The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-09-05

/ ~ d. III
give one some idea OF our foreign
| commerce. which is still at its begin
| ming and which is bound TO increase
from year to year
The Marine Bureaus.
Your department has much TO 90
with navigation. has it o !.
Yes, indeed. We are the friend OF
| the mariner. and of all those who
| travel by sea. We save a number OF
marine bureaus. which have come 10
| US from other departments. We nave
| a bureau of navigation. one OF steam
boat inspection. n OF ilgntnouses
| and also the coast and geodetlc sur
vey. You might not call the latter
creative, but still it gives
as to the exact nature Of our coasts
| for ships all over the world the
| waters of the United States are mucn
the land. We know the depth and
character of every bit of sea which
| washes our shores. and have made
surveys of h rivers to the head or
tide water for ship navigation. We
furnish such maps to sailors. We also
give information as to h tides. and,
by a recent invention. the coast sur
vey can tell you Just what the tide
is at any port Of h world and at
any hour Of the day. For instance,
if you want to know just how high
the tide will rise this afternoon in
the Bay OIL oueIHuIpO OK tue west
coast of Korea, this machine will tell
you"
How about your lighthouses, are
you putting up new ones?"
YES" replied the Secretary. eve
are adding hundreds of lights and
lighthouses to the service every year.
The main lights along the Atlantic
and Pacific were erected long ago. but
we are establishing new lights and
signals between them. We have put
up about fifty new lights, sixteen fog
signals and ISL buoys. We are great
" extending the lighthouse service
Of Alaska, and are building lighthouses
there. We are also putting lights
upon the Yukon and other rivers. We
are improving the lighthouses Of
Porto Rico and Hawaii, and we have
officers Of the Engineer Corps of the
army who are inspecting the lights
on the Mississippi river and it's tri-
butaries.
Our Merchant Marine.
And then as to the bureau of navi-
CATION continued the Secretary. 1--WE
are doing TIA we can to make our
merchant vessels better aid to take
care of the sailors. We are inspect
ing the steamboats, and insisting that
they be properly equipped with life
saving appliances.
Il should like to see measures IN
dertaken to increase our merchant
marine. As it is we have something
like $4,000 vessels with a gross ton
a. of more than $500, 600, but
nearly all this is devoted to our do
nestle trade, a large part OF our ship
ping being on the great lakes.
The most Of our imports and ex-
ports nov come and go in European
bottoms. Last year we carried less
h a 9 Ger cent of them. and we paid
many millions Of dollars in freight to
other nations. Dur great European
competitors for the Of the
world find that it pays them to aid
their merchant shipping. and I be-
lieve that we should do the same.
There is a good al of sentiment in
commerce, notwithstanding all the
proverbs to the contrary. Trade does
follow the flag" and the American
flag in a foreign harbor is a great ad-
|vertiser. If the United States is to
hold it's own in the trade Of the world,
it must have equal advantages with
other nations as to that trade" :
Cheap Fish for the Nation.
Here the Secretary spoke Of h bu-
reau Of fisheries. saying:
feature of this department,
indirectly connected with the marine.
Is the raising of cheap fish for food
for the nation. A few years ago it
was almost impossible to get fresh
HOLSTERS, Or shad. but owing to the
protection afforded and the paintings
now to be found in every large mar
ket- We are propagating fish of many
kinds all over the Union. We raise
the spawn and send 1t out to the
States, and in addition do a great
deal Of planting ourselves. Our total
output of fish n eggs last year was
more than three billions; and this
will be greatly extended. The COM
mercial fisheries of the country are
now bringing in a product of some
thing like sixty-two million dollars a
year, and from oysters alone we are
annually getting something like six
teen million dollars The salmon Of
Alaska bring in nine OF ten millions.
and the fish which come from the for |
est waters furnish a supply of food
which annually sells FOR something
like IWentN-One millions. We Arc do