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MARINE REVIEW. 11 Ship Yard Matters, Now that the presidential election is settled in a manner highy satisfactory to the iron ore and vessel interests of the lakes, it is more than probable that several contracts for new steel ships will be an- nounced shortly. Some of the ship builders have said, in fact, that they have negotiations under way that wére dependent upon the re- sult of the election. It is known that considerable figuring has been going on, in which the matter of price was the main consideration, and now that there is a general restoration of confidence, it is esgueaiel that owners who have thought of building new vessels will be inclined to meet the prices of builders more so than they were before the elec- tion. Although summer freights were lower than ever before on wild cargoes, the season's business as a whole has.not been unprofitable to the vessel owners. Most of them have had'some contract ore at liberal freights, and the advances of the past month in the freight market have helped to even up losses sustained during the summer months. With a profitable close of business for the season, it is quite probable that there will be considerable ship building during the winter. It is announced from West Bay City that Capt. James Davidson is preparing to lay keels for two big wooden steamers. . It is also intimated that Capt. Davidson has a scheme on foot with reference to the two big harbor tugs which he has just completed that may disturb some of the tug companies. <A plan of doing his own towing by putting these tugs into commission at one of the Lake Erie ports, probably Buffalo, is STEAMER: MUSKEGON AFTER ACCIDENT IN spoken of. On an arrangement of this kind the tugs would, of course, have to seek business other than that provided by Davidson boats, and they would therefore be competing for. general business in whatever port they may be located. ; With three big steel steamers undergoing repairs in Cleveland during the past ten days, the two ship building companies have been prompted to great efforts in showing rapid work. This competition has given Cleveland a reputation in the matter of quick work on re- pairs of steel ships. The Globe company had the Mariska and Saxon under repairs, but the work on these vessels was not as extensive as other jobs undertaken during the past summer. Repairs on the steamer L. C. Waldo, made by the Cleveland Ship Building Co., were of a very exionnive kind, and a record was made on the job. The Waldo Struck several days ago at the Encampment in the Sault river. The damage extended for about 210 feet aloug the bottom of the ship, re- quiring eighteen plates to be removed, eight of which were renewed, and _ the others re-rolled and replaced. The surface covered by the eighteen - plates amounted to about 18,000 square feet. There were eighty-eight frames bent and broken, fifty-six of which were renewed, the rest being straightened and replaced. Forty-six floors were taken out, Straightened aud replaced. The bottom* being constructed on the Cellular plan, the inside damage was much more extensive than the number of plates taken off would indicate. The longitudinal girders in the bottom were badly damaged and several plates had to be renewed. The boat was in the dry dock only eight days and eight hours. In the course of this work between 30,000 and 40,000 steel rivets were re- moved and replaced. It is again announced that the American Steel Barge Co. will build on its own account at W est Superior during the winter a whale- back steamer that will be larger than any vessel now afloat on the lakes, and which will be named Alexander McDougall. This announce- ment is very probably correct, as the barge company will close the present season with big profits, as their vessels were all contracted for ore at $1 and $1.05 from the head of Lake Superior. The tow barges 201 and 202, which were built on the Atlantic coast several years ago and brought to the lakes early in the season, have been placed in the large stationary dry dock at West Superior preparatory to being hauled out, cut in two, and lengthened 62 feet each. Repairs to the passenger steamer Nyack, made by Burger & Burger of Manitowoc, involve an expenditure of about $20,000. The vessel, which is owned by KE. 8. Crosby of Muskegon, Mich., will be rated at A1}4 in the next supplement of the Inland Lloyd's register and will be given a valuation of $35,000. Around the Lakes, J.C. Gilchrist of Cleveland purchased the small passenger steamer Favorite, which was sold by the United States marshal. A mark of the approaching close of navigation is at hand. '"The original Cleveland tug men'? announce their nineteenth annual ball MILWAUKEE DRY DOCK CO'S. DOCK. at Lang's hall, Tuesday evening, Dec. 1, 1896. The tug men are on deck early, as they know that festivities of this kind come with a rush after the first fall blow. Bartlett & Tinker, Cleveland agents of the Lake Superior Transit Co., announce that the last of the company's boats for Duluth and Lake Superior way ports will leave Cleveland on or about Nov. 7. Buffalo newspapers are advocating the establishment of a marine postoffice at some central point on the river front in that city. In all the large lake ports letter carriers find difficulty in distributing mail matter for men aboard vessels, and much of it is left at the offices of tug companies, ship chandlers, etc., to be returned later to the dead letter bureau. Mr. Laurier, Canadian premier, sarounied a delegation that called, on him recently that he favored a 30-foot channel between Montreal and Quebec and 14-foot canals west of Montreal. The channel between Montreal and Quebec is now 274 feet. The Welland canal has 14 feet of water on the sill, but between that and Montreal there is no canal with as great depth all the way through. For the second time Moses W. Humphrey of Detroit has lost ae suit against the Eddy Transportation Co., brought to recover $1,000 for commissions in effecting the sale of the sieaeaen John F. Eddy and barge John Shaw to the Detroit Dry Dock Co. in February, 1892, which company in turn resold them to the Sulphite Fiber Co. The case will be appealed to the Michigan supreme court. fi i