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MARINE REVIEW. 9 Lower Level of Prices in Iron. In reviewing the recent Rockefeller-Carnegie ore and transporta- tion deal on the lakes, and in directing attention also to the cheaply mined ores of the Mesabi range, as well as the pronounced drift amor g consumers in favor of Basic open-hearth steel, which can be made largely from non-Bessemer ores, the Iron Age of New York says: "The one absorbing question before every manufacturer of iron and steel in the United States must be that of cutting down costs of production. We are steadily forced to a lower level of prices. Fora time associations or pools may hold up values, but the irresistible tendency is downward. The iron trade has been drifting into a condi- tion which is critical for many engaged in it. Two very important changes--cheap Mesabi ores and the drift to open-hearth steel are the main factors. While it will not do to base figures on the extremely low costs of a few isolated Mesabi mines, the fact remains that the supply from that district is bound to crowd down values in spite of any tem- porary success which may attend on pools or combinations. It must not be forgotten, too, that a number of mines in competing districts can come pretty close to Mesabi figures in laying down ore in the markets. The effect upon them is to force them to surrender a part of their profit. It must be considered that there are very powerful interests in the Lake Superior ore trade outside of the Rockefeller Conspicuous among these, although not -- mines, railroad and vessels. in cost with the product of the low phosphorus ores. But granting all this, it does not follow that the Bessemer converter is going to die out as the purveyor of soft steel for miscellaneous finished material, nor does it follow that the acid open hearth will shrink into insignificance before its newer rival. It will take a good deal of evidence before equality of quality is conceded to the basic open hearth steel as com- pared with acid open hearth metal." Chicago Grain Fleet. Although the capacity of the Chicago grain fleet is much Helter than it was a year ago, it is quite probable that figures given out at the close of navigation did not include all the vessels that may be regarded as grain carriers. Some of the vessels may require repairs, mainly caulking, but they are nevertheless available for grain, and if these are included, as well as all of the steel vessels, the total capac- ity in sixty-five steamers and twenty-four schooners is about 7,500,000 bushels of wheat. About twenty vessels have been chartered thus far. Rates now quoted for storage and delivery at Buffalo in the spring are 2% cents on wheat, 24 on barley and 2 cents on oats. Fol- lowing is the list of vessels :" Steamers--Uganda, J. J. McWilliams, Ketcham, 'Nicaragua, New | Orleans, Germanic, Niko, P. Minch, Catan City of Berlin, Cranage, - Plankinton, EH. M. Peck, Elphicke, Kirby, R. R. Rhodes, R. Mills, City of Bangor. ' Algomah. Tug Boynton. : e Northern Line Steamer. i" Griffin. -- Yakima. (Photo by Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.) ICE JAM IN LITTLE MUD LAKE, JUST OUTSIDE OF DIKE.--DECEMBER 7, 1896. the only one, is the Minnesota Iron Co. They may be Ied into al- liances which give large producers excellent opportunities. Then there are the interests in the east, who enjoy an exceptional position through control of the very cheap Cornwall ores. What changed conditions mean will be promptly understood in the trade when we state that Bessemer pig can be produced at $7.50, and that steel billets can be made at a satisfactory profit by some producers in the middle west, with an open market on ore, at close to $13 per ton. The cost price of some individual concerns is considerably below the latter figures. In the west and in the east correspondingly low figures may be reached. It does not, of course, follow that any such prices will prevail in the markets. But they mark the present boundary line which producers must seek to cross in order to be safe against success- ful assault. Those at a distance can readily figure at what prices the central west can invade their territory. Tt may be claimed from a technical standpoint that high require- ments can not be met by Basic open-hearth steel, but it is certain that the open hearth furnace has been gaining on the Bessemer converter. The difference in cost between the two has been shrinking steadily, largely because managers have been giving the same close attention to the design and operation of open hearth plants which was once be- stowed exclusively on Bessemer works. Crude methods of handling materials have disappeared, and a large tonnage is now secured. The off-Bessemer ores of the lakes, being cheap, have made it pos- sible to produce a Basic steel in the reverberatory which could compete Samoa, H. H. Brown, City of Venice, J. W. Moore, R. P. Flower, Lewiston, City of one Thos. Adams, Geo. Stone, Caledonia, Raleigh, Madagascar' I. W. Stephenson, Egyptian, Armour, City of Cleve- land, Prentice, Mecosta, Ranney, City of London, Yuma, Forbes, 'Bielman, Doty, Parnell, G. W. Morley, City of Paris, E. C. Pope, Viking, L. C. Waldo, Iron King, Curry, Colgate, J. J. Hill, 8. Mitchell, Iroquois, Geo. N. Orr, Thos. Palmer, Tampa, M. M. Drake, A. D. Thompson, Merida, Gratwick (steel), Lagonda, Geo. T. Hope, Whitney and John Mitchell. Schooners--Scotia, Plymouth, Ashland, Moravia, Celtic, Me- Lachlan, Iron Queen, Jeannette, barge 134, Wayne, barge 130, G. B. Owen, Halsted, Middlesex, Grampian, Paisley, Churchill, Tokio, Hartnell, Aurania, Nirvana, Michigan, Fannie Neil and E. C. Hutch- inson. A chart of the whole of Georgian bay, the best thing of its kind as yet published, has recently been issued by the British admiralty, and may be had from the Marine Review, No. 409 Perry-Payne building. Another chart, of a very clear and interesting kind, taking in Lake Huron, Georgian bay, Lake Erie and connecting channels, has also been issued recently by the same authority. Rear Admiral Joseph S. Skerrett, whose death was announced a few days ago, had the reputation of being the best navigator in the navy. He was born at Chillicothe, O., and was sixty-four years: of age. : te % ' '