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MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Oo. VoL. XXIV. TRIP OF RIVERS AND HARBORS COMMITTEE. HON. T. E. BURTON MAKES AN EXTENDED STATEMENT IN REFERENCE TO IT-- WAS OF GREAT VALUE TO THE COMMITTEE. Hon. T. E. Burton, chairman of the committee of rivers and har- bors, was asked by the Review recently in Washington for a statement regarding the extended tour of several members of the committee to the gulf of Mexico and the Pacific coast, and as to. what recommendations might be the outcome of it. He has replied in extenso to the first part of the request, but says that etiquette forbids any statement as to recom--- mendations at present. He says: : "In order to frame a river and harbor bill intelligently it is important that the members of our committee make personal investigation of the localities where improvements are contemplated. The late Mr. Holman, economist as he was, said to Gen. Catchings that he favored making an appropriation so that the committee might inspect every project under cuusideration, for he believed that such examination would save money for the national treasury. Several of us who have had longest service have examined nearly every harbor of importance on the Atlantic, gulf and Pacific coasts, as well as those upon the lakes and leading rivers. Such examination not only gives a very impressive lesson as to the commercial growth of the country, but aids us very materially in our committee work. "A majority of the members of the committee had never visited the Pacific coast, and consequently, upon invitations from various commercial bodies in California, Oregon and Washington, the recent trip was planned. At different times on our journey fourteen of the seventeen members of the committee of the fifty-sixth congress took part in the inspection. "We left Washington on the 3d of June and disbanded at Chicago Aug. 4. Our first stop was at Mobile, remaining there one day, and spending the next two days in an examination of the water front at New Orleans. At both these ports there is a phenomenal increase in exports and a demand for better facilities for water transportation. "We then proceeded to Houston, Tex., stopping on the way to see the flow of oil from the celebrated well Hayward No. 2, near Beaumont. From Houston we went down Buffalo Bayou into Galveston bay to Gal- veston. There is a proposed improvement here to be obtained by digging a channel 25 ft. deep, 5814 miles from Galveston, through the bay and up Buffalo bayou to Houston. The members of the committee spent some time at Galveston. The damage done to the jetties by the storm last autumn is very considerable. It has been estimated that $1,500,000 will be required for repairs, though when this amount has been expended the jetties will be in somewhat better condition than before the storm. The people of Galveston are showing remarkable pluck and energy in build- ing up the port. The Southern Pacific has very large improvements under way in the preparation of slips and wharves for terminals. There seems every prospect that the volume of shipments from Galveston this autumn will be greater than ever before, notwithstanding the storm. "From Texas the committee proceeded directly to the Pacific coast, inspecting practically every harbor from San Diego, in California, to Whatcom, in Washington. A distinctive feature of the western sea coast of America is that from the southern extremity of South America to Puget Sound harbors are few and far between. "There is not an average of one good harbor for each country in South America, practically none in Central America, and two in Mexico, Acapulco and Mazatlan. From San Diego there is no good natural har- bor until San Francisco is reached. From San Francisco, again, there is no harbor or entrance which is not handicapped by serious disadvantages until the mouth of the 'Columbia river is reached, and even here there is at times considerable difficulty in getting over the bar at the mouth. On Puget sound harbors are very numerous, and the same is true in the British possessions north of us and in southeast Alaska. The distinctive feature in these latter localities is the great depth of water extending to the shore. In some cases it is so deep as to cause great inconvenience in the anchoring of boats and the building of wharves. "The committee received a very hospitable reception on the Pacific coast. The citizens everywhere, as well as commercial bodies and trans- portation lines, vied with one another in making our visit a delightful one. The display of cordiality was very gratifying to all of us. Even more marked was the desire to give us every facility for obtaining information. They concluded early that we had come for work rather than for a junket. It was notable that San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, the principal centers from which we made examinations, looked out just as carefully for the interests of minor towns in their vicinity as for their own and took pains to afford full opportunity to examine into the prospects and bos yuiaaes in other places even though they might in time prove to be rivals. "The features which upon a first visit to the Pacific coast are most impressive to a person who has spent his life on the Atlantic side or in the middle west are the vast possibilities of that region, the great value of resources, agricultural and mineral, the unlimited supply of timber in some portions, and the great wealth of the fisheries. To these may be added excellence of climate and beauty of scenery. In utilizing all these they are handicapped by remoteness from markets and the consequent high cost of transportation. Their patriotism and energy is worthy of the highest admiration. In an unusual degree they have contended with ob- stacles interposed by mountains and deserts, and, in former years, the hostility of Indian tribes. Among these disadvantages they have shown a sturdy type of American citizenship. Their hospitality is worthy of all praise. In past years the impression has prevailed there that the Pacific coast was slightingly regarded by the rest of the country, but I think this feeling is passine away. oer 3 "A pleasant feature of the trip, which was during the heated term, was CLEVELAND, O., AUG. 22, 1901. Subseription $3.00 a year. Foreign $4508 Sone: No. 8 the cool temperature and constant sunshine, particularly west of the Cascade mountains. Nothing but the long distance between these locali- ties and the Atlantic coast prevents them from being favorite summer resorts. Opportunities for recreation and climate are unsurpassed any- where. Whenever the tide of summer migration starts in this direction it will certainly become very large. _ A pleasant feature of the journey was a side trip to Alaska. Little is required there in the way of river and harbor improvements, except, perhaps in Wrangle narrows, where a deepening and widening of the channel would be desirable. Much is required, however, in the way of more efficient lighting. These channels are remote from light-house head- quarters, so that often buoys and aids to navigation are gotten out of Dlace, tepaueny as a snare to navigation for a long time before they are relocated. "Our trip was necessarily a hurried one and laborious in many ways, but was rendered very agreeable by the general welcome extended to us everywhere. While many improvements are required our examination would lead to the conclusion that in some cases improvements have been undertaken on the Pacific coast without sufficient discrimination, so that less important projects have received large appropriations, to the disad- vantage of others more important and more practicable. ~ The prominence of the arid lands problem 'was impressed upon us by the trip. At the same time under present conditions the quantity of arid land which can be made valuable for cultivation is much smaller than is popularly supposed. The value of irrigated portions would consist in the extreme productiveness and in their proximity to mining and other locali- ties where cultivated land is very scarce. "We all returned with the pleasantest impressions of the Pacific coast, and I trust with an amount of information which will be of very great assistance in framing a bill next winter." STEEL SHIP BUILDING AT HALIFAX. _Mr. G. S. Campbell, president of the board of trade of Halifax, writing to the Review regarding the proposed steel ship building plant at that point, says: "While the situation as regards steel ship building here looks promis- ing, nothing very definite has yet been settled. The present position is this: The city' of Halifax has offered to grant a bonus of $200,000 under certain conditions, provided the plant is established within the city limits. The town of Dartmouth, on the opposite side of the harbor, has offered a bonus of $100,000 provided the yard is located over there. The various boards of trade throughout the province have urged our local government to grant substantial aid to the enterprise, and the premier has stated that the policy of the governmetit on the question will be announced in a short time. I should judge fromthe tenor of his remarks that the government intends to do something to start the industry. The Dominion govern- menti has not yet. been approached by us, but it is hoped they may be in- duced! to grant a bounty on tonnage launched during a term of years. An effort is being made here to float a local company, but it is yet too soon to say with whit success. The committee appointed by the city council and board of' trade are also trying to interest ship builders in the project, and we hope that some responsible concern may be induced to take the matter up and inaugditate the industry here on a large scale. If the padertaking is properly' managed we see no reason why it should not succeed. LAKE FREIGHT SITUATION, Prospects of a very heavy fall movement of grain from Duluth and some increase shortly in the shipments from Chicago are still upholding the lake freight market. The general outlook, notwithstanding the strike of steel workers, is better from the vessel owner's standpoint than it was about the first of the month, as the time for grain shipments is nearer to hand and the ore and coal trades are still supporting the opening rates of the season. Delay to vessels in the ore trade is so general at Lake Erie ports that it is a leading factor in supporting freights, and it would now seem that the grain movement may begin before the ore shippers are as well taken care of as they thought they would be a couple of weeks ago. The northwestern grain shippers evidently take that view of the situation, as they are still chartering on a large scale vessel capacity for the closing months of the season at 3 and 3% cents, which is much better than the present ore rate. Coal shipments to Lake Michigan are very much behind requirements, but shippers of soft coal are still putting up determined opposition to advanced rates. A prolonged struggle with labor in the steel industry may change the entire freight situation, but otherwise 't would seem that the grain movement will result in fairly profitable fall carrying charges and probably some very high rates on coal to Lake Michigan. AMERICAN BOILER MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION. Officers of the American Boiler Manufacturers Association for the coming year, elected just previous to the close of the annual convention . in Buffalo on Wednesday last, are as follows: President, Richard Ham- mond, Buffalo; secretary. J. D. Farasay, Cleveland; treasurer, Jos. Wang- ler, St. Louis; first vice-president, John O'Brien, St. Louis; second vice-president, R. Munroe, Pittsburg; third vice-president, Samuel Borger, Columbus, O.: fourth vice-president, J. M. Robinson, Boston; fifth vice-president, M. F. Cole, Newnan, Ga. Atlantic City, -N.-J., was selected as the place of the next meeting, the date to be left to the discretion of the local committee. A_very interesting paper read at one of the closing sessions was by H. J. Hartley, ex-president of the association. It dealt with reminiscences of. old-time, methods' of; boiler construction and in some parts was quite umorous,