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MARINE REVIEW. it Not at Port Arthur, Editor Marine Review :--My attention has been drawn to an article in your issue of Jan. 21, entitled "The Term Close of Navigation," in which occurs the following sentence: "No doubt the vessel owners wh) are several thousand dollars out of pocket, on account of their boats being frozen in at Port Arthur this winter, will agree with Judge Swan, especially as itis known that some of the vessels now winter- ing at the head of the lakes passed through the Sault canal, bound up, as early as Nov. 26 and 27." For thebenefit of yourself and your readers, I beg to inform you that there are no boats frozen in at Port Arthur, other than those which always winter here. These consist of one lumber company's tug, three fishing tugs and a steam yacht. There are, however, frozen in at Fort William on the Kam- inistiquia river, the big American steamers Oglebay, Manola, Gratwick (wooden) and Sauber. A Canadian steamer, the Algonquin, was at Fort William in company with the first three; she left there Dec. 2, fearing trouble; had her cargo transferred to Port Arthur and loaded at King's elevator there; at 1a. m., Dec. 5, cleared for the "Soo"; was in the ice jam on Hay lake, but got through that and through Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit river, as well as Lake Erie, the Welland canal and Lake Ontario. She proceeded to Prescott, discharged her cargo of wheat there and returned to Toronto, where she has been in winter quarters since about Dec. 15. Comment should be unnecessary. I might add that on Jan. 15 Thunder bay was open to King's elevator. George T. Marks, Mayor. Port Arthur, Canada, Jan, 25, 1897. After a very long delay, Daniel E. Lynn, one of the Lynn brothers of Port Huron, is to be accorded an honor seldom conferred upon anyone in this country. He is to be given a medal for bravery in an effort to save life, the case having been regarded of sufficient importance to warrant the passage of a special act of congress. The bill passed the senate a few days ago, and Senator McMillan, who has the matter in charge, is quite certain of securing the approval of the president before the end of the present session of congress. The medal is to commemorate the bravery of Mr. Lynn and three compan- ions in their vain attempt to relieve the crew of the wrecked schooner Shupe on the beach near Port Huron. Lynn was the only one of the quartette who survived the attempt at rescue. There ave certainly few men of wealth in this country whose money interests are kept as well in hand as those of Capt. James Davidson of West Bay City. What he has is his own, without cor- poration connections, and if figures were at hand it would probably be found that he is at all times possessed of as much ready money as almost anybody on the lakes. A little figuring regarding his fleet for next season shows that he will have eighteen wooden vessels, five of which are immense wooden steamers, and at a very low estimate (lower than the prices which he asks for them) the combined value of this fleet is full $1,250,000. His interests at Buffalo represent in one case the control of a Big elevator. Although no official announcement has been made in this country of the American line management preparing for the construction of new steamers, it is reported from Glasgow that the company is about to build two 12,000-ton crack liners, one in the United States and the other probably on the Clyde. The specifications are said to be: Length 500 feet, breadth 55 feet, speed 20 knots; machinery, two 'sets of triple expansion engines of 8,000 nominal horse power; steam to be supplied by four double-ended cylindrical marine boilers, each 16 feet by 124 feet, and having six furnaces each of 500 square feet grate surface and 17,000 square feet heating surface. A noteworthy event in the annals of technical education in the United States will be the forthcoming celebration, on Feb. 18 and 19, of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Stevens Institute of Technology, whieh was founded by the late Edwin A: Stevens of Hoboken, N. J. The festivities will includea banquet at the Hotel Waldorf, New York, to which representative engineers and technical educators th roughout the country will be invited. There is nothing positive regarding a reduction in the charge of $1.50 per thousand bushels made for the use of steam shovels in the unloading of grain at Buffalo, but it is hoped that the committee ap- pointed at the annual meeting of the Lake Carriers' Association to look after this matter will secure a reduction of 25 cents per thousand. Detroit River Postal Service. Now that the merits of the Detroit river postal service have been fully presented to the house committee on postoffices, it is quite evident that Congressman Corliss of Detroit, who has been prompted by political influences in his district, has made a mistake in opposing the wishes of practically the entire lake marine. The Detroit news- papers have printed columns about the opposition to an appropriation for improvement in the service. There has never been any opposition to improving the service, excepting that shown by Mr: Corliss in behalf of J. W.- Westcott, Giese private business is interfered with by the government work, The influence of Mr. Corliss in this matter was at an end when he appeared before the house committee on post offices afew days ago and presented a very weak argument. The Detroit congressman probably realized this when he was told by Mr. Loud, chairman of the committee, that the committee would not riHide tele to instruct the department as to how any appropriation for the Detroit river service might be spent. It was evident from the general tone of Mr. Loud's answer that the committee, whose recommendations to congress will undoubtedly be endorsed, is heartily in favor of all that the post-office department has done regarding the delivery of mail to vessels passing Detroit and will not interfere with any plans for im- provement i in the service that may be under way. The great interest that has attended this subject is indicated by the following communi- cation, which comes all the way from Massachusetts: -- "Editor Marine Review:--If the statements in your last issue, credited to Congressman Corliss of Detroit, are true, that pele shows, by his indecision as to whether he Saal support improvement in the Detroit river postal service, a dense ignorance of the needs of his district. His position is about on a par with the statement of a writer in one of the eastern magazines, who in a recent issue submitted an illustration entitled "The Steamship Northwest in the Duluth Dry Dock at West Superior."' But there is some excuse for the latter, who is undoubtedly one of the class of self-satisfied New Yorkers who have never been off Manhattan island in their lives, and who i imagine that the sun rises and sets on the island and no who else. They have no idea of the magnificent ports of St. Louis bay, where over a hundred million bushels of grain and millions of barrels of flour are shipped every year, and which are 1,500 miles to the northwest of New York. Your congressman, however, lives in the city where this postoffice is located and should know that it is the greatest convenience ever provided for the thousands of men employed on lake vessels. He should know also that by means of this service vessel owners are en- abled, at the regular postage rates, to communicate with absolute certainty with, their vessels at this point, and by adding the price of a special delivery stamp can have telegrams delivered, whereas hereto--- fore owners have been taxed to the extent of $10 to $25 per boat per annum for a limited service by the man who is now alone in opposi- 'tion to the great work of the postoffice department. Your member of congress in Detroit is evidently under the wing of this opposition, but it is strange that he should be kept so much in the dark when it is well known, asi far east as the Atlantic coast, that the river post office Hondiog last season, under adverse circumstances, some 175, 000 ee of mail, of which more than three-quarters were letters. ee Springfield, Mass., Jan. 25, 1897. H. E. Schmuck, There is no truth in the report that F. W. Wheeler & Co. have secured a contract from the Flint & Pere Marquette company for an- other car ferry similar to the Pere Marquete. The F. & P. M. man- agement is desirous of having another vessel, but this first one must be given a trial of a few months before anything further can be decided upon. The Pere Marquette has been undergoing finishing touches 'since she was taken to Lake Michigan and will not go into commis- sion until Monday next. She goes to Milwaukee tonight (Thursday) for inspection. Although the chairmanship of important committees in the Lake Carriers' Association has not as yet been definitely decided upon, it is probable that James Corrigan will preside over the executive commit- tee, Geo. P. McKay over the committee on aids to navigation, and E. T. Evans, the legislative committee. Mr. Caldwell was chairman of - _the legislative committee, but his retirement from lake business will probably result in the selection of Mr. Evans to succeed him. Capt. Charles Wallace who was with the O. 8. Richardson Fuel Co. of Chicago last season, is now-with the Independent company.