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

} ; bs MARINE REVIEW. | 5 Neate Compromise Bridge Proposition. Kditor Marine Review :--It is not surprising that the vessel in- tersets on the great lakes are united in opposing the Detroit river bridge bill as proposed by the Michigan Central Railroad Co. The United States government annually appropriates millions of dollars to free the channels and connecting waters of the great lakes of obstructions and dangers to navigation, and the government is now asked. by a Vanderbiit railroad to permit two great stone abutments to placed in the harbor opposite the city of Detroit. There are few har- bors in the world that are as crowded with vessels as is the Detroit river during the season of navigation from April until December. During those months over 36,000,000 tons of vessel property passes up and down this river (more than the tonnage of all the Atlantic seaports combined, including New York), the river beiag less than half a mile wide at this point. Besides the through traffic there are ferry boats constantly crossing and recrossing the river and vessels rouading to at the wharves on both sides of the stream, and lying at anchor, while great timber rafts, which at times take up the entire channel, are almost daily to be seen. Two great obstructions in the harbor of Detroit, in the form of massive stone piers, would render navigation extremely dangerous, especially at night, when the lights of the city are most confusing to the mariner. (To appreciate this one must pass through the river on a dark night). Again, in winter time the strong current would jam the ice against the bridge piles and forma solid dam, perhaps delaying the opening of navigation in the spring. If a bridge is to be built, it should cross the river in a single span without piers in the harbor, or it should be built down the river (and not within the city limits as the bridge bill provides), where there is only through traffic and no ferries or vessels rounding to at wharves, and no city lights to bother the mariner. B. Ridge. Detroit, Mich., Nov. 28, 1896. (The writer of the foregoing communication submits a sketch showing railway connections and a compromise location for the proposed bridge. He would have the structure about three-quarters of a mile below Ft. Wayne, but the bridge shown on the sketch is open to one of the main objections raised by the vessel interests, as the plan indicates a pier in the center of the river.) Referring to a letter which he wrote some time ago to Senator McMillan of Michigan on the Detroit river bridge question, Capt. James Davidson brings out a new and important argument in op- position to the bill. He directs attention to the encroachments made upon the northwestern flour and grain business of late years by south- ern ports like Galveston-and Newport News, which have secured a big export trade through low freight rates made by railways leading to these points, and which have been competing for this trade with | the trunk lines and the lake and rail lines leading to New York. -- He holds that even the railroads, and especially those getting business form the lakes at Buffalo, should discourage any act that would tend to increase the amount of business that is now diverted from the northern lake route to the southern ports. New York should also be interested, he says, in this regard. One individual interest, that of the Vanderbilt's in the Michigan Central road, would alone be bene- fited by the bridge, while the question of cheap transportation, im- portant to the entire northwest and extending even to European con- Sumers, Is involved on the other side of the question. Mr. Harvey D. Goulder, counsel of the Lake Carriers'. Association, is now in Washington, preparing to oppose the bridge bill, which is due to come up in the senate on Tuesday next. It is fortunate that the commerce of Detroit river for the present season will be above 30,000, 000 tons, showing a gain over last season sufficient to cut a big figure in discussion of the bridge question. Owners of some of the smaller steel freight steamers are in two or three cases figuring on making changes in them that will fit them for carrying package freight. This is prompted by the demand that has existed durin g the past season for package freight carriers. The Kearsarge is said to be the handiest package freight steamer that goes . into Buffalo. John Tod, son of Ohio's war governor, and leading member of the firm of Tod, Stambaugh & Co., well-known Cleveland dealers in ton ore and pig iron died suddenly in Columbus, Thursday. ° 'Famous Ohio Case. Judge Severns of the United States district court has just handed. down a decision that adds another chapter to the famous Ohio case, - which grew out of the sinking of the steamer Ohio in the Sault river in 1890, through fouling with the steamers Siberia and Mather, the latter of which (the wooden Mather) has since been lost. The Ohio was adjudged to be damaged on the survey as reported by a commis- sioner to the extent of $46,347.17. Among admiralty lawyers in the . case were John C. Shaw of Detroit and C. ©. Cremer of Chicago, | for the Ohio; H. D. Goulder, Cleveland, and F. H. Canfield, Detroit, representing the Sibreia, and J. H. Hoyt Cleveland, and H. OC. Wisner and Alfred Russell, Detroit, representing the Mather. The case was first tried before Judge Hammond, who found all vessels in fault, and decreed two-thirds of the Ohio's damage against the. other boats. An important point of law here arose, and the Siberia and Mather excepted to the commissioner's report as exorbitant, and raised the question whether the owners of the Ohio had the right to recover demurrage which was included in the commissioner's report. This was made on the ground that the Ohio's owners by ' abandonment had parted with their title and right to the use of the vessel, and they therefore could not recover demurrage, which is profit that they claim they would have made from her use. Judge Severns, however, overruled all exceptions and confirmed the com- missioner's report, excepting that he adds to such report and enlarges the damages recoverable by the Ohio, by allowing interest on all claims since 1890. The total amount thus decreed aggregate ia - round numbers, $64,000. The end of this case has of course not been heard as yet. It will be passed upon by a higher court. When the two big freight steamers for A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, which are now under way in Cleveland and Chicago, are completed, _ Mr. Wolvin will have four of the largest freight carriers on the lakes. fitted with Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers, two of them having quadruple engines and two triple expansion, with steam in all cases at 250 pounds pressure. Although Mr. Wolvin is alone in this ad- vance step in marine engineering, it would seem that he has no fears _ of the results. Capt. Lyons of the Queen City, which has just been laid up after a very successful season, carrying off the record for big cargoes, says that he has had no trouble of any kind with the boilers, and on the contrary, if freights had warranted it, his boat could at any time have been pushed to 144 milgs an hour when running light in open lake. He says that fuel consumption on the Queen City is no greater than on the ordinary run of big steamers, but the points -- made in favor of the water tube boilers are mainly saving of weight and long life. He says that Mr. Wolvin is satisfied that the boilers will hold out for double the life of the ordinary cylindrical boilers. No difficulty is anticipated by either the Cleveland Ship Building Co. or the Chicago Ship Building Co. in building quadruple expansion engines for the two new Wolyin steamers. 6 gaa fone : Capt. James Davidson of West Bay City is of the opinion that Erastus Wiman will be successful in his efforts to organize a big com- pany, in which it is proposed to include a large number of Hrie canal boat owners and northwestern millers. The promoters of this scheme _will give a banquet at the Hotel Waldorf, New York, on Saturday night of this week. They are anxious that their plans shall not be | confounded with those of other promotors who have talked of canal boats to run to Chicago and Duluth. They propose a canal business -- only, operating between Buffalo and New York, and their claims for -- success against the unprofitable experience of canal boatmen in the past are based on the influence of a big corporation and the advan--- tages to be derived from the $9,000,000 improvements now under way -- in the canals. Capt. Davidson says he is to give them a figure on. _ thirty new wooden canal boats, to be made up of tows of four, one _ steamer to three barges. He says he is positive that Mr. Wiman has. big subscriptions to stock in the new company from all the leading © millers of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It is probably unnecessary to note, however, that the money will have to be in sight before Bay is City's shrewd ship builder puts down any keels for canal boats. Mr. Gates of New York, who has represented John D. Rocke- feller in the development of Lake Superior mines, the building of ships and other big enterprises, was in Cleveland during the week. -- He saw some of the ships of the Rockefeller fleet Wednesday, proba- -- bly for the first time.