The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

ly of members of that body, held its annual meeting in the afternoon on April 17 at the Hotel Hollenden, Cleveland. Hither in person or by proxy 100 per cent of the membership attended the meeting. The advisory committee was. re-elected without change. J. S. Ashley, as chairman, presented a brief summing up of the annual report, copies of which were sent to each member. The year 1930 is the twenty-second since the incep- — tion of the association, and it was the second year during which 50 per cent was reserved from conventional insur- ance by its members. The season of 1930 opened later than usual and no general start of the larger vessels was made until the last days of April. This was due to ice conditions that pre- vailed at Buffalo and in the upper rivers. After May 1 nothing seriously af- fected navigation and good conditions prevailed well into fall. Though fogs were numerous and frequently of 24 hours duration there were no gales of destructive force. Due to these favor- able weather conditions generally and strict observance of the _ separate courses for up and down bound traf- fic, not a single total loss was sus- tained by the association. Also other losses were below the average through- out the early part of the season and more than one-half of all the losses (60 per cent) occurred after Nov. 1. For the entire season a total of 69 losses were reported, and it is interesting to note the causes. Ten were from col- lision with other vessels in harbors, accounting for 1.57 per cent of the whole loss; one collision in Bar Point channel represented 11.36 per cent; 16 groundings and striking obstructions in harbors represented 38.64 per cent; seven groundings and striking obstruc- tions in rivers and channels amounted to 22.72 per cent; 31 cases of striking fixed objects in harbors and channels amounted to 20.29 per cent of the whole loss. The total is a noticeable reduction over the season of 1929, when 135 losses were reported. Only one loss was due to stress of weather, and this occurred on Dec. 2, after the normal close of navigation. While the number of groundings in harbors is about the same as in the previous year, greater loss resulted, due to the sharp recession in water levels toward the end of the season, making the effect of groundings more serious. Losses Smaller in Number The year as a whole showed a small- er number of losses than in most years and even though some of these losses were heavy the indications as the an- nual report was prepared were that there will be a return to subscribers of something around $160,000 out of their initial contribution. If these estimates prove to be accurate, the cost rate in the association will be about 2 per cent on the value reserved to cover all risk, including the period of navi- gation, pre-season, post-season, port 32 risk, special trips and all other such risks. The most significant lesson from the operations of 1930 is the seriousness of damage due to groundings in and about harbors on account of low water. In all, accidents of this nature resulted in a loss of $265,000, while groundings in rivers and channels represented a loss of $156,000. The chairman em- phasized the need of extraordinary care on the part of masters of ships. With such care many of the accidents reported could have been avoided. A moment’s lack of vigilance on the part of the navigator, experience shows, Officers Lake Carriers’ Association President JOSEPH S. WOOD Vice President L. C. SABIN Vice President Secretary and Treasurer GEORGE A. MARR General Counsel NEWTON D. BAKER Executive Committee A. E. Cornelius, J. C. Evans, A. F. Harvey, C. L. Hutchinson, H. K. Oakes, A. E. R. Schneider, W. G. Stewart, G. A. Tomlinson, George H. Warner, H. S. Wilkinson. Alternates J. Burton Ayers, J. J. Boland, H. G. Dalton, A. H. Ferbert, Warren Jones, John T. Kelly, James McAlpine, Walton H. McGean, W. P. Schaufele, A. C. Sullivan. Directors Cleveland J. S. Ashley, J. Burton Ayers, Newton D. Baker, S. B. Cady, C. C. Canfield, H. D. Dalton, R. W. England, A. H. Ferbert, A. F. Harvey, C. L. Hutchinson, Chas. O. Jenkins, Warren C. Jones, John T. Kelly, Geo. S. Kendrick, F. I. Kennedy, Geo. A. Marr, Ji From Other Cities J. J. Boland, A. E. Cornelius, J. C. Evans and J. E. McAlpine of Ruffalo; H. F. Hughes and A. C. Sullivan of Chicago; J. G. Munson of Rogers Citv; W. P. Snyder, Jr. of Pittsburgh and H. §S. Wilkinson of New York. can be very costly to the owner. The third category of striking fixed objects accounted for a loss of $140,000, and most of these also the chairman point- ed out could have been avoided with proper precautions. The financial statements show .that the year 1925 proved profitable to the subscribers, $167,000 being returned after paying all obligations. The year 1926 indicates a return of about $58,- 000; for 1927 the surplus is estimated at around $62,000; for 1928 about $93,- 000; and for 1929 about $63,000. The advisory committee was _ re- elected without change: J. 8. Ashley, chairman; A. E. Cornelius, R. W. Eng- land, A. F. Harvey, C. L. Hutchinson, J.T. Kelly, F, I. Kennedy, H. K. Oakes, MARINE REVIEW—May, 1931 C. J. Peck, A. R. Schneider, Geo, ym Steinbrenner and R. B. Wallace. of ficers, to be appointed later, will un. doubtedly continue to be as hereto. fore: J. S. Ashley, chairman; Geo, A. Marr, secretary; R. W. England, treas. urer; J. A. Armstrong, assistant treas. urer, and Robert G. McCreary, counsel, Carriers Hold Annual Banquet The annual banquet of the Lake Car. riers association was held at the Hote] Hollenden. on the evening of April 17. J. S. Ashley, the retiring president, presented the eminent counsel of the association, Newton D. Baker, to act as toastmaster. The main feature of entertainment was an address by Chas, EH. Lofgren, personnel officer of the Byrd antarctic expedition, on the hu- man side of this adventure. The talk was illustrated by pictures of the life at Little America. Mayor John D. Marshall of Cleveland told of the progress in the work now under way to improve navigation on the Cuyahoga river. Mr. Baker, in what seemed a remarkably sane and clear view of the universal business depression, concluded that from a lay- man’s point of view it would seem that improvement in conditions will not long be delayed. Nothing whatever was said at the dinner concerning the possibilities of the falling off in the tonnage to be moved this year. American Vessels Lead in Great Lakes Shipping American flag ships made up 80 per cent of the number and 85 per cent of the tonnage of Great Lakes vessels of 2000 gross tons and over on Jan. 1, 1931, according to a re- port issued by the bureau of re- search, United States shipping board. A total of 555 vessels of 2,760,914 gross tons was recorded as available for operation on the above date, of which 444 vessels having a tonnage of 2,350,167 gross tons were Ameri- can and 111 vessels having a ton- nage of 410,747 gross tons were Brit- ish or Canadian. The American ves- sels in this service had an average of 5300 gross tons each, and the for- eign vessels an average of 3700 tons. The vessels of the Great Lakes fleet make up the largest group of vessels in the world operating on fresh water, and the cargo moved has exceeded 190,000,000 tons in a single year. The navigation season on the Great Lakes usually extends over about eight months of the year, beginning between the first and fif- teenth of April and closing about the fifteenth of December. Of the 506 freighters, represent- ing 91 per cent of the total number of vessels in operation, 419 were American and 87 British. There were also 38 combination passenger and freight vessels.