Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-20

the whole plant, of 6S furnaces, the cost O
delivery of ore from canal vessels to furnace
stock pile will be about 50 per cent of pres
ent cost of handling between lake vessel anC
furnace stock pile.
The ReUielc says that to provide business
| for "this Pittsburg canal" the Canal Com
mission "would have the ship owners of the
lakes discard an experience that has brought
them to the ownership of the finest freight
steamers in the world, and return to the tow
| barges now almost extinct IN the ore AND
| coal trade, or the canal schooner, the history
| of which in the same trade VIII soon be for
gotten" "The entire report [of the Commits
sion in regard to the lake marine1 is based
| on this inferior class of craft; although one
| of the modern ore-carTiers will deliver in q
| season as much as 10 canal SchoonerS. The
| days OF tOws have gone by" The report OF
the Canal Commission contains nothing
| whatever suggesting the necessity for, nor
| the advisa bility of, lake towing of barges In
association with the service of the canal
The commission was not in any danger OF
| FILLING into the error of recommending barge
| towing in the iron and coal trade. As long
| ago as 1878 a gentleman, now a member OF
| the commission made for the A. & G. w
| (now the n. Y, P. & o. Railway Company q
| thorough investigation of
The Ore and Coal Traffic of the Lakes,
and in his report thereon distinctly pointed
out the poor economy of the consort system
in the ore trade. He showed, by comparing
| the actual performance of the r. j. Hackett
\ (the pioneer consort-tow1ng steamer) and
! her "consort" with that of similar steamers
and sailing vessels of the capacity of the
consort, working independently, that the
Hackett and her consort (properly rigged as
schooner), working Independently, could
deliver at Cleveland anywhere from 1215 to
15 per cent more ore than they could when
"consorting." And, furthermore, that two
schooners of the capacity of the Hackett's
Al
trade in an average season than could the
Hackett with her consort
The two schooners could deliver 80 per
cent of the ore delivered by the steamer and
consort, and the saving ON investments in
the vessels, and on maintenance and opera
tion of steamer would compensate the de-
ffciency in deliveries As stated in the
report of the Canal Commission, all lake
sailing vessels on long voyages, including
the Detroit and st. Clair rivers, in these
days take tow. In this particular the days
of towing are not 'gone by" The practice
in question Is very general, and under it the
two schooners could make a better showing
IN comparison with steamer and conSort
than they did in 1872, when towing through
the rivers was not as generally practiced.
The "canal schooner would, of course, take
schooners; do.
The RerieoO asserts the Canal Commission
'is not rightly informed regarding lake YES
sells, and the dispatch attending their move
ments." We invite the ReUieaO to point out
an instance in which the commission ap-
pears to have been inadeQuately or errone-
ously informed regarding lake vessels. The
taDulat1ons and classitications of the lake
marine, given in the report of the commits
sion, were made by a member of the COM
mission, from the Treasury Department
annual List of theVerchant marine of the
United States, the only complete and COM
plete and competent record of the registered
and enrolled vessels of this country The
several exhibits of performance, earnings
and expenses of individual vessels, steam
and sail, which appear in the report, were
compiled from the logs and account books
of the vessels respectively. The tables
several vessels were computed by the COM
mission. The classification of groups of 100
tons range of the lake marine as it existed
December 81, 1889, which appears in the re-
port, is more explicit than any elsewhere
published. 1t covers the entire marine of
the lakes (Lake Champlain eXcepted), and
Is not, as the ReCieW represents it to be, an
exhibit of only the inferior classes of lake
craft
Discrepancies in Exhibits.
Census bulletin No % February f. 1871.
prepared for the purpose of showing the
that have taken place in the float
ing equipment" of the great lakes since 1856,
contains table which on the face of it ap-
pears as an exhibit of the lake marine as it
existed in 1889. The table, however, presents
view of certain classes only of the vessels
of the lakes: the bureau having seen fit to
omit from this exhibit a large amount of ton
mage. mention of which was in its Judgment
to the showing tof changes as
for making of which the bulletin
was compiled. The figures of this bulletin
have been copied by the Marine ReUieao, and
by many Journals, archaeological and other,
without any accompanying mention of the |
act that the bulletin gives only partial |
showing of the lake marine. We call atteu- |
ion to this matter in order that those who
nave compared the figures of the bulletin
With those of our exhibit of the entire lake
marine, as it existed in December, 1889, NAV
understand the cause of the wide discrepan- |
lies between the two exhibits in question.
Census bulletin No. 66 May, 1891 gives ex-
libitS of the entire lake marine as it existed /
December, 1889, and in the total number of |
sailing and steam vessels, respectively, hail
ng from United States ports on the great
axes (Champlain not included in the Canal
tables) agrees with the exhibit,
or 1889, found in the report of the commis-
ion.
AXE marine, December 81, 1889, as shown by CEN
bulletin No. sc Clay, 1S9l), and by ship canal
report February, l591(.