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10 MARINE REVIEW. Around the Lakes. " It is expected that the new Union line steamer Starucca, building at the works of the Union Dry Dock Co., Buffalo, will be launched about August 1. Practically an entire new engine will have to be built for the side- wheel steamer State of Ohio of the Cleveland & Buffao line, asa result of the accident to machinery which occurred on Lake Erie Monday. Contractors have begun work on the big dredging job within the Duluth-Superior harbors, which will involve an expenditure of $1,650,000. Five dredges will be in operation in this big basin in a few days. The steamer Neosho is reported to have struck a huge boulder in the Erie basin at Buffalo, near the old elevator, west of the foot of West Genesee street. It is said to be 14 feet long, 6 feet wide and 4 feet high. The Duluth grain cargo just deliverd at Buffalo by the Wilson line steamer Andrew Carnegie consists of 171,000 bushels of oats, 51,000 bushels of wheat and 55,000 bushels of barley, equal in all to 5,586 net tons. _ The sand bar at the entrance to Portage lake ship canal has been entirely dredged away. Dredging is now in progress at Portage entry, Keweenaw bay, and when it is completed there will be 18 feet of water between the piers. The suit which was begun in.the court of common pleas at Cleve- land by the Brown Hoisting & Conveying Machine Co. against F. W. Wheeler & Co., ship builders of West Bay City, asking for $15,000 alleged to be due on three promissory notes of $5,000 each, attach- ments for money in the hands of the Etna Steamship Co., Bessemer Steamship Co. and Pickands, Mather & Co. having been issued, was dismissed, Wednesday, the matter at difference being immediately adjusted upon a meeting of the parties concerned. Vessel masters did not realize the importance of gas buoys in Pelee passage until they were without them for a few weeks this spring. These buoys are owned by the Canadian goverenment, but as they are of advantage mainly to vessels of the United States, it was understood when they were first "established that the Lake Carriers' Association would provide for their maintenance. Gas for the buoys could only be secured through the United States light-house board, and hence the delay, as the light-house officials were undecided as to how far they could go in assisting navigation in Canadian waters. The office of general manager is to be abolished by the Pitts- burgh, Bessemer & Lake Hrie Railroad (Carnegie ore line from the lakes), and J. T. Blair, at present occupying that position, will be made general agent. W.K. Richard, general freight agent, and W. G. Sargent, general passenger agent, have tendered their resignations. The offices will be combined, and E. H. Utley, formerly' assistant sales agent of the Carnegie Steel Co., Limited, has been appointed to the dual position. At the sale of the old revenue cutter Andrew Johnson in Cleve- land, Tuesday, representatives of naval reserve organizations in De- troit and Chicago were prepared to bid against the Cleveland divisions that bought the boat. It was decided, however, that a struggle for the vessel would result in too much being paid for her, and the Cleve- land organization was allowed to take her when the bid reached $2,250. The value of the vessel was a small item with the govern- ment, anyhow, and the revenue bureau officials would have given her to the reserves, but for the law in the matter. The reserves of Cleveland are not of the opinion that they have a wonderful bargain in the old cutter. A steam vessel, especially when she is old, re- quires quite a large annual expenditure in repairs and running ex- penses, and some members of the naval militia on the lakes are there- fore of the opinion that sailing vessels of the kind that can be bought cheap on the coast would render good service as practice ships. 'The Marine Review has prepared in neat oak frames cards contain- ing the schedule of time required to be run between certain points in the St. Mary's river under the speed limit of seven miles an hour. When hung in a pilot house, distance and time may be readily noted from these cards, as the type is large. They will be sent by express to any address at $1 each,or may be had upon application at 409 Perry- Payne building, Cleveland, for 65 cents each. Ss Obstructions and Other Dangers to Navigation, The postal card scheme of reports from vessel captains regarding obstructions, misplaced buoys, etc., which was inaugurated recently by Geo. L. McCurdy of Chicago in the interests of underwriters gen- erally, is meeting with hearty cooperation from the vessel masters, As many as a dozen reports were made regarding the accident to the light on the lower cluster of piles at Grosse point channel, which was carried away by a passing vessel, but which has since been replaced. Capt. James Gibson suggests that if a red and white light, one above the other, were placed on this cluster of piles, there would be less danger of damage to vessels in event of this light being carried away again. The red and white lights would distinguish the lower cluster, and in their absence vessel masters would know that something was wrong and they would not attempt to enter the channel on the suppos- ition that the second light was the lower one. Capt. Clint Ennis of the Bessemer line steamer Fairbairn says: 'Some method must be provided to warn up-bound vessels at Sailors' Encampment of anything that may be coming down. The first time two boats meet in the new cut at this point, both will besunk. When there is any wind at all on the river, signals can not be heard. I had a narrow escape from accident at this point on a recent trip, and I think that all vessel masters will agree with mein what I say about this matter. 'Unless the spar buoy at the head of Russell's island, St. Clair river, has been changed very recently," says Capt. M. Folan of the steamer Milwaukee, "I am quite sure that it is too far to the westward. I have seen boats aground with the buoy at the west of them. I should think that it is 200 feet or so out of place, and this is a long distance when boats are passing each other. On May 14 one of the whalebacks was aground at this point and on the 25th the Samoa and consort were on at the same spot. Its the worst place in the St. Clair river and a dangerous hole to make on a dark night. <A light at this point in not less than 17 feet of water would be a good thing. The range lights for this passage are red and very low, and on a night when the smoke of passing boats hangs on the water they are hard to be seen, as every captain on the lakes will testify. Capt. C. Z. Montague of the steel steamer Geo. N. Orr says that his vessel, while only partially loaded and drawing but 16 feet, sus- -- tained heavy damage in getting away from the Armour elevator, D slip, south branch at Chicago on May 18. He says that requirements for modern ships are certainly inadequate at Chicago. Sinclair Stewart of New York, Robert Logan of Cleveland and Edward Gaskin of Buffalo are all well-known naval architects who have had a great deal to do with the construction of vessels on the lakes. These gentlemen made an investigation, some time ago, for the purpose of making a joint report on the steam towing machine of the Shaw & Spiegle type, manufactured by the American Ship Windlass Co. of Providence, R. I. They had all seen the machine in operation on lake vessels, and were aware of its value, but the examination was made anyhow, as the report was to be a formal one. The report, which was recently published, is of a most flattering kind. All three of these gentlemen are connected with societies for the classification of ships, and their view of the machine from an underwriter's standpoint will therefore prove interesting. The report says: "From an under- writer's standpoint the objection to towing large and heavily loaded vessels by ordinary methods is the liability of the towing line or its connections to part upon a sudden strain being brought upon it, leaving the vessel towed pactically helpless for a time, even if pro- vided with efficient masts and sails. With this machine, on the con- trary, the towing hawser is run out by automatic action until such a strain is relieved, when the hawser is drawn in by the same means. The testimony that such is the action of the machine in practice is uncon- trovertible."' A smooth roadway. Perfect passenger service. Uniformed col- ored train porters for the convenience of both first and second class coach passengers. Quick time. Through sleeping car service between Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, and Boston. A superb din- ing car service. No change of cars for any-class of passengers between Chicago and New York City. Rates lower than via other lines. These are advantages presented by the Nickel Plate road. 47 June 10