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4 : 4 x AB Lake Carriers Hold Meeting, Elect New President By A. H. Jansson dent of the Wilson Transit Co., is the new president of the Lake Carriers association. He was unani- mously elected to this office to succeed J. S. Ashley at the annual meeting of the association held at the Hotel Hol- lenden, Cleveland, April 17. J. S. Ash- ley wished to retire from his office a year ago and was persuaded to con- tinue at that time with the understand- ing that a chairman of the board would be elected who would relieve him of many of the usual duties of his office. This year, however, Mr. Ashley in- sisted on retiring and Captain Wood was elected president as active head of the association, the office of chairman being dispensed with. C “een JOSEPH 8S. WOOD, presi- Mr. Ashley has served the associa- tion with great skill and devotion since his election Nov. 18, 1925, to succeed William Livingstone, who had been president of the Lake Carriers associa- tion for nearly a quarter of a century until his death, Oct. 17, 1925. No man among the lake carriers is held in higher regard than John S. Ashley. He had served as vice president from 1915 until his election as president and he has been chairman of the advisory committee of the Great Lakes Pro- tective association since it was found- ed in 1909 in which office he continues to be active. He started his career as local manager for the New York and Cleveland Gas Coal Co. in 1888 and until 1900 he was in charge of the movement of lake coal shipped by that company. Since January, 1900, he has been associated with the M. A. Hanna Co., since 1908 as manager of its fleet of vessels. Captain Wood, the incoming presi- dent, began his career on the lakes as a watchman at the age of 19. Step by step he moved up, becoming master of Wilson Transit Co.’s ships at the early age of 24, the same line of which he is now the head. After 14 years as mas- ter he became marine superintendent. His next step was vice president and on the death of A. W. Thompson in 1928 he was elected to succeed him as President. He is also a director in the Great Lakes Towing Co. Though now the directing head of an association the members of which control an American merchant fleet of 408 steel ships of 2,230,300 gross regis- tered tons, he continues a master in 800d standing, entitled to serve in the Capacity of captain on any American Ship sailing the Great Lakes. He lives in Cleveland, is married, and has a family of four boys. The annual meeting of the Lake Car- riers association is not as a rule a particularly exciting affair and this year’s meeting ran true to form. The annual report long since completed had been mailed to members and was duly ratified and approved at the meeting. The general counsel of the association, Newton D. Baker, presented a recodifi- cation of the by-laws, simplifying them and bringing them up to date, to con- form with the new statutes of the state of West Virginia, under which laws the association is formed. The new draft of the by-laws as presented by Mr. Baker includes no changes of conse- quence from the former by-laws, except Capt Joseph S. Wood Elected President, Lake Carriers the elimination of the office of chair- man of the board, which was only a temporary change, and the active di- rection of the affairs of the association reverts back to the office of president. A report of the shore captains com- mittee by its chairman, Capt. R. W. England, again affirms the ready will- ingness in practically every instance of masters of ships to carry out the sug- gestions of the committee; one of the most important of these in recent years being the emphasis laid on strict- ly adhering to the up and down courses in order to avoid any possi- bility of collision. Captain England also called attention to the necessities this year of using the Middle Neebish channel in both up and down direc- tions and that this might prove some- what difficult for the younger officers MARINE REVIEW—May, 1931 who had never had any experience of it. Other officers of the association were re-elected; and, outside of the change in the executive committee caused by the retirement of Mr. Ashley, the per- sonnel of the association’s directorate remains the same as a year ago. These changes are noted in the accompany- ing table of officers and directors cor- rected in accordance with the action taken at this annual meeting. Low water, especially in Lake Erie, is again becoming a matter of serious concern. The Lake Erie levels for March are said to be 33 inches lower than a year ago, which is the lowest point—with the exception of 1926, which was but a shade under—in the 70 years that records have been kept. The abnormally low level of Lake Erie is laid to the exceptionally scant pre- cipitation in these areas over a long period of time. The drafts will of necessity be less this year and to start the season may be limited to 18 feet 6 inches, as against an opening draft last year of 19 feet 9 inches. No optimism at all is felt about the size of the tonnage to be carried on the Great Lakes this year. One opera- tor feels that the figure for ore this year is not likely to reach the 40,000,- 000 tons mark. Compare this with 65,- 204,600 tons in 1929 and 46,582,982 in 1930. Other commodities, coal, grain and stone, it seems inevitable, are also bound to be less, so that the total net: tons in iron, coal, grain and stone of 112,519,125 for the year 1930, which was the lowest year since 1924, will be something to shoot at, with but lit- tle hope of reaching or exceeding it. However, there were no visible signs of depression at the meeting, most everyone appeared tanned and cheer- ful looking from vacations in southern climes during the winter months. One of the most important of the committees of the association is the welfare plan committee headed by George M. Steinbrenner. It is a com- mittee that really functions actively in safety and welfare work among the officers and men on vessels of the lake carriers. Practical work is being done to eliminate accidents and to encour- age thrift and advancement on the part of the men who operate the ships. In this connection Mr. Baker emphasized the immeasureably better conditions surrounding employment on vessels of the Great Lakes than on those engaged in ocean trade and that on this very account nothing was to be gained and much unnecessary interference will re- sult, if the congress includes the Great Lakes in the laws governing the activi- ties of ocean going seamen. The work of George A. Marr, vice president and secretary of the association, was high- ly commended by Mr. Baker. Protective Association HE Great Lakes Protective asso- Tian. distinct from the Lake Car- riers association but composed entire- 3l