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MARINE, RHVIHW. 13 Forcible Terms on the Business Situation. A vessel owner in one of the St. Clair river towns sends the fol- lowing interesting epistle on the subject of lake freights to a Cleve- land vessel broker: '"When I sat down, I was of the opinion that I had something to write about, but a 'gust' or ghost of prosperity struck me in the cran- ium and removed all solid thought. It may have been the effects of the weather, which is emblematic of the business situation--dark, cold, gloomy, drizzling, foreboding, harrowing, prostrating, demoralizing, destructive, paralyzing, and--well, if there is anything else more ex- pressive, that's what's the matter with the weather and more especially with 'prosperity.' Returning from my wanderings, I may say that Iam having quite a time holding down the fellows who want to go out with the ships. They want bread and butter and we want it too, but we don't want to encounter debts in order to get it. I see noth- ing in the newspaper reports that tends to allay our troubled spirits, _and I presume you are not burthened with information of the kind that gives hope of fabulous dividends. If you were, I would probably have heard from you long ago. But there is an aching void to be filled, and it occurred to us that probably you might be able to find something in the way of Portage coal and Marquette ore, or Glads- tone coal and Escanaba ore." Shallow Places in the Detroit River, A correspondent at Amherstburg sends the Review the following regarding the condition of channets in the vicinity of Ballard's reef and Amherstburg, Detroit river: "Water guages show about 17 feet 6 inches as present depth of water at Ballard's reef. This is about the same as given by guage readings for the past ten days. For this depth of water; the ledge of rock marked by a black spar buoy (No. 54) should be avoided. To do this the range at the upper end of Grosse Isle should be just opened to the westward, giving the black spar (just north of the gas buoys) a berth of at least 75 feet. Just above Lime-Kiln crossing, along the Ballard's reef course, the Duff & Gatfield range should be kept open to the westward, as along this course, in front of the Texas dock, a ridge of boulders has been found. The least depth of water over these boulders is 17 feet. They are now being removed. The entire stretch of the channel from Ballard's reef to the south end of Bois Blane island has been swept this spring and several boulders located, just below a depth of 17.5 feet. These boulders will be re- moved as soon as possible, the work having commenced a week ago. Should vessels meet with obstructions in the channel at any time, re- ports should be made, in order that the men working under the direc- tion of Col. Lydecker, United Sie epelaer) may take steps to have such obstructions removed at once.' : Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The following table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of trade, shows the stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular eleva- tors at the principal points of accumulation on the lakes, May 1, 1897: Wheat, bushels. Corn, bushels. GHiCdcOnr tent taney rr Arg ened: 8,084,000 7,277,000 Duluth oo sr eee nee ee 6,219,000 52,000 Mibwauikkeet craic nsnieis Sales Siero 229,000 3,000 IOBtROIL. econ a ae ded 124,000 28,000 MOTEMOY kt oo PE eee ee ine as 867,000 1,020,000 BOAO Ol Cees tes ok eee eee 741,000 223,000 16,264,000 8,603,000 As compared with a week ago, the above figures show, at the sev- eral points named, a decrease of 1,738 bushels of wheat and 1,134,000 bushels of corn. Grain afloat at Chicago May 1--Corn 80,000 bushels; at Buffalo, wheat 50,000 bushels, corn 113,000 bushels, oats 36,000 bushels. A vest pocket pamphlet just issued by the Marine Review con- tains appointments of captains and engineers for 172 fleets of vessels owned on the lakes. It is practically a complete list of vessels, own- ers, captains and engineers on the Jakes, corrected to date and put in the most concise form that it is possible to arrange the several thousand names contained in such a collection. It is neatly bound and durable. Mailed to any address on receipt of $1. The Review has excellent photographs of lake ships. A Tribute to the Late Capt. John S. Richards, Capt. Charles Gale of Sombra, Ont., is among the few men now alive who were sailing the lakes when steam vessels were unheard of in freight service. He is very old but still shows a great interest in lake matters. Out of respect for Capt. Gale and the late Capt. John S. Richards, of whom he writes, the following communication is printed : Kditor Marine Review:--The Review had a perfect likeness of my worthy deceased friend, Capt. John §S. Richards of Erie. He had been a loving friend for over fifty years. Once while a passenger on the Queen City, in days now long gone by, I had paid my fare, but he returned it to me. It was the custom in those days for one vessel master to pass another, but Capt. Richards had an especially pleasing manner in extending this courtesy. He was very courteous to passen- gers and never seemed to tire of answering questions for them. ' He towed me out of Buffalo many times in the days when there were no tugs, and always without charge. When bound to Buffalo, I would drop him a letter for a load of coal and it was always ready for me, and without cost of brokerage. Once while loading the schooner Frank Perew at his dock in Erie, he requested me to move to make room for some canal boats, and in the shifting of vessels one of my men, John Shaw, fell overboard and was fatally injured. The captain helped me to carry him to the cabin and remained with him half the night. We were in port five days but could find no place ashore for the injured sailor. He died on the fifth day, and as he was penniless, we were called upon to give hma proper burial. He had sent his money home regularly to a widowed mother, and on his death-bed had kissed the hand of Capt. Richards, praying that God would be good to the mother whom he was leaving. The poor sailor's regard for his mother had appealed to the kind heart of Capt. Richards, and he volunteered the work of giving the man a fitting burial. After ar- rangements had been made with an undertaker, late on Saturday night, the wind was fair and I was forced to leave, but the comman- der of the U. S. S. Michigan, which was in port, had promised to attend the funeral with his officers and crew, and I knew that the last rites over the poor sailor would be properly attended to anyhow by Capt. Richards. I learned afterwards that the remains had been taken to a church and that the funeral would be fitting to a naval officer. This incident alone in my acquaintance with Capt. Richards would be enough to convince me of the higher qualities of manhood that were generally recognized in him. I grieve while he is at peace. He sleeps the sleep that knows no waking. I wish him back for his family, to whom he was dear, and for the reason also that the world has need of such good, true and useful men. He can not come to us, but in a little while we shall join him when our troubles will also be over forever. He wasa loving husband, kind father and a true and generous friend. His was indeed a lifeof love. He lived not for him- self, but to promote the happiness of others. Such was his religion. Justice was his motto, truth his aim. "Harewell, dear friend, sleep on, sleep ever, I would not have you wake (6 pain and sorrow, no never. 3 'Cover him over, yes, cover him over, Husband and father, true friend and brother: Crown in your heart this friend of ours, And cover him over with beautiful Aare I am filled with grief for the death of the captian. I have been feeble of late and it makes me think that my turn will come next. Sombra, Ont., May 3, 1897. Charles Gale. Princess Anne is the name of a passenger steamer launched at the ship yard of the Delaware River Iron Works, Chester, Pa., a few days ago, for the Old Dominion Steamship Co., which has for a great number of years maintained an excellent steamboat passenger service between Richmond, Norfolk and New York. The new vessel, which ~ will go into commission about August 15, will be the finest ship in the company's service. She is 315 feet long, 42 feet beam and 27 feet depth of hold. Her tonnage will be about 3,000 and she will be fitted with triple expansion engines that are expected to develop about 3,400 horse power, giving hera speed of 17 knots. Cylinders of the -- engines are 274, 444, and 73 inches diameter and the stroke is 54 inches. Four boilers are each 14 feet 3 inches diameter by 12 feet length. In addition to a large freight capacity, accommodations will be provided for about 125 first class and 25 second class passengers.