The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

12 MARINE REVIEW. Published every Thursday at No. 409 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohlo, by John M. Mulrooney and F. M. Barton. Surnscrietion--$2.00 per year in advance. Single copies 10 cents each. Convenient binders sent, 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 3l5and their tonnage 685,204.55, so that more than half of the best steamships in all the United States are owned on the lakes. 'The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 1896, was as follows: Gross Number. Tonnage. Seay Be Sailing vessels and barges.... ; £ Canal boats 416 45,109.47 NOG ilisceccrcetccscteevassacssssvcecsecesssosescsec 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: ViGARONICANE MUNG: SOs 1S0lia. tote erase ctencectsivesactesnss 204 111,856 45 eae 1892 169 _ 45,968.98 " o " 175 99,271.24 " oS o 106 - 41,984.61 " " " 93 36,352.70 " " " 117 108;782.38 Myfatter eine se eee sie octet enace 864 444,216.36 ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUEZ C\NAL TRAFFIC. (vom Oficial Lteports of Canal Officers.) St. Mary's Falls Canal. Suez Canal. é 1895* 1894 1893 1895 1894 1893 No. vessel passages,............ 17,956 14,491 11,008 3,434 8,352 3,341 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 ¥% per cent. of the whole, but largely in American vessels. In the general movement towards a reduction in freight handling charges, it would certainly seem that the elevator interests at Buffalo have not borne their share. The Lake Carrier's committee who have had this matter in hand are entitled to thanks for having secured any- thing in the way of a reduction from the Buffalo combination, but the fact remains that transfer charges at Buffalo as a whole are still largely in excess of what they ought to be, and if it were not for the great advantages of the lake route otherwise, these charges would certainly be the means of causing southern exporting ports to secure a much larger portion of the grain business than they have as yet ob- tained. It is expected that the completion of new elevators, which Chicago and other interests now have under way in Buffalo, will over- come, to a large extent, this disadvantge of exorbitant handling charges, but in the meantime let us consider the reduction made this spring in theshoveling charge. The new rate is $3.35 per 100 bushels, against $3.50 last season. This reduction of 15 cents is equal to about 44 per cent. Inthe charge for unloading ore, a reduction is made from 16 to 14 cents, which is equal to 124 percent. Thus in the charge for unloading ore, which is nearly all manual labor, we have a reduction of 124 per cent., against 44 per cent. in grain shoveling. There is no room in either case for any reduction in the labor cost, but the small portion of the charge for unloading ore that goes to the dock companies would seem to indicate that the profit in that line is not unreasonable, and yet they bear half of the 12} per cent. reduction. Iron ore dock property does not now earn more than a fair profit, but such is not the case with the Buffalo organization. The new eleva- tors must break up this combination. The interests of the lakes de- mand it. Grain must not be diverted to southern ports like Galveston and Newport News, on account of handling charges at Buffalo that could not possibly be maintained under any conditions excepting such as have governed the Buffalo elevating association for several years past. The government is improving harbors all along the Atlantic seaboard, and railway systems leading to these harbors, especially in the south, are taking business from the lakes. Take Galveston, for instance, where the depth of water is now 26 feet and where there will be 30 feet within a year. The government has made Galveston a perfectly safe harbor by a costly work. There are two jetties, one seven miles in length and the other five, and the distance between them clear to. the open sea is about 7,000 feet. They are built of sandstone and granite in the most thorough and substantial way, and will stand for ages. The drift of business to this and other new har. bors of its kind is shown by the fact that in 1896 the value of exports from Galveston harbor was 60 per cent. greater than for any year in its past history, despite the low average of prices of all kinds of pro- ducts. The prediction is made that ere many years Galveston will be one of the greatest marts of commerce in the United States. ------_--_$__-- Dispatches from Washington would indicate that the new admin- istration favors the establishment of a department of commerce along the lines that have been under consideration for some time past. It is said, in fact, that in his next message to congress President McKinley will make this a feature of his recommendations. The new depart. ment would include, by transfer fom the treasury department, such bureaus as the life-saving service, light-house board, marine hospital service, steamboat inspection and navigation bureaus, United States coast and geodetic survey and bureau of statistics. None of these logi- cally have anything to do with the management of national finances, It would include also, by transfer from the department of state, the bureau of consular service and the bureau of statistics, the latter to be consolidated with the similar bureau from the treasury department, While the department of state has charge of diplomatic relations with foreign governments, it is claimed that the consular service should be entirely apart from politics and diplomacy. Hot Corn--Causes that Create It. The discovery in Buffalo of hot corn in the holds of several ves- sels this spring has led toa discussion of causes that contribute to create this condition in the grain. Corn is probably the most difficult of cargoes to handle without loss to the owner of it, owing to its com- bustible nature. It may arrive in the elevators at Chicago or Duluth apparently in the best of condition. It is hoisted into the bins and then left, inspected to a good grade. The weather may turn wet fora day, or several days, and the corn be spouted into a vessel's hold after- ward. The inspector walks from spout to spout, snatches a handful every minute or two, and presently discovers that the corn from a par- ticular spout is hot. He immediately orders that spout stopped, and will so order the rest if he finds the same complaint to make. The damp weather has done the business. But the weather may be dry and the corn still found to be hot. Then the conclusion is reached, through previous experiment, that the very weight of the top corn has heated the corn at the bottom. Corn is liable to heating at any time or any place. The best storage place of all for it is the hold of a vessel, particularly one of steel. The cold water in which rests the hull creates a cool atmo- sphere in the hold, and as corn is always at its best in cool weather or a cool place, the vessel is always sought for it when winter storage is needed. Again, the hold is not as deep as an elevator bin, hence there is less weight on the bottom cargo. 'The loss, in all cases, 1s sustained by the owner of the cargo. It may be the consignee, who has paid for the corn before it has been loaded into the vessel for him, or it may be the consignor, who has not yet received his pay for it, and who is the owner until the cargo has arrived at destination and he has been paid. The elevator or the vessel cannot be held for the loss if it is proven that the corn has heated through natural causes. Corn that is damaged through a leaking hatchway or an open seacock is paid for by the vessel. This is a common occurence with vessels that hold it in the winter for storage. The damaged grain extends directly downward from the leak, and the dampness does not spread about enough to damage any but a certain amount directly beneath the hatch or the cock. Corn that is not too far gone can be dried in a kiln and converted back to almost its old grade. The buyer of corn will do well, before paying for it, to be sure that it has been seasoned before it is shipped. The drier the corn the better his chances of get- ting it in a pure state. What is heat in corn is weevil in wheat. The weevil is a minute maggot that is bred by dampness in wheat and that multiplies at the rate of millions a day, so that an infinitesimal part of a cargo affected by it will contribute disaster to all the rest, so rapidly does the infec- tion spread. There is no use for weeviled wheat. Oats and barley, from the point of view of damage, are the best cargoes to carry, 4 they will not damage unless in a leaking vessel But they are hard to get, as there is comparatively little of either consumed, hence S0 few charters to hold them through the winter.--Exchange. . | } oN eta nmeper at e SM atat 3 it me.