The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter, Published «very Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg , by the Marine Review Pub. Co VoL. XXIII. CLEVELAND, O., MAY 23, 1901. Subseription $2.00 a year. No. 21 HARTER ACT. - The construction which the courts are giving to the act of Feb. 13, 1893, commonly known as the Harter act, so limit the exemption from liability as to leave the carrier practically in the same condition that he was before the passage of the act. The layman's understanding of the purpose of the act was that the second section, prohibiting him from in- serting in his bills of lading or shipping document any covenant or agree- ment intended to relieve him from the obligation to exercise due dili- gence, properly equip, man, provision and outfit his vessel, and to make her seaworthy, was to be compensated for by the provisions of the third section, that if he had exercised "due diligence' to make his vessel in all respects seaworthy, etc., he should not be liable for damage to cargo arising from a deficiency in these regards. The language of the act, however, is that if he has exercised this due diligence, then, for loss resulting from faults or errors in the navigation or in the management of said vessel, etc., he shall not be liable. The effect of the language em- ployed under the constructions of the court is that the carrier is still held to the warranty of seaworthiness and that the exemptions only relate to matters which arise after ground has been broken for the voyage, and only apply then providing she was in fact seaworthy when the voyage began. In the Silvia, 171 U. S. 462, where the glass cover of a port hole was closed and the iron cover was left open in order to light the compart- ment, and the vessel on the day after sailing encountered rough weather and the glass cover of the port became broken (cause unknown) and the cargo was damaged, it was held that the vessel was seaworthy and the carrier was excused from liability. In that case the hatches were battened down, but could have been taken off in a couple of minutes, and no cargo was stowed so as to prevent access to the port if it became neces- sary to close the iron cover. In the International Navigation Co. vs. Farr & Bailey, decided April 22, 1901, the circumstances were very similar, except that neither glass or iron cover was closed, and an opening was thus left 2 or 3 ft. above the water line. The contention was made in behalf of the carrier that he was exempt from the liability because the failure to close the port was not his fault but that of his agent. The court held that such view could not be accepted; that the obligation to exercise due diligence extends to the owners, and all the owners' agents in the use of the equipment the owners have furnished, until the voyage is actually commenced. The court distinguishes this case from the Silvia in this: In the Silvia, the iron cover was intentionally left open for. the purpose of lighting the com- partment; in the present case it was an oversight; in the former case the failure to close was an error in management; in the present case it was unseaworthiness. Another case is the Aggi, 107 Fed. 300, where the cargo was wet by water entering around some loosened bolts holding the scroll work under the ship's figure-head. The vessel had not leaked any on the pre- vious voyage; she had encountered some heavy weather on this, but it appeared that these particular bolts had not been inspected for two years. The court held that the damage must be found to have been from un- seaworthiness. Again, the Catania, 107 Fed. 152, where a service pipe on the upper deck had a branch passing down through the deck and terminating in a cap for the attachment of hose for washing the amidship deck, but with- out any means of cutting off the water from the service pipe to this branch pipe. During the rolling of the vessel in severe cold weather the branch pipe froze and broke so that while they were using the main pipe on the voyage water ran through the branch pipe into the compartment and damaged the cargo. It was held that the vessel was unseaworthy, because of the break and because of loading cargo in a compartment with such branch pipe not suitably protected against frost. REPORT OF ISTHMIAN CANAL COMMISSION. It is the opinion in Washington that the report of the Isthmian Canal Commission which is in course of preparation, will not differ from the preliminary report, dated Nov. 30, 1900, so far as it relates to the selection of a canal route from an engineering standpoint, but in view of political considerations involved the commission will leave it to the United States government to determine whether international politics or engineering should have the most weight in reaching a conclusion-as to the route to be selected. This transfer of responsibility for the selection of the route is due to the new attitude of the Panama Canal Co. and the Colombian government. A better understanding of the position that will be taken -- by the commission can be had from a brief statement of its conclusions set forth in the preliminary report. The commission, in that report, pointed out that the Panama canal would be shorter and have fewer locks and less curvature than the Nicar- agua canal; but, on the other hand, distances from ports on the Atlantic coast of the United States to ports on the Pacific coast were shorter by the Nicaragua route than by the Panama route. "'The time required to pass over these distances being greater than the difference in time of transit through the canals, the Nicaragua line after completion," says the commission, "would be somewhat the advantageous of the two to the United States, notwithstanding the greater cost of maintaining the longer canal." The commission then pointed out that the Colombian govern- ment was not free to grant the necessary rights to the United States, except upon condition that an agreement be reached with the new Panama Canal Co., and added: "The commission believes that such agreement is impracticable." It then notes that the Panama company was then not willing to sell its franchise, but would allow the United States to become the owner of part of its stock. The commission considers such an agree- ment "inadmissible." After referring to the freedom of the governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica to grant privileges to the United States, the commission gives this as its conclusion: S 'In view of all the facts, and particularly in view of all'the difficulties of obtaining the necessary rights, privileges and franchises on the Pan- ama route, and assuming that Nicaragua and Costa Rica recognize the value of the canal to themselves and are prepared to grant concessions which are reasonable and acceptable to the United States, the commission is of the opinion that 'the most practicable and feasible route for' (quoting the words of the resolution of congress appointing the cammission) an isthmian canal to be 'under the control, management and ownership of the United States,' is that known as the Nicaragua route." It is therefore apparent that the commission has not changed its previously expressed opinion that "the Nicaragua line, after completion, would be somewhat the more advantageous of the two to the United States," but regarding the matter as of quite as much political as engi- neering and commercial importance will call the attention of the gov- ernment to the willingness of the Panama Canal Co. and Colombia to make an arrangement with this country concerning the Panama route and point out that this new feature involves additional political consideration. It is understood that by political consideration the commission means the character of the arrangement that can be made with the republics con- cerned for permitting the United States to control a canal through their territory. The commission, it is said, has in view the advantage that will be given to the United States by the desire of Colombia, on the one hand, and Nicaragua and Costa Rica on the other, to secure the canal. and its recommendation will leave this government free to select the route, which, on account of concessions from Colombia or Nicaragua and Costa Rica, will be more fully unaer American political control. LAKE FREIGHT MATTERS. In view of the delays attending the opening of lake navigation this year, representatives of the large iron ore interests concluded this week that they had better be on the safe side of the freight market and en- gaged more vessels, practically all they could secure, for service through- -out the season on a freight basis of 80 cents from the head of Lake Su- perior. It was certainly not expected before the season opened that this rate would be paid so freely, but the strike of engineers and the ice - blockade in the St. 'Clair river did for the so-called independent vessel owners what they could not do by agreement for themselves--kept their ships in port long enough to greatly curtail the movement of freight. Probably after all the ore shippers will profit by their present action in making contracts on the 80-cent basis, as there are many large ore-carry- ing vessels that have not as yet moved a single cargo, and it is more than probable now that the estimate of 1,500,000 of ore to be shipped by June | will be cut down to less than 1,000,000 tons, as against about 3,- 500,000 tons moved to June 1 a year ago. The shippers of soft coal, who have far more coal to go forward than in any year within the history of lake navigation, are still refusing to make contracts for the season at 40 cents, which is the rate asked by vessel men. to both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan ports. Some coal for the head of Lake Superior--less than 500,000--has been covered by contract at 35 cents, but the shippers have not secured anything like the capacity they desire at that figure. On one small block of coal for Milwaukee 40 cents has been paid, and arrangements have been made for the shipment of quite a large amount to Manitowoc and Sheboygan on a differential basis that gives those ports some advantage over the going rate to Milwaukee. In the mean- time all wild charters for ore are being made from day to day on the 80-cent head-of-the-lake basis and 40 cents is paid to all leading ports on coal, both Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. A series of articles on the "Mechanical Equipment of the Ship Yard," by Prof. J. H. Biles, designer of ships and now principal of naval archi- tecture in Glasgow University, is begun in the May number of the En- gineering Magazine. This first article is devoted almost entirely to illus- trating and describing different types of ship yard tools. Prof. Biles says at the outset: "In these days of keen competition, not only at home - but with foreign countries, the necessity of keeping abreast of the times in the matter of equipment is too evident to be dwelt upon at any length. Other conditions being the same, the cost of production will vary directly with the efficiency of the mechanical equipment; and modern improved tools capable of doing more work in a given time and often at less cost than the older types, together with labor-saving devices, or the substitu- tion of mechanical for hand labor wherever possible, are essentials which will sooner or later determine the success or otherwise of an establishment such as a ship yard. The argument is sometimes heara in favor of old and obsolete tools, to the effect that they may have worked steadily for the last twenty years, and perhaps in their time have done good work, too, is scarcely a reason for their continued use; in fact, in many cases it is a potent argument in favor of the speedy substitution of newer and improved types. Recently, in America, new s'ip building companies have been formed, which. unhampered by many old traditions, but never- theless availing themselves of the benefit of accumulated years of expe- rience from many countries, will have exceptional opportunities for adopting the latest and most efficient appliances for handling and working materials, and in the course of a few years will, without doubt, form powerful rivals to the old country." Oe Japan is said to have practically given up the idea of building turbine destroyers, on account of their excessive consumption of coal at all speeds, and will instead build two destroyers of 356 tons and 7,000 H.P. of a type a trifle stronger than those already built by Thornycroft. An explo- sive of Japanese invention has been adopted for all guns of 203 mms. pattern,