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MARINE REVIE VoL. XIII. CLEVELAND, O., JANUARY 23, 1806. No. 4. A Waiting Situation--Improvement in Iron. Pig iron is selling at present in the Mahoning valley at $12.50. This is a marked advance over the price of two or three weeks ago when the market was greatly depressed by transactions that grew out of specula- tion. In some quarters the advance in iron is attributed to the strong stand taken by the makers of coke and producers of iron ore, who are both set upon higher prices for their product during 1896. To some ex- tent the advance in pig iron is due tothe position of the ore and coke dealers, but it is due more largely to the fact that furnace men in at- tempting to sell against the speculative market found that they were below cost of production and were compelled to quit. The pig iron market is, therefore, again getting into the healthful position that it should hold according tosupply and demand. There is, however, no great demand as yet for iron at the advanced prices, and ore dealers are making no effort to 'force sales. They are simply awaiting the call from furnace men for new ore, knowing that their general agreement as to output and prices is binding and that thereis to be ademand for Besse- mer ore sufficient to provide a large business for allof the mines. In the meantime there can be nothing tangible about any talk of lake freights for next season. ee Pig Iron Production and Stocks. _. Everybody engaged in the iron business has for some time past been aware of the fact that the production of pig iron throughout the United States in 1895 was the greatest ever known and that stocks on hand at the close of the year were very light, but the official figures, just given out by the American Iron and Steel Association will, nevertheless, prove interesting. The report shows a production in 1895 of 9,446,308 gross tons, against 6,657,388 tons in 1894, 7,124,502 tons in 1893, 9,157,000 tons in 1892, 8,279,870 tons in 1891 and 9,202,703 tons in 1890. The produc- tion in 1895 was 2,788,920 tons, or nearly 42 per cent. more than in 1894, and 243,605 tons more than in 1890, when the largest previous production was attained. All the large pig iron producing states shared in the increased production. The most notable increase was in Pennsylvania, which produced 4,701,163 tons, or 49.76 per cent. of the total production, Alle- gheny county alone producing 2,054,585 tons. Allegheny county made 43.7 per cent. of the total production of Pennsylvania, and 590,796 tons more than all Ohio. The production of this one county in Pennylvania was more than double that of Illinois. The production of Bessemer pig iron in 1895 was 5, 623,695 tons, an increase of 1,815,128 tons over 1894. The stocks of pig iron which were unsold in the hands of manufacturers or their agents on Dec. 31, 1893, and which were not intended for their own consumption, amounted to 662,068 gross tons; on Dec. 31, 1894, 597,688 tons, and on Dec. 31, 1895, 444,332 tons. There has been a decrease in charcoal stocks from 200,687 tons to 135,033 tons, Alabama and Michigan sharing largely in the decrease. There has been an increase in bituminous stock from 129,596 tons on June 30, 1895, to 193,363 tons on Dec. 31, 1895, chiefly in Alabama and in the Shenago and Mahoning valleys. The small quantity of all unsold stock at the close of 1895 is remarkable. It was only 4.7 per cent. of the year's total production and represents about fifteen days' produc- tion of the active furnaces on Dec. 31, Prices of Fuel, The committee on steamboat fuel, which was given full power by the Lake Carriers' Association to deal with coal shippers and fueling concerns, has decided to make no change in the arrangements that pre- vailed last season at Buffalo. No fuel will be purchased under any cir- cumstances from shippers of hard coal, At Cleveland and other Ohio ports the main efforts of the committee will be directed towards trying to have the soft coal shippers name a reasonable price at which they will sell fuel to vessels furnished with cargoes. Before going to Detroit the fuel dealers of Cleveland who are not classed among the shippers made a price of $2.15 for coal from dock and $2.25 for coal from lighter. This is an advance of only 15 cents over last year's prices, which is considered reasonable in view of higher prices of mining. The advance would very probably have been greater but for the fact that one fuel dealer had made a number of contracts at the prices named and this was the means of settling the matter. The soft coal shippers will very probably demand $2.25 a ton for fuel at cargo docks, and may not yield anything to the vessel owners' committee, but this committee is empowered to act for the association throughout the season, and if nothing is gained immediately conditions may change after the season is well opened up so that vessels can run without coal cargoes if the fueling question is not pasiatieay settled. Light-House Officials Favor Gas Buoys. It is evident that the light-house board will make a strong effort to secure a large appropriation from the present congress for gas buoys, and as it is expected that the lakes will get a share of these buoy 8, Tepre- sentatives of lake districts should be urged to support any appropriation item for this purpose. The buoys will be of the Pintsch type, as 'they have been found far more serviceable than any other lighted buoy as yet introduced. The systems of electric buoys that have been tried have proven very costly and unreliable. Light-house officials are greatly pleased with the results thus far obtained from the few gas buoys in Bos- ton harbor and at Erie, Pa., and they pronounce them of the greatest permanent aid to navigation. Their plan now is to secure, if possible, appropriations for a large number of the buoys to be placed at the en- trance and along the sides of ship channels, red to starboard and white to port. Others will doubtless be used as danger signals marking obstruc- tions at points where light-houses are not erected. Clear Sailing for the Scheme of Dams. It is now more than probable that the present congress will adopt a resolution providing for an investigation of the question of regulating lake levels by adam at Niagara or by a system of dams at different - points in the connecting channels of the lakes. A sub-committee of the house committee on rivers and harbors is ready to report favorably on Repre- sentative Griswald's resolution covering this question in the house and Senator Brice has the matter well in hand in the senate, The report of the house sub-committee says: : "No other nation possesses a system of natural interior water com- munication comparable in extent and in conditions favorable to com- merce with that which the United possesses in the great lakes. 'The de- velopment of the territory bordering upon these waters is one of the marvels of our history, and has led recently to the study of new methods for improving their harbor facilities. Heretofore the work done by the government in carrying out these plans of improvement has been chiefly the removal of obstructions and the excavations of channels, but of late attention has been strongly drawn to acomparatively new plan for in- creasing and conserving the available depth of water in the harbors through the regulation and control of the level of the great lakes by a system of dams at their narrow outlets similar in principle to the Teser--_ voir system already applied to the Mississippi and other great rivers. is a fact well established that for years there has been a steady subsidence af a in the waters of the great lakes until their present level is from4to5 feet below the normal height. Navigation is already seriously hindered by this lowering of the lake levels, which causes a great sacrifice in car- rying capacity by the vessels enged in freight traffic. great value of the proposed increase in the depth of the lake harbors it must be borne in mind that the percentage of gain is to be calculated from the least depth, minus that which measures the displacement of the unloaded vessel. If this displacement be 6 féet in a 16-foot channel the To appreciate the .. =, addition of 1 foot would be 10 per cent. of gain in weight of the load to" be carried, and 3 feet of additional depth would mean an increase of car- rying power of nearly 30 per cent. to the crafts which ply the lakes. If by the system of regulation referred to this additional depth of water could be secured the same purpose would be served as though there had ~ been an equal amount of dredging. The raising and conserving of- the water level of the lakes is a matter of vast importance, indeed of vital tie- cessity to the internal commerce of the nation. The plan here suggested for accomplishing this has the support of very distinguished engineers, and in view of the magnitude of the interests involved your sub-commit- tee would respectfully recommend that the resolution be favorably re- ported." '"'Howell's Steam Vessels and Marine Engines," published by 'the American Shipbuilder, No. 7 Coenties slip, New York, is a compilation of engravings and matter that has appeared in the coluaisis of the Ship- builder from time to time, showing and describing scme of the principal steamships and steam craft, with line engravings of a number of marine engines of all kinds. About forty portraits of prominent marine men on the coast appearin the book. It will prove most interesting to marine and mechanical engineers, although there are several chapters on sailing ships and steam yachts. The price is $9.