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MARINE REVIEW. VoL. XV. CLEVELAND, O., JUNE io, 1897. No. 24. Some Facts About the Pewabic, "Tf the wreckers at Alpena have founda sunken steamer with one arch, and if she is located about six miles south-southeast of Thun- der bay island, this is proof enough for me," says Capt. Geo. P. McKay of Cleveland, "that they have the Pewabic. I have always held that she was between five and six miles from the island in the direction stated. The fact of the upper works and the upper deck being entirely gone, has been fully understood as they floated off when the steamer went down. But the whole trend of the dispatches, even to the direc- tion in which the bow of the vessel is turned, is corroborative of con- clusions that were reached immediately after the accident. The Pewabic was sunk on August 8, 1865, at 8:30 in the evening. The report of a hundred or more lives having been lost on her is incorrect. The number of lives lost will never be known, but from the most reliable information that I could obtain after the accident, I have always been of the opinion that the total was not more than forty. Capt. Ed. Mooney of the steamer Wawatam was wheelsman with me -- at the time and Capt. George Cleveland who was in the steamer Jim Sheriffs when I last talked with him, was mate. I think these are the only members of the crew besides myself who are still alive. al oe brerAcratmerh---nalvreshentaaaptonsraiersetieeal ak) ea oa telephone, arms for grapling, boring, etc., and is claimed to work admirably. General Improvement in Freight Outlook. As a result of general improvement in the iron industry, the lake freight market has been decidedly active during the past few days, and the hopes of vessel owners have been raised by the volume of business that is offered. But rates at which some contracts are being made are very discouraging, as it is thought they will tend to hold down wild freights, unless the improvemnet in the market now at hand proves to be of a very forcible kind. Just before going to press, announce- ment is made of a season contract covering quite a jag of Escanaba ore at 45 cents, the vessels agreeing to move part of the ore even through November. Shippers also claim to have options on tonnage -to move ore from the head of the lakes for the full season at 65 cents.. It is thought, however, that as the volume of business increases, even with- -- out higher wild rates, the vessel owners who have allowed their ideas of the future to fall very low will take ona more confident: feeling, and the extent of contracts at the figures quoted above will not be very great. -? STEAMER PEWABIC, SUNK IN 1865 AND JUST LOCATED IN LAKE HURON. eas The story of the safe containing vast sums of money and other reports of treasure going down with the vessel are all wrong. At that time -- our freight was paid in script of the mining companies. This was in the safe, but it would be valueless now. this peewee paper had been traced and the mining companies that issued it had paid up in genuine money. The only money in the safe was the small amounts taken from the passengers on the trip. The amount and quality of the-copper has also been exaggerated, but this part of the cargo is, of course, worth considerable labor if it can be secured. There was about 600 tons in all, 200 tons of which was ingots and slabs, 200 tons barrel stamp work and 200 tons in mass copper. We also had 100 to 150 tons of pig iron on deck." The searching expedition that found the Pewabic on Monday last was sent out. from Milwaukee by the American Wrecking & Salvage Co., a corporation organized to undertake the work of trying to find the vessel and raise her cargo. They had the small steamer Root, equip- ped with a patent diving bell and other necessary apparatus. As the Pewabic is in 160 feet of water there is still considerable question as to whether the cargo will ever be recovered. Patents on the diving bell that was used in the search are held by Worden G. Smith, who is in charge of the expedition. The bell is fitted with search lights, T understand anyhow that . The worst immediate feature of the general freight, situation is a great scarcity of coal, due it is said in a large measure to insufficient supplies of cars. A scarcity of railway cars so early in-the-season is exceptional, but cars are actually very scarce and have been'for some time past. The unusual scarcity of the past week undoubtedly indi- cates a large volume of business. The lake fleet, carrying 2U to 30 per cent. more cargo each trip than was carried last season from Lake Superior, is contributing very largely to the heavy movement of freight that is causing this scarcity of cars, and the vessel owners who are accepting low contrats are prompted by their opinions of inereased capacity on deep water. The majority prefer to decline the cheap freights, however, and take chances on the improvement which they are expecting from this time on. It is expected that everything will be in readiness in about a week to pump out the big hole for the dry dock of the Cleveland Ship Building Co.'s new plant at Lorain, and that the ship yard appliances will be far enough advanced by Aug. 1 to admit of a keel for a ship being laid about that date. The Review has excellent photographs of lake ships. r