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MARINE REVIEW. ae New Nicaragua Canal Commission, Among the contributed articles in the Review of Reviews for Sep- tember are sketches of the three members of the new Nicaragua Canal Commission--Admiral Walker, U. S. N., retired; Capt. O. M. Carter, corps of Engineers, U, S. A., and Prof. Lewis M. Haupt of Philadelphia. The sketches are illustrated with portraits, and serve to convey an idea of the peculiar qualifications possessed by. these gentlemen for the task to which they have been appointed by President McKinley. The sketches were written by Henry W. Lanier, who says that Prof. Haupt's view on the canal scheme are eminently broad. He believes 'it unquestionably should and will be built. Its exact location and cost, while most neces- sary of determination, can in no way affect this general conclusion. Whether it costs a hundred million more, as Senator Morgan declares it will, or a hundred and thirty-three million, as colonel Ludlow has es- timated, or even two hundred million, is in a broad view immaterial. It represents a colossal annual saving which the world of commerce has a right to expect and to demand, and of its profitableness he himself has not the slightest doubt. The opposition to it which has been indus- triously fomented by some of the trans-continental railroads is peculiarly short-sighted on their part, for the transportation. experts agree to the truth of the apparent paradox that water competition is decidedly bene- ficial instead of injurious to the railroads. Prof. Haupt is quoted as follows: "Look over the stock market and select the roads whose stock is away above par; in nearly every case you will find these lines compete with deep-water traffic. Railroads which are paying dividends are running in competition with water in every case. The explanation of this is found in the facts that facilities increase commerce, that a large local trade is stimulated by the canal) and that the railroad gets the bulk of the refined and manufactured pro- ducts which go through the canal in their raw states. The tonnage in sight for this proposed waterway is nearly as great as that carried an- nually by the Suez canal, the profits from which are said to pay for its initial cost every five years. It is stated by French economists that the benefits conferred upon that republic by the expenditure of over $700,000,- (000 upon her system of free canals and water-ways is equivalent to an an- nual return of 5 per cent. upon_this enormous capital, and it was reported by the United States senate committee on commerce, in 1892, that the sav- ing on transportation effected by the St. Mary's Falls canal was over $100,- 000,000 in two years. The same report states 'the total expenditure for water improvements of the lakes has amounted to about $30,000,000, or approximatély to one-fifth of the annual saving in transportation.' " Higher Prices for Iron of all Kinds. __ It would seem that the upward movement in all branches of the iron industry is at last initiated. Making due allowance for the effect of economies introduced at every point during the past three or four years, the fact remains that prices have been unduly low. This is true of iron ore for. which there is no remedy for the present. It is probably not the case in coke, which, however, may be one of the first articles to rise. Otherwise, it seems certain that we have been on an abnormal basis. There can be no profit to even the best equipped plants in $18 billets, of which large quantities have been sold. Furnacemen could not cover real cost when seiling Bessemer pig at a shade under $9 in the central west, as they have done not long since. The rolling mills have sold at prices which would be ruinous in the long run. In order to get to.a normal basis the advances must be cumulative along the line, and must also pro- vide for higher wages to much of the labor employed, particularly if the cost of living shows a tendency to increasing, as seems likely. The gen- eral improvement is beginning to tell, even now, in different ways. The (uestion of a car supply is growing troublesome, and in some districts common labor is beginning to get scarce at the wages paid lately. All this means delay and an increased cost of production. In the territory nee of the Alleghany mountains the large steel producers who have tet paging the markets for years have booked so heavily at low prices fever: asking, and are getting, $1.25 to $1.50 per ton above the teen Prices for what material they are willing to sell for the next few ae e fuitce the famous 100,000-ton sale of wire rods in the Chicago ete fee has been considerable activity, and moderate lots, which fen 91 ing at $19 two weeks since, cannot now be purchased for less the oh : Negotiations are again pending on a pool for the rod makers, ae ae this time being even more comprehensive than that which ine eee succeeding in the early summer. It is significant that the and 1s so very heavy in the wire trade, because that branch depends n ! : > aN hee any others upon the prosperity of the agricultural community.-- Stocks of Grain at Lake Ports. The followin trade, sh at the Shows the g table, prepared from reports of the Chicago board of Baer stocks of wheat and corn in store in regular elevators Principal points of accumulation on the lakes, August 28, 1897: Wheat, bushels. Corn, bushels. Buttgo eee 1,760,000 13,011,000 Perea 348,000 138.000 epee tes 84.000 100,000 ce 301,000 47,000 ee 707,000 392.000 ee sess. 727,000 605,000 As eo ' 3,927,000 14,293,000 Points aes With a week ago, the above figures show, at the several Vic » 0 increase of 13,000 bushels of wheat and 1,419,000 bushels aflo 00 bushels of corn and 1,935,000 bushels of oats. Grain N the canal of als ageregat ; 0) corn, and 158,000 a. oi ee po bushels of wheat, 1,539,000 bushels Review pa ivy charts of the lakes are kept in stock by the Marine » *erry-Payne building, Cleveland. orn, of whe n the same date there was afloat on the lakes 1,830,000 bushels - a at, 5,621.0 Ship Building in Germany. Reports from various sources would indicate that ship building en- terprises in Germany of late have increased on a very large scale.. New. ship yards are being erected, old ones extended and the 'majority. of them appear to be well occupied. At the beginning of the present year there were in course of construction in German yards an aggregate of 275 vessels, of which 175 were steamers, thirteen sailing vessels, thirty-nine lighters, etc., and the rest smaller craft. Of these vessels 250 were being built of steel, tweny of wood, and two of iron. Forty-four of the steam- ers and six sailing vessels were intended for trans-atlantic traffic. There were not less than seven steamers in course of construction of more than 10,000 tons; Six of these were for account of the North German Lloyd's, and comprised a couple of the longest and fastest steamers afloat. Be- tween 5000 and 10,000 registered tons there were five, and eleven of 2000 to 5000 tons. An. important feature in connection with German ship building is the rapidly increasing number of fishing steamers, about thirty being in course of construction at the beginning of the year. The Hamburger firm of Blohm & Voss stood at the head, as regards tonnage, having during 1896 constructed or taken in hand twelve Transatlantic steamers. Next comes the Vulkan company of Stettin with eight steam- ers, scme of which are of unique dimensions. The well-known Schickau yard had also undertaken the construction of steamers of unusual size, but in addition they had been busy with torpedo boats, having built some half dozen for the German navy. Of the Bremen firms the Weser ship yard had on its list, besides several cargo steamers, a cruiser for the Ger- man navy. The Government dock yards have in hand the three largest ships of the German navy, the one at Wilhelmshafen two, and the yard at Kiel one. The two first-class ironclads will have three propellers, and are in many respects built on similar lines. There was, further, in hand at Kiel a fourth-class ironclad, and at the Danzig dock yard a sister ship. Five cruisers of the second class are being built, two at the Imperial dock yard at Danzig, two at the Vulkan ship yard, Stettin, and one at the Weser ship yard, Bremen. The Vulcan yard also has in hand three protected cruisers for the Chinese government, and the Shickau yard some torpedo catchers and boats for the Austrian government. Report of Another Northern Line Combination. If late reports from Chicago regarding certain railway combinations are to be credited, Mr. J. J. Hill of the Great Northern Railway and Northern Steamship Co. is constantly strengthening his lake interests. Comment on the recent advance in securities of the Chicago & Great: Western Railroad is attended by the report that the J. P. Morgan in-) erest, which is now in full control of the Northern Pacific, and the James' J. Hill party, which owns the Great Northern railway system, are now in possession of options representing controlling interests in the Great West- ern. This, it is said, will perfect a formidable combination which will minimize the competition in the carrying trade of the northwest. .The Chicago & Great Western will give the Northern Pacific-Great Northern interest its own line from St. Paul to Chicago. It is proposed by the new. combination to make an attempt to control the trans-Pacific carrying trade by means of an alliance already perfected and in operation with the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, or Japan Mail Steamship Co., which has the largest fleet and the second largest tonnage rating of any steamship company in the world. In joining this alliance the Japanese steamship company brings to its partners a monopoly of the interior and coasting trade of Japan "and China, and also places in service connecting lines of steamships to compete for the Indian, Australian, Hawaiian and Northern Asiatic trade, with the object of diverting to the United States route the English and continental European traffic for India and Asia, which has hereto- fore gone via the Cape Town or Suez canal routes. The lake and rail business of the combination is to be thrown to the Northern Steamship Co. via Duluth. The latter company, as an ally of the Great Northern system, with the Eastern Railway of Minnesota, which extends from St. Paul to Duluth, has also passed under the control of the syndicate. East of the all-rail terminus at Chicago and east of the lake and rail terminus at Buffalo, the traffic of this big combination will, it is said, be thrown to those roads in which the Morgan interests predom- inate. Canal Regulations. During a recent visit to Sault Ste. Marie Col. Lydecker thoroughly inspected the working of the locks and incidentally discovered that some of the vesselmen 'were not complying with the rules and regulations governing their conduct while in the canal.. To avoid unpleasant friction with many of the vesselmen, Supt. MacKenzie and his assistants have not rigidly enforced certain of the rules. For instance, when captains were ordered by the watchmen at either entrance to the canal to stop at a certain point, or place their craft in a certain position, some of them have paid but little attention to the orders. Other regulatidns have been also practically ignored. 'Col. Lydecker promptly gave instructions for the absolute enforcement of the rules hereafter. When the vesselmen have Leen given sufficient notice of the new order of things, they will suffer a penalty if the regulations are disobeyed by them. 'Contingencies may arise at any time whereby serious accidents are quite liable to result to the boats and also to the canal in the event of the rules and regulations not being adhered to.--Sault Ste. Marie News. It is understood that pending the erection of a permanent system of lights on Grosse point channel, Lake St. Clair, the light-house board will probably authorize the district officers to change the lower cluster light to red, and to place a white lens-lantern on a cluster directly opposite, to mark the turn and the width of the channel. The draft of water at Ballard's reef during the week ending on Sat- urday last was as follows: Monday, 18 feet, with wind north, light; Tues- day, 18 feet, south, moderate; Wednesday, 18 feet 1 inch, north, light; Thursday, 18 feet, south, light; Friday, 17 feet 8 inches, north, light; Saturday, 18 feet 2 inches, south, moderate. The Review has excellent photographs of lake ships,