obtained. This was mixed with water and the thin pap filled into a cloth stretched over a frame. The water becoming absorbed by the cloth, the pap contracted into a uniform, firm, and dark mass; this was placed in a solution of formaldehyde and, after being dried, a product resulted which in luster and color was equal to ebony. In this way a raw material is produced which the inventors have protected by numerous patents. An advantage of the new product as compared with celluloid is the fact that it does not ignite so easily and is entirely odorless. Trials have proved that even when kept for weeks in water it does not distend more than the best quality of buffalo horn; after one month it had not soaked in more than 20 per cent of water. Of late trials have been made to produce, by the addition of vegetable oils, an insulating material for electrotechnical purposes. COBURG, June 17, 1903. OLIVER J. D. HUGHES, Consul-General. COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE. The following is a résumé of the annual report of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique for 1902, which was submitted to the stockholders of the company at their annual meeting on June 20 last: The net value of the company's steamers, real estate, material and supplies on hand, and personal property at the agencies (amortization, amounting to $1,096,419.71, deducted) on December 31, 1902, was $24,538,930.87, as compared with $25,212,358.73 on December 31, 1901, a decrease of $673,427.86. The assets were $29,468,766.17, a decrease of $759,689.08 as compared with the previous year. The total receipts for 1902, including the bounties and subsidies received from the French Government, were $9,938,951. 31, against $9,533,440.68 in 1901, an increase of $405,510.63. The total expenses in 1902 were $8,842,531.61, a decrease of $113,923.40 as compared with 1901. The entire excess of receipts over the expenditures for the year 1902, amounting to $1,096,419.71, were appropriated for the amortization of the fleet and the construction of new vessels, no dividend being declared. The company has ordered from the Société des Chantiers et eliers de Saint Nazaire a new steamer, La Provence, which will be dimension and will exceed in horsepower their present steamer Larraine and La Savoie. A. M. THACKARA, HAVRE, July 2, 1995. Consul. NEW EUROPEAN-MEXICAN STEAMSHIP LINES. The Hamburg-American Line has inaugurated a special fast freight and passenger steamship service between Hamburg and Veracruz, via Havre, Corunna, Habana, and Tampico. The vessels range in tonnage from 5,600 to 6,030 tons, are furnished with quadruple-expansion engines, and have an average speed of from 13% to 141⁄2 knots. They are provided with modern conveniences and have been specially fitted with a view to the comfort of passengers in the tropical service. The largest vessel of the fleet of three will draw, when fully loaded, 24 feet. The service is monthly; a vessel leaves Hamburg on the 26th of the month, Havre on the 29th, Corunna on the 1st of the following month and arrives at Habana on the 14th and at Veracruz on the 17th, where it will remain for about a week. It then proceeds to Tampico, arriving on the 25th. On the 29th the boat leaves Tampico on her return trip, leaving Veracruz the 1st of the succeeding month and Habana on the 5th, arriving at Corunna on the 18th, at Havre on the 20th, and at Hamburg on the 24th, making the round trip in about two months. Another new steamship line, to be known as the Austro-American, has recently been established by the Austrian Lloyd, of Trieste, for service between Adriatic, Mediterranean, and Mexican Gulf ports. The Lloyd Company, which operates a fleet of 20 steamers, intends to have a monthly service of steamers ranging from 3,550 to 6,400 gross tons each. No time-table has yet been issued, nor is it possible at present to obtain freight and passenger rates. The first vessel to arrive at Veracruz was the steamship Anna, of 3,550 tons, which left Trieste March 10, calling at Genoa, Marseilles, Barcelona, Tampico, and Veracruz; on the return voyage touching at Progreso. The company advertises to receive freight from Mexico for Trieste and Mediterranean ports; also cargo for ports on the Continent, with transshipment to other vessels of the same line at Curaçao. W. W. CANADA, VERACRUZ, June 8, 1903. Consul. GERMAN OCEAN TRANSPORTATION COMPANIES.. All the German ocean transportation companies of Hamburg and Bremen, being compelled under their charters to make their business reports public, have done so for the year 1902. Several of these companies increased their capital stock in 1901 and 1902 to a considerable amount. At the end of 1902 both the Hamburg-American Line and the North German Lloyd, of Bremen, had a capital stock of 100,000,000 marks ($23,800,000) each, against 80,000,000 marks ($19,040,000) in 1901. The Bremen Steamship Company Hansa had a capital of 15,000,000 marks ($3,570,000); the German-Australian Steamship. Company, of Hamburg, 12,000,000 marks ($2,856,000); the Hamburg South American Steamship Company, 11,250,000 marks ($2,666,790); the Kosmos, of Hamburg, 11,000,000 marks ($2,618,000); the German East African Line, of Hamburg, 10,000,000 marks ($2,380,000); the Argo, of Bremen, 7,000,000 marks ($1,666,000); the German Levant Line, of Hamburg, 6,000,000 marks ($1,428,000); Neptun, of Bremen, 3.500,000 marks ($833,000). The other regular lines are owned by private persons or limited companies and are not required to report. A majority of these companies has secured working capital by loans, amounting to 58,250,000 marks ($13,863,500) for the North. German Lloyd, 39, 125,000 marks ($9,311,750) for the HamburgAmerican Line, 45, 500,000 marks ($10,829,000) for the East African Line, and 4,500,000 marks ($1,071,000) for the Hansa. The reserves of the different companies are large. The general and special reserves amount to 21,200,000 marks ($5,045,000) for the HamburgAmerican Line and 21,100,000 marks ($5,021,800) for the North German Lloyd. The Hamburg-American Line owns 119 vessels, valued at 143,500,000 marks ($34,153,000); the North German Lloyd, 107 vessels, valued at 141,800,000 marks ($33,748,400); Hansa, 41 vessels, valued at 22,300,000 marks ($5,307,400); South American Line, 32 vessels, valued at 22,900,000 marks ($5,450,200); East African Line, 18 vessels, valued at 15,800,000 marks ($3,760, 400); and Levant Line, 26 vessels, valued at 9,700,000 marks ($2,308,600). The average age of vessels, computed per ship tons, is between. 5 and 6 years with the Australian Line; between 6 and 7 years with the Hamburg-American, the South American, the East African, Hansa, and Kosmos; between 7 and 8 years with the North German Lloyd; 10 years with the Argo and Neptun lines; and 12 years with the Levant Line. FRANKFORT, July 7, 1903. RICHARD GUENTHER, FREIGHT TONNAGE ON THE SOO. The following summary of the freight tonnage passing through the two canals at the "Soo" for the months of April and May, 1903, with comparison with the same period of 1902, was published in the Toronto Globe, June 13, 1903: During the two months of April and May the total freight carried through the two canals at the Soo was 6,039,856 tons, which is 74,963 tons more than the quantity carried in April and May of 1902 and 4,591,811 tons more than recorded for the corresponding months of 1901. The quantity carried through the Canadian Canal was 796,510 tons against 532,188 tons in 1902 and 151,679 tons in April and May, 1901. During April and May, 1903, the Canadian Canal carried 11.64 per cent of the total; in 1902, nearly 8 per cent; and in 1901, 6.8 per cent. The quantity of wheat carried east by the two canals in April and May, 1903, was 15,347,173 bushels, a decrease of 3,414,000 bushels compared with the same period of 1902. There was also a decrease in flour of 217,390 barrels; in iron ore, of 434,048 tons; in lumber, of 16,345,000 feet. The chief increases were in grain other than wheat (2,970,864 bushels) and in general merchandise (5,111 tons). ST. THOMAS, ONTARIO, June 22, 1903. M. J. BURKE, Consul. PROPOSED FORTH-CLYDE SHIP CANAL. The feasibility of a ship canal between the Forth and Clyde has been for many years a subject of discussion in shipping and commercial circles in Scotland. Several routes were suggested at various times, but no definite steps have been taken toward the preparation of plans. At present the prospect of the construction of such a water way is, however, considerably brighter. A company of London financiers is taking an active interest in the project, and has, it is said, adopted the scheme put forward by Messrs. D. & C. Stevenson, a prominent firm of harbor engineers of Edinburgh. Messrs. Stevenson surveyed the route some years ago from Alloa, on the Forth, to Arrocher, on Loch Long, and are now making a further survey in detail, preparing plans, etc. I am informed that an Edinburgh committee or syndicate is acting in conjunction with the London promoters, and that the sum of £10,000,000 ($48,665,000) has been pledged, on condition that Parliament shall guarantee interest on capital. The promoters are confident that Parliament will aid the enterprise to this extent, in view of the importance of the canal for naval purposes, In regard to this proposed deep-water canal across Scotland, David Alan Stevenson, C. E., says: The east and west coasts of Scotland are now connected by two canals, namely, the Forth and Clyde, from Grangemouth, on the Forth, to Bowling, on the Clyde, and the Caledonian, constructed at national expense, between Inverness and Fort William. Both of these canals are quite inadequate to meet the present wants of shipping, as they can only accommodate vessels of a small class. The first named is mainly used by barges, while the Caledonian can only be used by vessels of about 150 feet in length, 38 feet beam, and 17 feet draft. Both canals are seriously incumbered by numerous locks. At present all vessels bound from the east to the west coast of Britain, or vice versa, have to pass around the end of the island, through the Pentland Firth, with its rapid tide and dangerous sea, combined with deceptive currents and prevalent fogs, or "south about" through the overcrowded English Channel, so frequently the scene of disastrous collisions. It can not be doubted that a ship canal through the narrow neck of land which separates the east and west coasts of Scotland, capable of carrying the largest vessels, would not only obviate all the dangers and delays incident to the "north about” and “south about” routes, but would effect much saving in time, in the cost of insurance, in wear and tear of vessels and their engines, and hence in the cost of transit; it would also for strategical purposes be of the greatest importance. In designing such a canal the first points to be settled were, What are the essential requisites? These may be stated as follows: 1. That it should be of such dimensions as to admit ships of the largest class of merchantmen, and also vessels of the royal navy, passing freely and with perfect safety from sea to sea, practically at all times of tide. 2. That it should be as free as possible from locks, hydraulic lifts, or other mechanical appliances, involving possible delay or risk to ships using it. Having assumed these, as I think, indispensable conditions, the next question for solution was, Can a route be formed from the German Ocean to the Atlantic which fulfills them, and also can the canal be formed at a cost which will prove remunerative? After careful study of the country and the levels, the conclusion was arrived at that a route along the valley of the Forth gives the only practical solution of the problem. There is, as is well known, a tract of country extending from Alloa, on the Forth, westward along the valley of the Forth to within about 10 miles of Loch Lomond, where the surface of the ground is only from 30 to 50 feet above mean sea level and the stratum is an alluvial deposit. Between this and Loch Lomond the ground rises rapidly and attains a maximum height of 236 feet above mean sea level and dips again to the south end of Loch Lomond, the surface of which is only 22 feet above mean sea level. The distance across this higher ground, from the 50-foot contour on the one side to the 50-foot contour on the other, is about 8 miles, 134 miles of it being above the 200-foot line. Loch Lomond (which has ample depth for vessels of the largest draft) is to be utilized as canal toward the north end of the loch to Tarbet, and thence across to Loch Long there is only a distance of 134 miles, the ground attaining a maximum height of 130 feet above the mean sea level. Loch Long is practically the Atlantic Ocean, and the navigation of it is safe and the water of ample depth. This, then, is the route proposed by my firm, and the surface of Loch Lomond, which as I have said is only 22 feet above the mean level of the sea, is the proposed summit level of the canal, and having a water area of 21,000 acres and ample gathering ground |