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IO Marine REVIEw. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. Ieee Ms ER OON EE PROPRIETORS. re Yi . HOMER J. CARR, " Agsociate 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 tous 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. Steam Vessels taecc.seccrctcste sswssctsenseteereten 1,592 756,751-53 Saul OLVESSEIS scene esouteccen dueduesessesen sen 1,243 325,131.06 Canals boats. scii eter tocencet east eassaneess 703 72,515 42 PATE Sia teseete asec tiie ono ecrien Chesca 62 20,472.37 MNOGAL ceca a tire tts orci steers kore 3,600 1,154,870.38 ' Tonnage built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows : No. of boats. Net Tonnage. OB aeatesinistec iaes vase seaecneenc cuss oaueanes so 152 56,488.32 TESS Hs crush arses cores oka oe ed veaep eee seen sae 222 IOI, 102.87 MOO tsetse ses sides ene ack aaeen ness eensae 225 107,080.30 OQ Ones toc tues ch contest occ tanaecseist sree. 218 108,515.00 MOQUAees cos ect se nttnmcctacss och ce. cuetarenec es 204. TI1,856.45 otaleces.c HC areca ssaec nec een aeotice 1,021 485,042.94 St. Mary's Falls and Suez canal traffic: Number of boats through St. Mary's Falls canal in 1890, 228 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. Number of boats through St. Mary's Falls canal in 1891, 225 days of navigation, 10,191; ton- nage, net registered, 8,400,685. Number of boats through Suez canal dur- ing 1891, full year, 4,207; tonnage, net registered, 8,698,777. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Matl Matter. Our Washington correspondent made an effort last week to secure a copy of the minority report from the light-house board to Secretary Foster, in the case of Col. Lndlow and Commander Heyerman. 'he executive officers of the board refused to give out this report, although Secretary Foster had publicly referred to it and it was a matter of record among the proceedings of the board. A little inquiry in Washington has brought out a copy of the document, however. It is addressed to Secretary Foster, signed by three members of the board, and is as follows: '"'We the undersigned members of the light-house board and a minority thereof, beg leave to inform you that we dissent from > the recent action of the board in the matter of Major William . Ludlow, corps of engineers, U. S. A., and Commander Oscar F. Heyerman, U. S. N., lately engineer and inspector of the eleventh light-house district. It is our judgment that the ex- planation of these officers in respect of their recent action and correspondence with the board concerning the lighting of St. Mary's river fully exonerates them from any wrong doing or in- tent. We believe on the contrary that they have shown great professional ability and zeal in the light-house service, especially in the work referred to and that they should be restored to their duties under the board. We think it dueto you, to them, and to ourselves to make this statement." The case ot these two officers is still pending with Secre- tary Foster, but the vessel interests seem as determined as ever. There will be no let up until a satisfactory final adjustment is had. NEARLY all of the best class of freight and passenger ves- sels on the lakes are now equipped with electric lighting plants, and there is no doubt that electricity as an illuminant on ship board is cheaper in the long run, more convenient and generally safer than any other light. Owners of new vessels seeking electric plants will do well to remember, however, that great care should be taken with regard to this part of the equipment MARINE REVIEW. of their floating property. Aside from the advanage. derived -- from plants specially adapted to ships there isa marked element of danger in defective insulation. Insulation of electric wires on vessels has not yet reached perfection. Owners should give some study to the matter of electric lighting and secure the best plants. Ir wAs in 1792 that the first act concerning the construe- tion of the canals of New York state passed the state legislature, so that the convention in Buffalo on the roth inst. will be in the nature of a centennial celebration. As a convention intended for the purpose of bringing about improvement to the canals, however, it will undoubtedly be of little account. As yet there is little interest shown regarding the convention, even as a cele- bration. Only a radical enlargement of the Erie canal will in- terest the people of New York. The state can not be expected to undertake the enlargement demanded by the growth of com- merce from the lakes to the seaboard and any half-way methods of improvement will not excite interest. LAKE ship builders will have to take into consideration the effect of the eight-hour law in figuring on government work, and add about one-fifth to the usual amount figured for labor. Before a ruling regarding this law was made by the treasury de- partment, the Union Dry Dock Company, Buffalo, made esti- mates and was given the contract for the revenue cutter Calu- met, for $36,675. Later it was decided that the eight-hour law applied to the contract, and the company withdrew its figures. Since then the contract has been given to David Bell, of Buffalo, for $38,500. Ir 1s difficult to believe that Gen. Casey, chief of army en- gineers has interfered in the case of Col. Ludlow and Com- mander Heyerman with the light-house board. He is said to be opposed to the reinstatement of these officers. Strange Views of Lake Navigation. The story of a captain who took a schooner across the Atlantic with a cargo of wheat from the lakes, and being unable to get insured for the return trip, because no information of the great lake ports was to be found, is well known, as is also the one about English underwriters being surprised that lake vessels were navigated at night instead of tying up along the " bank," but a recent instance more interesting is given by a New York engineer. He accompanied Mr. Johnson, the English capitalist interested in building of whalebacks in England, on his first trip up the lakes. While in the rivers, Mr. Johnson asked if they would not reach Duluth by night-fall. When told that he would have to pass through two large lakes on which he would be out of sight of land for several hours and cover some 600 miles, he shook his head and wondered. Nearing the end of his journey, he ventured to suggest that it couldn't be far from the Pacific Ocean, but subsided when told that the half-way point in crossing the continent was still several hundred miles west of him. Some foreigners, as well as eastern business men, have had their doubts dispelled as to the immense traffic of the lakes, but many are still wofully ignorant of that as well as of their great area. 'The following will give anidea of the magnitude of the great lakes: The water surface of Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, and connecting waterways, is 95,275 square miles, while the area of Great Britain, England, Scotland and Wales combined, is only 88,781 square miles. 'The coast lines of the great lakes contain more than half the fresh water on the globe and have a combined length of 3,075 miles. It is 1,279 miles from Ogdensburg to Dnluth, and from the northern shore of Lake Superior to the southern end of Lake Michigan is 520 miles. The distance from Chicago to Liverpool is 4,500 miles, one-half of which is covered by the great lakes and St. Lawrence tiver. From the Straits of Belle Isle to Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, is 2,25934 miles. From the Straits of Belle Isle to Liverpool is 2,234 miles. From the Straits of Belle Isle to Kingston, Lake Ontario, is 1,164 miles. From Kingston to Du luth it is 1,186 miles, over one-half of the distance from the Straits of Belle Isle across the Atlantic to Liverpool.