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. 
 
 RBPORT 
 
 OF COMMITTEE OF THE 
 
 5t. J0I79 Board of 5rad^ 
 
 ON 
 
 PILOTAGE AT ST. JOHN, N. B., 
 
 WITH 
 
 APPENDICES, INCLUDING EXTRACTS 
 FROM REPORT ON 
 
 THE m OF FliM Ai THE HMBi i ST. «, I. B. 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B., CANADA. 
 1894. 
 
 3411 
 • Sa2 
 
w 
 

 REPORT OF 
 
 COMMITTEE OF THE 
 
 5t. J0I79 Board of Srade, 
 
 CONSISTING OF 
 
 Messrs, W, M, JHRYIS. R. CRUIKSHflNK, T. H. HfiLL. 
 G. F. BHIRD. M. P., and S. SCHOFIELD, 
 
 ON 
 
 THE LOSS OF THE BARQUE "CURLER" 
 
 AND 
 
 PILOTAGE AT ST. JOHN, N. B., 
 
 WITH APPENDICES, 
 
 including extracts from Report of Special Com^ 
 
 mittee on the Bay of Fundy and Harbor of 
 
 St. John, N. B., presented February 1887. 
 
 •, .&s 
 
 w 
 
 ST. .rOHN, N. B. 
 PROGRESS KLECTRIC PRINT. 
 
 1894. 
 
REPORT 
 
 OF A 
 
 SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE ST. JOHN BOARD OF TRADE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 LOSS OF THE BARQUE "CURLER," 
 
 AND 
 
 PILOTAGE AT ST. JOHN, N. B. 
 
 "^^ ' ,<N'. E'^ AT A Meeting held 12th September, 1894. 
 
 oj 
 
 'he St. John Board of 
 
 To the Councif 
 
 Trade. 
 
 The committee appointed to attend the 
 investigation as to the loss of the barque 
 "Curler" and to report upon matters 
 connected with pilotage at St. John, beg 
 to submib the following report. 
 
 1. The public investigation held by 
 Capt. W. H. Smith, R. N. R., under in- 
 structions fiom the department of 
 marine and fisheries, at the request of 
 the board of trade, was attended 
 throughout by members of the commit- 
 tee. Copies of Capt. Smith's decision 
 (A) and of his remarks at the 
 tionofthe investigation, (B), 
 mitted herewith. 
 
 2. It will be seen that stress was laid 
 by Captain Smith upon the duties and 
 responsibilities of the captain and ship's 
 officers; and he states very clearly that, 
 although the captain might engage the 
 services of a pilot, he could not surren- 
 
 termina- 
 are sub- 
 
 der his command, and was not relieved 
 from all responsibility on that account. 
 
 3. The word "pilot" has been defined 
 to mean "any person not belonging to a 
 ship who hat* the conduct thereof." The 
 general rule of law with regard to the 
 engagement of a pilot seems to be that 
 when a captain is bound, by act of par- 
 liament, under a penalty, to place his 
 ship in the charge of a pilot and does so 
 accordingly, the ship is not to be con- 
 sidered as under the management of the 
 owners or their servants ; but when it is 
 in the option of the captain to take a 
 pilot or not, as he may think fit, and he 
 does take a pilot, the pilot so taken is to 
 be considered as the servant of the own- 
 ers, and, as such, they are responsible 
 for his misconduct. And, even though 
 there be a pilot on board, the captain is 
 bound, in a case of obvious danger, to 
 interfere in the management of the 
 vessel. 
 
 S31 \Z- 
 
Pilotage, St. John, K B.' 
 
 4. In the case of the "Curler," the pilot- 
 age was not compulsory. There is in- 
 deed no conipuisory pilotage in the strict 
 sense at St. John. Jt is open to any 
 vessel to refuse the services of a pilot, 
 although those services, if proffered with- 
 in certain limits, mast be paid for by all 
 vessels not specially exempt, whether 
 accepted or not. And, therefore, al- 
 though it appeared that the captain and 
 the mate of the "Curler" had retained 
 their presence of mind and acted for the 
 best, both when the disaster became im- 
 minent and after it occurred, they were 
 held responsible for their previous sub- 
 mission to the pilot's control. The cap- 
 tain, for going below without leaving 
 orders with the officer en deck to ac- 
 quaint him with any circumstances of 
 importanre that might occur; and 
 the mate for not communicating with 
 the master when the pilot persisted 
 in sailing towards a narrow channel in- 
 stead of following the wider thoroughfare; 
 which, had it been taken, though some 
 inconvience to the pilot himself might 
 have ensued, would, so far as appeared, 
 and as was the case with the t ^'o other 
 vessels which sailed the same afternoon 
 with fine weather and a fair northeast- 
 erly wind, (and without pilots), have 
 carried the barque in safety towards the 
 open sea. 
 
 5 Under the City Charter of St. John 
 the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty 
 were made the conservators of the 
 water of the river, harbour and bay of 
 the city, and in 1840 they were authoriz- 
 ed by the legislature of New Brunswick 
 to make laws and ordinances for the re- 
 gulation of the Branch Pilots of the port, 
 in respect to rates of pilotage to be tak- 
 en by them as distance money ; extend- 
 ing to such parts of the Bay of Fundy 
 in connection with the harbor as 
 
 they might deem expedient. In 1861 an 
 act was passed to provide that pilots 
 carried to sea, and beyond the limits of 
 their engagement, should receive $2 per 
 day, in addition to the pilotage, for every 
 day oftheiremorced absence from home. 
 In 1873 the Pilotage Act, passed by the 
 Dominion parliament, made provision 
 for fixing the limits of pilotage districts 
 and for the appointment of seven pilot 
 commissioners to be the pilotage author- 
 ity of the district of St. Joiin. Two of 
 those commissioners are to be chosen by 
 the City Council, t o by the council of the 
 board of trade, and three by the governor 
 general in council. This act was amended 
 at subsequent sessions of the legislature, 
 and finally in 1886 tlie provisions respect- 
 ing pilotage were revised and embodied 
 in Chapter 80 of the revised statutes of 
 Canada which is now in force. 
 
 0. Under this act the pilotage author- 
 ity has power by by-law, 
 
 1. To determine the qualification of 
 persons applying to be licensed as pilots. 
 
 2. To make regulations as to pilot 
 boats and respecting the distribution of 
 the earnings of pilots and pilot boats. 
 
 3. To provide for aiding in the estab- 
 lishment of companies for the support of 
 pilot boats. 
 
 4. To license pilots and apprentices. 
 
 5. To fix the terms and conditions of 
 granting licenses. 
 
 6. To make regulations for the govern- 
 ment of licensed pilots. 
 
 7. To make rules for punishing any 
 breach of regulations, either by the with- 
 drawal or suspension of the license, or by 
 the infliction of a penalty not exceeding 
 $40. 
 
 8. To fix and alter the mode of remun- 
 erating licensed pilots. 
 
Pilotage, St. John, N. li. 
 
 3 
 
 9. To provide for the compulsory re- 
 tirement of licensed pilots having: attain- 
 ed the a^e of 05 years, unless thereafter 
 licensed from year to year. 
 
 IC To provide 'or the compulsory re- 
 tirement of licensed pilots proved to 
 be incapacitated before attaining such 
 age. 
 
 11. To provide for the a<ljustment and 
 decision of disputes respecting pilotage ; 
 and 
 
 12. Toestablisli funds for the relief of 
 superannuated or infirm licensed pilots, 
 or of their wives, widows or children. 
 
 All such by-laws must however, be 
 confirmed by the governor in council be- 
 fore they can lake effect. 
 
 7. Thp pilotage autiiority is required 
 by the act to make yearly returns of the 
 names and ages of licent-ed pilot-, the 
 pilotage dues in force, the amount of 
 dues received and the receipt and ex- 
 penditure of moneys received in respect 
 of pilots or pilotage. 
 
 The act also contains provisions for 
 the licensing of pilots and for their guid- 
 ance and protection, and for the recovery 
 of pilotage dues. 
 
 8. Under section 57 of the Act no 
 owner or master of any ship can be com- 
 pelled to employ a pilot, but under other 
 sections the payment of pilotage dues is, 
 subject to certain exemptions, made 
 compulsory within limits or pilotage dis- 
 tricts established by order in council, 
 even though the pilot offering his ser- 
 vices may not be employed. When 
 there&)re the term compulsory pilotage 
 is used, it must be understood to mean, 
 not that the vessel is compelled to take 
 a pilot, butthat such services, when prof- 
 fered, must be paid for, whether the 
 pilot may be taken or not. 
 
 9. In the pilotage district of St. John, 
 ships of war or in the public service, 
 
 steamshipe coasting or trading with New- 
 York or IT. S. ports to its north, vesselb 
 registered in (Canada of not more than 
 120 t^,ns (see 5(1 V, cap. ?0, A. I). 1892), 
 vessels of which the master or mate has 
 a certificate authorizing him to pilot his 
 ship witliin the pilotage limits, and such 
 vessels not exceeding 250 tons as the pil- 
 otage authority with the approval of the 
 governor in council may determine, are 
 exempt from comptdsory pilotage. At 
 present all vessels registered in Canada 
 of 125 tons and under are entirely ex- 
 empted by the pilotage authority, and' 
 also all ve.saeis outward bound of what- 
 ever tonnage from outside of Partridge 
 Island. 
 
 10. All sums received for pilotage dues 
 by the pilotage authority are to be ap- 
 plied, 
 
 (1) In paying all expenses incurred in 
 obtaining payment of the same ; 
 
 (2) In payment for the pilots' services 
 such amount as is required by by-law ; 
 and 
 
 (3) The residue is to be carried to the 
 pilot fund of the district. 
 
 11. The pilot fund is to be applied, 
 
 (1) In payment of such necessary ex- 
 penses as are duly incurred in the ad- 
 ministration jt such fund, and 
 
 (2) In the payment of superannua- 
 tion allowances or other relief, for the 
 benefit of licensed pilots = .capacitated 
 by age, infirmity or accident, and of 
 the widows and children of licensed or • 
 incapacitated pilots. 
 
 12 All sums of money belonging to the 
 pilot fund not employed in such pay- 
 ments are to be invested in Government 
 securities. The Committee notice in the 
 last report of the St. John Pilotage 
 Authority that the reserve so invested, 
 —now deposited in the Dominion Sav- 
 
 I 
 
Pi/o(ri;/e, St. John, N. H. 
 
 ingH iJaiik— auiountH to $.s,lll.s<;, wliile 
 there was also on the [Mm December 
 last a rredit balance of $207r).f)5 at flie 
 Bank o/ New liriinswick on current ac- 
 count. 
 
 13. It will be seen from what iia8 
 been stated that while in other avoca- 
 tions of life, the relations of the employ- 
 er and the employed are left i?enerally 
 to be determined by the ordinary laws 
 of supply and demand, exctjpt so far as 
 such relations may be affected by organ- 
 izations on the one side or the other, 
 eitlior for the lessening of cluirges thou- 
 ght to be exorbit'vnt, or for the securing 
 a higiier rate of pay, in the case of 
 pilolage an amount larger than the cus- 
 tomary rate of wages is collected from 
 the vessel. And this amount may be 
 collected irrespective of services re.ider- 
 ed, and whether such services are really 
 needed or are not. Frori the fund tli js 
 formed the pilots are paid at the rate 
 fixed for their services by the commis- 
 sioners,, and the resiuue forms a super- 
 annuation and benefit fund to meetcases 
 calling for relief. 
 
 14. The pilots thus form a protected 
 class in the community. Each pilot 
 may receive as wages for services ren- 
 dered or proffered more or less accord- 
 ing to his activity or good fortune in se- 
 curing some incoming vessel; but he can 
 always feel assured that there is a fur.d 
 in rest.'ve from which he or his family 
 will be assisted should need arise. 
 • 15. Such a system calls for the most 
 cardful supervision in its administration 
 or very great evils may result. Men 
 who leel that their employment, or at 
 least their wages, whether they are em- 
 ployed or not, are so far assured, and 
 that a reserve fund is being accumu- 
 lated for future support, are not only 
 rendered to a very great extent inde- 
 
 pendent of any desire to satisfy those 
 ♦hey serve, but are also deprived in a 
 degree of the incontivt to lal*or and 
 thrift wljich the feeling of entire respon- 
 sibility for tor; well being of the family 
 tends t& create. 
 
 10. The object of the system is to 
 secure, as far as possible, protection to 
 life and property, by providing a class 
 of men better qualified than ordinary 
 mariners to take charge of ships in 
 places where, from local causes, navi- 
 gation is atten led with more thwU com- 
 mon difhculty. 
 
 17. Failing some such object the per- 
 pfttuation of a system which assures 
 wages and pension to a certain class of 
 men, neiessarily in some degree at the 
 cost of the rest of the community, could 
 not, in the opinion of the committee, be 
 justified. And they regret to have to 
 add that there seems to be a very gen- 
 eral rj)inion that this object is not at- 
 tained by the present pilotage system, 
 that that system is fraught with many 
 evils, and that it has been handed down 
 rrom a past generation almost unaltered 
 without regari for the changed circum- 
 iitances winch now exist. 
 
 18. In former days, no doubt, wLen 
 the assistance of lighthouses, fog whistles, 
 buoys, charts, printed sailing directions' 
 and of steam tugboats was not available*, 
 and when masters and mates of vesseLi 
 were not required to submit to a strict 
 examination before they were allowed 
 to serve, the office of the pilot was 
 one of very general importance to ship- 
 ping, his services were eagerly sought 
 after and he was usually employed; but 
 while the standard among ships officers 
 has advanced, and important aids to 
 navigation have been provided, the 
 compulsory system of pilotage, as ap- 
 plied at St. John, appears to a great ex- 
 
PHoiage, St. John, N. /?. 
 
 "^ent to ignore such advances and helps; 
 ' and repeate<l cases i\avo been furnished 
 to the committee, in which vessels are 
 compelled to pay for pl'ots' services, 
 where their employment is a farce, or 
 worse, since the officers (>f the ship are 
 as well acqr. tinted witli local surround- 
 ings and as fully (lualified to navigate 
 the vessel as the most efficient pilot on 
 the list; while it is broadly Htated that 
 all pilots on the list at 8t. John are not so 
 efficient, and that men have been r - 
 tained among the number to whose ^' 
 ployment shipowners seriously objo 
 
 19. Further the question of discriminat- 
 ing for or against sorae particular class 
 of vessels seem to have been \m ^ht 
 in. Tlias the committea ftave been in- 
 formed that the coal barges towed from 
 Parrsboro by powerful tugboats in con- 
 nection with tfie recently developed 
 traffic fc-om that place to St. John, have 
 been called on U> pay pilotage dues; and 
 this has been defended on tfie groand 
 thnt this metho<l of carriage has inter- 
 fered wiih the owners of the sraaU vessels 
 which formerly carried on the trade. 
 The committee ar« strongly of opinion 
 that the matter of pilotage should 
 be dealt with on its merits, and that 
 the system should not without the 
 gravest necessity be strained to protect 
 any class in thii community, whether it 
 be the pilots themselves or those inter- 
 ested in any particular branch of ship- 
 ing or trade. 
 
 20. There are at present 27 licensed 
 pilots resident at St. John, of whom one 
 has been suspended in connection with 
 the "Curler" disaster; and one pilot in 
 addition is specially licensed for Mus- 
 quash only. 
 
 21. According to the return made to Ot- 
 tawaby the St. John Pilotage Authority 
 to the 31st December last, the ages of the 
 
 licensed pilots vary from 36 to 68, but the 
 committeo regret to have to report that 
 it has been stated to thfc.n by more than 
 one person, whom they believe to be re- 
 liable, tha> the ages given in the official 
 return are not in all cases correct, and 
 Ihat several of the mens re from three 
 to five years older than is there stated. 
 This is a m.'itter of some importance 
 when it is re nembered that under sec- 
 tion ;{2 of the pilotage act every pilot up- 
 on reaching the age of 05 years must de- 
 liver up luB license, and can thereafter 
 be granted a now license only from year 
 to year. It is a matter of even more 
 importance in its bearing u^wn the pilot 
 comiuissioners themselves. The com- 
 mittee feel loth tc suppose that the com- 
 missioners would knowingly ^<-,i^rAf the 
 sending forward of false r U'.i-); but on 
 the other hand, if the statements made 
 to tiie committee are correct, the actual 
 ages of the men are very generally 
 known, and such a want of accuracy in 
 the returns would seem to show a 
 lack of care in securing the information 
 which under the Act the commissioners 
 are bound to furnish to the marine 
 department at Ottawa from year to 
 year. 
 
 22. It appears from the returns that 
 the amount received for pilotage dues 
 during 1398 was $25,893.83. From this 
 sum in the case of one pilot whose ser- 
 vices are regularly engaged by the Fur- 
 ness line of steamships, an amount of 
 $1,030.15 IS taken, of which $825.75 is 
 divided share and share alike among the 
 pilots on the list, regardless of their do- 
 ing any work or not. The difference of 
 $204.40 with a furthar sum of $1905.96 or 
 in all $2200.36 is carried to the pilot fund, 
 leaving $23,693.47 for the wages of the 
 men. It is stated, however,that the indi- 
 vidual earnings vary greatly iu different 
 
6 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, K B- 
 
 cases, some pilots earning as much as 
 $1600 in a year and others a bare living. 
 This depends of course on the energy 
 and activity of the men .n seeking for 
 vessels to which their services can be 
 proffered from time to time. 
 
 23. Tlie residue of $2200.3() carried 
 last year to the i)ilot fund was further 
 increased by $200 charged for licenses to 
 thirty pilots at $5.00 and five pilot boats 
 at $10.00 each, and by $274.25 for inter- 
 est on the Savings Bank deposit, making 
 a total of $2074.01. The payments were 
 for pensions $1710, funeral expenses 
 of two pilots $40, auditor $25, stationery 
 $19.70, office rent $100, and salary of 
 secretary treasurer $800, in all $2094.70. 
 The payments therefore exceeded the 
 receipts by about $20.00. 
 
 24 Five districts are established for 
 pilotage inwards, ranging from Partridge 
 Island to the extreme limits of the Bay 
 of Fundy. Outwards no vessel is re- 
 quired to take or pay for the services 
 of the pilot, beyond outside of Part- 
 ridge I^'and. Inwards all vessels not 
 exempt are required to pay for a pilot's 
 services if proffered any where within 
 the district limits, whether accepted or 
 not. 
 
 25. Atpresent the pilotage dues inwards 
 and outwards on vessels not exempt are 
 regulated by the draught of water, and 
 the du«'s for transporting vessels within 
 the harbour according to the tonnage in 
 each particular case. 
 
 26. A different system prevails at 
 Halifax, N. S., where the pilotage dues 
 are regulated altogether by tonnage; and 
 the committee are informed that the 
 charges are very much less there than at 
 St. John. 
 
 27. The committee understand that 
 representations have been made to the 
 marine department that an undue por- 
 
 tion of the pilotage duep now collected 
 at the port of SI. John is levied upon 
 vessels of from 125 to 300 tons, engaged 
 in the coasting or the West India tra.le. 
 \v'"ich on account of their relatively 
 larger draught of water in proportion to 
 tonnage, and their more frequently com- 
 ing to and leaving St. John, are forced 
 to pay largely in excess of the dues 
 charged to larger vessels. It is claimed 
 also that the class of vessels referred to 
 has no need whatever of the services of 
 pilots, as the masters are, from their fre- 
 quent visits, thoroughly conversant with 
 the Bay of Fundy and the harbor of St. 
 John. 
 
 28. Tl:ey understand also tliat it has 
 been further represented that the ship, 
 ment of lumber (including piling) from 
 the port of St. John is seriously prejudic- 
 ed by the pilotage charges, as this busi- 
 ness is carried on in competition with 
 vessels from Calais, Bangor, and Port- 
 land, Me., and also from other ports in the 
 Bay of Fundy, where no regulati-.ns for 
 the compulsory paymentof pilotage dues 
 are in force. 
 
 29. The committee are informed that 
 in May last a scheme was submitted by 
 the commissioners to the Department of 
 Marine for reducing the charges to 
 smaller vessels, and increasing them in 
 the case of vessels of upwards of 400 tons 
 by a sliding scale, more than doubling 
 the dues in the case of the larger ships. 
 This scheme has not yet however been 
 approved. The present scale (C) and 
 that so proposed (D) are submitted here- 
 with. The committee fear that the ad- 
 ditional burthens thus proposed on the 
 larger vessels will prove seriously detri- 
 mental to the traffic of the port. It was 
 stated in the evidence of Pilot Rogers be- 
 fore the Deputy Minister in 1891 that 
 tills would be the case. No doubt some 
 
Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 relief to the smaller vessels and some 
 increase of revenue would result, but 
 the committee cannot see that this in- 
 crease is required, and they are strongly 
 of opinion that, so far from the smaller 
 vessels being relieved only at the cost of 
 additional burthens placed on the larger 
 sailing vessels or steamships coming to 
 St. John, everything should be done to 
 lessen or remove all such restrictions 
 not absolutely necessary as may already 
 exist, and that every property owner 
 and resident in the City has a vital in- 
 terest in the lessening or removal of all 
 such needless charges, and the develop- 
 ment of the traffic of the port, 
 
 30. The committee think that no 
 increase in the present charges should 
 be allowed, unless the most serious ne- 
 cessity for such increase is shown 
 to exist. They are of opinion that 
 there is no such necessity for the 
 changes proposed ; and they recommend 
 that the Board of Trade " Jdress a peti- 
 tion to the Governor in Council asking 
 that the proposed advance in the charges 
 for pilotage be not approved. 
 
 31. It cannot be supposed that the in- 
 crease of pilotage <lue» in the case of 
 the larger vessels thus proposed was in- 
 tended so much to add to the earnings 
 of the men, who have so far as the com- 
 mittee are aware, made no claim for 
 higher pay, as to swell the pilot fund, 
 which, under the Act, is intended for 
 pilots incapacitated by age, infirmity 
 or accident, or the widows and children 
 of pilots. The reserve held in con- 
 nection with this fund is already of 
 considerable amount. It is held not for 
 the purposeof making permanentgrants, 
 but for providing terminable annuities, 
 which will cease from time to time 
 
 tuny bo remuved 
 
 when they become of sufficient age 
 to care for themselves. The fund is 
 likely to increase rather than diminish 
 under the present system, as the num- 
 ber of pilots lessens or the claimants 
 upon the fund are removed by death or " 
 otherwise. The committee were at a loss 
 t'^ understand wha^ ground existed for 
 the proposed advance, until circumstan- 
 ces came to their knowledge, which they 
 feel it their duty to bring at once to ' he 
 attention of the council and the board. 
 
 32. There can be no doubt, looking at 
 the terms of the Pilotage Act, that it was 
 contemplated that the commissioners 
 should receive no pay or remuneration 
 for their services. Provision is expressly 
 made for the salary or remuneration of 
 the Secretary and Treasurer, but beyond 
 this the funds are carefully guarded. 
 Under the 62nd. section of the Act "All 
 sums received" for pilotage dues shall 
 be applied, first in paying all expenses 
 incurred, "in obtaining payment," next 
 in payment of the pilot engaged, and, 
 lastly, any re^ue must be carried to 
 the pilot fund. finder the 91st. section 
 
 
 by death, or, in the case of children, 
 
 the pi.!ot fund must be applied first in 
 payment of "such necessary expenses 
 as are duly incurred in the administra- 
 tion of such fund" and then in the 
 payment of superannuation allowances 
 or other relief to pilots incapacitated, 
 or to the widows and children of 
 pilots. The 14th section of the Act 
 directs that the pilotage authority may, 
 with the sanction of the Governor in 
 Council, appoint a Secretary and Treas- 
 urer, and pay him such salary or 
 remuneration, out of pilotage dues or 
 fees for licenses received by them, as 
 they may see fit, and may with such 
 sanction, and out of such funds, pay any 
 other "necessary expenses" of conduct- 
 ing the i)ilotage business of the district. 
 
8 
 
 Pilotage^ St. John, N. B. 
 
 Fl f 
 
 No provision whatever for the payment 
 of the commissioners is contained in the 
 Act. Were the matter at all uncertain 
 the provision authorijiinj? a salary for 
 _ the Secretary forbids by implication any 
 other and unauthorized payment of the 
 kind. 
 
 33. There are not wanting in the com- 
 munity instances as, in the case of the 
 Hospital Commissioners, and the School 
 Trustees, of laborious public duties per- 
 formed without thouglit of fee or reward; 
 and it is evident that the framers of the 
 Pilotage Act supposed that com- 
 missioners would be found pos- 
 sessed of sufficient public spirit 
 to supervise the system with- 
 out charge. the more laborious 
 duties being performed by the paid sec- 
 retary treasurer appointed for the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 34. The committee are informed, how- 
 ever, that it was recently proposed that 
 each commissioner should have an al- 
 lowance from the funds received, and 
 the chairman double the amount paid to 
 any other commissioner, that one of the 
 commissioners protested, and the matter 
 was referred to the tl:en deputy min- 
 ister of justice at Saint John, who ex- 
 pressed an opinion that such allowannes 
 were unauthorized by the act ; but that 
 nevertheless the taking of such allow- 
 ances by the commissioners has been 
 pressed. 
 
 35. The committee might have hoped 
 that this charge was exaggerated or 
 groundless, were it not that the state- 
 ments made to them are confirmed by 
 the official correspondence, copies of 
 which (E) are submitted herewith. 
 
 36. It would appear that after the 
 commissioners had been told that their 
 taking an allowaiico for their serviceH 
 from the pilot fund was illegal, a by- 
 
 law was passed by them on the Ist 
 March last as follows: — 
 
 "By-law to provide for the payment 
 of the St. John pilot commissioners." 
 
 "Each commissioner shall be entitled 
 to be repaid any expenses necessarily 
 incurred by him in the discharge of bis 
 duty, as such commissioner ; provided 
 however that no commissioner shall re- 
 ceive more than one hundred dollars, 
 or the chairman more than two hundred 
 dollars, for their expenses, in any one 
 year." 
 
 37. This so-called by-law was 
 then submitted to Mr. Newcombe, 
 the deputy minister of justice, 
 who was reminded of some similar 
 action at Halifax in October, 1891, and 
 who gravely reported that there was no 
 legal objection to its being approved. 
 Under such circumstances no doubt the 
 by-law seemed harmless enough to the 
 minister of marine and fisheries, and on 
 March 28th an order in council issued, 
 sanctioning the repayment to he com- 
 missioners, of expenses necessarily in- 
 curred in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 38. in connection witli the reference to 
 Halifax, the committee notice in the 
 printed accounts of the Halifax author- 
 ity, published at page 209 of the supple- 
 ment of the annual report of the depart- 
 ment of marine for the year ending .30th 
 June, 1892, that, while the amount car- 
 ried out for "necessary expenses attend- 
 ing meetings and investigations two 
 years" is but $11.25, the sum of $1125.00 
 is really required, instead of $11.25, to 
 balance tlieir account ; and this larger 
 amount appears to have been taken from 
 the fund. It is perliaps fortunate for the 
 St. John commissioners that the matter 
 bus come to light before there had been 
 timrt HufHcient f^sr any such allowances 
 tc be taken here. 
 
Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 9 
 
 ^^^ ^^^ 39. It has been stated that it was in 
 
 contemplation that this "repayment' 
 should take the form of an allowance of 
 $4.00 to each commissioner for every 
 meeting attended throughout the year. 
 
 40. Tlie committee do not enter upon 
 the question whether services of the 
 kind supposed to be rendered by the 
 commissioners should be paid for or 
 should not. But they certainly think 
 that no such services should be paid foi 
 unless the payment is distinctly pro- 
 vided for by law, and that no public ser- 
 vant, who considers himself insufficiently 
 
 f paid, should be permitted to remunerate 
 
 himself from the funds under his charge. 
 
 41. It will be noticed that the power 
 to pass by-laws to be confirmed by the 
 governor in council is limited by the 
 15th section of the Pilotage Acttocertain 
 specified cases among which the pay- 
 ment or repayment of expenses is not 
 included. Under the 14th section the 
 pilotage authority may, with the sanc- 
 tion of the governor in council, and from 
 the pilotage dues or fees for licenses, pay 
 the "necessary expenses" of conducting 
 the pilotage business of the district. 
 This does not, however, contemplate a 
 by-law, nor is one required. Without a 
 by-law the pilotage authority can pay 
 "necessary expenses" with the proper 
 sanction. No by-law could possibly 
 justify them, under the guise of the 
 "pa- ment" or "repayment" of necessary 
 expenses, in appropriating the funds, in 
 part or in whole, to themselves. In the 
 latter section it is not a by-law that is to 
 be sanctioned, but an act. It is surely 
 indeed a perversion of language to claim 
 that where a statute provides th t ex- 
 penditures may be made with a v ortain 
 sanction, the sanctioning power can part 
 with its coiitroi by a sweeping confirma- 
 tion or concession in advance. 
 
 42. Tlie saddest feature of the case is 
 that these payments were proposed to 
 be made at the co.st of the superinnuat- 
 ed pilots, the widow and the orphan, 
 unless indeed they could be met by in- 
 '^reasing the pilotage dues, as was im- 
 mediately afterwards proposed, and 
 thus further burthening the traffic of the 
 port. 
 
 43. From the statements made to the 
 committee it is plain that there is a 
 strong feeling of dissatisfaction with the 
 present commission, and that th.e St. 
 John pilotage authority has not been 
 able to retail. Uie confidence of the bus- 
 iness community generally. 
 
 44. As far back as January 1883 an 
 editorial appeared in a leading St. John 
 newspaper calling for attention to the 
 pilotage regulations of the port in the in- 
 terests of trade and of justice, and men- 
 tioning a gross case of injustice which 
 was said to have occurred. This drew 
 out a reply from the chairman of the 
 commission characterizing the complaint 
 as "bosh" ; and letters from the late Mr. 
 Thomas S. Adams and others, protesting 
 vigorously against the injustice of the 
 pilotage regulations in force. 
 
 45. Again, in January 1887, the ques- 
 tion of pilotage was very fully discussed 
 before the Board of Trade, and it was 
 openly claimed that the present compul- 
 sory system was unnecessary so far as 
 the protection of life and property was 
 concerned, and that it is unfair to ship 
 owners to compel them to pay for ser- 
 vices which they may not require. It 
 was stated also that, as it was not com- 
 pulsory on the pilots to cruise in search 
 of vessels, as is the case at Bos- 
 ton and Quebec, their services were not 
 available when most required, and that 
 during the winter season, and no doubt 
 often during stormy and foggy weatlier 
 
10 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 at other times of the year, there were no 
 pilot boats to be found at the main en- 
 trance of the bay, or until the vessel had 
 found her way nearly up to Partridge 
 Island. It was urged that as no bond 
 was taken from the St. John pilots, as 
 was the case at Halifax and 
 elsewhere, there was practically 
 no pecuniary responsibility, and 
 it was charged that the Commissioners 
 ignored the reasonable wishes of the 
 shipowners, and refused to give reasons 
 for the course they pursued. 
 
 46. And in January 1891 au official en- 
 quiry into the pilotage q lestion was held 
 by the Deputy Minister of Marine, Mr. 
 AVilliam Smith, at the rooms of the St. 
 John Board of trade. The enquiry was 
 conducted with much ability, and the 
 information given was very full and 
 important. 
 
 47. It was stated by several of the wit- 
 nesses that the present system of compul- 
 sory payment for pilotage tended to the 
 building of badly shaped or inferior 
 vessels, so constructed in order to come 
 within tlie exemption of the rules. 
 
 48. It was alleged that vessels endeav- 
 oured to get clear of pilots by hauling out 
 in the bay so as to make it appear that 
 they were going up the bay, instead of 
 making for St. John. Instances were 
 given of bargains made with the pilots 
 to escape pilotage in whole or in part; 
 and it even appeared that in one case, 
 in order that a steamer might be cleared 
 at the Custom House, the secretary to 
 the St. John Pilotage authority had 
 certified that the vessel had paid her 
 pilotage dues when in point of fact she 
 was allowed to go free. 
 
 49. Evidence was given that the cap- 
 tains of coasting vessels generally were 
 capaldeof navigating vessels without the 
 employment of pilots at all, that a years 
 
 experience would suffice to enable 
 amapter to pilot a vessel up the 
 Bay of Fundy, and into the harbor of 
 St. John, that the pilot boats were not 
 out in heavy storms or thick weather, 
 and that if the system of com- 
 pulsory payment was abolished the 
 men would be on the ground 
 when wanted, and the active and capa- 
 ble pilots would still be employed. 
 
 50. It was asserted also that the pilotage 
 business was not skilfully or even fairly 
 managed by the commissioners and that 
 the representations of the leading ship- 
 owners of the port were ignored. 
 
 51. It has been already pointed out that 
 the commissioners do not appear to have 
 exercised sufficient care in reporting the 
 ages of the pilots to the Marine Depart- 
 ment. Further, in connection with the 
 loss of the "Curler," the chairman of the 
 pilot commissioners statel publicly, be- 
 ibre the official investigation was held, 
 that the Pilot concerned was a compet- 
 ent man, and in his sixty years this was 
 the first time anything had happened 
 while he was in charge of a vessel. Yet 
 it was proved at ihe investigation, by 
 the evidence of the Secretary to the 
 commissioners, that the same Pilot had 
 been censured by the commissioners in 
 connection with the loss of the "Apollo,"' 
 and had afterwards been suspended for 
 three months in the case of the strand- 
 ing of the schooner "Lahaina." This 
 statement of the chairman though made 
 publicly, was allowed by the other com- 
 missioners to remain uncontradicted; and 
 in preference to supposing that there has 
 been any wilful mis-statement or sup- 
 pression of facts, the committee are forc- 
 ed to the conclusion either that the mem 
 bersof the commission have not kept 
 
 ,,i!r:.„,,^.lTco Iliujf llllunuUU US tO What 
 
 has occurred in the past; or that they do 
 
Pilotage, [St. .John, N. B. 
 
 11 
 
 not feel sufficient interest in their duties 
 to bear in mind circnmstances of such 
 vital importance in loiininji a right con- 
 clusion as to the efficiency of any parti- 
 cular pilot on the list. 
 
 52. The evidence given before the 
 Deputy Minister tended strongly to the 
 conclusion that the compulsory payment 
 of pilotage dues should be abolished, 
 and that, were those dues abolished, no 
 more serious danger to life or property 
 than now exists would ensue. It cannot 
 be supposed that the twenty-seven licen- 
 sed pilots atSt.John include within them- 
 selves all the knowledge and informa- 
 tion as to n?v]gation towards or witliin 
 the harbor that exists. A system of 
 free pilotage would send the better men 
 to the front, more responsibility would 
 be felt by the ships officers, and the pub- 
 lic would probably be spared a repetition 
 of such disasters as that of the barque 
 "Curler," which has led to this report. 
 
 53. This would probably involve the 
 abolition of the present pilotage com- 
 mission, bft the committee think that 
 it could well be spared. Some legisla- 
 tion would be required for the disposi- 
 tion of the present pilotage fund. The 
 younger men among the pilots, not now 
 among the most active, might meet with 
 success in some other avocation of life. 
 And with regard to tlie more helpless, 
 where worthy of the care, it would be far 
 better that they should be assisted to a 
 reasonable extent from the public 
 funds, than that the port should be un- 
 necessa,rily burthened for their support, 
 coupled with that of others less deserv- 
 ing of the aid. 
 
 54. In this connection it may be men- 
 tioned that there is no compulsory pilot- 
 age at Portland, Me., the chi^f competi- 
 tor with St. John for the Canadian win- 
 ter export trade ; and that th3 compul- 
 
 sory payment of pilotage dues at 
 Summerside, P. E. J., has recently been 
 abolished. 
 
 55. But should it be found impossible 
 to carry the abolition of compulsory 
 pilotage into immediate effect the com- 
 mittoe are of opinion that the whole 
 pilotage system should be reconsidered^ 
 the St. John Rules compared with those 
 of other ports where pilotage is still re- 
 tained, and several important changes 
 made both in the commission and in the 
 regulations under which tlie pilots serve. 
 
 56. The committee are informed tiiat 
 at New York tiiere are but five com- 
 missoners of pilots ; while the Act relat- 
 ing to Pilotage at Boston, Mass, piovides 
 for only two, and it is further requir- 
 ed that the persons appointed shall 
 "have experience in maritime and nau- 
 tical affairs." This qualification the 
 committee look on as a very valualde 
 one. In the case of the St. John com- 
 mi«e«e neither the chairman nor the 
 majority of the commis. i )ners have had 
 such experience. The committee are 
 informed in fact that but one of the pres- 
 ent commissioners is a practical sea- 
 man, and therefore within the qualifi- 
 cation called for by the Boston Act. 
 
 57. The committee are of opinion 
 that if the system is to be tolerated for 
 a while longer the number of the com- 
 missioners should be reduced to three, 
 one to be appointed by the governor-in- 
 council, one by the city and one by the 
 board of trade, and that the Boston pro- 
 visions as to experience and a limited 
 term of office should be adopted. Al- 
 though at the expiration of the three 
 years the same commissioner might be 
 reappointed, he would always carry 
 with him a sense of his re3ponsd)ility 
 to the public, and the three year term 
 seems a fair mean between the present 
 
12 
 
 PUotihje, St John, .V. !i 
 
 system of peniuiiieut appointment and 
 ■the possible (liHiciilties wli..:li mi<,'ht at- 
 tach to a single year term. 
 
 58. Thecommittee findaLso that there 
 is a conflict of interest between ship- 
 owners interested in tJie larger vessels, 
 and those more directly connected with 
 the smaller craft. And ;,hey believe 
 that it is advisable generally that ship- 
 owners should not be members of the 
 commission, but that it should consist 
 as far as possible of men who c<juld not 
 be subject to any suspicion, however 
 undeserved, of having personal interests 
 to serve. In fact they believe tliat the 
 appointment of laymen who would 
 really interest themselves in pilotage 
 questions would be preferable to haviug 
 those concerned in the shipping in con- 
 nection with which the pilots are en- 
 gaged. An exception might possibly be 
 made in the case of some practical sea- 
 man, whose services it was important to 
 secure ; but, apart from this, the owner- 
 ship of shipping, while itdoes not neces- 
 sarily give any practical exp^irience of 
 seamanship, or of the pilots work and 
 duties, must render it very difficult for 
 the commissioner to form an unbiassed 
 opinion in cases where the interests of 
 his own vessels may come in conflict 
 w^ith those of some other size or class. 
 59. A still stronger objection applies to 
 the appointment as commissioners of 
 those in any way engaged in the busin- 
 ess of ships supplies. On the course to- 
 wards St, John the pilot must have 
 many opportunities, should he sec flt to 
 use them, of directing foreign captains 
 to some particular dealer for their sup- 
 plies. If the dealer thus favuieu should 
 happen to be one of th8 Pilot commis- 
 sioners, bow could he be expected, how- 
 ever consciontiously he might desire to 
 act, to give an unbiassed judgment in 
 
 a case wherej the conduct or qualilica- 
 tion of the friendly pilot might be the 
 question before the board. 
 
 <»0. With regard to the pilots them- 
 selves, the extent Ui which they form a 
 privileged class in the community is 
 very rem.arkable. It was broadly claim- 
 ed before the deputy minister in 1891 
 that in return for their six years of 
 apprenticeship the city council had 
 promised the pilots their charges on ves- 
 sels from (! feet of water upwards to 
 make a living. Such a claim, if it had 
 any foundation in fact, would seem to 
 imply a charge upon the citizens gener- 
 ally, for it cannot be supposed that the 
 city council could mortgage any particu- 
 lar class of private property for the sup- 
 port of certain individuals; and therefore 
 the pledge, if givenwith any shew of 
 legal right, would entitle the pilots lo 
 maintenance through an assessment at 
 the public charge. But it may be suffi- 
 cient to say, with the most kindly feel- 
 ing towards the pilots themselves, that 
 the comnittee believe that, neither in 
 the case of the pilots nor in that of any 
 other class of men who may have serv- 
 ed an apprenticeship within the city 
 limits, does any such promise, express 
 or implied, exist. While through the 
 decadence of wooden shipping, many 
 masters of vessels have been thrown out 
 of employment, it has never been pro- 
 posed that shipping generally should be 
 taxed for their support, or the relief of 
 their wives or children. Thirty years 
 ago the shipyards round St. John "were 
 crowded with the best class of mechan- 
 ics. With the cessation of ship-build- 
 ing their employment is gone. Patient- 
 ly, uncomplainingly, they submitted, 
 and took up other avocations in life. It 
 was never suggested that the city should 
 enter upon shipbuilding or tax itself in 
 
Pilotafje, Sf. .John, K B. 
 
 any way to give them employment or 
 relief. Bat the pilots, numbering 43 
 in 1873, and now as has been stated 28, 
 have been provided for witli the utmost 
 eare,and are now maintained at a yearly 
 cost of nearly $2G,000 to the community, 
 while it ia evident to the committee 
 from the statements made to them that 
 the actual work of pilotage is done 
 chiefly by a portion only of the men, 
 and that even of the present number 
 several could be spared without their 
 being in any degree missed. 
 
 61. It must be remembered that 
 though pilotage dues are primarily a 
 charge upon shipping, yet, if collected 
 without due cause, they become a tax 
 upon the city very nearly to the same 
 extent as if levied upon the citizens by 
 direct assessment. Even where the 
 owners of shipping are not res- 
 ident they act as a restriction 
 upon the commerce of the port and 
 indeed if unjustly levied may operate 
 in this direction to an extent far exceed- 
 ing even the $25,000 or $26,000 collected 
 in each year. 
 
 62. In reply to enquiries made by the 
 committee on this head it has been as- 
 serted generally that pilots and pilot 
 boats are necessary for the port, and 
 that but for the maintenance of some 
 system like ihe present they could not 
 be kept up. 
 
 63. But even if it be granted that 
 pilots in some cases are necessary, 
 though the fact that pilotage is not com- 
 pulsory, beyond that the vessel, if spoken, 
 must pay for the pi lot's services, whether 
 engaged or not, would seem to 
 show that the legislature is willing in 
 some degree to leave this to the owner 
 or officers of the vessel to determine, 
 it need not, therefore, be assumed that 
 it is necessary that there should be the 
 
 full number now maintained. In fact 
 the presumption is rather to the con- 
 trary, since the number has fallen from 
 43 to 28, and it is understood that very 
 few appointments are being made. 
 It is provided at Halifax that the num- 
 ber of pilots for the port shall not exceed 
 twenty-five. But, were the compulsory 
 payment of pilotage dues abolished, it 
 does not at all follow that a limited but 
 sufficient number of the better men 
 would not continue to find remunerative 
 employment; and be able either to 
 maintain pilot boats quite as serviceable 
 as at present, or to reach vessels requir- 
 ing their help at some outside point, 
 even if, in some very special case, the 
 services of a steam tug boat had to be 
 engaged. 
 
 64. In this connection the committee 
 desire to draw attention to the pilotage 
 rules in force at Boston and Quebec 
 which make it incumbent on the pilot 
 boata to cruise for vessels, thus to a cer- 
 tain extent at least securing that pilots 
 shall always be available if required. 
 Under the present system at St. John 
 they fear that all the pilots at least do 
 not realize the duty Incumbent on them 
 of being always to the front, and en- 
 gaged rather in assisting vessels, which 
 may really require such aid, to port, 
 than in seeking for prizes upon which 
 they may levy their charges whether 
 for services performed or not. 
 
 65. The committee wish to point 
 out also that at Halifax and 
 at Pictou the pilot is required to give 
 a bond with two sureties to the commia- 
 sioners for the faithful performance of 
 his duty, such bond to be renewed every 
 second year. They think that a similar 
 
 roornlafinn aVi/^iiM Vtn^m ..1_--..^1 -„ 
 
 -"= .7..-.|,lU fjar'c aiwlija UUUU Bfl- 
 
 forced at St. John. Reliable men would 
 have no difficulty in providing suitable 
 
14 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B- 
 
 sureties. If there were any whose cred- 
 it had fallen so low that they couid not 
 do this, it would have the effect of re- 
 moving them, and very properly, from 
 the list. 
 
 66. Under the present system a pilot 
 may be taken by some foreign captain 
 inwards bound, whothiiiks that he may 
 aa well have the services he has to pay 
 for. The pilot may not be thoroughly 
 eflTicient, or he may have his own rea- 
 sons for taking some other than the more 
 open course. He may getcauglit in the 
 fog when a different route would have 
 kept him in clear weather. He may 
 mistake signals and run the vessel 
 straight on shore, and yet, if proceed- 
 ings were taken against him, it is quite 
 possible that nothing could be recovered. 
 Loss of life or valuable property may en- 
 sue. The pilot is suspended for three 
 montias or p' i, and then left free to seek 
 another vessel, possibly with the same 
 result. It would be different if there 
 were responsible sureties for the perform- 
 ance of the pilot's duties,who were liable 
 in some fixed amount for his defaults. 
 
 67. As has been already stated there 
 are now in existence helps to navigation 
 which once were entirely wanting. 
 Captains and mates must pass 
 strict examinations before they 
 are allowed to serve. Printed 
 sailing directions are issued by the Ad- 
 miralty, charts giving the fullest in- 
 formation as to harbours and their ap- 
 proaches are everywhere to be had. 
 Lighthouses, buoys, and fog whistles so 
 situated that only the most careless or 
 obtuse can be misled, have been pro 
 vided by the care of the Government at 
 the most important points. Numerous 
 steam tugboats are maintained in the 
 harbour, othcered by men possessing 
 the fullest local knowledge and exper- 
 
 ience; and, in most cases of the larger 
 sailing vessels, are employed to bring 
 chem in or take them out of port. 
 
 68. Navigation has its difficulties 
 in all cases, but it may be a 
 serious question whether it is not 
 wiser to cast on the ship's officers 
 the full responsibility for thoso difficul- 
 ties, rather than to put them in a posi- 
 tion where they are but too apt, to think 
 that they can rely entirely upoji the 
 pilot, and that their own responsibility 
 is at an end. 
 
 69. The statements of Pilot Richard 
 Cline and the late Pilot Samuel Ruther- 
 ford, two of the most reliable men ever 
 connected with the port, made to the 
 Board of Trade in 1887, and printed in 
 the appendix to the report of the special 
 committee on the Bay of Fundy and the 
 harbour of St. John, show clearly that 
 there are no difficulties in connection 
 with tlie navigation of these waters 
 that cannot readily be overcome ; and 
 that, with reasonable care and prudence, 
 they are perfectly safe. From Briar Is- 
 land up, Pilot Cline says, the tides are 
 very regular. In the winter, especially, 
 the weather is said by Pilot Rutherford 
 to be clear as a rule. Of course, if com- 
 passes are neglected, if distances are not 
 taken, if in thick weather the lead is not 
 used, ifthe captain is below, if the mate 
 leaves all io the pilot and the vessel is 
 pointed to the shore, there can be but 
 one result ; but it is submitted that for 
 that result the port of St. John is not re- 
 sponsible; and that ships officers in 
 the mercantile marine, if men of ordin- 
 ary prudence and skill, can in most cases 
 guide their vessels to and from St. 
 John with perfect safety ; while, should 
 circumstances arise calling for special 
 local help, it would still be available, 
 even though the system of compulsory 
 
 
Pilotage, St. John, iY. B. 
 
 15 
 
 )'8 officers 
 
 payment of pilotage dues was abolidhed, 
 as is now the case at Portland, Me., and 
 other points, where no such system ex- 
 ists. 
 
 70. The approach to St. John from the 
 entrance of the Bay of Fiindy by the 
 southern channel is wide and open. 
 That channel is nearly 30 miles wide 
 from shore to shore, and offers eighteen 
 miles of clear navigation between the 
 old Proprietor Shoals and Gannet Rock 
 on the one side and the nortii west ledges 
 on the other. Even the narrower chan- 
 nel forming the approach to the north of 
 the Island of Grand Manan is some 4 or 
 5 miles in width. There are currents 
 and tides undoubtedly to be dealt with, 
 and in the summer season fogs as well, 
 but these are by no means peculiar to 
 the Bay of Fundy. The mariner 
 must indeed be prepared to deal with 
 fogs along the whole North Americ! 
 coast from Newfoundland and southerly 
 beyond New York. 
 
 71. The sammer climate of St. John 
 itself is tempered by these mists and 
 made cooler periiaps than that of Hali- 
 fax, or Portland, M&ine, because the city 
 is so situated that a fog at the entrance 
 of the harbor in most cases drifts in over 
 the city itself, while Halifax particular- 
 ly, situated some miles inland, escapes 
 to a considerable extent, as does Rotlie- 
 say, about the same distance inland 
 from St. John. But in approaci;ing a 
 harbour fogs have to be dealt with all 
 along the North American coast, north 
 of Cape Hatteras ; and it is somewhat 
 curious that of late the most marked 
 cases have occurred ofT the sister city 
 Halifax rather than St. John. Last 
 April fogs, accompanied by field ice, 
 from whicli St. Jol.n is entirely free, 
 delayed steamships for hours and even 
 
 days off Halifax harbour. In June H. 
 M. S. Blake narrowly escaped collision 
 with another steamer in a fog off the 
 Nova Scotia coast. For nearly two 
 weeks at the end of that month fogs ex- 
 tended along the coast as far south as 
 Boston and beyond. And in August 
 the Blake with the (iovernor General 
 and the Vice Regal party on board left 
 Halifax at midnight on Wednesday the 
 8th, for Uharlottetown, P. E. I., was 
 compellod on account of fog to remain 
 off the Atlantic coai of Nova Scotia 
 until well into Thur. Jiy, and did not 
 pass Cape Canso until Thursday evening 
 about half past five. Further than this, 
 Admiral Sir John Hopkins is said to 
 have referred recently at Montreal to 
 the fact that on two occasions the Blake 
 had entered Halifax harbour without 
 seeing land on either side. Nothing'worse 
 could have occurred in the approches to 
 St. Jolin, and moreover, in the winter 
 months fogs in the Bay of Fundy are 
 rare, not more common perhaps indeed 
 from November to April than in any 
 other quarter of tlie world. 
 
 72. The harbor of St. John has un- 
 doubtedly both its advantages and its 
 difficulties, as have all others, and these 
 difficulties are intensified at the freshet 
 season of the year, when the St. John 
 river, extending some 500 miles into the 
 interior, with its many tributaries, 
 pours its volume of w^ater through the 
 main channel of the harbour into the 
 open sea. Still, within tha harbour, 
 numerous steam tugboats are available, 
 and whatever need for pilots may exist 
 beyond, it cannot surely be doubted that 
 the very need itself would create the 
 supply, and that capable men, finding 
 the employment before them, would al- 
 ways be on hand and available to do the 
 work. 
 
16 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 I! 
 
 73. But it appears .to tho committee 
 that the legislature has definitely pro- 
 nounced upon the question of the abso- 
 lute necessity of the pilot for tlie preser- 
 vation of life and property by eaacting 
 that pilotage shall not be compulsory in 
 any case, except as to the liability to 
 pay pilotage dues. If the services of 
 pilots are absolutely necessary for the 
 safety of human life and the prewervation 
 of property, then surely every ship- 
 owner and master should be bound, 
 under heavy penalties, not merely to 
 pay for but to engage them. If they are 
 not required by law to engage such ser- 
 vices why should they be compelled tp 
 pay for what they may not need. 
 
 H. It must be remembered, too, tiiaf, 
 although the payment of pilotage dues 
 is compulsory in the case of vessels ap- 
 proaching or leaving St. John, the same 
 rule does not apply to all Bay of Fundy 
 ports. At St. Andrews there are pilots. 
 But there the masters or mates of vessels 
 receive certificates which under the 59th 
 section of the Pilotage Act. render them 
 exempt from compulsory charge, thus fur- 
 nishing another proof that others beside.s 
 licensed pilots are fully qualified to take 
 vessels into and out of port. And ves- 
 sels making for Grindstone Island at the 
 mouth of tiie Petitcodiac and other 
 points are entirely free. If it be safe for 
 vessels so bound to discard the pilot's 
 services with impunity, on what possible 
 principle should it be compulsory to en- 
 gage or pay for them in approaching or 
 leaving St. John. The system seems al- 
 most an insult to the port. It cannot be 
 necessary for the preservation of life or 
 property, or pilotage would be made ab- 
 solutely compulsory on every vessel en- 
 tering or leaving the Bay. 
 
 75. After the fullest consideration the 
 committee are forced to the opinion that 
 not merely has compulsory pilotage been 
 rightfully done away with, as is now the 
 case, but that the compulsory payment of 
 pilotage dues should also be abolished, 
 and the business of pilotage, like any 
 other, left to care for itself. The very con- 
 siderable ftjnd which now exists would 
 probably be sufficient to provide for the 
 aged and infirm amonglthe present pilots, 
 and the widows and children of those de- 
 ceased. The active men could either 
 pursue their present avocation unaided, 
 or if they preferred other work could 
 take it up. It is very evident to tlie 
 committee that of the $25,0u0 or 
 $26,000 yearly paid in pilot- 
 age dues but a limited por- 
 tion is really earned by the giving of 
 necessary services in return. And it 
 would, they believe, be wiser to leave 
 the matter to regulate itself rather than 
 to permit the continuance of a cystem 
 under which the many are forced (o pay 
 for the possible requirements of the few, 
 under which in the name of pilotage a 
 favored class iii the community is pro- 
 tected at the expense of all other citi- 
 zens; under which the commissioners 
 having the matter in charge, seeing the 
 pilots thus protected, are seeking by 
 bylaw to "pay or "repay" themselves; 
 and under which, if the matter is not 
 dealt with thoroughly and at once, still 
 greater mischiefs may ensue, checking 
 the development of the traffic of the port, 
 and injuring all classes in the commun- 
 ity alike. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 On behalf of the committee. 
 
 W. M. Jarvis, Chairman. 
 
 St. John, N. B., Sept. 12, 189-1. 
 
Pilotage, St. John, N. B 
 
 17 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 (COJ'Y.) 
 (CANADA.) 
 
 BARQUE "CURLER.' 
 The Wrecks And Salvage Act. 
 
 In the matter of a formal investiga- 
 tion, held at St. John N. B. at the office 
 of the Chairman of the Board of Exam- 
 iners of Masters and Mates, on the 20th, 
 2l8t, and 28th July, 1894, betbre W. H. 
 Smith, R. N. R., Commissioner, into the 
 circumstances attending the stranding of 
 the Barque "Curler" of St. John N. B, at 
 Herring Bay, Campobello Island, on the 
 29th June last. 
 
 Report and Decision. 
 
 Th« court, having carefully enquired 
 into all the circumstances in connec- 
 tion with the above mentioned shipping 
 casualty, is of opinion that the stranding 
 of the vessel was caused by the careless 
 navigation of the pilot, who was un- 
 doubtedly navigating the said vessel at 
 the time she went on shore. 
 
 Although he states that bis responsi- 
 bility ceased when he passed Partridge 
 Island, and hauled his flag down, and 
 that thereafter he took no interest in the 
 ship, there is strong evidence to show 
 
 that he gave several orders on board 
 proving thereby that he did undertake 
 to navigate the vessel down the bay. 
 
 The court has also come to the con- 
 clusion that the negligence and indififer- 
 ence of the master contributed to the 
 cause of the stranding. 
 
 That the mate is also to blame for not 
 communicating with the master, when 
 the pilot persiste^l in sailing towards a 
 narrow chanrel after a dense fog had set 
 in, and when no distance could be seen, 
 and when the vessel was in proximity 
 to the land. 
 
 The master, Angus McDonald, ia 
 therefore adjudged to be in default, and 
 his certificate is lierobv suspendetl for 
 three calendar months from the date of 
 the stranding of the vessel. 
 
 The master certificate of the mate, 
 Timothy Brrwks, is also suspended for 
 three months from the date of his sur- 
 rendering the san.ft to the Minister of 
 Marine and Fisheries ; the court, how- 
 ever, recommends the issuing of a mate's 
 certificate to him during the suspension. 
 
 The commissioner also recommends 
 that the pilot's license be suspended for 
 SIX months from the date of the strand- 
 ing of the vessel. 
 
 (Sgd) W. H, Smith, 
 Commissioner, 
 
18 
 
 Filotage, Ht. .John, N. B. 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 at the termination of the investigation into tlie cause of the stranding of "he 
 Barque "Curler," furnished by Captain W. H. Smith, R. N. R. 
 
 m 
 
 An errroneous impression seems to 
 prevail with regard to a Master's duty 
 when he has : pilot on board. 
 
 It has however been held by the 
 courts, that the captain is never really 
 divested of the control of his vessel, and 
 although in this case he was forced by 
 the law of compulsory pilotage of the 
 port of St. John, to ^ake and employ a 
 pilot as far as the limit outside of Part- 
 ridge Island, it was a matter entirely of 
 arrangement and agreement between 
 the Master and the pilot if the said 
 Master wished him to proceed any 
 further beyond that limit, for the pur- 
 pose of assisting in the navigation of the 
 vessel down the Bay of Fundy. 
 
 The evidence goes to prove that the 
 Master did so arrange with the pilot, 
 but notwithstanding he engaged the ser- 
 vices of the pilot, he could not surrender 
 his command on that account, and was 
 not relieved from all responsibility. 
 
 No doubt the local knowledge of a 
 pilot is a very good and sufficient reason 
 why his presence on board a ship is 
 valuable. 
 
 Although when a pilot is en ■;:';';> '. ,c 
 navigate a ship it is considered the 
 Master is not properly liable for the 
 wantof skill or any default or careless 
 navigation on the part of that pilot, is 
 not always possible, or even creditable 
 for the Master, whose vessel has been 
 stranded, when a pilot was on board, to 
 shelter himself under such a plea. It 
 is necessary for him to have impressed 
 
 on his mind that no vigilance or care 
 whicii he could bestow on the navaga- 
 tionofthe vessel, should be wanting 
 either on liis part or that of his 
 officers. 
 
 He must also he able to show that he 
 did take every known and needful pre- 
 caution to avoid the disaster, and did 
 exercise all tliat watcufulness which is 
 required by a master jf a vessel haviny 
 a valuable car^o on board. 
 
 Therefore, in order to avoid risk as 
 much as possible to the vessel, if he 
 goes below at any time for the purpose 
 of taking a rest, he should leave proper 
 orders with his officers on deck to call 
 and acquaint him with any change 
 which miglit take place in the wind or 
 weather, during his absence. 
 
 It is liis duty to be on deck when 
 fog comes on antl the vessel is in proxim- 
 ity to the land, so that ha can see that 
 soundings are taken by the deep sea 
 lead, with sufficient frequency and care 
 for the protection of the vessel ; and he 
 should use any other known jirecautions 
 /or the s-fe navigation of the vessel, 
 ..inch may be found necessary. 
 
 It is also the duty of the Mate or any 
 certificated officer in charge of the deck, 
 to know as well as the Captain or pilot, 
 where the ship is, where she is making 
 for and why she is being steered up>n a 
 certain course, and he should at all 
 times be able to consult the chart and if 
 in any doubt, immedi.ately communicate 
 with the Captain. 
 
Pilota'je, St. John, N. B 
 
 19 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 Office of PilofatfP Antliority. \ 
 l)oniini(.ii of Caiuvta, District >■ 
 of St. .1oIi:j, N. B., 31 Dec. 1893. j 
 
 Rates of pilotav e in force 3l3t Dec., 1893, for the pilota^'e district of St. John, N. B. 
 
 On a\.\. Saimxo Vkssels, 
 
 rn;var»l, 
 1st District, i^l.oO per foot dr^inRlit of water. 
 2ii(l District, $1.75 per foot draiijjlit of water. 
 3r(l !)iHtri»^t, $2.25 per foot (Iraiijilit of water. 
 
 Outward, 
 To Pirtri(lj.'e Island, $1.25 pr-i fsnt draufriit of water. 
 Dow.: tlie Bay of Fnndy, (not compulHory), ,'?2.00 per f(Hit drauj^lit of wafer. 
 
 TltANSPORTINO. 
 
 100 tons and untl'^r $1.50 
 
 Over " ' 20tlton8 200 
 
 " 200 " " " .SOO " ... 3.00 
 
 '• 300 " " " 400 " 4.00 
 
 And 25ct8. additional for every fifty tons anch vessel shall measure over 4(X) tons. 
 
 Ox AM. Steamers, 
 
 Inward, • 
 
 1st District, $2.00 per foot draught of water. 
 2nd District, $2.50 per foot draught of water. 
 3rd District, $3.00 per foot draught of water. 
 
 Outward, 
 
 To i'aitridge Island, $1.75 per foot draught of water. 
 
 Down the Bay of Fundy, (not compulsory), $2.75 per foot draught of water. 
 
 Traxsportino 
 
 100 tons and under $2.00 
 
 Overioo " " " 200ton8 2.50 
 
 «' 200 " " " 300 " 3.75 
 
 " 300 " " " 400 " 5.00 
 
 And SOcts. additional for every fifty tons .such steamer shall measure over 
 
 400 tons. 
 
 (Signeu' J. U. Thom'as, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
20 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 Office of Pilotage Authority, 
 District of St. John, N 
 May 22nd 1894. 
 
 ty,) 
 
 Rates of Pilotage for all vcsaels (not otherwise exempt) entering and leaving 
 the port of St. John, N. B. 
 
 INWARD OUTWARD 
 
 Pel foot draught of water. 
 
 On all Sailing Vessels (not 
 otherwise exempt) of 
 
 ao tons and under 200 tons 
 
 200 
 
 aoo 
 
 400 
 
 600 
 800 
 1000 
 1200 
 1400 
 1(100 
 1800 
 
 " 300 '• 
 
 " 400 " 
 
 " 600 " 
 
 " 800 " 
 
 " 1000 " 
 
 " 1200 " 
 
 •' 1400 " 
 
 " 1(100 " 
 
 " 1800 •• 
 
 " 2000 '• 
 
 *^ 
 
 •a w 
 
 _-*J 
 
 •.^ 
 
 >> 
 
 
 5-^ 
 
 ^5 
 
 
 §3 
 
 h h 
 
 O »" 
 
 .S u 
 
 b b 
 
 ■r^ W 
 
 ZJ ^ 
 
 ^ *^ 
 
 ...H W 
 
 
 a 
 
 1- 
 
 H 
 
 fa. 2 
 Q 
 
 as 
 
 1.00 
 
 1.25 
 
 1.50 
 
 1.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.25 
 
 1.5"' 
 
 1.75 
 
 1.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.60 
 
 1.75 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.25 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.75 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.25 
 
 1.26 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.25 
 
 2.50 
 
 1.25 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.25 
 
 2.50 
 
 2.75 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.61 
 
 2.75 
 
 H.00 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.75 
 
 3.00 
 
 3.25 
 
 1.75 
 
 200 
 
 3.01) 
 
 3.25 
 
 3.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 3.29 
 
 3.50 
 
 3.75 
 
 2 25 
 
 2.00 
 
 3.50 
 
 3.75 
 
 4.00 
 
 2.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 And 25 cents jser foot, per district, for each 100 tons such Ships shall measure 
 over 2,000 tons. 
 
 
 
 
 
 INWARD. 
 
 
 OUTWARD. 
 
 All Steamers (not other- 
 
 
 Is 
 
 
 B5 
 
 PS 
 
 wl-'B e 
 
 xempt) of 
 
 =s 
 
 fa. 2 
 
 80 tons 
 
 and under 200 tons . . 
 
 1.25 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.25 
 
 2.00 
 
 200 " 
 
 
 300 " 
 
 1.50 
 
 1.76 
 
 2.26 
 
 1.25 
 
 2.00 
 
 :ioo " 
 
 
 400 " 
 
 1.75 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.60 
 
 L.-JO 
 
 2.00 
 
 400 " 
 
 
 600 " 
 
 2.25 
 
 2.50 
 
 2.75 
 
 1.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 600 " 
 
 
 800 " 
 
 2.60 
 
 2.76 
 
 3.00 
 
 1.75 
 
 2.00 
 
 800 " 
 
 
 1000 " 
 
 2.75 
 
 3.00 
 
 3.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 1000 " 
 
 
 1200 tons .. 
 
 3.00 
 
 3.25 
 
 3.75 
 
 2.25 
 
 2.00 
 
 1200 " 
 
 
 1400 " 
 
 3.25 
 
 3.50 
 
 4.00 
 
 2.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 1400 " 
 
 
 1600 " 
 
 3.50 
 
 3.75 
 
 4.60 
 
 2.50 
 
 2.00 
 
 1600 " 
 
 
 1800 " 
 
 3.75 
 
 4.00 
 
 4.75 
 
 2.75 
 
 200 
 
 1800 " 
 
 
 2000 " 
 
 4.00 
 
 4.50 
 
 6.00 
 
 3.00 
 
 2.00 
 
 And 25 cents per foot, per district, for each 100 tons such Steamers shall measure 
 over 2000 tons. 
 
 Note: — The above rate on Steanieivj not to apply to Steamers trading regu- 
 larly to St. John; they to pay the same rate as sailing vessels. 
 
 (3gd.) 
 
 J. U. TlIOMAs, SeCfutUryi 
 
d leaving 
 
 1 measure 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 21 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 Department of Marine and Fisheries. 1 
 Ottawa, 21st Augu; ., 1894. ( 
 
 Refer to No. 5566. 
 
 Sir:— I have to acknowledge receipt of 
 your letter of the 16th instant in refer- 
 ence to the matter of payment to the 
 Pilotage Commissioners of St. John for 
 attendaii .;e on meetings and requesting 
 copies of correspondence and also of any 
 order or authority given for any such 
 payment, and in reply I enclose here- 
 with for the information of the Board of 
 Trade copy of order in council of the 20th 
 March last, providing for the payment to 
 the commissioners of expenses incurred 
 by the commissioners in the discharge 
 of their duty, and also of correspondence 
 in the matter. 
 
 I am sir, your obedient servant, 
 (Signed) Wm. Smith, 
 
 Deputy Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 
 
 Ira Cornwall, Esq., 
 Secretary Board of Trade,St. John, N. B. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 (Copy.) 
 
 Department of Marine and Fisheries. \ 
 Ottawa, 6th March, 1894. / 
 
 Sir:— I have the honor to enclose 
 herewith a. by-law passed by the Pilot- 
 age authority of the District of St. John 
 N. B., providing for payment of expenses 
 of Commissioners, and I have to request 
 that yoa will be good enough to inform 
 me whether there is any legal objection 
 to the By-law. I beg in this connection 
 to refer you to your letter of the 26th 
 October 1891, No. 504 of 1891, relating to 
 the Halifax authority. I am, etc., 
 
 Wm. Smith. 
 Deputy Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 
 
 E. L. Nkwcxjmbb, Esq. 
 Deputy Minister of Justice. 
 
 (Copy) 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 No. 2. 
 Office of Pilotage Authority, 
 Dominion of Canada, District 
 ofS!;. John, N. B., 
 
 Ist March, 1894. 
 
 Sir: — I have been instructed to for- 
 ward tr you the enclosed by-law, passed 
 by a meeting oftbe Board held this day, 
 for the approval of his Excellency the 
 Governor General in Council. 
 
 Trusting the matter will receive your 
 early attention. 
 
 I have the honor to be, Sir, 
 Your obedient Servant. 
 
 J. U. Thomas, 
 Secretary St. John Pilot Commissioners. 
 
 Wm. Smith, Esq. 
 Deputy Minister of Marine & Fisheries. 
 
 (Copy.) 
 
 Sir: 
 
 Department of Justice. 1 
 Ottawa, 12th March 1894. / 
 
 In reply to your letter of the 6th 
 instant No. 5566, enclosing copy of a 
 by-law jjassed bj the Pilotage Anf.hority 
 of the District of St. John N, B., I have 
 the honour to state that, in my opinion, 
 there is no legal objection to the propos- 
 ed by-law being approved. 
 
 I have to thank you for your reference 
 to my predecessor's letter of October 1891 
 relating to a b^'-law passed by the Hali- 
 fax Pilotage Authority. 
 Papers returned herewith, 
 I am &c. 
 
 E. L. Newcombk. 
 Deputy Minister of Justice. 
 
 The Deputy Minister of Marine and 
 Fisheries, Ottawa. 
 
22 
 
 Pilotage, Rt. John, N. B. 
 
 '|! 
 
 No. 5. 
 (Copy) _ 
 
 Certified copy of a report of a committee 
 of tlie Honourable tiie Privy Council, ap- 
 proved by His Excellency le Governor 
 General in Council, on the 28th March, 
 1894. 
 
 The Minister of Marine and Fisheries 
 sulmiits herewith for approval a by-law 
 passed by Ihe Pilotage Authority of the 
 District of St. John N. B., on the 1st 
 March 1894, providing for repayment 
 to the Commissioners of expenses nec- 
 essarily incurred in the discharge of 
 their duties. 
 
 The Minister states that the by-law 
 
 has been submitted to the Department 
 
 of Justice, and the Deputy Minister h;),s 
 
 reported that in his opinion there is no 
 
 legal objection to it. 
 
 The committee submit the same for 
 
 Your Excellency's approval. 
 
 Joseph Pope, 
 
 Assistant clerk of the 
 
 Privy Council. 
 To the Honourable 
 
 The Minister of Marine and Fisheries. 
 
 Each Ccmmissioner shall be entitled to 
 be repaid any expenses necessarily in- 
 curred by him in the discharge of his 
 duty as such Commissioner; provided 
 however that no Commissioner shall re- 
 ceive more than one hundred dollars, or 
 the chairman more than two hundred 
 dollars, for their expenses in any one 
 year. 
 
 J. U. Thomas, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 (Copy) 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 OfTu^e of Pilotage Authority, ) 
 D(miiniun of Canada.District f- 
 ofSt.Jolin,N.B. ,1st March 1894 J 
 By-law to provide for the payment of 
 the St. John Pilot Commissioners. 
 
 No. 7. 
 (Copy) 
 
 Department of Marine and Fisheries. 
 Ottawa, April 13th, 1894. 
 Sir.— Referring to hiy letter of the 16th 
 ultimo with reference to by-law passed 
 by t'-e pilotage aiitiiority of the district 
 ot St. John, N. B., I beg to inform you 
 that an order in council issued on the 
 28th ultimo sanctioning the repayment 
 to the commissioners of expenses neces- 
 sarily incurred in the discharge of their 
 duties. 
 
 I will forward you a copy of the Can- 
 ada Gazette containing the orde; in 
 council when issued. I am &c,, 
 
 Wm. Smith. 
 .1. U. Thomas, Esq., 
 
 Secretary Pilotage Commissioners. 
 St. John, N. B. 
 
 ■ 
 
'W/t 
 
 Pilotage St. John, ?' B. 
 
 2:^ 
 
 3 entitled to 
 jssarily in- 
 .r^e of liis 
 ; provided 
 er shall re- 
 dollars, or 
 hundred 
 any one 
 
 
 HOMAS, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 Fisheries, 
 th, 1894. 
 
 jfthe 16th 
 iw passed 
 he district 
 form you 
 id on the 
 epayment 
 ses neces- 
 ;e of their 
 
 ' the Can- 
 ordei in 
 c, 
 
 , Smith. 
 
 Pilotage at Portland, Me. 
 
 Portland, Me., August 9th, 1894. 
 
 Messrs. Scainmell Bros., 
 
 St. John, N. B. 
 Dear Sirs : — 
 
 Your favor of tha 8th inst. at hand and 
 contents noted. The pilotage here is not 
 compulsory, and there are no branch pilots. 
 Most of the piloting is done by fishermen, 
 who pick the vessels up while engaged at 
 their business. In the absence of any spe- 
 cified trade made with the captain they can 
 collect $2.00 per foot on sailing vessels. 
 
 Frequently captains make a trade at mucn 
 less rate. 
 
 During the winter season, while the re- 
 gular lines of steamers are running here, 
 each line has their pilots, and they then 
 have regular pilot boats, and go out cruis- 
 ing tor the steamers. They get $3.00 per 
 foot for piloting them inwards, and $1.25 
 per foot outwards. 
 
 We have no pilotage law. 
 
 Any further information we can give you 
 on the subject we will gladly furnish. 
 Yours v-jry truly, 
 (Signed) Chase Leavitt & Co. 
 
 loners. 
 
2-k 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, JV. £, 
 
 APPENDIX G. 
 
 Extracts trom Report of the Special Committee of thn St. Jotin Board) of Trade on 
 the Bay of Fundy and Port of St. John, N. B. January, 1887. 
 
 On tfie 27th January, 1887, the report of a Special Committee on the Bpy of Fundy 
 and Tort of St. John, N. B., consisting of Messrs. R. Cruikshank, Andre Cushing 
 aud W. E. Vroom, was read at a meeting of the St. John Board of Trade. It has 
 been proposed to reprint this valuable report; but, even during the short period 
 which has elapsed since its p.. paration, important changes have taken nlace in con 
 nection with the harbour of Saint John The map published with the report could 
 not show the Intercolonial Railway extension northwesterly from the L C. R. II. 
 wharf to the wharves extending from Water Street, and the warehouses built by the 
 City at the termination of the line ; for that extension, furnishing facilities for the ready 
 transhipment of the cargoes of two more largo steamers, had not then been carried 
 out. Nor could it give th(; (Hty wharves and the Canadian I'acific railway wharves, 
 freight sheds, and grain elevator, completed on the opposite side of the harbour 
 durtng the last four or five years. 
 
 It has been finally decided to reprin*^ at present some extracts from this report, 
 bearing more particularly upon the navigation of the Bay of Fundy and the harbour 
 of St. John, in conn. • ion with the Report on Pilotage, presented to the Board in 
 September 1894. Ti 'se extracts seem to confirm the views of ^he Pilotage Commit- 
 tee that there are no ilifficulties in connection with the ordinary navigation of these 
 waters, that cannot be overcome by the exercise of prudence and skill on the part 
 of shijis' olhcers in the mercantile marine ; while the visits of 11. M. S. " Blake." the 
 flagship of the North American squadron, in August 180:5 and June 1894, coupled 
 with the stat'Mnents in the extracts, show very clearly that the largest vessels can be 
 brought in safety to the harbour of Saint John, even at those periods of the year 
 when fog3 are most prevalent along the North American coast. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM REPORT AND APPENDICES. 
 
 "That a stretch of water such as the Bay of Fuudy. and a harbor such as that of St. 
 John, which have been fretjuented for the last hundred years by such a vast number 
 of both sailing vessels and steamers, of the largest class, should "be so little understood, 
 is very imaccountable." 
 
 "One of the reasons for so many er, ous ideas prevailing, is attributable to the 
 very incorrect and biassed information given in recently published charts, which mag- 
 nify and misrepresent the difficulties attending the navig.ation of the Bay of Fundy. 
 
Pilotage, St. John, N. B 25 
 
 We would instance one of these Charts which has come under our notice, entitled "A 
 Chart of the Coast of North America from the Strait of Belleisle to Boston", published 
 by one Charles Wilson, in London, in the year 1877 In a memorandum on that 
 ■nart opposite to the entrance to the Bay of Fundy, occurs the following remark, 
 to which your conmittee would call particular attention. 
 
 ^^ yUps navigating the Bay of Fundy have to encounter on atmosphere almost con- 
 Mtly envelopes in dense fogs; the tides setting with great rapidity over the 
 ^^ rocks and shoals, with which it abounds, and a difficulty of obtaining anchorage on 
 ^^ account of the depth, so that under these circumstances the most unremitting attention 
 ' is requisite to prevent disastrous consequences, which must necessarily attend a want 
 '' of knowledge and caution."" 
 
 From the tenor of the above statement, and many others of a similarly unfair and 
 untruthful kmd which have been met with, it is no wonder that strangers should feel in- 
 clined to give a w.de berth to a place represented as being so dangerous. In giving 
 rebutting evidence against such statements as the above, vour committee have applied 
 onlv to sources known to be of the most reliable kind, on whose truth and accuracy 
 the utmost dependence can bv3 placed. 
 
 First, then : As to the statement that "the atmosphere of the Bay of Fundy is con- 
 stantly enveloped in dense fogs," your committee would ask reference to a statement 
 made up from the account regularly kept by the keeper of the fog whistle situated at 
 
 PARTRIDGE ISLAND 
 at the entrance to the harbor of St. John, tor the winter months for 17 years from 
 1870 to 188t), both inclusive. (See No. 1 of Appendix.) The fog average was : 
 Months. 
 
 November ^- f; 
 
 December 
 
 January !.!...**. 91 2I 
 
 ?;^7^^ ; 16 46 
 
 ^^'l^'^ 17 56 
 
 ^P"^ 40 4 
 
 A total of "777 "77 
 
 116 11 
 
 or an average per month of 19 hours and 22 minutes, or 38 minutes per day. 
 
 And from a comprehensive return by the same party (No. 2 of Appendix,*) made 
 up for the whole year during a period of 21 years from 1865 to 1885, j our committee 
 gather the information that the whistle was sounded trom all causes on an average each 
 month during the months of 
 
 January H days. May U days. September 4 days. 
 
 Februarys do June 6 do October ^ do 
 
 Mai oh 3 do July Ih do November U Jo 
 
 ^P"l 2d do August 7i do December 3 do 
 
 or an average of 3 hours and 22 minutes per day during the 21 years. 
 *Thi» Appendix haj uol been reprinted. 
 
26 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, M. B. 
 
 Your committee would remark that much of the time put down in this return as re- 
 quinng the whistle to be sounded in the summer months, is not from fog alone, but 
 from smoke from the burning of the forest in proximity to the shores of the B^y of 
 Fundy, and in winter from vapor arising from the water of the Bay caused by the ex- 
 treme cold prevalent in the months of January and February. 
 
 There is also to be found in No. ;5 of the Appendix* a statement made up from the 
 returns by the keepers of the fog whistles situated at Machias Seal Island. Head Harbor 
 Pomt Lepreaux, and Partridge Island, showing the state of the atmosphere in the 
 Bay of Fundy during the winter months of 1883-84 and 1884-85, from which it will be 
 seen that during the six winter months of those two years, at the four stations named, 
 there was, on an average, only ;5o minutes of fog per day." 
 
 "As an evidence of the opinion entertained by underwriters of the safety of the 
 navigation of the Bay of Fundy, we are authorized in saying that the agents in St. John 
 for manne insurance companitvs are taking risks from St. John direct to Europe at the 
 same rate of premium as from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from Boston and Portland, 
 thus mmimizmg the dangers of the Bay, which have been made such a handle of by 
 parties who are interested in disparaging the character of our port." . 
 
 " The coast all along from the entrance of the Bay of Fundy to the harbor of St. 
 Jon- IS so thoroughly protected by fog whistles, automati(.- whistling buoys, and 
 lighthouses, that it must proceed from the greatest carelessness or unseaworthiness 
 (unless in veiy exceptional cases) that a vessel should go ashore or even touch bot- 
 tom. From the entrance to the Bay of Fundy at Machias Seal Island by way of the 
 north or west channel, and at Biiar Island, on the south channel, to the harbo'r of St 
 John, vessels do not lose the sound of one fog whistle or automatic buoy until they 
 catch the sound of another, and the soundings by the lead are so regular and the' 
 anchorage so good, especially at the entrance of St. John harbor, that danger is re- 
 duced to a minimum, even in the thickest weather. Pilots state that they dread more 
 to enter Boston or Portland or Halifax harbors during a fcg than they do St. John 
 and vessels bound to New York, Boston and Portland have sometimes to lie longer 
 outside those harbors for tide than at St. John : and when foggy weather prevails, it 
 IS generally as densi? (if not more so) at Portland and along the coast of the State' of 
 INIaine as it is in the Bay of Fundy. In winter, fogs an very rare. They are more 
 frequent in the months of Jun.^ July and August, but seldom continue so thick for 
 days m succession as to preclude seeing lan.l in the Bay, and neither fog nor snow 
 prove a bar to delay to steam vessels, the navigation of the Bay being so simple- 
 there being no treacherous shoals or rocks in the way from the mouth of the Bav to 
 the Port of St. John. We may instance the steamers of the International Steamship 
 Company, which have plied between St. John and the port of Boston for a period 
 extending over a (piarter of a century, making three and four trips per week, each 
 way, for part of the year, and two trips each way, per week, in winter, carrying an 
 immense number of passengers and very large quantities of freight, and never lost a 
 single life in all that time on that route. During the past thirty year^ passenger 
 *Not reprinted. 
 
Pilota<je, St. John, N. B. 2I 
 
 steamers have been running between St. John and the western part of Nova Scotia 
 and during all that time not one was lost, thus proving that neither fog nor snow in- 
 terfere with steam vessels in their passage to or from the harbor of St. John where 
 proper care is taken. ' 
 
 IN THE MATTER OF ICE 
 
 in winter, your committee may confidently assert that there is not a port north of 
 Cape Hatteras so entirely tree from ice as St. John is. The ice which forms on the St 
 John river and its tributaries terminates at the Narrows, some three miles above the 
 falls, which are situated about a mile above St. John harbor, and is completely de- 
 barred from escaping into the harbor by these narrows, so that there is no shell or 
 anchor ice m the harbor in fall or winter, and in spring the thick heavy ice of the 
 river is thoroughly rotted before breaking up and coming through the falls, and any 
 reninants of any considerable size are thoroughly pulv.3rized in coining over the falls • 
 and as to the formation of ice within the harbor, it is impossible, owing to the greai 
 rise and fall of the tide Again, there is never any field ice in the Bay below^hl 
 port This can hardly be said of any other port on the coast north of Baltimore • in 
 fact there is no port north of Baltimore, including Philadelphia, New York, Boston, 
 i^ortland and Halifax, tliat have not been frozen over, and had vessels cut out of the 
 ice in them, except St. John. Shipmasters and owners of vessels, therefore, may be 
 fully assured that no damage can be sustained from river, harbor or bay ice in navi- 
 gating the Bay of Fundy, or in the harbor of St. John. Under the accumulation of 
 evidence which your committee have been enabled to place before the Board thev 
 feel that they ^ 
 
 MAY SAFELY ASSUME 
 
 1st. That the navigation of the Bay of Fundy, from its month to St. John is re- 
 markably simple and free, whether by the south or west channels ; so much so that 
 pilots prefer making the port of St. John in bad weather to any other port on the coast. 
 
 2nd. J hat the fog or cold vapor never occasions delay of steam vessels in summer 
 or winter, and that there is never the slightest obstruction from ice. 
 
 3rd. That Atlantic steamships need make but one straight course from their regular 
 track to Portland and Boston up the Bay of Fundy to St. John. 
 
 4th. That the south channel, opening into the Bay, is 18 miles in width at the nar- 
 rowest part, expanding rapidly to 35 or 40 miles of unobstructed deep water naviga- 
 tion, which holds good all the way up the Bay to the mouth of St John harbor where 
 superior holding ground can be found ; or giving clear sea room, of say 35 by 50 
 miles, to a stranger who might not feel confidence to enter o-jr port in a storm 
 
 5th. That both the largest war and merchant ships have visited our harbor, except- 
 ing the -'Great Eastern,'' and that she could easily be accommodated. 
 
 6th. That the port of St. John, in so far a. navigation is concerned, is not only 
 •'one of the safest" but actually THE SAFEST PORT, summer and winter- nil H,; 
 year round, north of Cape Hatteras." 
 
28 
 
 Pilotai/e, St. John, N. B. 
 
 a -. 
 
 
 *-£> 3>^ eo «o -* 
 
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Filotatje, St. John, N. B. 29 
 
 Appendices Nos. 2 and 3 are not reprinted. 
 
 Appendix No. 4. 
 Compiled Statement of Fog, Snow, Vapour, Rain and Smoke in the Bay of Fundy 
 %m\8Zt Isslr^^^'^^ ^''""'"'' '^""""'■^' ^'''■"''"^' ^"''^ ''"^ ""P"''' 
 
 NOVEMBER. 
 
 1880 
 1881 
 1882 
 1883 
 1884 
 1885 
 1886 
 
 1880 
 1881 
 
 im-A 
 
 1883 
 1884 
 1885 
 1886 
 
 Foo. 
 
 Total, 91 
 
 H. M. 
 
 11.55 
 16.35 
 13.15 
 26.00 
 2.40 
 20.50 
 
 7.30 
 
 &2.00 
 9.00 
 
 Total, 38.30 
 
 DECEMBER. 
 
 53.30 
 11.55 
 35.50 
 66.30 
 42.30 
 58 15 
 
 7.50 
 
 2.40 
 21.50 
 78.50 
 12.15 
 
 268.30 
 
 123.25 
 
 56.40 
 
 7.40 
 
 
 .40 
 
 9.30 
 
 2.30 
 
 5 05 
 
 10.40 
 
 9.50 
 
 22.25 
 
 83.40 
 
 12.45 
 
 3.10 
 
 61.15 
 
 JANUARY. 
 
 1880 
 
 
 1881 
 
 7.45 
 
 1S82 
 
 4.15 
 
 1883 
 
 14.35 
 
 1884 
 
 ^J 20 
 
 1885 
 
 
 1886 
 
 9.30 
 
 Total, 72.25 
 
30 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B. 
 
 Appknwx No. \.— Continued. 
 Compiled Statement of Fog, Snow, Rain, etc., (Continued.) 
 
 
 
 FEBRUARY. 
 
 
 
 
 Fog. 
 
 Snow. 
 
 Vapour. 
 
 Rain. 
 
 Smoke. 
 
 
 11. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 1880 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1881 
 1882 
 1883 
 1884 
 1885 
 
 25.20 
 11.05 
 12.25 
 65 35 
 
 77.45 
 95.25 
 43.15 
 75.40 
 
 6.20 
 
 13.35 
 3 20 
 
 24.00 
 7.15 
 
 4 10 
 3.00 
 
 3 25 
 
 1886 
 
 13.55 
 
 57.05 
 349.10 
 
 98.25 
 
 42.40 
 
 3.30 
 
 Tota 
 
 il, 128 20 
 
 104.45 
 
 90.50 
 
 14.05 
 
 MARCH. 
 
 1880 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1881 
 1882 
 1883 
 1884 
 1885 
 
 7 35 
 16.30 
 
 2.50 
 16.30 
 
 25.15 
 76.00 
 68 35 
 83.40 
 
 2.00 
 
 9.45 
 17.35 
 26.20 
 10.16 
 
 2.30 
 10.10 
 
 1886 
 
 17.20 
 I, 60.45 
 
 119.05 
 
 4.00 
 
 17.50 
 
 
 Tota 
 
 372.35 
 
 6.00 1 
 
 81.45 
 
 12.40 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 1880 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1881 
 
 820 
 
 20.55 
 
 
 7.30 
 
 
 1882 
 
 39.15 
 
 71.15 
 
 
 13.30 
 
 
 1883 
 
 49.30 
 
 21.55 
 
 
 7.25 
 
 
 1884 
 
 22.40 
 
 10.10 
 
 
 9.00 
 
 18.40 
 
 1885 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1886 
 
 99.50 
 
 9.30 
 133.45 
 
 .50 
 
 5.15 
 
 2.30 
 
 Tota 
 
 l1, 219.35 
 
 .50 
 
 42.40 
 
 21.10 
 
 / 
 
Pilotage St. John, H. B. 
 
 ai 
 
 Appendix No. A,— Continued, 
 
 AVERAGES. 
 
 Of Compiled Statement of Fog, etc., at all the Fog Whistle Statiotu> in the Bay oj 
 Fundyfor the months of November, Dectmber, January, February, March and 
 April, from 1880 to 1885, both inclrmve. 
 
 November . . 
 December.-. 
 January . . . . 
 February . . . 
 
 March 
 
 April 
 
 Sums. 
 
 Means . 
 
 Or per day. 
 
 Foo. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 15.12 
 6.2.5 
 12.04 
 21.23 
 10.08 
 36 S6 
 
 101.48 
 
 16.58 
 
 34. 
 
 Snow. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 11.52 
 44.45 
 50.30 
 58.02 
 62.11 
 22 18 
 
 249.. 38 
 
 41.36 
 
 1.23 
 
 Vapouh 
 
 H. M. 
 
 20.40 
 
 39.10 
 
 17.28 
 
 1.00 
 
 .10 
 
 78.28 
 
 13.04 
 
 .26 
 
 Rain. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 17.03 
 
 9.27 
 
 8.02 
 
 15.08 
 
 13.38 
 
 7.07 
 
 70.25 
 
 11.44 
 
 Smokk. 
 
 n. M. 
 7.15 
 
 10.13 
 2.43 
 3.11 
 2.07 
 3.31 
 
 29.00 
 
 4.50 
 
 .10 
 
32 
 
 Pilot aye, St. John, N. B. 
 
 APPENDIX NO. 5. 
 (Letter from Capt. W. A. Robinson.) 
 
 St. John, December 4th, 1886. 
 The St. John Board of Trade, 
 
 rjKNTr.KMKN,— Having read various reports in the papers concerning the Bay of 
 Fundy, I, as a seaman and mates employed in tfie coasting and foreign trade of ^he Bay 
 of Fundy, from 1819 to 1824; and from that time until 1802, as master of St. John 
 and other ships, in foreign trade ; bog leave to m>>ke some statements concerning the 
 navigation of the Bay of Fundy. 
 
 In my many years' experiences, I have not met with any trouble from fogs, tides, 
 shoals or shores. On one occasion (while mate) I returned to St John in an p]nglish 
 vessel, the master of which had nevci been in the Bay of Fundy. He consulted me 
 on the dangers of navigating the Bay. I recommended him to make Cape Sable bank 
 and from that point, with attention to the soundings, he could avoia all the impedi- 
 ments that lay in his way, and with my assistance he brought his vessel to anchorage 
 near Masquash. On nearing the Bay we obtained a St. John [)ilot. 
 
 My many years' experience warrants me in affirming that the Bay of Fundy can be 
 navigated with as much ease and safety in sununer fogs and winter snows as any other 
 port in North America, notwithstanding all the unfavorable reports of ignorant or 
 prejudiced persons. 
 
 In respect of the great rise and fall of tides, they are a great convenience and no 
 obstruction to navigation I have never met those various and uncertain currents so 
 much spoken of, and, consequently, dreaded by strangers. As to charts, I prefer to 
 use the Biitish Admiralty publications. 
 
 The rocks and shoals in the Bay of Fundy are all within fjie line of soundings, and 
 with proper attention with a 'ead, may be avoided, there being a clear channel of 182 
 miles on a direct course ^om Cape Sable bank to St. John harbor. I ask my brother 
 shipmasters to pardon my recommending to them lo be .uui-e attentive in the use of 
 the lead, and they would avoid many of the rocks and shoals on which they may have 
 been wrecked I am, yours truly, 
 
 W. A. ROBINSON. 
 
 Appendix No. 6 is not reprinted. 
 
 APPENDIX NO. 7. 
 
 (Letter from Capt. B. B. Bustin.) 
 
 St. John, December 9th, 1886. 
 The St. John Board of Trade, 
 
 Gentlemen,— Having followe<I the sea fo,- over half a cer*ury, and during that 
 time having sailed out of St. John regularly from f(jur to five times a year for ten 
 years, an! often afterwards, lean give an opinion of the Bay of Fundy from long 
 experience. During the period from 1835 to 184.5 I sailed between here and the 
 
 X 
 
 ,/ 
 
Pilotdge, at. John, K. B. 
 
 38 
 
 West Indies as masUT of a vessel, and never met with the bliifhte.st accident in the 
 Bay ofFiindy. At that time we had longer spells ot and thicker lo^; tlian new, and 
 there were only five or six lights in the Hay ; yet by keeping a man on the look ont 
 and lead going, I found no trouble in conung up the Bay. I have time and ajjain 
 entered the Bay of Fundy in a dense fog, and have never seen land till I made the ])ort of 
 St. John. Several times I have come up the harbor on a cold winter night in a 
 heavy gale, when it was impossilde to get a pilot, and that, too. v.ithout any great ddli- 
 eidty, although there were no buoys in the harbor. Witii our numerous lighthouses, 
 fog horns, and buoys now in use, it is an easy matter to make our port I v.ould far 
 rather take my chances in the liay of Kuiidy, making for St -lohn in fog, snow or 
 storm, than fu enter the ports of Boston or Portland under iie same conditions. 
 The Bay of Fundy is a safe bay, for one can always have plenty of diift and can 
 readily tell where he is by the soundings. I consiiler St. John to ue easier of access 
 than anv port on the Atlantic coast. 
 
 r-'AF']'. B. B. BUSTIN. 
 
 APPENDIX NO. H. 
 
 (Tietter from Capt. Joseph Prichard.) 
 
 St. John, N. B., Deceml)er l;}th, 1H8G. 
 The St. John Hoard of Trade, 
 
 (iKXTLEMEN,— I have frequently come to the Hay of Fundy for twenty-eight ye8>'s, 
 and sometimes about five days before arrving in port, could not get a meridian 
 altitude, and consecjuently, had to trust entirely to the lead and distance. I have 
 always found soundings on Sable Ts'and bank trant^parent sand, and tii'i deep water 
 soundings between the banks and the coast of Nova Scotia always mud bottom. 
 
 La Have bank the lead strikes hard on a very fine sand at f. om forty to fifty 
 fath -Ills, and on the east of f'a{)e Sable the bottom is rocky, and, w!ien on the bank, 
 coarse sand ; and as we approached the west side of Caj)e Sable bank the soundings are 
 black gravel and shells, then the Bay is open to the north, but it is best to keep on to 
 the westward until the water deepens to seventy, eighty, or ninety fathoms, and after 
 that to get on the edge of the bank and sail parallel to the edge in about fiity fathoms 
 till abreast of the Lurcher, when the water will shoal to aliout tliirt}'-five I'atlioms, 
 and by keeping on the same course the water will get deeper, and not to get into less 
 than fifty fathoms till you get abreast of Briar Island. The shoal water at the 
 Lurcher will indicate the distance up the Bay, and, conseipiently, the distance to run 
 till abreast of Briar Island, and in about eighty to ninety fathoms, when we 
 can shape on:* course N. E. by north for Partridge Island. By keei)ing a good look- 
 out we often see the land from the masthead, over the fog, when you cannot se(! much 
 more then the length of the ship from the deck, auv, in very eo'd weataer, in the 
 winter, the vapors seldom rise higher than the ship's lower masthead. In the sailing 
 directions the method of taking the passage is up west of Grand Manan, but I always 
 preferred the east of flrand Manan, as it is much the shorter, and I have never had 
 
34 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, ^\ B. 
 
 an acoidi'nt. In beating along the soutl: coast of Nova Scotia, in a fog or vapor, with 
 
 the wind S. W., I would not stand inshore nearer tlian forty fathoms ot water. 
 
 As far as the vapor or fog is concerned, going to P)Oston or Portland you have the 
 
 same to contend with. 
 
 J. I'HICHAIIJ). 
 Appendices Nos. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are not reprinted. 
 
 APPENDIX NO. 13. 
 
 (Statement from Capt. ('has. S. Taylor, Harbor IMaster of St John.) 
 The St. John Board of Trade. 
 
 (Jkntlkmkn ;— I was about twenty year.s a pilot in the Bay of Fundy, I have 
 l)rought many steamships up the Bay of Fundy in the sunnner time ; not many in the 
 winter, as during the time I was pilot steamships did not come regularly from seaward 
 in the winter, with the except! >n of the Allan Line. I would have no hesitation, as 
 a pilot, in bringing any of the largest mail steamers to th(( port of St John all through 
 the year, summer or winter, but would prefer the winter, the atmosphere, as a rule, 
 l)eing more clear then. With a steamer drawing twenty-seven feet of wattT, the 
 harbor of St. John can be entered about half flood. I consid 'r a large ship safa at 
 the railway wharf in any weather. I consider the corporation ])ier, however, a safer 
 wharf; the dtspth of water at that wharf is thirty feet at the south end and twenty- 
 five feet at the north end, twelve feet from the pier. I consider the anchorage 1 1 
 Partridge Island, at the mouth of the harbor, excellent. The channel could be dredged 
 to a sufficient depth I'.u- ships of any draught of wat^r at low tide. I consider the 
 John HobertsoL wharves well suited for permanent wharves for steamers of large size, 
 and a very suitable wharf could be built ac Sand Point, Carleton, by adding to the 
 present, there being twenty-seven feet at low water springs.* J consider the holding 
 ground in the harbor to be very good. Th(! steamer "Kansas'" loaded at the railway 
 pier, about three years ago, and she drew twenty-s' v .eet. At this time there were 
 nine steamers in the harbor at one time, two of them respectively of ^,270 tons and 
 5,146 tons, and the other seven from 1,600 to 3,000 tons each I consider the naviga- 
 tion of the Bay of Fundy as easy and safe as any place I know of; the running courses 
 are few and simple, and the very few obstructions are hardly worth mentioning. 
 
 CHAKLES S.TAYLOR, 
 
 Harbor Master. 
 
 APPENDIX NO. 14. 
 (Statement from Puehard Cline. one of the St. John liranch Pilots.) 
 
 St John, 7th January, 1H87. 
 The St. John Board of Trade. 
 
 (Jkntlemen,— 1 have been about thirty-nine years a St. Juliii pilot, and have been 
 in the habit of taking charge of steam and sailing vessels outside of Briar Lshuid, at 
 
 ♦This Ims since broii iloiic. 
 
 X 
 
Pilotage, St. John, iV. B. 
 
 35 
 
 the mouth ot the Bay of Fundy. T have brought many steamers of the Anchor Line 
 and others from Halifax, and some from New York, and T have brought many ships 
 of war, both British and United States, into the harbor of St. John. I was j.ilot on 
 board H. M. S. " Northampton,'' drawing twenty-six feet, from Halifax here in 
 August, 1S7S. We harbored at Liverpool. N. S., Flagg's Cove, Grand Manan, 
 Bliss Harbor, and Digby, and from thence to St. John, and then back to Halifax. 
 The weather was thick most of the time. I had no difficulty. At the time of the 
 Trent affair I brought several troop ships in here, boarding them in Halifax. I had 
 the "Jura," the "Calcutta." the "Australasian," the "Adriatic," 5.5/5.5 tons, and 
 many others were here that winter, brought in by other pilots. Thirty years ago 
 last summer I piloted the U. S. steamer " Mississippi" from Eastport here ; she drew 
 twenty-two feet ; the wtather was thick ; there were no fog alarms in the Bay then, and 
 we got along well enough, although the weather was thick. I also piloted the American 
 ship " Great Republic," the largest merchant sailing ship ever built. We sailed up the 
 Bay and into this port, and came to anchor in the harbor without a tug. About three 
 hours tfood would be the time to enter the harbor with a ship drawing twenty-seven feet, 
 and the same applies to Boston and Portland, Me. The navigation of the Bay of Fundy 
 compares most favorably with other ports and places where I have been. If a ship of 
 deep draught of water arrives off the harbor and has to wait for the tide, she can 
 either anchor outside Partridge Island with safety (the anchorage being excellent) or 
 she can lay off and on, there being plenty of sea room. I would rather approach St. 
 John in bad weather than any other port along the coast. During the time I have 
 been pilot, I have myself brought in two hundred steamships and have never had an 
 accident with one of them The aid of a tug is not necessary either in entering or 
 leaving the port with steamships. The land of the Bay Shore is high, and one can 
 always see it over the vi-por occasioned by extreme cold weather. It can generally 
 be seen also in tbggy weather by going aloft. The soundings are good from Cape 
 Sable into St. John, and one could come in during the densest fog by using tue lead. 
 Thi' whistles are good and numerous, but when they cannot be heard, a pilot or cap- 
 tain can come up by soundings, which are very regular. From the usual track of 
 Atlantic steamers bound to Portland a.id Boston, the navigation of the Bay by the 
 south channel is plain and simple It is a straight course from Briar Island to Part- 
 ridge Islarul, say sixty miles. In fact, those steamers, by keeping on their regular 
 course towards Portland and Boston a few extra miles west of Cape Sable more than 
 is neci'ssary to er.ter the Hay can then turn and make one straight course to Part- 
 ridge Island, at the mouth ot St. John harbor, and this without any obstructions 
 within twenty miles of the line sailed alter entering the Bay. The south channel is 
 broad, being eighteen miles wide at its narrowest part, which is at the en- 
 trance of the liay, between Briar Island and the "Old Proprietor," so 
 called. From this point inward it immediately widens to thirty-five or 
 forty miles, which width it holds good all the way to St, John without obstruction of 
 any kind. When jtiloting sailing shi[)s out of the harbor I never anchored at the 
 Island to await a chance on account of fog. I always went on. thick or clear, and 
 
36 
 
 Pilotage, St. John, N. B' 
 
 would work my ship out south channel, even beating out all the way if wind was ahead. 
 I do not consider the tides dangerous by any means, but one must, of course, have 
 some knowledge of them when entering the Bay. From Briar Island up the tides are 
 very regular. There is never any ice in the harbor to interfere with or injure ships. 
 There is never any field ice to contend with in the Bay, even in the severest weather. 
 There is about eighteen feet of water in the main channel eastward of Partridge Island 
 at low water spring tides. This could be easily dredged if desired. It would be cut 
 clear by the tide if the breakwater was extended to the Island ; that would make one 
 of the most comfortable harbors this side of Europe. 
 
 RICHARD CLINK. 
 
 1 
 
 APPENDIX i;0. U. 
 (Letter from Samuel Rutherford, Pilot for the Bay of Fundy and Harbor ot St. John.) 
 The Committee of the Board of Trade, 
 
 Gentlemen, — I have been thirty-four years a pilot in the Bay ol Fundy. 1 have 
 been to sea altogether forty-two years, and have brought large steamers of heavy 
 draught of water into the harb -of St. John. Vessels of this class can enter about 
 half flood. I consider the navigation of the Bay of Fundy quite safe in the winter 
 time — the weather being then clear, as a rule. I do not consider that vapor renders 
 navigation unsafe, as it is very seldom so high as to obstruct the view of the land — it 
 only prevails during northerly winds, and is of short duration. When coming here 
 from Halifax I have often taken charge from that port. I have often brought ships 
 through the channel between the north-west Ledge and the "Old Proprietor," by the 
 lead, and have not seen the land. I consider the holding ground of!" Partridge 
 Island to be ac good as any known. The bottom in the main channel on entering 
 this port is gravel and mud, and could be dredged for large ships. The average 
 deptli of water off the ( ustom House, at low water springs, is ten fathoms. I 
 consider the harbor of St, .Fohn easy of access in any weather, as the courses from 
 Cape Sable to St. John are few and very simple, and can be run with ease, ordinary 
 care being observed in thick weather to keep the lead going. The soundings being 
 very regular and pronounced, and the Bay of Fundy being admirably provided with 
 light houses, fog whistles and automatic buoys, makes the chance of loss or damage 
 very small indeed. I consider that the harbor of St. .lohn and its approaches compare 
 very favorably with any other harbor on this coast, as they never 'Veeze over in win- 
 ter, which cannot be j^aid of any other harbor north of Hatteras. 
 
 SAMITEL RUTHERFORD. 
 
 Appendices Nos. IT) — 20 are not reprinted.