For the mariner, one of the most interesting of studies is that of types of ships. From the earliest specimen of which we possess drawings or descriptions down to this day they are, after all, but means to an end. The peculiar design of Noah's ark had in view the purpose for which the vessel was constructed, as the biblical narrative plainly indicates, and the same principle underlies the construction and rig of its successors, whether simple in plan, as the catamaran, the lugger, the schooner, the four-master, or complex as the swift ocean greyhounds which, besides carrying freight and passengers are virtually travelling hotels, and the modern battleship which is both a movable fortress and a floating camp containing a regiment of fighting men. However strange and uncouth many of these craft, ancient and modern, may appear, all are successful or attempted solutions of the universal problem how to devise that which will best yield the result in mind and as such they are worthy of the sailors' consideration. That invariably they offer features which might well be imitated is neither asserted nor believed, for, often, they can better serve as warnings. Yet even this last mentioned circumstance does not detract from their value to him who seeks to know what has been done before him, or is being done by others in analogous fields which, intrinsically, may not concern him at all. Knowledge, even when not strictly pertinent to one's immediate needs, may suddenly prove useful far beyond the cost of the time and money expended in its acquisition. In these reflections may be found an apology for bringing to the notice of my colleagues a water-borne traffic as dissimilar in character and practice from our own experience as may well be imagined. It exhibits, however, two traits that entitle it to especial respect. It is American as to flag and it is enormous as to volume. Doubtless to many of my brother officers this brief article will seem like the proverbial bringing of coals to Newcastle, for they have lived upon the shores of the Great Lakes and have witnessed, if not the birth, at least, the development of its colossal shipping trade, but the rest of us have never enjoyed this great privilege and our notions, gained through casual report, must be, as my own were until recently, vague in the extreme. Having within the last few weeks enjoyed an opportunity of regarding this fresh-water system at close quarters, it would not appear out of place to lay before my fellows of the Naval Institute the fruits of my inquiries as embodied in notes made on the occasion.
Remembering the saying of the profane old English statesman, that there were lies, blank lies and statistics, I shall only remark that those who are in a position to know estimate the cargo tonnage which passed Detroit and the Sault Ste. Marie in the calendar year 1909, at seventy-two millions, more than three times as much as went through the Suez Canal, and more than twice as much as the total tonnage entered and cleared at the ports of Liverpool and London. Of this amount forty-two million tons were of iron ore brought from Lake Superior to ports on Lakes Michigan and Erie; and seventeen millions were of coal sent north. The balance was lumped under the head of general merchandise, or, as the local expression runs, "package freight." Surely such a vast movement justifies a few words touching the build of the ships that do the bulk of the work and the methods by which they are operated.
In the first place, it must be remembered that the season is ordinarily only eight months long. By the middle of December navigation is closed, to open again about the middle of April. It follows, then, that the most must be made of the period available, hence fairly good speed between ports and the briefest possible delay while at rest are imperative. These conditions having been frankly recognized, dominate the whole scheme. Confining my remarks to the transit of ore, I may point out the necessity at the one end of having that material in readiness on the ship's arrival and so stored as to be loaded into the hold with the utmost dispatch, and, at the other, of discharging it in the least possible time. It is of record that the W. E. Corey was, on one occasion, but an hour and a half at Two Harbors from the time of entering until leaving again, having in the meanwhile taken in some 10,500 tons, the exact loading time being 39 minutes. This large cargo was taken out of her in four hours and a half. Such figures seem incredible until the appliances by which they are achieved are examined, when all becomes clear. The Corey made thirty-eight trips in one season and transported about four hundred thousand tons of ore.
In some ports a mammoth crane lifts an ore car from the railway tracks, swings it out over the vessel, capsizes it and shoots its fifty tons of ore down a hatch, but usually the ore is held in large bins thirty feet and more above the wharf. From these it is run down in steel chutes about four feet wide, semi-circular in section, which are invariably twelve feet between centres, a constructional detail, that, whether wise or unhappy, must be followed in the spacing of the vessel hatches. However long or short the steamer may be and however wide her hatches, as measured along her midship line, or however broad, measured athwartships, they are exactly twelve (or twenty-four) feet apart from centre to centre, except where deck-houses intervene to make that distance an exact multiple of twelve.
The discharging apparatus is based on the clam-shell dredge, which is lowered into the hold to grab its charge, then elevated, swung back over the dock and emptied into gondola cars, or into carriers that convey the ore athwart the dock and dump it upon piles where is accumulated the winter's supply for the ravenous furnaces of Pittsburg, Cleveland and South Chicago. The latest shape this device has assumed is shown in the accompanying photograph. The long vertical member is kept vertical at all times by means of the movable levers which, with the fixed upright, form a parallelogram. This arm carries the buckets, and can be raised or lowered at will. The buckets, moreover, are susceptible of turning in a horizontal plane about their vertical axis. Through these movements the buckets can rake up the ore in a nearly foreand aft-line, form a heap and then gather up their huge charge of fifteen tons at a hoist. The operator is stationed inside the vertical member at its lower extremity so that he descends with the buckets into the very hold of the ship for each load. Everything is done by electricity and so complete is the control that the buckets seem to be almost human as they search the corners of the ship and scrape the scattered ore together before seizing it in their capacious maws. Locally these machines are called Huletts after the inventor.
The vessels we are considering are simply floating, self-propelled ore tanks and, as a natural sequence, the entire length is devoted to ore carrying except enough at the stern to contain the boilers, engines and a portion of the crew with their accommodations, and at the bow, more quarters, the wheel-house, steam windlass, etc. When looked upon as an adaptation to a specific purpose they are admirable. In their general appearance, the beautiful has been sacrificed to the useful as this picture of the J. Pierpont Morgan will abundantly prove.
The upper deck is flush from forcastle aft, broken only by the transverse hatches (in some cases thirty-six in number) fitted, in the later vessels, with steel covers that are not removed, but which, being telescopic, are simply pulled apart from the midship line by hook ropes taken to winches, the sections sliding over each other and occupying, when thus disposed, but little more room at the outboard end of the hatch, than does one section alone. Stout tarpaulins and handy steel battens are always ready, as with us. During the summer they are seldom used, but he is a foolish captain who should fail to batten down securely, on leaving port during the late fall and early winter, for the lake gales come up suddenly and, at times, they are terrific in violence. The loss of certain freighters has been attributed to neglect of this particular precaution.
This view of the Edwin F. Holmes gives a good idea of the customary deck arrangement as well as of ore bins and chutes on the docks which are shown, as seen from above, in the next photograph, which is further interesting from the fact that the steamer photographed has one ore hatch forward of her pilot-house and captain's cabin, or Texas deck, as it is called.
What appears to be, in the Edwin F. Holmes, a jack staff out of plumb, is a steering pole. When lowered it becomes a head boom with the steeve of a bowsprit and its extremity lengthens somewhat the distance between the helmsman and the stem, at best unduly short, and thus helps to accuracy in steering on a range.
The engines are habitually triple expansion and the Scotch boiler is still the prevailing type. All lake freighters have but the single screw.
As a rule, the officers and crew are most comfortably quartered. Hammocks are unknown, berths being provided for all.
It is only in length that these vessels can be increased. The draft is inexorably limited by the depth of water at the shallow places between Lake Erie and Lake Superior to about nineteen feet and six inches. The beam might be somewhat greater than the present maximum of 6o feet, the widest that can pass through the Weitzel (American) or the Canadian Lock at the Sault Ste. Marie, were it not for the loading and unloading now based on a beam not exceeding sixty feet. To alter these would be so expensive an undertaking that we may believe the width of these ships as firmly fixed by man's own doing as is their draft by nature. These facts account for lengths which appear almost grotesque.
Inside, the scheme of design is governed by the desire to make charging and discharging easy in the extreme. Thwartship bulkheads (except such as to divide the hold into separate watertight compartments) and stanchions are fast disappearing in favor of an arch construction which makes each hold an open box-like tank. The stresses on decks and keelsons, as the top and bottom members of the great fore- and aft-girder, must give the naval architects of the lakes much concern. Not being an expert in these matters I can only suggest that possibly the requisite strength in these respects is secured, in part, by carrying the double bottom well up on each side, and by making the spar-deck plates exceedingly heavy. These vessels survive the short seas on the lakes, but it is questionable whether they could ride in safety the longer waves of an ocean gale.
I noticed no trimming of the cargo, which is left in the comparatively low heaps formed by the dumping process. Experience has doubtless proved trimming to be unnecessary. Fortunately the material is heavy and not easily dislodged, else might a shift, when rolling deeply, prove fatal. The Marquette ores, being mined wet and full of jagged lumps, are thus presumably more stable than the more earthy material quarried in the Mesaba region back of Duluth.
Most, if not all, of these freighters are provided with accommodations for a few passengers, since officials of the owning companies have occasionally to go in them on tours of inspection. During the summer months, a round trip from Lake Erie to Duluth or Two Harbors is extremely enjoyable and is coveted by many, both men and women, who possess, or think they possess, some claim on the owner or shipper. Hence, freighters though they be, they seldom go, at this season, without a full complement of guests. The quarters range from the bare comfort of a plainly furnished sleeping room and a seat at the table where, often, all mess, except the firemen and deck-hands, to handsomely equipped private suites and a separate dining room.
The J. H. Sheadle is among the best examples of the recent additions to the ore-carrying fleet, and I give herewith her deck plans and a photographic view of her hold, that the editor of the Marine Review has kindly consented to my reproducing from a pamphlet entitled "Bulk Freighter J. H. Sheadle," which well merits careful study by sea-faring men.
The personnel of the Zenith City, in which I was privileged to make the run to Marquette through the politeness of Mr. H. Coulby, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., comprised a captain whose salary may have been about $2200 per annum, a first-mate at 130 per month; second-mate at $90, four wheelsmen and watchmen" at $50; a steward at $90, an assistant at $36; a porter at $30; a chief-engineer at $175; one assistant at $125; one "handy-man" at $65; two oilers and four firemen at $52.50; six deck-hands at $31.5o. This, by the way, is the usual complement. The steward is also the cook, and the food he prepares is the same for everybody, from the captain down. Excellent prog it is too—yet it is related that, on board one ship several years ago, before the introduction of "the open shop" and the defeat of the seamen's labor union; the firemen struck because the potatoes were not mashed. The passengers, in this case, happened to be a husky lot who pitched in, shovelled coal and so brought the vessel into port. Comment seems superfluous.
Punishment is by fines, as it should be.
The men ship for the month, or for the round trip, and are paid by checks signed by the captain. As we have too often found among our recruits in the navy, there seems to be a lack of respect for the obligations of the contract of enlistment on the part of these freighters' crews, who make no bones of enlisting in ports of the lower lakes for the purpose of securing a free passage to Duluth and Two Harbors, where they desert at pleasure and take trains for the wheat-fields of the northwest during the harvest season when wages are exceptionally high. This remark applies particularly to the deck-hands, whose work is almost nil while underway (they stand no night watch), and who are only really busy when in port, attending to the lines for moving the ship from empty bins to full ones or performing other services connected with the operations of loading and unloading.
It may be observed, by the way, that the absence of tide frees moving alongside the wharf from some of the inconveniences experienced in salt water and that frequent bitts on the dock stringer together with steel lines, with Permanent eye splices at the ends, worked from steam winches on the spar-deck, reduces this manceuver to its simplest terms—tossing the end ashore, throwing it over a bitt and heaving in. The winches are four in number, two just abaft the Texas deck and two just forward of the after deck-house; two facing to port and two to starboard.
The language of the sea has suffered material modifications
in its translation from the ocean to the lakes. For example: "Aye
aye, sir" has given way to "All right," "Ease your helm" to
" Slowly, " not to mention others equally significant.
Boatswains and their whistles are unknown. Men are called to meals by the "porter" or "assistant steward, " who passes along the deck ringing a hand bell. This seems to be quite as effective as the cheery "pipe to dinner" of our service.
Some of the larger companies (the Pittsburgh Company reckons twenty-two barges and seventy-eight steamers in its fleet) are gradually introducing customs similar to those on ocean-going craft, such as striking the half-hours on the ship's bell and restricting promotion to men and officers in their own employ. The Cleveland-Cliffs Co. forbids the latter to appear on shore while attached to a ship in port, except in its prescribed uniform. That an improved esprit de corps will be effected by such measures admits of no doubt.
The helpless barge, towed by a collier, is passing out of existence. While an economical method of conveying freight in bulk, as the practice on our Atlantic seaboard abundantly proves, the annoyances attending locking through the Soo and getting alongside of dock, together with the risk of disaster in heavy storms when the freighter's power is barely sufficient for her own needs have acted as discouragements. I cannot say whether the employment of stout, seaworthy tugs has ever been the subject of practical trial. Doubtless this has been thoroughly studied, or these barges, some of which carry eight thousand tons of ore, would not now be in process of abandonment.
As may be imagined, the storage of provisions and of potable water gives little concern since the trips are but three or four days in length between terminals and the navigation is in fresh water.
The speed and all distances are measured in statute miles. About eleven miles an hour empty and ten miles when full seem the average.
The engines rarely develop over two thousand horses, which in heavy gales, when the ship is light and largely the sport of the winds, must cause some uneasiness. The latter inconvenience is neutralized by letting water into the double bottoms. The jet condenser is universal. Despite the poor vacuum it yields (say 22 to 24 inches), these vessels are very economical in fuel. The Peter White, with 1560 horse-power, for example, gets one horse-power for 1.7 lbs. of coal and she burns but 270 tons during the round trip of six days, yet she carries 9000 tons of ore. The I. E. Upson, of the same capacity, on the same coal expenditure, develops 1950 indicated horse-power, and makes twelve miles an hour when light.
There are numerous instances of coal consumption of 1.6 per horse-power and even less.
An automatic feed replaces the water tender.
Electric lighting is the rule.
Naturally, external corrosion of the hull and fouling, the banes of our existence, are unknown. The interior of the vessel is either red leaded as with us, or is coated with a special black mineral oil which has proved both cheap and effective.
The steering engine is commonly placed under the wheel. It is, however, also found in the engine room—a better location, of course. I heard some complaint of the telemotor by which this engine is controlled from the pilot-house, and I gathered the impression that captains, as a rule, prefer to have the steering engine directly under their feet.
The handling of these long craft gave me a favorable impression of the skill of their captains. A tug was used at Ashtabula in getting clear of the dock and out into the open lake, but neither the captain nor I thought this assistance necessary on that occasion however valuable when the wind is blowing fresh. At Marquette we ran alongside the wharf as easily as possible and tied up at once. I could have wished more difficult conditions in order to observe better the captain's dexterity, although I have no doubt of his successfully meeting any requirements.
Of navigation, properly speaking, there is no trace on the lakes, for land is in sight the greater part of the time, and determining the ship's position by astronomical methods is quite unknown. The nearest approach is in ascertaining the compass error by the sun's shadow, his true azimuth being taken from tables. On the other hand, coasting and piloting obtain. In the former operation I did not notice the strict keeping of the run as is customary with us and the plotting of the ship's place on the chart from time to time by means of cross bearings, bow and beam bearings and the like. Probably this precaution is thought unnecessary, so frequently do the captains pass over the same ground. That a risk is incurred by not following our deep-water practice I am disposed to believe. The time is always recorded in the log when certain well-known headlands, etc., are abeam, together with the reading of the engine revolution counter dial. The log book is most simply kept. It contains but the barest story of the run. There are no divisions into watches and several days' proceedings may appear on one page. The columns are marked as follows, viz.: Date, time, place to place, distance off, time from last place, upper compass, lower compass, on the left-hand page; wind, weather, revolutions last six hours, revolutions, place to place, remarks, on the other. Temperature and barometer heights are absent and the remarks column is mainly a blank.
In piloting, these captains are at their best. So far as my observation went they are masters of this art. Much has been done by the Light-House Board to make the passages over difficult points absolutely safe, light-houses, beacons and buoys abound. In narrow places the channel is marked by buoys on either hand, which are lighted at night. It is only a question of keeping between them. Indeed, once entered there seems to be no more difficulty in getting through than of walking down Fifth Avenue. Then, too, under the River and Harbor Acts the government has already spent some fifty millions of dollars in removing obstacles, building locks at the Soo and in cutting long straight channels miles long, sometimes through dry land, to replace the tortuous navigation previously encountered. Again, these artificial waterways are, not infrequently, two in number that vessels may not meet in narrow waters—a double-tracked road so to speak. In addition to the buoys, they are provided with range targets and lights, leading when in line directly down the axis of the channel and furnishing incidentally a rigidly exact method of finding the compass error on that particular heading. A convenient bank book suitably ruled is in use by these captains for entering the observed headings by the standard and steering compasses at no less than sixteen such localities on the Detroit and St. Clavis rivers and twenty-one on the St. Mary's River between Lakes Huron and Superior. There can be no excuse for ignorance of the local deviation. Verbal communication between the pilot-house and engine room is usually by telephone. Signals to the latter are most frequently by the ordinary engine room telegraph, now gradually replacing the small steam whistle once exclusively used. The latter is still retained for cases of breakdown in the telegraph.
A stout trolley wire, carrying a boatswain's chair, is stretched between the bridge and after deck house. Its value when the spar- deck is swept by a heavy sea needs no explanation. This appliance is obligatory. Its need was made clear (in 1905) when a certain steamer, the Mataafa of the Pittsburgh Steamship Co's fleet, having run ashore in a violent storm, all her crew stationed aft were lost through inability to reach the bow, for there is no passage-way between the ends of the vessel below the upper deck.
Speaking of weather, the late fall and early winter are apt to exact a heavy toll, especially on Lake Superior, with its rockbound coast, lack of sea room and paucity of refuge harbors. In some seasons the wrecking of steamers and destruction of life are almost appalling. I am confident that some of this is needless, that it might be avoided if captains realized the possibilities which reside in good ground tackle skilfully managed. While very deep, say two hundred fathoms in parts, Lake Superior has a clay bottom with a gradual slope towards the shores. Remembering what anchors did for our blockading fleet, were I caught in a menacing Lake Superior gale, I would shackle both chains to one anchor, and lower the latter down to extreme scope—about 180 fathoms. It would first act as a drag to keep the bow towards the sea, then it would touch the bottom with increased efficiency, finally it would catch in this best of holding ground and eventually bring the ship up long before she struck the reefs. The captains with whom I discussed this matter thought well of the proposition (for the originality of which I disclaimed any credit) and said they would adopt it on the first opportunity. One, Captain Murphy, of the Peter White, stated that he had tried it once, but a defective link parted and he was obliged to battle for safety with his engines alone.
Locking through the "Soo" is an interesting operation and performed with great despatch. Two locks are in use on the American side and one on the Canadian. There are no charges. A third and still larger lock is building by our army engineers. The difference in level between Huron and Superior makes a lock imperatively necessary. Doubtless the fact that the lakes' people are accustomed to this unavoidable process accounts for their general approbation of locks at Panama, a feature in our trans-isthmian canal as unnecessary as it is deplorable.
The return to Lake Erie I made on board the J. E. Upson, Captain J. G. Wood, through the politeness of Captain Wm. Morton, manager of the Wilson Transit Co., of Cleveland. The steamer herself is among the larger of her kind, but not among the largest, having thirty hatches while the maximum is thirty-six. She is, therefore, seventy-two feet shorter than the I. Pierpont Morgan. I found her captain alert and competent, as well as a thoughtful host, and her accommodations almost luxurious.
Speaking in general terms, I should say that the lake captains are quite as skilful in their more restricted employment as our battleship captains are in theirs, which embraces so much larger variety of incidents. Greater praise could not be given. From among the number of these fresh-water sailors excellent men can be drawn to help us out in time of war, for their intelligence is of a high order and they can quickly learn what is not, at present, of their experience.
Some surprise I felt in the absence of turbine engines in these freighters. Doubtless these may arrive some day provided the screws do not project so far from the midship line as to embarrass the operation of getting alongside the docks.
Nor has oil burning been attempted in spite of the proximity of the heavy oil field of Lima and of the advantage of eliminating the fireman, just now well in hand, but liable at any moment to prove, as of old, the source of infinite trouble.
The charts in use, while accurate, presented one feature which is not free from danger. The courses from place to place, as marked, appeared to me, in some instances, to shave the headlands or outlying reefs altogether too closely. In clear weather this is no drawback, but in fogs or thick weather a slight deviation from the correct magnetic heading might run a vessel ashore. It may be argued that a captain ought to disregard the chart course under such circumstances and give the next obstacle a wider berth than a mile and a half. Quite true, but a safer plan, according to my view, is to prescribe a course which will carry the vessel in good water at all times and yet leave a comfortable margin for error, for, being given on a government publication, it is naturally followed by the captain who looks upon it as official.
I am deeply indebted to the gentlemen who were so good as to secure me a most enlightening and enjoyable experience. It is hoped that my random notes may be found readable if not profitable by my colleagues of the naval service. In these days of marvellous and rapid development one never knows when some little scrap of apparently unrelated information may "come in mighty handy."