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and imports of all the nations of the world, and the: great lakes are the wery center..of its <activity, WORK OF WEATHER BUREAU. Willis L. Moore, chief of the weath- er .buteau, says the time ts coming when ocean transportation will be far safer than riding on a street car is today. He made th's. statement to the committee on agriculture of: the house of representatives, when he was called to explain the needs. of his bureau during the coming fiscal year. Prof. Moore told the commit- tee that it is only a matter of time when the governments of the world will compel ship above a _ cer- tain tonnage to carry a wireless in- strument and operator, and require each ship to transmit all messages received by it. When this is done, he said, the danger of ocean travel. will be greatly minimized. This comment of the chief of the weather bureau was made in reply to a question asked by Representative Scott, of Kansas, : chairman of. "the committee on agriculture. Mr. Scott wanted 'to know if, during the hurri- cane season, when messages were re- every ceived from the West Indies and the ° Atlantic Coast, warnings were sent by the Weather Bureau to vessels passing along the coast. Prof. Moore said this was done, the wireless telegraphy being under the control of the Navy Department. The wireless messages are flashed out, and vessels within a distance of 300 miles receive the warning. He declared that the competition of different wireless companies results in detriment and in- convenience, and that it is' essential that the government step in and con- trol the transmission and receipt of wireless messages. "We had a case a few years ago," he said, that was disabled, and sent a wireless message, and it was received by a competing wireless company and was suppressed." While he was not prepared to ad- vocate the government ownership of wireless _telegraphy _ systems, Prof. Moore said it was essential that the government should control these sys- tems. When such control is exerc:sed, he said, a storm will be located, and its direction shown to all vessels. "The message will go' out,' said Prof. Moore, "that a storm is centered along the south line of coast, moving along the Gulf Stream, increasing in intensity, and the vessel's master will say: "We will sail around that.' When the time comes that we will get observations from the entire Atlantic Ocean by Wireless telegraphy, through one ship "of a ship: TAE Marine REVIEW repeating to another its observations, we will be able to send information to the entire Atlantic Ocean. Messages will be repeated backward from ship. to ship, ocean. course,' 'Storm in such part of the All else serene. Sail your All sh'ps outside of that re- gion will feél easy, but everything com- ing into that region will have to look out. It will render ocean transpor- tation far safer than riding on a street Car, 16 today, . Warnings of commerce on storms destructive to the ocean and on the Great Lakes are. made with far greater accuracy than are the predictions of rain and snow, Prof. Moore said. "The predictions of rain and snow,' he said, "are all that. you see in the day papers, and these warnings of storms, which go to direct the mariner, and are given by flags and special bulletins, are the most valuable part of our work." CHICAGO'S HARBOR. The harbor commission of Chicago has sent letters to 125 business. men asking for suggestions relative to the improve- ment of Chicago's. harbor © facilitics, Among the questions asked are the fol- lowing: Should the Chicago river be widened or straightened in excess of the plans of the sanitary district, and if so, how much? Is some alternative route for a w-de and straight channel connecting the drainage canal with the lake feasible? If so, where? Should the functions of the Chicago river as a harbor be supplemented by one or more harbors on the lake front? Will you submit to the harbor com- mission a plan, showing your views of an ideal harbor? . What class of tonnage do you think it is desirable to handle in the Chicago river, and what' class in a harbor on the lake front? What are your views regarding the fa- c'lities for transferring water-borne traf- fic to railroads or teams? What are your suggestions as to how this should be effected at a minimum expense, and where? Is the transfer of traffic aandied by lake steamers to river lighters feasible? What kind of commerce would you expect Chicago to gain by improved harbor fac'lities? ITEMS OF GENERAL INTEREST. Barrett & Lawrence, of Philadelphia, eastern agents for the Nicholson Ship - Log Co., received the contract to equip the Standard Oil Co.'s sea going tug Astral with the No. 1. Nicholson ship log. This makes the third installation made on board vessels of the Standard "Newport News, Va., 15 Ol Co., and the above concern is very busy malin installations of the Nich- olson log on board a large number of prominent steam yachts, and several of the new cruisers of the United States navy. The 'tank steamer Oklahoma was launched from the yard of the New -- York Ship Building Co., Camden, N.- J., last week for the Guffey Petroleum Co., and is intended for service be- tween Philadelphia and Port Arthu-, esas: The house committee 'on naval af- fairs agreed to an authorization for the construction of two steel floating dry docks, capable of holding a bat- tleship of 20,000 tons, one to be lo- cated on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific; and also the establishment of a naval station at Pearl Harbor. _ Officials at the Mare Island navy yard are preparing for a period of great activity. Orders have been trans- mitted from Washington to prepare the yard to make repairs upon the battleship squadron which will shortly reach San Francisco. The squadron is a large one and repair work will be appor- tioned between the private .yards at | Frisco and the navy yards at Mare -- Island and Bremerton. Preparations are now being made for largely | in- creasing the working force. The New York Mallet & Handle Works, 743 East Eleventh street, New York, have been making mallets and handles for over 56 years. They are the inventors of the caulking mallets now used in all the ship yards of the United States. These mallets are dur- able and of superior quality. The Eastern Business Men's Asso- ciation, the marine trades and other kindred interests, are making a par- ticular effort to have the army trans- port service brought back to the port of New York. During and after the war with Spain the army transports-- at one time there were 52--were 'loaded and discharged at Brooklyn, giving employment to as many as 900 men daily, at times. Later the trans- port service headquarters was made at from which .a semi-monthly service to Havana has been maintained. Most of the sup- plies shipped on board these vessels go from New York by rail and it is pointed out that the expenses of dock- ing, wharfage, storehouses, etc., are much less at that port than at New- port News. It is expected that a for- mal appeal will be made to Secretary of War Taft. before the end of the month. Norfolk, Baltimore and Bos- ton are also reported to be anxious to obtain the transport sailings.