SHIPPING ON THE GREAT LAKES. 



699 



loin: time in learning tho value of tin- combined 

 iiinl triple marine engine. About 1SSO began to 

 lo developed a type of vessel that had lines 

 something like the ocean steamqr, but witli less 

 free-board and with H perfectly flat bottom, tho 

 keel I icing inside, so as to make every inch of the 

 draft availalile. Such vessels \\ere built in 

 groups of two or three. The first, usually the 

 wrger, had an engine too powerful for its own 

 use. The object was to tow the barge or barges, 

 almost as large as itself, on the principle that a 

 steam engine which can not propel a large vessel 

 will tow it and another vessel if the engine is 

 placed on a tug or a launch. That is to say, an 

 extra large steam engine for one boat would 

 carry that boat along, together with another as a 

 tow ; while, if the same horse-power were dis- 

 tributed in the two or three vessels, it would not 



>ng enough to move them independently. 

 Thus far all vessels carried three or four masts, 

 whether provided with engines or not, so that 

 advantage might always be taken of the wind 

 when it was favorable. The first of such steam- 

 ers and barges were made of wood; but soon 

 it \\a> found that iron was better and more 

 economical, and that even iron frames, covered 

 with wood planking, made a "composite" ves- 

 sel that was far superior to the wooden one. The 

 change has been so marked that to-day scarcely 



1 of any kind, along the whole length o'f 

 the lakes, aside from small coasting schooners, 

 is built of wood. Even the side-wheel passenger 

 steamers (which are very few, and for the most 



Birt confined to Lake Erie and the route between 

 etroit and Cleveland) have been so modified 

 that they bear no resemblance to the side-wheel- 

 ers of twenty years ago. The wheels of large 

 steamers with wheel boxes standing far above 

 the upper decks have been discarded, and in 

 their place much smaller vessels are used, with 

 paddle boxes covered by at least one deck above 

 them. The width of the guards has also been 

 reduced, so that they now overhang but half the 

 distance of the guards formerly built. This type, 

 of steamer, with small wheels "and increased rev- 

 olutions, is found to be much more seaworthy 

 than the former. The feature of the paddle* 

 wheel, well aft of the engine, is still retained, 

 after the manner of the steamboats on the West- 

 ern rivers. Tho finest steamers of this sort are 

 tho<o running between Cleveland and Detroit, 

 which route is profitable because the railroad 

 mileage between the two cities is so great. The 

 steamers on this line cost about $250.000 each. 

 The latest product in the line of vessels adapted 

 for both passengers and freight is a twin-screw 

 steel paonger steamer, built for the Goodrich 

 Transportation Company, of Milwaukee. The 

 length is 270 feet over all ; the accommodations 

 un> for 140 passengers, and the cost is over 

 $300.000. 



Within the past five years the use of iron has 

 almost wholly given way to the use of mild steel 

 for largo vessels of all descriptions on the lakes. 

 Tho short life of thin steel plates has been 

 lengthened by the use of soapstone, or special 

 compositions of enamel. Only 30'3 per cent, of 

 the tonnage built in 1885 in trie world WHS con- 

 structed of steel; in l^i;. .|.VJ percent.: in 1887, 

 7'2-J per cent. : in 1888, 84-2 per cent, ; and in 

 1889 and 1890 the percentage in favor of steel 



was still more marked. By far the larger part 

 of i he increase in the buildi'ng of steel over iron 

 came from the ship-yards of the lakes. A ship- 

 builder of the Clyde recently gave this compli- 

 mentary statement regarding the late-t styles of 

 naval architecture on the lakes: "The water- 

 bottoms of your steel steamers on the lak. 

 different from any I have ever seen, and better, 

 too. In all my experience of forty vears I never 

 saw anything to equal the ' Mariska' in construc- 

 tion. Her water-bottom is superior to any I 

 ever saw, and I am told that it is similar to the 

 bottom of all your lake steamers. There never 

 was a steamer built on the Clyde that equals her 

 in construction. As proof that I am in earnest, 

 let me add that I have instructed my people 

 across the water to get all the risks they can on 

 steamers constructed like the ' Mariska.' Do 

 you know what would have been the result had 

 a Clyde-built steamer been on the rock where the 

 'Mariska' was? She would have been there 

 yet. Her entire cargo would have been taken 

 out ; and if she had been loaded with anything 

 that would be spoiled by contact with water 

 most of her cargo would have been ruined. She 

 would have been in dry-dock over a month, and 

 most of her water-bottom would have been torn 

 out. I think if European builders were ac- 

 quainted with this style of water-bottom they 

 would adopt it. It's wonderful to me to think 

 of a boat tearing a hole in her bottom as the 

 ' Mariska ' did and not damaging her cargo. If 

 she had been loaded with silk, it would have been 

 the same her cargo would have been saved." 



The real development of modern steel and 

 iron ship-building on the lakesJjegan about 1880, 

 when largely increased railway facilities brought 

 coal in large quantities to Lake Erie ports. 

 After a trial of several years with the motor ves- 

 sels, and their consorts in tow, it was found that 

 the slow progress resulted in a loss of at least 

 two or three trips during every season. As the 

 season, at its best, is only about seven months, 

 and as the rivalry over freight rates cut them 

 down to a low figure, the loss of two or three 

 trips often meant the absence of any profit for 

 the season. Therefore the motor and tow boats, 

 of large build, gave way to the present type of 

 vessel, each having its own motor and running 

 independently of all others. Then came the de- 

 velopment in engines, which, by the use of com- 

 bined and triple marine, shortened the time of 

 trips so that every season might show a profit. 

 Owing to this later development, mor e than to 

 any other, iron and steel ship-building on the 

 lakes has grown rapidly within the past four 

 years. Among the larger boats of this class are 

 the " Susquehanna," launched in Buffalo in 1886. 

 with a length of 823 feet, and the "Owego," 

 also launched at Buffalo in 1887, with a length 

 of 857 feet. A brief description of the " O 

 follows: The depth molded at the lowest point 

 is 25 feet and 6 inches, and the beam, molded, 

 is 41 feet. The whole is of steel, except a few 

 parts of the internal inclosures about the en- 

 gines and boilers. The vessel has three decks. 

 and it is propelled by a triple-exfMinsion, invert- 

 ed-vertical, direct-acting, jet-condensing, three- 

 cylinder compound engine. The engines work 

 under a boiler pressure of 160 pounds. They are 

 managed from the lower engine room from the 



