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13 MARINE REVIEW. = eee eee MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. _ Chicago Office, Western Union Building, 110 LaSalle Street. Published every Thursday at No. 516 Perry-Payne Building, Cleveland, O. SUBSCRIPTION--$z2.00 per year in advance. Single copies 1ocents each. Convenient binders sent, post paid, 75 cents. Advertising rates on appli- cation. The books of the United States treasury department contain the names of 3,657 vessels, of1,183,582.55 gross tons register in the lake trade. The lakes have more steam vessels of 1,000 to 2,500 tons than the com- bined ownership. of this class of vessels in all other sections of the country. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 to 2,500 tons on the lakes on June 30, 1892, was 321 and their aggregate gross tonnage 534,490.27; in all other parts of the country the number of this class of vessels was,on the same date, 217 and their gross tonnage 321,784.6. The classification of the entire lake fleet is as follows: Gross. Class. Number. Tonnage. SLESMEVESSEIS tise. csiiccddeccsvesacwierecsuscee ess 1,631 763,063.32 WAMIHMIVESSCIST elit. avg ssdeduck daviseVsteasbes 1,226 319,617.61 Waital spOAats ciais eee ck orc coe oe atic nateteea yous 731 75,590.50 BAGG OStecescteatnesterncrecddecescansatsevacentssces$es 69 25,321.12 PAT CGA es iceer a pasisbteh «Season sri deosssabei 3,657 1,183,582.55 Tonnage built on the lakes during the past five years, according to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows : Number. Net Tonnage. POSS reer e tenses isseys can tuscasteddeveeenuns 222 IOI,102.87 MOOD Nes osceacecvecsceatitecseisiasescenteeteece 225 107,080.30 TEGO oss csdcsete Pose has eee roeece keene oteank 218 108,515.00 TSGUaeeitotaea sacs asucwehessacestuucseess vavwaes 204 111,856.45 DSO aber tate sini cvOuses babi savadicncses's posse 169 45,168.98 POCA M conc ss scthos sdcusen vedooecs 1,038 473,723.60 'ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ CANAI, TRAFFIC. St. Mary's Falls Canal. -- Suez Canal. 1892. 1891. 1890. 1892. 1891. 1890. No. vessel passages 12,580} 10,191] 10,557 3,559 4,207 3,389 Ton'ge, net regist'd|10,647,203|8,400,685|8,454,435||7,712,028|8,698,777|6,899,014 Days of navigation.. 223 225 228 365 365 365 Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. WHEN four surfmen, members of the Cleveland life saving crew, lost their lives a few weeks ago in an attempt to save two young men, who were carried into the lake by ariver flood and drowned in the heavy seas, it was thought that a searching in- vestigation would be made regarding the disaster, especially as it was a matter of great surprise that the life saving crew, who were skilled men, and had taken the precaution of putting on their cork jackets, should find the much-talked-of, self-righting and self-bailing life boat of no more use to them, after they had been dumped out of it, than a skiff would be under similar cir- _ cumstances. As it was admitted that the captain and crew of the Cleveland station were capable men, and had done only that which others in the service may be called upon to do at any time, it would seem that a thorough investigation should deal with the life boat and the causes that made it impossible for the men to hold to the boat after she had been capsized. But the otily official report regarding the accident that can be found is far from being satisfactory on this score. On the contrary, it is a collection of glittering phrases about the "swift flowing river" and incoming sea "churned into fury," that sounds more like a ten-year-old school boy's essay than a document that should show a searching investigation into facts upon which the lives of numerous brave men may depend in the future. We refer tothe report of Lieut. J. C. Moore of the United States Revenue Marine, the assistant inspector of the life saving service, who was delegated to conduct an investigation in Cleveland regarding the accident, immediately after it occurred. In only one para- graph of his report does this officer refer at all to the efficiency of the life boat. He says: "When half way between the ends of the piers and the breakwater, the stroke oar on the port side broke, and the boat, struck on the starboard bow by a heavy comber, quickly followed by two others, broached to, and in less time than it takes to tell, capsized, and the crew were struggling is at ee Steele in the water. 'The life boat did not right immediately, and then a great wave struck her on the side and she rolled away from the crew. * * °** It was impossible for the men to regain the boat, as they were swept away by the streng current, and the boat, floating lightly in the water, was less affected by the cur- rent and blown away from them.' Notwithstanding the utter uselessness of this life boat in the current and sea spoken of, the conditions were no worse than will prevail often in the future, when men in the service will, in duty to their calling, take the same risks. A tug boat, which was not of extraordinary dimen- sions or power, went through the same current and sea and . saved three other members of the crew, who would have been lost but for the timely assistance thus rendered. Why, then, do the officers of the life saving service seek to cover up defects of the service by proclaiming the great merits of "unsinkable, self- righting and self-bailing" boats. There is a possibility of per- fecting a life boat of steam power, or some power greater than that of a few men with oars, and disasters of this kind should be made a basis for agitation of the subject of an improved life boat and legislation that will encourage progress in all life saving ap- pliances. On the lakes during the past few years, more attention has probably been given to the work of raising sunken vessels than in any other pait of the country, and on this account consider- able interest will be shown here in the operations of the wreck- ing company recently organized in New Jersey to raise the Oregon, which is sunk off Fire island. The company, which is known as the M. Cavanaugh Wrecking Company, is formed to put into practice a method brought to the east by the Grant brothers of Tacoma, Wash. 'The principle involved in the method to be tried. is not new, although some of the appliances may admit of patents being secured. Itis proposed to place large rubber bags in the hold of the sunken vessel and connect them by hose with air pumps on floats at the surface. As the bags expand, it is expected that they will expel nearly all of the water from the hold and give the sunken vessel sufficient buoy- ancy to cause it to rise. A partial trial of this method with can- vas bags was made here a few years ago when the steamer Armour was sunk by collision with the Marion at Southeast Bend, St. Clair river. In the part of Buffalo known as Black Rock there is an elevator on the Niagara river that is called the Ryan or Erie canal elevator. There is ordinarily 12% to 13 feet of water in the channel down Niagara river to this elevator, with a current in the rapids of from 8 to 9 miles an hour. This elevator was put in service last season and several cargoes of grain have been shipped there, the cargoes being consigned direct. Some vessel men accept such consignments, not knowing the location of the elevator, but are bound to deliver the grain according to the bill of lading at a good deal of expense, delay and risk. Ir Engineer-in-Chief Melville is right in his conclusions, the smokestack will play an important part in the economics of ship building. Although the New York has proved the fastest naval vessel of her class afloat, he figures that the cruiser Brooklyn, with 800 tons more displacement and practically the same en- gines, will, on account of an addition of 20 feet in the height of her smokestacks, increase her speed 2 knots an hour. It is ex- pected that the big stacks will at the same time lower the cost of combustion and boiler repairs. As the time draws near for the great American cup race, in- terest in the different English and American yachts increases. It is now expected that the American yachts will be in readiness so that the champion on this side may be selected early in Sep- tember. Lord Dunraven's Valkyrie, one of the English racers, has a sail area of about 10,000 square feet and there is 80 tons of lead on her keel.