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8 MARINE REVIEW. Life Saving Service of the United States. The life-saving service on the great lakes shows up very favorably in the annual report of the operations of the United States life-saving service, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, which has just been issued. According to this report, the life-saving establishment of the United States embraces 259 stations, of which 189 are situated on the Atlantic and gulf coasts, fifty-five on the coasts of the great lakes, fourteen on the Pacific coast, and one at the falls of the Ohio river at L.ouisville, Ky. The re- ports of the several district officers show 394 disasters to documented vessels within the field of life-saving operations. The number of persons on board these vessels was 3,737, of whom forty-two were lost. The esti- mated value of the vessels was $5,132,485, and that of their cargoes $1,975,- 340, making the total value of property imperiled $7,107,825. Of this amount $5,108,895 was saved and $1,998,930 lost. The number of vessels totally lost was fifty-four. There were 305 casualties to undocumented craft--sailboats, rowboats, etc.--carrying 706 persons, eleven of whom per- ished. The value of property involved in these instances is estimated at $221,745, of which $182,280 was saved and $39,465 lost. The total number of disasters, 699, exceeds that of the preceding year by nineteen, and is the largest reported in the history of the service. Notwithstanding this fact, the number of vessels totally lost is the smallest since the year 1879, when the scope of the service was quite limited, the number of stations at that time having been only 173. The showing made by the service on the great lakes, taking into con- sideration the number of stations, disasters, etc., is exceedingly creditable. Of the 699 disasters, 276 were on the lakes. Other comparisons are as follows: Value of vessels involved on the lakes, $1,846,970, against $5,342,755 in the whole country; value of cargoes on the lakes, $547,360, Rudder Frames For New Battleships. The last of a quintette of rudder frames for new United States battle- ships now under construction was shipped from Cleveland this week by the Cleveland 'City Forge & Iron Co. These rudder frames have attracted considerable attention, not only by reason of their size, but because of the manifest superiority of workmanship. The frames, which are manufac- tured from the best refined iron, are of the following dimensions: Ex- treme height, 20 feet 634 inches; width, 19 feet 4 inches; diameter rudder stock, 18 inches; extreme thickness of frame, 88 inches; weight, 32,390 pounds. Three of these frames were sent to the yards of the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. for the battleships Kearsarge, Ken. tucky and Illinois; one was sent to the Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co. at Philadelphia for the Alabama, and the one shipped this week goes to the yard of the Union Iron Works at San Francisco for the Wisconsin. The four frames sent to the Atlantic coast were all trans ported via the steel canal boat line from Cleveland to New York, but water transportation was, of course, impracticable in the case of the frame shipped this week, and it was accordingly loaded on an ordinary flat car although in order to insure passage through the tunnels it was necessary to bolt the frame in three sections, instead of welding it, the plan followed in the case of the other frames. A More Plentiful Supply of Seamen. Reports made during the past two weeks to Shipping Master Rumsey of the Lake Carriers' Association from the various shipping offices at lake ports indicate a turning of the tables as regards the conditions prevailing at the opening of the season, when it was almost impossible to supply the A Na bs met K aN i LO Ba ral Cee TY +3 tT Eel ed Lo) ql", Sy x @ [From 1898 issue, Blue Book of American Shipping. ] against $1,986,815 in the country; lake property involved, $2,394,330, against $7,329,570 throughout the country; property saved, $2,257,750 on the lakes, against $5,291,175 on all coasts; property lost, $136,580 on the lakes, against a total loss of $2,038,395; number of persons on board lake vessels, 1,332, compared with 4,443 on all vessels. On the lakes there was a loss of five lives, compared with fifty-three throughout the territory cov- ered by the service. Only eight disasters on the lakes involved a total loss of vessels, as against fifty-four total losses on all coasts. Annual Report of Suez Canal Traffic. A full summary of Suez canal traffic for 1897 has only recently been published, although the aggregate tonnage was given in the Review some time ago. The full report of the directors shows that 2,986 vessels, with 191,215 passengers, passed through the canal in 1897. Of these, 2,103 were merchant ships, 727 mail steamers, 31 vessels in ballast, 112 war vessels and military transports, three steam yachts, eight tugs and two dredgers; 1,905 vessels were English, 325 German, 206 Dutch, 202 French, 78 Aus- trian, 71 Italian, 48 Spanish, 48 Norwegian, 44 Russian, 36 Japanese, seven Turkish, three Chinese, three Egyptian, three American, two Danish, two Siamese, one Mexican, one Portuguese and one Swedish. As has previously been stated, the aggregate net tonnage was 7.899,374. In 1896 the number of vessels was 3,409 and the tonnage 8,560,284. The navigation receipts were 70,918,400 francs in 1897, against 76,487,716 francs in 1896; and the total receipts 75,607,029 francs in 1897, against 82,222 855 francs in 1896. The decline is 3,300,000 francs on the commercial and 3,443,000 francs on the military traffic. The net dividend of 90 francs. however, will be only 2.50 francs below that of 1896. Expenses have been increased in many ways, but on the other hand salaries have been reduced. The efficient state of the canal is shown by the fact that the average dura- tion of transit is now 15 hours 36 minutes--a further reduction of 17 min- utes. Steamer Yale Unloading at McMyler Fast Ore Plant, Conneaut, 0.--AII Ore Unloaded at this Plant is Transferred Direct from Vessels to Steel Cars. demand for seamen. To the outbreak of war with Spain was unquestion- ably attributable the state of affairs which for a time threatened to develop into a pretty serious problem. The lake seamen for several weeks imme- diately before and after the opening of navigation flocked to the coast in great numbers, attracted by the glamour of possible glory in the navy, but as the more recent reports cf the shipping offices show, the return tide has set in. Many of the seamen were unable to pass the examinations imposed upon applicants for naval enlistment, while others were dissatis- fied with the wages and conditions offered, and in consequence the travel westward again has set in, and it does not seem to have been limited to the lake seamen who went east, for all along the coast vessel owners are complaining of the greatest difficulty in securing crews. The returns of men shipped at the Lake Carriers' offices during the past two weeks show an increase of fully 20 per cent. over any of the six or eight weeks previous, and the supply is now about equal to the demand. Reports of the men shipped at the various ports are as follows: : Week ending Week ending June 4. June 11. icdeOn | tee res ee 92 67 DGMbhe COICAR Opa ee) es ae 58 Ad Malwaisce peer w= aed ens At ak 61 39 Beititall Oye ope. Sok oe ae ee oc er stern iat 72 96 TMI Or ea sigue, ee ee 29 32 PS Ula ee ec ee es 63 45, Cleveland (caer: yo eee ee gS 93 : 114 Bota Sires een ce Sea nee eS 468 437 _ When it 1S stated that the average for the corresponding weeks in 1897 was only 265, this increase may be appreciated. Reduced rates to Portland, Ore., via Nickel Plate road, June 29th and 30th, account tenth triennial national council of Congregationa churches. Ask agents. 87, June 29