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MARCH 1884 LIVERPOOL. steamer reaching Boston 42 years ago, according to the Marine Record (then the name of the MARINE REVIEW and a weekly) reported running for 110 miles along a solid wall of ice. k * * That a great section of the ice in the Polar regions became detached in an immense cake and floated south in a continuous, mass, would seem to be the only literal explanation. It is almost impossible to conceive of such a condition and it may be that the story was a hoax. * * * We are told that Lieutenant Harber who brought from: Siberia. the re- mains of the’ JEANETTE victims, at- tended a banquet and ball at Youngs- town, O., his native town. * * A The population of ‘Aspinwall, Pana- ma, grew from 1200 or 2000 to 8000 or 10,000 after the commencement of work on the canal. The account goes on to say that buildings extended into swamps where. there were no streets graded. | val * * This was in the days of De Lesseps and the attempt of the French to build the Panama canal. The signifi- cant remark above, that buildings ex- tended into swamps where there were no streets graded, speaks volumes for the cause of the failure of the French to carry through this. work, as plague and sickness due to unsanitary condi- tions could not be overcome. It was the splendid health and sanitation work planned and carried out by Americans which made the digging of the canal possible. MARCH 1896 AP LONG ago as 1896 it was noted that the net registered tonnage of vessels passing through the Suez canal during‘ the whole of the calendar year of 1895 was barely one half the ton- nage of vessels passing through: the two canals at St. Mary’s Falls dur- ing 231 days of navigation on Lake Superior in the same year. 17,956 From the Old Log Book Stray Items About the Great Lakes, Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf Coasts and Inland Rivers from MARINE REVIEW Files of 10, 90, 30 and 42 Years Ago vessels of 16,806,781 net registered tons passed through the canals at St. Mary’s Falls during the 231 days of navigation while 3434 vessels of 8,448,- 383 net registered tons passed through the Suez canal during the entire year. ee ea. This is interesting; but consider the growth of commerce on the lakes since those days. Now, this traffic exceeds by three and one half times the traffic through the Panama canal and more than four times’ the _ traffic through the Suez canal. The tremen- dous importance of the Great Lakes as a transportation system may be realized from these figures. It is therefore of the greatest concern to all that the depths of the Great Lakes be maintained. ; k * * An interesting item in MARINE RE- view for March 6, 1896 stated that the B. F. Sturtevant Co. of Boston, had furnished some 50 or more blowers for draft apparatus on lake steamers. The article went on to say that some 75,000 blowers of all kinds were turned out of the Jamaica Plains Works each year and that the foreign trade required a large number. oe ok * The B. F. Sturtevant Co. continues to be well and favorably known for its blowers and equipment of various kinds for ships. MARCH 1906 “HE MARINE REVIEW 20 years ago recalls an incident which shows the difficulty for American ships to engage in the foreign trade of the United States with profit. It was noted that the steamers MINNETONKA and MINNEWASKA Which were built in 1901 and 1902 by the American Shipbuilding Co. for salt water ser- vice, were then, that is, 1906, at the Newport News Shipbuilding & ° Dry Dock Co. undergoing conversion into oil tankers. These steamers exceeded Canadian canal dimensions and were built in sections and. towed through the canals and put together at Que- bec. A syndicate of lake men who believed that there was an opening for foreign trade in the United States were responsible for the building of 26 these ships. They discovered later, the account goes on to say, to their sorrow, that no such opening existed. The MINNETONKA and MINNEWASKA were 443 feet 6 inches in length overall and 43 feet 7% inches in beam and 33 feet in molded depth. % * * Interesting pictures of the ravages of the storm of November 1905 were given in Marine Review for March 8, 1906. The LaFayette is shown on the rocks and broken in two. The Manila and the Matafe are also shown in wrecked condition. MARCH 1916 N MARCH 1916 the Marine ReE- VIEW pointed out that the Lake Car- riers’ association put itself on record as intending to obey to the letter the seamen’s law then recently put into effect. What is still more to the point, during the months that passed after its becoming a law, it was actually so obeyed. The Lake Carriers said and meant that the provisions would be enforced to the letter regardless of any inconvenience or expense such action might cause. In the main, since this time, the seamen’s law has become an accepted fact and without a great deal of criticism by American steamship operators all over. There are certain provisions of the law which seem to impose an unnecessary burden on the operators; such for in- stance, as the paying off at too fre- quent intervals. This does not do the men any good and does inconvenience the operator. * * Bo As an indication of how far we. have progressed along the line of internal combustion engines it is interesting to note an item in MARINE REVIEW 10 years ago. A photograph is shown of an 8-cylinder 600-horsepower engine weighing 113,000 pounds, built by the Union Gas Co., San Francisco, for the passenger and train ferry RAMON. The engine it is said was 45 feet long and it was coupled to the propeller at each end of the ship through fric- tion clutches. It was stated at the time that this was the biggest marine gasoline engine that had ever been made,