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MARINE REVIEW. 9 Captains of the Big Passenger Ships. When the Northern Steamship Co's big twin-screw steamers North West and North Land open up the passenger business between Buffalo and Duluth, early next month, two captains who have been among the most successful men in charge of lake freight steamers will be in com- mand. Both are young men, as indicated by likenessnes that appear on this page, but both have been sailing from boyhood, and they were cap- tains on the lakes before they were, either of them, twenty-one years of age. Capt. Henry W. Stone, who takes charge of the North Land, is ason of Capt. George Stone of Cleveland, who is one of the pioneers of the lakes, and who is still largely interested in the Bradley fleet, which he helped to build up with the late Alva Bradley. Up to four years ago, Capt. Henry Stone had been constantly inthe Bradley employ. His first vessel was the schooner New London, which he sailed before he was of age. Later he was given command of the schooners D. P. Rhodes and Thomas Quayle and then followed a lengthy experience on steam bosts,in- cluding the Superior, EK. B. Hale, Henry Chisholm and Gladstone, all of the Bradley fleet and all stillin commission. Capt. Stone left the Bradley employ to take command of the Lake Superior Iron Co's steamer La Salle, which he sailed for four seasons before accepting the inducements Henry W. Stone, Steamer North Land. CAPTAINS OF THE TWO STEEL, TWIN-SCREW PASSENGER SHIPS OF THE NORTHERN LINE. offered him on the North Land. His gentlemanly disposition and his experience on steamboats certainly fit him for the place. : Capt. G. A. Minar has been a master of vessels on the lakes during twenty-three years past. He was only twenty years of age when he took command of the schooner M. I. Wilcox in 1873. During three years fol- lowing he was captain of the schooner Montpelier, and again in 1877 and 1878 he was in the Wilcox. Later on he sailed the schooners Clayton Belle and Halstead, and then he entered the employ of Capt. James Millen of Detroit where he was for nine years engaged on the steamers Iron Duke, Iron Age and Iron Chief. In 1891 Capt. Millen gave him command of the steamer EF. C. Pope, which was at that time a " flyer" and the largest Ore carrier on the lakes. From the Pope he went to the Andaste, a Cleve- land ore carrier, in 1892, and during the past three years he has been in the W. H. Gilbert, one of the largest of the grain and package freight steamers. His success with these big freight ships caused the Northern line officials to offer him the command of the North West. A circular just issued by the Joseph Dixon Crucible Co., originators of the graphite industry, notes half a dozen purposes in electric lines in which graphite, or plumbago as it is more commonly known, is now used. Graphite has come to be an important factor in electrical industries, and the Joseph Dixon company is paying particular attention to the require- ments of electrical engineers. Mr. Brown's Visit to Foreign Ship Yards. President Wm. L,. Brown of the Chicago Ship Building Co., who has just returned from an extended foreign tour, gave special attention to marine interests in the leading European countries. He says he noticed no radical difference between methods of construction followed in for- eign countries as compared with our own. "Ship building is much like any other profession," says Mr. Brown. "If any radical departure is made, the relations are so mutual that every country receives the benefit of it. This was shown by the favorable re- ception given to me at all the ship yards I visited in England, France, Scotland and Holland. I did not make a deep enough study to express Opinions so far as comparisons are concerned. Of course there were some technical points which I took away with me, but they only interest the trade. My investigations were somewhat confined, owing to the dif- ference existing between ship building for lake and salt water trade. But even acasual study of the ship building industry in Great Britain must convince the visitor that England leads in fostering and developing its marine possibilities. Ship yards may be accepted as a criterion to gauge the progress of commerce the world over. Just now the yards on the Clyde are literally congested with work. Principally I noticed the advance made by Great Britain in relation to the newly orered South * @. A. Minar, Steamer North West. African trade, due to the developments in the Transvaal. There was a large order in one of the Scotch yards for the construction of ships to supply this trade. This enterprise fully demonstrates the mannner in which Great Britain pushes its commerce. Wherever there is a possi-, bility of growth in the countries under its dominion it is instantly grasp- ed. Not alone do they employ steamship companies to open the trade, but make subsidies if the venture is not self sustaining at the outset. While I must say that England does not outrun us in courage and per- sistency, the English government is making a study of conditions which we leave to natural circumstances. If England, for example, had domin- ion over the territory which would permit them to open the pass between North and South America, it would have been done long ago. The fact is that we have been growing so much that we have not devoted any at- tention to our opportunities for extending our commercial relations. Why should all the freight to this country arrive in foreign bottoms? Why should we not supply our food and natural products to China, the Mediterranean or any foreign port on equal footing with other nations? Our South American trade needs nourishment. If we wish to ship a cargo to any South American province we must send it by way of Great Britain. Much of the machinery used for wood working in foreign ship- yards is of American make. It is frankly admitted that our product is superior in this respect."