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aca 8 : MARINE REVIEW. MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND. KINDRED INTERESTS. JOHN M. MULROONEY, F. M. Barton, HOMER J. CARR, \ PROPRIETORS. - - Associate Editor and Manager Chicago Office, 210 South Water Street. Published every Thursday at No. 510 Perry-Payne Building, Cleveland, O. SUBSCRIPTION—$2.00 per year in advance. Convenient binders sent, post paid, 75 cents. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. THROUGH the annual report of Gen. Casey, chief of army en- gineers, something is learned of the recommendations of Gen. Poe in charge of the most important improvements in the rivers between Lake Superior and Lake Erie. The vessel owners have reason to be thankful for the position taken by Gen. Poe with regard to Grosse pointe and the shallow places in the St. Mary’s river He asks for $2,000,000 to be used during the coming year on the new St. Mary’s Falls canal lock and $500,000 for the Hay lake improvements, these sums to be expended, of course, in accordance with the act of congress providing for the whole work. The Hay lake appropriation, he says, should be granted with the proviso that any portion not required for the Hay lake channel could be immediately expended elsewhere between Lake Superior and Lake Huron at places where excavations are needed to obtain the navigable depth of 20 feet. Immediate re- lief in this way is just what is wanted by the vessel interests, _ and Gen. Poe, following the same line of argument regarding Grosse pointe, displays an understanding of the situation that is fully in accord with the present needs of navigation. ‘The “number of vessels annually crossing these flats is enormous,” he says, “and to insure a thoroughly satisfactory result a channel 800 feet wide and nearly five and a half miles long should be obtained at whatever cost. To accomplish valuable results a — large appropriation will be required at first, and unless this be _ granted the results will be unsatisfactory and the eventual cost will be greatly increased. With $300,000 available a narrow channel of the proposed depth can be opened and will afford immediate though insufficient relief. ‘The width can subsequently be increased to such an extent as may be necessary.” For the completion of the St. Clair canal project, 18 feet depth, $196,230 is asked and this entire amount can profitably be expended dur- ing the coming year, and for the removal of shoals between the city of Detroit and Lake Erie an estimate of $50,000 is submitted. A sHoRT time ago the REVIEW, on an occasion presenting itself, said that only in rare instances can marine publications of New York and other distant places give any return for advertis- ing from shipbuilders or others doing business on the lakes. There was no jealousy in the remark, as it was made in con- nection with a complimentary notice to the Marine Journal, a high class New York trade publication that recognizes a good business principle jin not seeking advertising where it is not intended to give full return for it. ‘The cap seemed to fit a less scrupulous publication, Seaboard, which immediately launched out with a cry of ‘sour grapes’’ and a parade of its alleged influence among lake interests, ‘‘as shown by a large and grow- ing advertising patronage from lake shipbuilders.’’ We have no desire to burden readers of the REVIEW at any time with personal controversies, but in this matter there is some infor- mation involved that may be of assistance to shipbuilders and others on the lakes from whom Seaboard evidently seeks to force a patronage. Advertisements of F. W. Wheeler & Co. of West Bay City, and the Globe Iron Works Company and Cleveland Ship Building Company of Cleveland have been running in Sea- board for a long time past. ‘They were taken from a defunct marine paper of Detroit and have been ordered out several times. Mr. F. W. Wheeler, president of the Wheeler company, Mr. Luther Allen, secretary of the Globe company and William M. Fitch, secretary of the Cleveland Ship Building Company, all say that in answer to orders to remove the advertisements, on the claim that they were of no service whatever, they received letters threatening them with legal proceedings for collection. The letters were either thrown into the waste basket or turned over to the legal representatives of the shipbuilders, but the advertisements are still running. This is the “influence” that talks of ‘‘high grapes.’’ NAVIGATION on the lakes is ended when the boats stop running. ‘They have been known to arrive down from Lake Superior as late as Christmas day. Last year, regular insurance expired at noon, Nov. 30. This year, regular insurance does not expire on the better class of steamers till Dec. 5. For this reason the action of the light-house board in ordering that all lights be kept burning and that the light vessels and iron buoys be con- tinued on their stations as near to the close of navigation as is prudent to do so without injury or loss, is highly commendable. Ir is probable that the underwriters did not figure on high fall rates that would tempt vessels to run well into Christmas, if possible, when they included in the tariff last spring a provision allowing steamers valued at $75,000 and over to run to noon Dec. 5 without extra charge on the season’s policy. In the com- petition for business this extension of five days was even granted to some steamers valued at less than $75,000. The outlook at that time was, however, very blue for the vessel interests. Congressman Chipman on the Convention. EDITOR MARINE REVIEW: My reason for preferring Washington for the place of meeting of the contemplated marine convention, to discuss matters concerning the interests of the Northwest, and especially the deep water navigation of the Great Lakes, is based on the fact that delegates will meet there all the representatives of the lake states, all the commit- tees of Congress whose duties affect questions of commerce and river and harbor improvements, and all government officials whose advice or assis- tance may be needed by the convention. If the convention had been called at an earlier date, I would have fav- ored another point, but it is hopeless to expect any considerable number of senators and representatives to leave their duties after Congress meets and go to a distant city to attend the convention. Besides that, the com- mittees on commerce; rivers and harbors, etc., would not as a body attend even on the strongest invitation. We can meet them all in Washington. In addition to this I am certain that the commercial bodies will select men of brains and experience as delegates, and I hope for great results from the personal contact of these delegates with members of both houses of Congress. J. LOGAN CHIPMAN. Detroit, Mich., Nov. 15. Plan for Wrecking the Pewabic. EDITOR MARINE REVIEW: I have noticed by the papers that a diver | lost his life in trying to do some wrecking work on the propeller Pewabic, which was lost off Thunder bay over twenty years ago. Would the follow- ing not be a good plan to adopt in wrecking the Pewabic? Let the divers rnn heavy wire cables through the hawse pipes and make the end of one — of them fast tu the Samson post and the end of the other fast to the mast below the hatch. Then get four or five powerful tugs, two or three fast to the upper end of each cable, and start for shore. I think the tugs would drag her along the bottom into shoal water, as the strain exerted by the tugs would have a lifting as well as forward motion. Then it would be easy to wreck her, without running the risk of losing the lives - of divers going into the hold. P. McCann, St. Ienack, Mich., Nov, 11, 1891. ; ‘ , Official Numbers and Tonnage. __ The bureau of navigation, W. W. Bates comm cial numbers to the following lake vessels duri: net, No. 136,252; BF. W. Bacon, 86,185. Unrigged net, No. 35,516; H. EB. Miller, Buffalo, 42,729...