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ARINE REVIEW. VoL. X. CLEVELAND, O., AUGUST 16, 1894: No.7: Lake Freight Matters. In the absence of any demand for the vessels to move grain, with only moderate shipments of hard coal out of Buffalo, the great bulk of the best of coarse freight tonnage on the lakes is still forced to engage steadily in the ore and soft coal trades, and the great wonder is that even in these lines freights have been held at the figures of the past several weeks. Shipments of soft coal are certainly enormous, and the movement to Lake Superior during August will undoubtedly exceed that of any other month in the history of the business. Shippers are undoubtedly taxing the best efforts of the railways operating between the mines and Lake Erie ports, in order to forward the bulk of their coal during the present | month and avoid an advance or take advantage of still lower freights on all that they may have to golater. On account of the light movement of down bound freight from Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee rate on soft coal has been advanced to 55 cents, and there is little tonnage to be had even at this figure, but the steady and abundant supply of boats for the head of Lake Superior still prevents an advance in the 40 cent rate. The demand for wild boats in the ore trade has been fairly active and rates are steady and unchanged at 60 cents from the head of the lakes, 55 cents from Marquette and 40 cents from Escanaba. Five New Government Vessels. A careful examination of the sundry civil appropriation bill shows that appropriations for five government vessels--two tugs, one light-ship and two revenue cutters--are now available. There is not great desire on the part of lake builders to engage in government work, but as any of these vessels may be built on the lakes, the list with the names of depart- ments or bureaus in charge of plans and specifications is printed below: Boston harbor light-ship, appropriation of $35,000 and vessel not to cost more than $70,000; plans and specifications from light-house board. For purchase or construction of two steam tugs for service in New York harbor, $90,000; plans and specifications, if new boats are con- structed, from Gen, Casey, chief of engineers, U. SoA; Revenue cutter for New England coast, appropriation of $75,000, and vessel not to cost more than $175,000; plans and specifications from chief of revenue marine service, treasury department. Revenue cutter for great lakes, appropriation of $75,000, and vessel not to cost more than $175,000; plans and specifications from chief of revenue marine service, treasury department. A third revenue cutter, to be located on the Pacific coast, and to cost $175,000 also, is provided for in a separate bill passed a few days ago, but there is some question as to whether the money for this boat will be available immediately. No Light for Cape Hatteras. Although preparations were made a short time ago to resume the attempt to build a light-house on the famous Outer Diamond shoal, Cape Hatteras, N. C., the plans must again be dropped, at least for another year. In 1889 congress appropriated $200,000 for this light, with a proviso that the contract for its construction might be let for the entire structure at a total cost not exceeding $500,000. The failure of contractors on the work is well known. Recently the light- -house service caused soundings to be made on the shoal, and in the present congress an effort was made to again secure the appropriation referred to with the understanding that the construction of the light be effected by contract or otherwise at the discretion of the secretary of the treasury. This latter proviso was inten- ded to permit of the light-house board undertaking the construction of the light on its own account, ifsuch a course was thought advisable, but the whole matter has been brought to a standstill by an amendment to the appropriation bill, covering such matters, being killed a few days ago in conference. Not a Fault in the Channel. Of course any accidents to vessels in the Hay lake channel at this time may, without a knowledge of the facts, tend to cause doubt among vessel masters and owners regarding the value of the new waterway. An effort has been made, accordingly, to secure particulars regarding the stranding of the Pillsbury, and a trusted correspondent sends us the following: "Tt appears that the Pillsbury attempted to take the Hay lake route without a pilot, and when she reached the turn at the upper end, there were a number of small buoys in the channel, put down to mark certain places where the 20-foot grade had not been reached by the dredge contrac- tors. Although there was plenty of water over the spot for anything that could go through the canal, the captain of the boat, seeing these buoys, © or 'markers,' as they are called, supposed they indicated places over which he could not pass, became alarmed and backed his boat. This, together with the fact of his not being familiar with the entrance to the channel, caused the boat to run too far down before turning to the entrance, re- sulting in her going on the shoals below and outside of the Hay lake chan- nel bank. There was plenty of water and room to make the turn, but itis -- necessary for a large boat to begin doing so before getting in line with the dredge cut." Barred Out the Only New Light. About the only amendment of importance made in that part of the . appropriation bill covering aids to navigation, was a clause which Senator McMillan had caused tobe inserted, providing for a light on North Manitou island, Lake Michigan, at a point to be designated by the light-house board, and at a cost of $20,000. In another part of this issue of the REVIEW this item is reported as having been carried with the bill, but such is not the case. It was one of a few items cut out at the last moment in conference and probably upon recommendation of executive officrs of the light-house board, who seem to never miss an opportunity to make. reports against new aids to navigation on the lakes. Although a long list of new lights and fog signals on the lakes have been authorized, the ap- propriations for them are not forthcoming, simply for the reason that the officers of this board refuse to recognize the importance of commerce © here, and vessel owners are not aggressive in their dealings with the service Work With One, Two and Three Screws. The official report of the trial of the Minneapolis, which has just been published contains some very interesting information on the trials made with one, two, and with three screws subsequently to the official speed trial. These trials were each of eight. hours' duration, and were made for the purpose of getting some reliable data as to the relative effi- © ciency when running with one, two and three screws at a speed of 12 knots, and to give the department some idea of the most economical way of running the ship when cruising. An extract from the report printed in the Army and Navy Journal, is as follows: "The short duration of the trials can not be accepted as giving abso- lutely accurate results, but the data is of more than ordinary value, espe- cially as such trials were not made with the Columbia. Owing to foggy © weather, the ship had to run slower than was intended, the speed being something under ten knots. With one screw she made 9.73 knots per hour on 1,928 horse power for all purposes, and burned 4,630 pounds of coal per hour. With two screws, the speed was practically the same, 9.71 knots, but the horse power was nearly 100 more, being 2,017, and the coal per hour 4,773 pounds. In the first case the revolutions of the main en- gines were seventy-four with the center engines, and in the latter case sixty-four and sixty-three with the starboard and port screws respectively. " The third trial, with the three screws in operation, was made at a | speed of 11.6 knots, or a trifle more than half the speed made on the speed trial. The revolutions of the engines. were sixty-five for the center one and sixty-six for the other two. The horse power was 2,491, and the coal burned 6,481 pounds per hour, thus indicating pretty conclusively that for such a low rate of speed three screws are decidedly uneconomical, which was clearly pointed out in the reports of Eugineer-in-Chief Melville when the designs were made, it being then proposed to run with one and two screws for low power and to use three screws only for the maximum speed. A comparison of the trials with one and two screws shows that _ while the power and the coal burned are almost identical, so is "also the speed in the two cases. The drag of the two idle screws when running with only one screw in operation was enough to make the revolutions of the center screw ten more than that of the other two when. running at -- practically the same speed; and the effect of the drag of even one screw is shown in the trial with three screws, where with only two more revolu- | tions than when running with two screws, the speed is nearly two knots -- more. Another interesting point which this trial shows, is that while it took something more than 2,500 horse power to drive the Minneapolis 11.6 knots, it took more than eight times this power to give her the trial speed of 23.07 knots, and indicates why it is more economical to drive our ships at low speed than at high, a point with which our technical officers are quite familiar, but which is not so well known to the layman."