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12 ; MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. Published every Thursday at No. 409 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohlo, by John M. Mulrooney and F. M. Barton. Sunscrrprion--$#2.00 per year inadvance. Single copies10centseach. Convenient binders seut, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second class Mail Matter. The books of the United States treasury department on June 30, 1896, contained the names of 3,333 vessels, of 1,324,067.58 gross tons register in the lake trade. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 gross tons, and over that amount, on the lakes on June 30, 1896, was 383 and their aggregate gross tonnage 711,034.28; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 315 and their tonnage 685,204.55, so that more than half of the best steamships in all the United States are owned onthe lakes. The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 1896, was as follows: Gross NDR Don babel ISUGAINGVOSSOISstceteeccercitcest svptisisecnsseedonncctseccnceuscesensss ; ,630. Sailing VeSSelS ANG DALZES..........ccccccsssecssneseeessseseve 1,125 354,327.60 CATIA ES ee eercea es thssetedibaee buco ascacevesteanens st sevedshaens 416 45,109.47 TO Gal sess este pigda duct ouses Ooscodccetassbsessedeos 3,333 1,324,067.58 The gross registered tonnage of the vessels built on the lakes during the past six years, according to the reports of the United States commissioner of navigation, is as follows: Year ending June 80. 1891 204 111,856 45 *s eet 1892 ee 169 45,968.98 fr: af Ss 1893 175 99,271.24 " i s 894 106 41,984.61 Ky ca cS SOD sc.setes sass 93 36,352.70 sf t ty 1896, 117 108,782.38 MR OU Set naar sevensteAcstadanecontcececcccetcacccbeestives cceete 864 444,216.36 S's MARY S FALLS AND SUEZ OANAL TRAFFIC. (270m Ujictal iteports of Canal Officers:) St. Mary's Falls Canal. Suez Canal. 1895* 1894 | 1893 1895 1894 1893 No. vessel passages............. 17,956 14,491 11,008 3,434 3,352 8,341 Tonnage, net registered...... 16,806,781) 13,110,366] 9,849,754|| 8,448,383] 8,039,175] 7,659,068 Days of navigation.............. 231 234 219 365 365 365 - ® *1895 figures include traffic of Canadian canal at Sault Ste. Marie, which was about 4% per cent. of the whole, but largely in American vessels. Some of the Canadian newspapers have been engaged in a con- troversy over an order in council directing the use in all Canadian waters of the international rules of the road, which have resulted from the various conferences held during several years past by repre- sentatives of the leading maritime nations. The Citizen of Ottawa has the correct view of this matter as it relates to the lakes. It is, of course, well understood here that the United States did not intend to have the international code of signals for the prevention of collisions apply in any way to the lakes. The rules governing lake navigation in this regard are contained in the White law, which was passed early in 1895, and which is entirely satisfactory to all lake interests. This law was prepared especially for the lakes when it was found that the international rules could not be applied to the peculiar conditions governing lake navigation. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the Dominion government will take steps immediately to have its rules for lake navigation conform to the special law that has been in force with vessels of the United States on the lakes for two years past. Although the recent order in council has caused a misunderstanding, it is quite certain that the heads of the Canadian marine department may be depended upon to handle this matter in the proper manner. As all owners of lake vessels in the United States are fully satisfied with the White law, and as fully 90 per cent. of the tonnage is owned in the United States, it is quite probable that the Dominion officials will, in view of the necessity of uniform regulations, adopt rules similar to those contained in the White law for their vessels on the lakes. It is expected that the Canadian Deep Waterways Comuunission, which is composed of Messrs. Howland, Keefer and Munro, will ask the Dominion government, in its report to be submitted to parliament shortly, for an appropriation of $15,000, to be used for surveys and examinations of a kind similar to those for which the United States government is about to appropriate $150,000. The great difference in appropriations for these surveys of ship-canal routes from the lakes to the Atlantic seaboard is due to the fact that work of this kind re- quired in Canada is much less than is required in the United States. Engineering of London has been devoting several pages each week for several weeks past to a description of the Chicago drainage canal and machinery used in its construction. The illustrations are all of an excellent kind. Steel Works at the Head of the Lakes, On the claim that the tendency in the iron industry is to establish manufacturing plants near the ore, O. H. Simonds of Duluth, Minn. advances some very strong arguments in favor of that city as an ail vantageous point for a steel plant. Mr. Simonds refers to the eop. centration of the various steps of manufacture under one manage. ment, from the mining of the ore to the deliveryof the fiinshed product, He also directs attention to changes in manufacture that have lesseneq the fuel consumption until the quantity required is little more than one ton of coal converted into coke, per ton of steel, while the ore js a fixed quantity, about two tons per ton of product. On the claim that these changes must eventually result to the advantage of places like Duluth, Mr. Simonds writes Bradstreets as follows: "Any one who may be looking for an advantageous location wil] find that, for a steel plant doimg a business of 50,000 to 75,000 tons - annually, Duluth possesses unusual attractions. I will briefly refey to some of the conditions at that point bearing on this trade. Saint Louis county, Minnesota, of which Duluth is the principal city, con- tains within its borders the Vermillion range, with an ascertained ore deposit of 100,000,000 tons, and the Mesabi range, with a known de- posit of over 300,000,000 tons. The ores of both these ranges pass Duluth on their way to Cleveland and Chicago, and, taken together, are of such quality and variety as to make good Bessemer or non- Bessemer pig without other mixtures. Bessemer ores can be unloaded in Duluth at $1.40 per ton on the present rail tariff of 80 cents, and non- Bessemer at $1.25 per ton, and under some circumstances, for less money. Limestone from Kelley's island is put on Duluth docks at $1.20 per ton, as against 80 cents at Cleveland, Assuming coke to leave Connellsville at $1.40 per ton, it would be $1.95 at Pittsburgh, $2.80 at Cleveland, and $3.50 on the furnace dock in Duluth. The shipment to Duluth is by lake and rail, and full allowance is made for wastage and cost of handling in stating the price. These figures are based on actual transactions, details of which can be produced, "Whenever the use of retort coke ovens becomes commercially settled in this country, these fuel prices can no doubt be reduced, and, owing to local demand for gas and for tar by works engaged in manufacturing its products for local and western shipment, Duluth will be a specially advantageous point for the operation of such ovens. Ammonia will find a ready market in Detroit. In competi- tion with Chicago the territory between Lake Superior and the Rocky mountains is divided roughly by a line from Duluth to Omaha, which isa common point. To the north of this line freights are more fav- orable to Duluth, and south of it to Chicago. This territory tributary to Duluth contains 4,000,000 people, and is being rapidly built up and developed. Based on the experience of the past three years the annual demand in this region for plates, structural material, wire, barb wire, wire nails, bars and other coarse iron and steel products is something like 150,000 tons, and the local demand for pig iron is about 30,000 tons annually. Works at Duluth would have an ad- vantage in freights over Chicago of $1.00 to $2.00 per ton, and some what more over Pittsburgh. With a business well established this favorable differential could no doubt be increased. With three com- petitive lines to the Pacific coast no doubt large shipments of wire and wire rod could be made to Everett and other coast points and thence to China and Japan. 'In organizing a steel plant advantage could be taken of a blast furnace now built with a capacity of 50,000 tons per annum and hay- ing around it an ample site for large works, with rail and dockage connections, and also a new steel plant adapted to the manufacturing of steel plate and'structural steel. To the above would need to be added a modern open-hearth furnace, with blooming mill for billets, wire-rod mill and wire-drawing works, and nail and barb-wire works. Both Bessemer and non-Bessemer pig iron can be made at a less cost at Duluth than at Chicago, Cleveland or Pittsburg, and when freight on the product from the points named to Duluth is added, its advantage as a place to manufacture goods for western consumption is very marked, and alone amounts to a good profit. If desired, the fee of good mines on the Mesabi range could be purchased on a basis of 3 cents per ton of ore, or leased without bonus for a royalty of 20 cents. per ton for Bessemer and 5 cents for non-Bessemer ores. A plant at the head of Lake Superior would embody every modern advantage and improvement, beside haying a.growing and substantially exelu- sive market,"' 'The Review has excellent. photographs of lake ships. <a aietertennee te er ee AO CNR A tC TE RCC CT EET sor ecmengnaneere enn