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ee ee MARINE REVIEW. VoL. XV. CLEVELAND, O., MARCH 25, 1897. No. 13. Hull Insurance. It is expected that the several general agents of insurance com- panies in Chicago, Milwaukee and Buffalo, who have withheld the hull tariff much longer than usual this spring, on account of the new firm of Charles H. & W. F. Peck of Chicago comiug into the business, will annouce their rates about Saturday of this week. Notwith- standing the small aggregate of losses on the lakes during 1896, a great cry is being raised about London underwriters suffering very heavy losses of late on the Atlantic, and a stiff market in London is to be held up as the excuse for higher rates on the lakes. In letters to vessel owners the general agents all say that the best rates to be had from London on the English form of policy are 4 per cent. for steel and iron steamers, 44 per cent. for composite steamers and steel barges, and 5 per cent. for the best class of wooden steamers. These figures represent an advance over last year of almost 1 per cent. all around. The general agents do not say that their tariff will be up. to these rates, but they claim that all insurance on the lakes in the future will be governed by London quotations. They say, also, that the advance in rates at Lloyds has proven a set-back to the new hull combination headed by Peck & Peck, and that the combination has been unable, on account of the higher rates demanded by underwriters for lake business, to secure the support from large companies which they had counted upon. It must be said in justice to the combination, how- ever, that they have made no public claims of big companies at their command, and that they seem to be proceeding, just as their com petitors are, in a cautious way with a view to securing as large a share of the hull business as it is possible for them to obtain. The work on their Great Lakes Register is being prosecuted as fast as it is possible to conduct the surveys and get data together, but as the register will include fully 3,000 Jake vessels, and as the work is being con- ducted very thoroughly down to the smallest details, it will require eight months or probably a year more of labor before the entire mat- ter can be gotten into print. Charles Macdonald of Chicago, who went to London, some time ago, to look after his own interests, as well as those of Smith, Davis - & Co., and probably other general agents, is expected home in a few days. His return:will probably be the signal for a general effort on the part of the old concerns to do some business. It is not probable, however, that vessel owners will be in much of a hurry to place their insurance, especially in view of the proposed higher rates. They will probably hold off as long as possible for further developments in the fight which the underwriters will make for business. One of the agents who has been to England says there is a very strong feeling among underwriters at Lloyds against methods that are said to prevail - among certain insurance brokers in this country who place the great bulk of their business at Lloyds. The British underwriters say that some of the charges made for adjustments and other matters connected with the settlement of losses are grossly exorbitant. They say they are informed that these brokers have actually taken insurance at prices lower than they had to pay for placing itin England, but depended in such cases upon charges which they would afterwards put in against the underwriters. Improvements being made by the Milwaukee Dry Dock Co. in preparation for the repair of steel ships will involve an expenditure of $30,000. It is expected that the new plant will be in readiness in May. The tools that have been purchased are of the largest and best kind. The company announces, also, that they will be prepared when the plant is complete to submit proposals on new steel vessels as well as on repairs. In addition to the steamer J. W. Moore, Mr. John Gordon will have the Wilson steamers Olympia and Tower in his Manitowoc- Buffalo line during the coming season. The vessels have been char- tered at a fixed sum for the season. Mr. Gordon is also figuringjon other vessels for this line. Iron Ore Pool,--Lake Freight Matters. Alhough a meeting in Cleveland, Tuesday, of representatives of the various iron mining companies of the Lake Superior region resulted in a dissolution of last year's ore pool, as far as the large interests of the Mesabi range are concerned, an effort is still being made to forma pool of mines producing Bessemer ore on the old ranges, along the lines of the association that existed in 1895, and the Cleveland ore dealers say that there is every reason to ex- pect that an agreement between all companies other than those of the Mesabi will be fully entered into early next week. In the meantime there is absolutely nothing doing in the way of sales of ore and consequently no definite talk of lake freights. Vessel owners are generally of the opinion that their interests would be best served if the efforts to form a pool of the old range -- mines should also fall through. The Illinois Steel Co. recently secured bids on 450,000 tons of ore, to be moved from Escanaba to South Chicago, Chicas. and Milwaukee, and itis reported that the contract was secured by Mr. A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, but the report is not from a definite source. eThe ore, which is largely from mines controlled by the Chicago company, was probably taken at a rate of about 25 cents, as there was considerable competition for the con- tract and the vessels pay no unloading charges. Two or three Cleveland coal shippers have cargoes of soft coal for the head of Lake Superior, but it is understood that they are offering only 30 cents. Canadian Enterprise, The announcement from Ottowa that the new government in Canada has definitely decided to complete within two years the work of deepening all of the St. Lawrence canals to 14 feet is a matter of the greatest importance to the grain trade of the lakes. Capt. Alex. McDougall, who is said to have made a special trip to Ottawa in the interest of this improvement, has for some time past had in view the organization of a big corporation, to build and operate vessels specially suited to the improved St. Lawrence canals. Information given out within the past few days regarding the new steamship line is also thought to be entirely reliable, It is announced that the Laurier government has finally settled the matter of a fast Atlantic express service by awarding a ten-year contract to the Eng- lish firm of Peterson, Tait & Co. of Newcastle, to place on the route between Montreal and Liverpool four steamships of 10,000 tons each, and a speed slightly exceeding twenty-one knots. Two of the new boats are to be ready for the beginning of the season of 1899, and the other two in 1900. The ships will be equal, it is said, to the best of the Atlantic liners entering New York. They will run from Montreal, or possibly Quebec, to Liverpool in the summer, and from Halifax in the winter. It is said that the annual subsidy to be paid by the domin- ion is $500,000, to which the imperial government will add $250,000. As a result of persistent efforts on the part of officers of the Lake Carriers' Association to secure gas buoys as aids to navigation in con- necting channels and on dangerous lake shoals, there will be at least ten of these buoys at different points throughout the lakes by May 1 of this year. Nothwithstanding the failure of the sundry civil bill in the last congress, and consequent delay with buoys provided for in that bill, it is understood now that the officers of the light-house board have managed to secure several gas buoys for the lakes, which will be in position by May 1. The points to be covered include Ballard's reef on the Detroit river, as well as Fisherman's shoal, Poverty pas- sage and Lansing shoal, Lake Michigan. Notice is also given of a gas buoy, showing a fixed white light, that will on the opening of navi- gation mark the south-east of the inner entrance to the straight chan- nal, Maumee bay, in the position heretofore occupied by spar buoy No. 29. . A neat invitation from the Globe Iron Works Co., Cleveland, announces that the steel schooner Sidney G. Thomas, another vessel -- for the Rockefeller fleet, will be launched Saturday at 11 a. m.