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MARINE REVIEW. | 11 Light-house Service. The cost of maintaining the light-house establishment of the United States is constantly increasing, and at the present time is about $4,000,000 per annum. 'The first light-house built on the American continent was erected at the entrance to Boston harbor on Little Brewster island in 1715-1716, at acost (2,285. It was erected by the order and at the expense of the ~ province of Massachusetts Bay, and it was supported by dues of one penny per ton on all incoming and outgoing vessels, except coasters, levied by the collector of imports at Boston. From that humble beginning has sprung the present great light-house system of the United States, which, with the exception of that of Great Britain, is the most magnificent in the world. Great Britain maintains on her own coast and that of Ireland 817 light-houses. The United States maintains 802, divided as fol- lows : Pd PN eRe OAL Ns eee er aN ER We ees 467 MARCUS terme ren Gru ts es sr oet ie oye dss icas sete sh, beceh chaceeueys ven 79 He OM O OAS eter ce Cr s8 Fa Gis eave csc secens veh bh cs vn gseeteas wiebacger i 38 PaaS UTM IAIGCOE venksi sods Cents caicdeiveds suc Sea sow uc des sueiucsies 218 ; There are in addition a large number of beacon and post lights on the Mississippi and other great navigable rivers. Enormous Cost of Ship-Canals. Considerable attention has been given of late by engineers in this country to the Manchester ship-canal, on account of various canal projects that have enlisted support before congress during the past two or three years. A writer in the Engineer- ing and Mining Journal discussing the question of cost, which in two or three of the American projects would be enormous, presents some interesting figures. It was estimated that the Manchester canal would only cost a matter of £9,000,000, in- cluding the purchase of the land, but the eventual expenditure will be more nearly 417,000,000 than the first sum named. The line of the canal, only 35 miles long, runs through the most fa- vorable country; there are no hills to be enconntered and the material excavated is either alluvial deposit or new red and Per- mian sandstone. In addition to this the course followed in many places coincides with the channel of the Mersey river. _ When the work was started five years ago the contract for the 'construction was let to the famous contractor, Mr. T. A. Walker, for five and three-quarter million pounds sterling. Un- fortunately, Mr. Walker died before half of the undertaking was finished and the canal company took the matter into. its own hands. Since that time things have gone badly and additional time and capital had to be asked for. Finally, when the market reputation of the canal became zero, the corporation of the city of Manchester stepped in and loaned another £3,000,000, at the same time becoming practically the controllers of thescheme. A few months ago the additional capital showed signs of giving out and the committee of the corporation was asked to bring in an estimate for the remainder of the work. English papers of recent date contain a report of this committee. They state that one and a half million pounds sterling will still be required, even though all unnecessary works are shelved for the present, so that in all probability quite another £3,000,000 will have to be found before the canal is in proper working order. The secret of this gradually increasing estimated cost of the under- taking lies in the fact that engineers and promoters were afraid to give a true and accurate estimate at first, as its magnitude would have frightened investors away. Itis remarkable how expensive the construction of a large canalis. At first sight it is impossible for the layman to imagine that such a piece of work should be anything else but cheap, for really there is nothing in it but removing earth and building walls. It will be a long time before the shareholders in this con-. cern will see their money back, or even a vestige of dividend on it. Not only is there this serious financial burden on the canal, but since its inception three sources of competition have sprung up to handicap its success. 'he canal was originally designed to bring raw cotton up from the Mersey estuary to Manchester, and to ship back the finished export goods, and thus to-get rid one or more light-ships on the lakes. of the high railroad rates for transportation between Liverpool and Manchester. In early days cotton spinning was carried on almost exclusively in Manchester, but of late years the industry has migrated to the surrouding districts in South Hast Lanca- shire; so that, although the raw cotton may be brought by wa- ter up to Manchester, it will still have to be taken by railroad to the mills in the surrounding towns. 'Then again, the rail- roads from Liverpool have a large number of new tubular frame steel freight cars ready for the opening of the canal, and they intend to reduce the freight rate on these trains to such a point as to enable them to compete with the low canal rates. The third drawback is not local, but consists in the growing compe - tition of the United States as a consumer of raw cotton. The New Aids to Navigation. Col. Jared Smith, engineer of the tenth light-house district, which covers that part of the Detroit river where most of the aids to navigation secured from the last congress are to, be estab- lished, says itis his intention to have the range lights at Mama- juda, Grosse isle and Grassy island in readiness for the opening of navigation next season. The government float lights at the Lime-Kilns to replace the present lights and the new light-ship at Bar point will be provided for by Comniander Woodward, the naval officer of the district. The new light-ship at Bar point can hardly be expected before next season, but it is hoped that the district naval officer will make arrangements so that the govern- ment will assume the expense of maintaining the Lime-Kilns lights as well as the Ballard's reef light toward the close of this season. Mest important among the provisions of the act through _ which these different aids have been secured, however, is the clause providing that the $60,000 appropriated for a light station on Eleven-foot shoal be applied for the construction or purchase of Four wooden light-ships can be built and equipped for this $60,000, and it is the opinion of all vessel masters engaged in the Escanaba trade that all four -- of them are needed at the Green bay entrance, where it was originally intended to expend the appropriation. These light- ships could be located as follows: One inside of Poverty passage, where stakes now mark the channel; another at Drisco reef; a third to mark the turning point between Corona and Eleven-foot shoals ; and the fourth on Whaleback or Peshtigo | shoal. 'Two of these vessels could be provided with power, and the other two could be well cared for by tug service near at hand, or by the vesseis having power. ~ : At the last regular meeting of the finance committee of the Lake Carriers' Association Secretary Keep was instructed to take up this matter of lights with the officers of the light-house board, with a view to securing three or four light-ships from the Eleven-foot shoal appropriation of $60,000. He will also suggest to the board the advisability of making arrangements as _ soon as possible with Duff & Gatfield to continue the care of the float lights at the Lime-Kilns, in order that the vessel owners may be relieved of this expense. In General. The diving apparatus is one of the latest objects to which the telephone has been applied. A sheet of copper is used in place of one of the glasses in the helmet, and to this a telephone is affixed, so that the diver, when at the bottom of the sea, has only to slightly turn his head in order to report what he sees, or to receive instructions from above.--The Engineer, New York. The old whaling ship Progress, which has reached Chicago, where she and her outfit will constitute one of the attractions of the world's fair, has something of a history. She has made seventeen trips around Cape Horn without losing so much asa rope yarn, and forty times she crossed the Arctic ocean in quest of whales. In 1869 she sailed from New Bedford for the Arctic, and during her cruise in 1871 came: the terrible gale that scat- tered the fleets of all nations in those waters. Of all the New Bedford fleet the Progress alone survived, and she came home with 300 seamen, seven captains, five women and three children saved from the many wrecks.--Marine Journal, New York,