The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

RINE 'RECORD.scopeInsur¬ng Isestab¬r elseher olrticu¬ to boacting tym¬bill of, theil ves¬oison- Stntos ex¬of In¬els In¬boardd, orwereefdiavided. Nort the, pro¬h sheunder"Stateage, af thehlohssionf thene ofamerthem.h billht Inip orthusart ofIn ac¬plain notce ofadingessityect to Linef pro¬uaui-pect- 'to alleged fraudulent'bills covering tiutltlousartiesfromwereto thessentholdhich beenzibar, look Unitquireviga¬ntractsslgn Lineo'shlpssiont (liesolelyunders in ol boi7lbaiilhiif lad¬lou ol'Ihey mer¬ate off thewi\erasgow.ei thezibarine, Ine ofpora¬ate of andcosts,reckser at GENERAL NEWS. Tho French Minister of Marino opposes the projected elevated railway across the straits of Dover, Messrs. Robert Palmer ift'Sons, of Nonirk, Ct. have recently launched a very handsome pilot boat for MrrSainiiHl Brocklngtoli and otheip. of Brunswick, On. 'She Is 82 feet long, 21 feet wide and 0 feet 0 Inches deep. A combination ol the lighted mid whlall'ng buoy 1b to bo made It is said, the Blgler (Courtney patent) whistling buoy and tho Foster lighted buoy people having Joined forces. This combination buoy Is a good Idea. David C. Keller, pilot of the Scioto, sunk in collision near Mingo Junction, July 4, 1882, and forty-four lives 'ost, win found guilty at Purknrsbiig, W.'Vji., Thursday pf voliiuinry-miiiisluughter, but recommended to mercy. The American Shipbuilding Co. launched from their yiml at Philadelphia on Febiuary 0, a 8 masted iton centre-board schooner* built for Captain Maloy and others. She Is intended for (lie West India and general coasting trade. Captain Tall of the ship J. E. Rldgeway. presented to the Philadelphia Branch of tin Hjdrographlc Office, a large piece o( pumice phked up by him In the Strait ot bunds, alter the eruption of Krakatou. The piece1 has been sent to Washington,where It will be placed on exhibition in the Smith¬ sonian Institute. Of ihe fourteen scientific expedition" sent out by the leading governments oftlie woild to make observations of dIOerent stations In a »» ,tH-of Bait held In solution, the color being an intense blue when the water is very salt,and changing by degrees (o a green-blue, or blue-green and green color as the water be¬ comes more fresh. On the other hand the abnormally colored ted, yellow, brawn and inky sens owe their appearance to the ac¬ cumulation of iNigemassia01 sea-weed, from tho gigantic Algae, which fringe the shores the Aicilc regions duiing the year ending of oceanic Islands, to the microscope August 31,1883, eleven have safely relumed, and Ihrci—including that of the IJnlted Slates at Lady Franklin Bay—will continue their observations foi about another year. The House Shipping Committee has au¬ thorized Mr. Dlngley to report favorably Ills bill to constitute a Bureau ol Navigation In the Treasury Department. The bill provides for a Commissioner of Navigation and assigns lo the bureau the charge of all matters relating to vessels and seamen now surpervleed by the-Reglater'a office and Nav¬ igation Division. The National Board of Trade recently dlacnsted the matter of fictitious bills of lading. The discussion aroso iron) reference shipments from points for the South to New York and Now England. A committee was appointed lo piepare a bill on the subject to mlttee was Instructed to prepare a bill secur¬ ing advances of money made upon bills of lading. "It Is generally thought," signrflcantly obseives the Washington Star, "that the ptomoters of the Hennepin canal scheme lived ful y up to tinIr oppoittiuitleB In the Mississippi rlvei convention just held lu this city. The ftctlcs by which the convention was made to endorse thai project Is spoken ol as a striking illustration ol the cmlolis iin unil phenomenon known as Ihe tall wagging Ihe dog.'* That's a good scheme to keep a close watch on. Another new bleaindtcdge, named the Nathan Appleton, owned h} th" American Contracting mil Di edging Co ,of New York, fin ten lies on tlie Panama Canal, has almost lieo.i completed at Philadelphia. She will sail trom tlie latter port onoi about Febiiuir} 20, In L'utiiinniid of Cap aln tVlltbunk Tho Nathan Appleton lakes the place of the Prnspei liuine, recently destroyed by fire at Aspluwall. An ixchange sijs Ih it at the present time ii.10 American, built ships are on the ocean, of which 158 are under foielen flags. Of those under the Ameilcan flag 2S3 were built In the State of Maine, while only 110 were built in other Stutea. Of these ships 11R were built lu Bath alone. Less ol the Maine built slilpe have passed under foiclgn flags than those of the oilier Slates. Only IS. Bath built ships sail under the flag or other countries. The Maine ships are tho finest that sail the ocean In all that makos up the prefeot sailing vessel. T ho wretched condition of tlie American navy Is being frequently Illustrated nowa- da}8, and if a few more accidents occur tho House of Representatives will be willing to appropilatu something to keep It lu floating slwipe. The steamship Saratoga, which baa* been on 'the docks at the Brooklyn navy yard, while passing Into the' Imibor recently wan run Into by aferryboat and damaged so much that sovcnl raontho more of tinkering will be needed to put her Into condition for sea service." Here la a new text for the poncing debate on the naval ap¬ propriation bill. In those days of rapid chntiges the nuthber* of const lights Is constantly "tncreaalng In all growing Statea. T'uko the Australian coast: A shipmaster approaches tt with a chart sev¬ eral years old; on It Is marked a light nt a cortnln point, but since the chart was made another light has beon erected on the same shore line. The captain seoa a light, takes It naturally to be the one marked on his chart, lays-his Bblp accordingly, and runs his ship ashore. If he had possessed the most recent chart or the latest corrections on.his own the Ioeb would not have occurred. There are many such cases of shipwreck. ' Dr. J. J. Wild, F. R. G. 8., sums up at follows the results of recent Investigations Into the causes of die color of the sen, aud of the apparent discoloration of iffe sea-water In cet tain mens of tho ocean: "The various tints of blue mid green which constitute what may #be cilled the proper color of sen- water are due to a greater or less operation diatoms; but almost as frequently the dls- colointlon Is caused by myriads of animal organisms collected In Bboals at the surface of the ocean. The Board of Supervising Inspectors of steamboats adopted inspectors an amendment to tho rules ol Ihe steamboat Inspection set- vices prohibiting all persons on passenger steamboats, except the proper officers of the boat and officers of the inspection service, from entering pilot houses while the boats are under way. Mr. Fehrenhntch, Inspector of tho Seventh District, proposed tho follow¬ ing amendment to rule 13 lelating to life touts on river steamers: PaaBengewtjamers navigating rivers must bo supplied, in ad¬ dition to the boat required In the first para¬ graph of this rule of proportion, with boats ns follows: Steamers between 100 und 800 tons burden, one boat; between 300 and 000, be priBontpd-toPongiwj, The miiiib cunp- -fam-honta; flfWmul 900, three boatfl; 000 and 1,200, four boats; 1,200 tons and upward, Ave boats; provided no aleamera embraced In the" rule be required to hare more lite boats or a greater imparity than sufllcent to carry passengers allowed by tie certificate of Inspectors, including the crew. bTEAMBOAT ENGIMEERS. A meeting ot the boaid of examiners lot certificates lor engineers Is convened for Tiiesilav, February 20th, at the Custom House building, Tort mo, at 10 a. m. A candidate lui third class engineer must have served an apprenticeship ol not less than three }ears In a marine engine shop, and been employed on (he making and repairing of such engines; or, il he has not served such apprenticeship, he must piove that he has been employed foi no less (linn tluee v, ears as a join ne} man mechanic in some woikshopou the making"mid repniriug ol such engines, hi eiihci case he must also have served twelve months III the engine room of n steamboat ns engineer on the wnich; he must be nble to dosurlbo tho boilers he Iiiib been accustomed lo watch, thcli weak points, (ll any,) the feed-wntei ariangenients, steam plpo vetoes, and safe!) - valvei, and their capacity und efficiency, he must have sufficient knowledge ol the stay- power ol (he boilers to know if they were safe at the working pressure cari|ed In them; he must know tlie method of lining • the engine, selling the valves, and ndjusting the connections; he must write a legible hand, and know the first live rules ot arith¬ metic. A second-class engineer, besides the qualifications ol a third-class engineor, must have twenty-four months' experience In the engine room of steamboats oi not less than thirty nominal horse-power, ns cngli eer on tho watch.—Kingston Alios. THE FIRST WRECK ON LAKE ON- TARIO. The first vessel ever wrecked on Lake On¬ tario, was tho Ontario, built at what was then known as Deer Islntid, (now Carleton) . in 1770. Sho wiib the largest vessel ever on Hie lakes up to that time. According to the history of that period she was capable of carrying a thousand barrels ol freight,—'ty- denaburu Journal.