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10 MARINE REVIEW. Marine Review. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. a Bi SEB OONEY, PROPRIETORS. vi: A 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. SECA aVESSEISi tere renteesisacsmesemctceteccteecr: 1,592 750,751-53 SAM PIVCSSClSaracctes cana tsi lccsscaness Sowers 1,243 325,131.06 (Canale DO atseercee sere aensecaeteias eee em eerie ssclias 703 72,515.42 BAL CCrsmeerweceencs eeueaenotse sac enctetinrccs erie cre 62 20,472.37 BRO erecta sets ace noc tcencusor sane semaseseees 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. MOS a eaececosrenea ee cse daca cere recacmeess 152 56,488.32 [itstots punbodadouennUdareTddbocaunddacoocuEoooHoDse" 222 IOI, 102.87 MS SG tone saieseeeeeeneceenesices a deesteenere ise 225 107,080.30 MOO Ors teeter oe aasaneas tea scosenedent 218 108,515.00 TSO) Meee teciee nem eaenel-teee secs ee scared eras 204 111,856.45 PRO tale te tlniesstersnsctsen bene TOOT 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, 3,698,777. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Matt Matter. JAN. 12 Is the date fixed by the Duluth Chamber of Com- merce for a waterways convention at Washington, in the interest of a ship canal through American territory from the lakes to the seaboard. All arrangements were made some time ago for the regular annual meeting of the Lake Carriers' Association in Detroit on the same date, and as this latter organization includes within its membership every vessel owner of prominence on the lakes, it will hardly be possible for any of its officers to attend the Washington meeting. This conflict of dates is certainly unfortunate, but it is to be hoped that the commercial organiza- tions of the northwest, whose members are earnest advocates of the great canal project, will make a good showing by a full attendance at the capital. Mr. George H. Ely, who has been a leader for years in big measures tending to the advancement of lake commerce, will represent the Cleveland Board of Trade, and it is expected that Detroit and Chicago will also send influential delegates to the convention. If the Washington meeting is a success, one great object can be secured at once, and the meeting should limit itself to this single aim. Secure in the present session the passage of the Bentley bill calling for a survey for the canal, and two or three years' time will be saved in the further- ance of this great scheme, in which the whole country is bound to become interested before many more seasons of increasing commerce on the lakes have passed. 'The bill referred to calls for only a moderate appropriation, but if passed at the present session it will result in a saving of valuable time, as it will bring out an early report from a commission of government engineers placing the canal project on a tangible basis before the country. MopEsty probably prompted Inspector General Dumont of the steamboat inspection service, to omit his own office, as well as that of the supervising inspectors, in recommending that civil service rules be applied to the service. It may be in accord- ance with the decrees of custom,to reserve at least the head office in different branches of the government on the list of poli- tical appointments, but it is nevertheless certain, that the vessel interests of this country would not only be pleased with the recommendation that politics should no longer rule in local boards, but would also approve of an extension of civil service rules, to every official connected with the work of inspecting steam vessels, including the supervising inspector. No doubt Gen. Dumont would enter very heartily into a movement of this kind, and to be plain about it, the present head of the service would make a better officer if he was not compelled to do quite as much running around as at present in order to hold his job. Whatever may be said of him otherwise, it will be admitted that Gen. Dumont is a capable officer, thoroughly conversant with the present workings and needs of the service. His ability or desire under present conditions to bring about much needed reforms in the work is another question. 'Tur discussion attending a recent census report made by Mr. Swank, statistician in the iron and steel trades, on the pro- duction of Bessemer: and open hearth steel brings out a few points of special interest to builders and owners of steel vessels. It is well known, of course, that in the construction of boilers the more uniform and reliable open hearth steel is used almost exclusively, but even in the most vital parts of ships the use of this furnace product is limited, on accouut of a material difference in cost. Although Mr. Swank's report shows that since the almost simultaneous advent of the two processes for steel making in the United States, the Bessemer per centage of the total product has been above 84, it also shows a gain of about 7 per cent. of the total for the open hearth process during the past ten years. This is taken as additional proof of the claim that all reported cases of mysterious failure of steel have- been in the Bessemer product. It is now certain that in many cases Bessemer steel is specified against where it was form- erly allowed. It is even true that while it is frequently em- ployed in structural work, many engineers make a practice of barring it in their specifications. IN PURSUING, through recent requests made upon the state department, his investigation relative to advantages enjoyed by the Canadian Pacific Railway in shipping freight in bond through the United States, President Harrison shows a determination to follow up Canada's unjust action towards lake shipping in the matter of Welland canal tolls. If it had been the choice of the people of this country to contiuue the present administration for another four years, Canada would very probably have something more to contend with than the present meager system of retalia- tory tolls at the St. Mary's Falls canal, and it is to be hoped that the work undertaken by President Harrison, which has no poli- tical significance as far as the wrong to American lake com- merce is concerned, will be continued more vigorously by the new administration. The dominion officials were manifestly wrong in the position taken by them on this subject. REPORTS regarding the proposed Society of Naval Archi- tects and Marine Engineers are very encouraging. 'This society is entitled to earnest support from the shipping interests of the entire country, on account of the influence which it will have in forwarding the movement already begun for a new merchant marine. Washington L,. Capps, 1710 F street, N. W., Washing- ton, D. C., is secretary of the preliminary organization. The Sewalls, well known ship builders of Maine, expect to turn out from their yard at Bath iron sailing vessels that will be- come as famous as the big wooden ships they have built of late yews: They do not believe that the day of the sailing ship is past.