lake builders. A CORRESPONDENT seeking for information from the Detroit News, is told that a dam at the head of Niagara river would raise the water in Lakes Erie and Michigan. A very large dam would certainly be required. Probably the News has overlooked a rise of more than eight feet in the rivers between Lake Erie and ake Michigan, or Lake Huron, which has the same level as. Lake Michigan. Iris the settled law of the federal courts that an express stipnlation exempting a common: carrier, whether foreign or domestic, from liability for losses caused by the negligence of himself or his servants, is contrary to the public policy, and can not be enforced against the shipper. READERS of the REVIEW are requested to send us at all times brief correspondence of a marine nature. Our columns are always open for the discussion of subjects relating in any way to the advancement of lake interests. Coal Statistics, St. Mary's Falls Canal. The following letter from Gen. O. M. Poe, relative to the coal traffic of the St. Mary's Falls canal, explains itself: GENTLEMEN:--I am in receipt of yours of the 9th inst., suggesting that in the record of the movement of coal through St. Mary's Falls canal, the re- spective quantities of bituminous and anthracite coal be stated. I thank you for the suggestion, and will give it careful consideration. It would not be practicable this season to do much towards it, because vessels are all supplied with blanks for reports, and before these could be recalled and new ones print- ed and issued, the season would be so far advanced that the resulting record would have but little value in the attempt to separate the two kinds of coal. In this connection I may remark that there is danger of carrying this mat- ter of collection of statistics so far as to make it irksome to the vessel men, causing them to lose interest, with resulting vitiation of the record, either in- ° tentionally or negligently. From other sources I have had suggestions touching this part of our rocord, and one renaarkably well informed man proposes such an extension of the system that additional clerical assistance would have to be employed to maintain it. He thinks this would be no objection, and theoret- ically it probably would not be, but practically the objection is quite serious. Before the opening of next season, however, I will try to formulate blanks which will add to the information in our record, and it is not impossible that I may succeed. Your suggestion is the least difficult of all I have thus far re- ceived. Should anything further occur to you in this connection I will be obliged to you for information in regard to it. OQ. M. 220: Colonel, Corps of Engineers, Bvt. Brig. Gen. U. 8. Army. UnIvTED STATES ENGINEER OFFICE, No. 34 West Congress Street, July 12, 1892. Detroit, Mich. Official Numbers and Tonnage. The bureau of navigation, E. C. O'Brien commissioner, assigned official numbers to the following lake vessels during the week ending Satta July ne Pisa eee Cleveland, 2,831.32 tons gross, 2,306.78 net, nae 92,- 48; . H. Gilbert, Detroit, 2,820.30 tons gross, 2.° 5 382; City of Venice, Pan fa See 2 ae Tesae ace ae oa hae Columbia, Grand Haven 120.24 eae eee c 73 37 . = ee a "oat Cleveland, 62.46 tons anaes 31.23 : 3 nut tl "Toay eae gross, 01.23 net, No. 116,511; I not, No, 20008)! Hlaslj aches At ieioms Gee he ea ee ster, 46.05 tons gross, 86.13 net, No. 96,184. Sail--May C.,, Chicago, 8.29 tons gross, 7.88 net, No. 92,449. slay, Marquette, 26.69 Send cents to t Peeters tee aera . : numbers, 75 cents to the MARINE REvIEW for a Binder that will hold 52