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24 , "TAE MaRINE REVIEW - Union meantime having sunk out of sight, leaving him strug- gling in the water. With the exception of Uncle Hiram Wisecles, Captain Jon' s membership in the Chicago Board of Trade probably ante- dates that of any other living member. He joined the or- ganization in 1856, one year after it received its charter, paying $5 for the privilege of becoming a member. In the thirty-six years of his affiliation with that body it is safe to -say that no individual has been more highly honored among -his fellows than Captain John, whose warm-hearted, generous _disposition has won for him a circle of friends whose name is legion. Of a kindly, gentle nature, as are eall true, manly heroes, the captain is withal as modest as a blushing maiden, and would far rather face the worst storm that ever ravaged the shipping on Lake Michigan than meet a reporter who desired to glean any facts regarding his adventurous career. The following poetic tribute to Captain Prindiville was writ- ten in 1876, by Capt. Sam Whiting, of one of the famous Black Ball Line clippers sailing out of New York: I have a friend. T love his name, A truer soul God never made; He may be quite unknown to fame, | - For true hearts ever court the shade. This. friend is loved wherever known; A sailor, he, of matchless skill, Whose friendship I am proud to own, And this his name, John Prindiville. His. lightest care is for himself, He nevér had a petty thought; His God is not the sordid pelf For which men oft are sold or bought. His comrades know him good and true; _ Of him none speak a word of ill. _ ;» Omn-this broad earth there are but few 'vr Like my dear friend, John Prindiville. A husband ever good and kind, A father tender, loving, mild; No wonder that his virtues bind His great heart to each loving child. When those he loves are bowed with grief, His eyes with sorrow's tear drops fill, While for their woes he seeks relief, This great, big-souled John Prindiville. A blessing on him and his wife, In virtues. they are mated well; May God bestow on them through life, More happiness than words can tell, And when life's toilsome journey ends, Calm at the bottom of the hill May they repose, while mourning friends Will say "God bless John Prindiville." And so, whatever be my lot, - On land or tossed on ocean's*foam, These friends will never be forgot, Where'er my wandering footsteps roam, For thee, my dear old hearty friend, Till death my life line rudely parts And my rough voyage comes to end, I'll hold thee in my heart of hearts. The New York Ship Building Co., Camden, N. J., will get the contract to build the Pacific Coast-Co.'s new passenger steamer to be placed on the route between Seattle and San Francisco in 1907. Of the six bids sub- mitted the New York Ship Building Co.'s was the lowest, and moreover, this company offered to deliver the vessel more promptly than any of the other bidders, including the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, and the Moran Bros, Cor: of: Seattle. Notwithstanding the steamship St. Paul has been given up as a total loss yet the little wrecking vessel Wing-and- - Wing with a small crew .is still engaged in getting every thing possible from the doomed craft NATIONAL RIVERS AND HARBORS CONGRESS. The National Rivers and Harbors Congress which met in Washington last week is likely to become a most in- fluential body for the improvement of inland waterways. It has representatives in nearly every state in the union. This congress was organized several years ago when the river and harbor appropriations were imperiled, but it has really never had a permanent organization. This organization was formed at the recent meeting in Wash- ington when Mr. Harvey D. Goulder of Cleveland was elected president, Col. W. H. Love of Baltimore, secretary and E. H. Sharwood of Philadelphia, treasurer. In ad- dition to these officers it was provided that there should be a vice president nominated by the delegation from each state. This will bé done later. Then there was appoint- ed an executive committee, of which Representative Ransdell of Louisiana is the chairman, to care for the interests of the river and harbor work all over the coun- _ try. The committee is to consist of fifteen members, and is divided. between the Atlantic, Pacific and gulf coasts, the great lakes and the Mississippi. The members are Wm. H. Lincoln of Boston, Robt. Ramsey of Baltimore, E. J. Hale of Fayetteville, Ind.; Wm. Sanders of New Orleans, S. W. Duncan of Dallas, Tex.: John A. Fox of Blytheville, Ark.; W.. PR. Kennett, of St. Louis, Albert: B. Bettinger of Cincinnati, W. B. Rodgers of Pittsburg, Henry Clark of Omaha, Harvey D. Goulder of Cleveland, Capt. Wm. J. Crosby of Detroit, John W. Ferris of San Hrancisco and A, 'H.: Deversof Portland, Ore: J.-F. Ellison of Cincinnati will act as secretary of the committee without being a member. After the officers had been announced there was a flicker of resistance on the part of the convention in at- tempting to get every state represented on the' executive committee, but it was pointed out that this would make the committee too unwieldy for effective work, and it was abandoned, the committee being appointed as recom- mended. Mr. Goulder, the cae elected president, spoke brief- ly, thanking the convention for the honor they had done him in selecting him for the place.. The point of his re- marks was that this was a national and not a local move- ment, and that the prosperity of one part of the country was dependent in large measure on the prosperity of the rest. Thus, he said, river and harbor improvement which af- fected the transportation system of the whole country could not be regarded as local work. An improvement anywhere affected the whole bulk of the people, and the people. as a whole must go after the work before con- gress would realize that it was not a sectional but a national demand for improvement. Mr. Goulder said that he was not particularly in favor of the bond issue plan for raising money for river and harbor, work. He thought that the river and harbor bill ought to be put on just the same basis as any other bill before congress, and if there was not money enough available to do the work that ought to be done, then the government ought to borrow the money at a low rate of interest, and there was no organization in the world in better position to do such borrowing than the United states. Mr. Sanders, the retiring chairman of the executive com- mittee, was thanked for the ability and earnestness with which he had presided over the deliberations of this and the previous meeting. In the course of his reply he took occasion to invite the congress to hold its next meeting in New Orleans, where they would have before them the greatest system of river and harbor improvements in the world. Representative Ransdell in accepting the chairmanship