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MARINE, REVIEW. a Affairs of the Lake Carriers--Wage Schedules. Ex-President J. J. H. Brown of Buffalo, President James Millen of Detroit and Secretary C. H. Keep of Buffalo joined other executive officers of the Lake Carriers' Association in Cleveland, Tuesday, in a meeting at which several important matters pertaining to affairs of the association during the coming season were disposed of. It had been expected that a final report would be received from a committee appointed at the annual meeting of the association in Detroit to look after the question of grain shoveling charges at Buffalo, but Capt. Brown on behalf of the committee asked for further time. His report was of a kind, however, that indicated a thorough knowl- edge of the elevator situation, and the vessel owners have not by any means lost hope of a reduction in the shoveling charges. In view of the unfavorable features of the present outlook for vessel business on the lakes during the coming' season, this first meet- ing of the managers of the association was not marked by enthusiasm at the outset. Mr. B. L. Pennington proposed a postponement of action on wages and other important matters until such time as busi- ness of some kind was assured. Mr. M. A. Bradley said that he did not propose to do anything about starting his vessels until business in which there would be some profit was in sight. It had been pro- posed to reduce salaries of some of the officers of the association as well as the shipping masters. But a review of the finances of the organization would tend to indicate a condition somewhat better than that which existed a year ago, notwithstanding a deficit in the treasury. Private light expenses were to be reduced largely by assistance from the underwriters and by the use of gas buoys which the government is now furnishing to the lakes. It was therefore decided to make no changes in salaries of officers or shipping masters for the coming year. A. R. Rumsey will again have charge of the shipping offices with the following assistance: J. W. Hanson and Robert Anderson of Chi- cago; Maynard Fisk, South Chicago; William Lennon, Milwaukee; William Fletcher, Buffalo; Patrick Mitchell, Toledo; Daniel Har- rington, Askland; and Charles F. Wall, Cleveland. On the question of wages of employes aboard vessels an important change is made as far as the inssuance of schedules is concerned, although the general reduction is not as great as had been talked of among some of the owners. Hereafter steam vessels will be divided into three classes and three separate cards will be used. The steel steamers will be in the first class, large wooden steamers in the second class and the smaller class of wooden steamers in the third class. No division is made by tonnage figures, each owner being allowed to pass upon the question as to whether his vessel shall be regarded as of the first, second or third class, and to pay wages accordingly. The con- sorts are divided in two classes, with the understanding that the steel barges and the largest of the wooden ones shall be in the first class with all others in the second class. The full schedules of wages as they will appear on five cards are contained in the following table: LAKE CARRIERS' SCHEDULE OF WAGES--ADOPTED AT CLEVELAND, MARCH 30, 1896. -- STEAM VESSELS. First class. Second class. Third class. Wirst engineers............. $105.00 $90.00 $60 to $75 Second engineers........... 70.00 65.00 50 Mirsh mates'. sc = sis eee 75.00 65.00 50 to 60 Second mates (when carried), 50.00 AD I00 Ra ks Sees Hiremen-t.) eta hoe eee ee 30.00 30.00 25 to 30 Wiheelsmen') stave sane 30.00 30.00 25 to 30 HOOK OUtS ie cc ee Se eo 0 400 30.00 25 to 30 Deckohands) mea. cic rrer 15.00 15.00 15 Oilers (when carried)....... BO S00. ime ere te oa bets Cooks... he ese eee ieee 50.00 45.00 AO LCL D ONS gs gerestota ieee onetime 15.00 12500) meres CONSORTS. First elass. Second class. Msttesik cee iese sees 2 Ce Sten eee ae oes $45.00 $30 to $40 Second-matesen: sce ee ee So 00R es re eee (OOKS Sree er he eee eee os 30.00 25 QGaMONig..- sce en oes ee ee a 30.00 20 to 25 Nothing had been done since the annual meeting of the associa- tion by the committee appointed to confer with managers of Lake Erie ore docks on the question of unloading charges. It was agreed that an effort should be made to have these charges (now 16 cents) reduced, and the committee appointed at the annual meeting was increased by three additional names--John Mitchell, H. A. Hawgood and W. H. Mack, Capt. Mitchell was chosen chairman of the committee, The question of reducing ore unloading charges rests with the heads of two or three of the leading ore firms of Cleveland. If a reduction is made, the greater part of it would, of course, come out of the labor and this might bring on trouble. There i is considerable doubt about the charges being lowered. From the vessel man's point of view, it would certainly be best to have the reduction, if it is to be Peel delayed until ore freight contracts have been entered into. A View of Opening Conditions at Buffalo, - Buffalo, N. Y., March 31--Buffalo has made no changes in the ownership of vecrele during the past winter and the package-freight lines will be about the same as last season, except that John Gordon's Great Lakes line will run four or more Boris as already announced. Some changes among the brokers are to be ee The firm of Boland & Co. will te composed of John J. Boland and Capt. Patrick Griffin, late of the Parnell. Smith, Davis & Co. are preparing to unite with John L. Crosthwaite in the brokerage business as a side issue to offset the active part taken by Brown & Co. in the Chicago end of the hull insur- ance split. There will be no change in the ship stores of account. The report that the Western line would open a store comes from the selec- tion of a room at the company's warehouse for storage of supplies. The canal situation is the same. One boat has been built here and about a dozen at Tonawanda. The size of the boat for the enlarged canal is not yet determined, so that it is risky to build anything now. It looks as though the ven company would not materialize, at least this season. The canal will opén as usual in spite of the lagging con- tract work. Changes in the package freight lines are in the direction of shorten- ing force here and sending the clerical work to New York to the respect- ive railroad offices. W.J. Connors will have charge of the steward's department of the Western line and has retaken all his freight hand- ling contracts at Buffalo, Chicago, Milwaukee and Gladstone. The threatened competition in the grain shoveling business has fallen through, but elevator rates are likely to decline, and there is no telling -- what effect this may have on the shoveling question. The excursion boats will still crowd about the foot of Main street, as the plans for straightening Buffalo creek and opening a south braced will hardly go through this season. The Northern line management may return to Buffalo, but this is not certain. For Commissioner of Navigation, Editor Marine Review:--The movement to have Capt. Daniel Mc- Leod appointed to the position of commissioner of navigation should certainly meet with hearty approval from all lake interests. No one connected with lake shipping could be more consistently endorsed for the place. Starting first as a seaman before the mast on the Atlantic - ocean, he advanced steadily until he attained command of seagoing vessels, and he was engaged on the Atlantic until 1867, when he came to the lakes and settled in Chicago,which at that time was a thriving and prosperous city, but had only 250,000 inhabitants. He opened up a ship yard in Chicago but was also engaged in sailing for some time after coming to the lakes. His first connection with the Inland Lloyds classification society was asa surveyor under Hon. W. W. Bates. When Mr. Bates resigned his position of chief surveyor in 1889, Capt. McLeod was elected to succeed him. He moved to Buffalo the following year to look after the publication of the register from that point, and remained in charge of the work until a few weeks ago, when it was practically decided to give up the old book, as far as gen- eral surveys are concerned, on account of the more elaborate publica- tion that is now under way in Chicago. Thoroughly conversant with every detail of construction in ships and craft of all kinds, a practical navigator and ship builder, and fully capable of fulfilling the duties from the standpoint of hard-earned experience, it is to be hoped that Capt. McLeod's candidacy for the position of commissioner wil! be favorably considered. He comes from no one locality on the lakes but has had to do with the shipping interests everywhere on these waters, as well as on the Atlantic coast. Vessel Owner. © Cleveland, March 31, 1897. In addition to a large number of orders from the coast Thos. Drein & Son, Wilmington, Del., will furnish four life pata for a steamer building in Michigan, a two 22-foot boats for one e of the zs freight steamers building at South Chicago. a