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. a ns SEA MARINE REVIEW. ViorEs VI. CLEVELAND, O., DECEMBER 23, 1897. No. 26. Complete Summary of Lake Superior Commerce. _ (Lake Superior commerce, which had been increasing at the rate ofa million tons a yeat, shows an increase of full two millions in 1897. A report of December commerce is at hand, and by combining monthly statements of the two canals at 'Sault Ste. Marie, it is found that the total number of vessel passages to and from Lake Superior during 1897 was 17,171, as compared with 18,615 in 1896 and 17,956 in 1895. The number of net tons of freight moved is 18,218,411, against 16,239,121 in 1896 and 15,062,580 in 1895, and the registered tonnage of vessels is 17,619,933, against 17,249,418 in 1896 and 16,806,781 in 1895. Thus the freight moved this year is practically 2,000,000 tons in excess of 1895, although there is a decrease of 1.444 in the number of vessel passages. This statement of canal commerce, which is entirely correct, may be taken as a basis for estimates regarding the capacity of big modern ships with deep drait, as against the smaller vessels of 14 feet draft that were engaged in the Lake Superior trade previous to 1896. Soft coal shipments to all Lake Superior points are only 133,157 tons short of the movement in 1896, notwithstand- ing the strike and other delays. In the grain movement there is a bi shortage, the shipments of grain of all kinds aggregating 76,913,994 bush- els, against 90,704,534 bushels in 1896. This shortage in the Lake Supe- rior grain movement is made up, however, by increased shipments out of Chicago. Flour shipments through the canals aggregated 8,921,143 barrels, as compared with 8,882,858 barrels in 1896. The main increase is, ot course, in iron ore. The different freight items are enumerated in the following table: LAKE SUPERIOR COMMERCE--A COMPARISON OF CANAL 'STATISTICS FOR THREE YEARS PAST. | F i ie a Season of | Season of Season of ITEMS. DESIGNATION. 1897. 1896. 1895,' : WieSSEIS Hoists cutee eee Numbetr .... 17,171 18,615 17,956 WOCK ARES... 35.0. Et de ntece sone INYO NS hess (boc caneosbaosse 9,466 7,734 Tonnage, registered............ Net tons....| 17,619,933] 17,249,418] 16,806,781 honnages frei glitters sense... Net touns.... | 18,218,411) 16,239,121} 15,062,580 JERS StS ol eet da seringonacacongsoos06 00 Numbet..... 40,213 37,066 31,656 Coal shards eee cece cececs Net tons.... 536,199 397,210 440,477 Goallsofiieeis nine triece: Net tons....| 2,492,973) 2,626,130) 2,133,885 Gl Oita meres ca vecveeecs. eceie es Barrels.......| 8,921,148) 8,882,858] 8,962,302 Died Geetha ciel ace cces vce tere us Bushels..... | 55,924,306] 63,256,463} 46,218,250 Grain otherthan wheat....... Bushels...... 20,989,688] 27,448,071; 8,328,694 Manufactured and pig iron..|Net tons.... 135,164 121,872 100,337 Sil teseecanemecas assoc eesti: Barrels...... 285,449 237,515 269,919 Copper ieticess. scree oe Net touns.... 122,324 116,872 107,452 TirO nV OLE. «oem Rear eee Net tons....| 10,633,715} 7,909,250} 8,062,209 IARI TON OY epeenenonarabeadcuosocncnedcc. M. ft. B.M. 805,612 684,986 740,700 SiKEIEI@ WOaganoncpeccnoscnaacenoscs Net tons.... 5 240 100 Building stoness---es asses Net tons.... 6,249 17,731 23,876 Unclassified freight............ Net tons.... 579,008 520,851 463,308 Figuring on 40 Knots with Turbines. Leading journals of England complain of the refusal. of the British admiralty to assist in the deyelopme nt of the steam turbine for marine purposes. "It isthe general Opinion,' says Engineering of London, "that the authorities should order a full-sized gunboat fitted with steam tur- bines, with which it is probable that a speed of 40. knots may be attained, but we are not sanguine that the government, this being a British inven- tion, will take it up until other powers have previously adopted it. In fact, the Russian government has already ordered a turbine boat, which will have a guaranteed speed of 38 knots." : iA. writer in Industries & Iron, another of the London engineering journals, says: "The application of steam turbines to torpedo boat de- stroyers, gunboats and cruisers is to be anticipated from their unique capacity for developing great power and high speed with light and com- pact machinery. 'Apart, however, from these uses, it appears to me highly probable that they will in time be adopted in the mercantile marine. The conditions in a fast passenger steamer are favorable to the economical application of steam turbines, and in such steamers the smoothness of their running will be a strong recommendation. I see no drawback likely to detract from the -advantages which they plainly possess. In applying turbine engines to a large passenger vessel or warship of, say, 30,000 horse power, probably four screw shafts, with two screws on each shaft, would be driven by one compound turbine at a rate of between 400 and 700 revolutions per minute, and the turbines would consist of the high pressure, the intermediate, and two low pressure, each turbine developing approximately one-quarter of the total power. The screw propellers would be about one-half the diameter of ordinary twin-screw propellers, and the aggregate blade area would approximate closely to ordinary practice. With such engines the consumption of steam per propulsive horse power would probably 'be less than that found in the mercantile » marine, andsconsiderably less than that found in engines of war vessels, t o ha : - 5 » 22 where space and other conditions must necessarily be considered." The Messrs. Duntley of the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co. have had Mr. Henry West of the Cramp ship yard on the lakes showing him tools that are in operation at the works of the Globe Co., Cleveland, and at the Wyandotte ship yard of the Detroit Dry Dock Co. : Question of Grain Shortages, 'Considerable interest attaches to a number of suits brought at Duluth against shippers and elevators for shortage in grain cargoes, one of which has resulted.in.a judgment in favor of the vessel.' The result of the appeal in this case.will doubtless be determinative of the other cases, and if the action of the lower court in giving relief to the carrier be sustained. pre- sumably many other actions will be brought in that jurisdiction. The short- age during a single year calls upon the vessel owners to pay a large sum of money, and if relief can be had in the Minnesota courts, as the pending action in the supreme court of that state will determine, the "cut throat" bill 'of lading will lose some of its terror. ; In 1895 the circuit court of appeals for the second circuit, in Sawyer vs. Cleveland Iron Milling 'Co., considered thie question, and held the 'clause, "all the deficiency in cargo to be paid by the carrier (except when grain is heated, or heats in transit), and deducted from the freight, and. any excess in cargo to be paid for to the carrier by the consignee," to be good, and the carrier liable for the shortage in the cargo, though the grain had never actually been loaded on board the vessel. It was a case of shipment of grain from West Superior to Buffalo. The grain was loaded at the Great Northern elevator and weighed under the superintend- ence of a weighmaster for the elevator, the assistant state weighmaster, and a tally keeper for the vessel. Their weight being believed to be cor- rect, Sawyer & Co. surrendered to the elevator certificates for that quan- tity, and bills of lading based on the reported weight were issued. The» cargo. ion delivery was found to be 1,502 bushels short. The referee to: whom the question was submitted found as a fact that the 1,502 bushels had never been put aboard the vessel; that a mistake hac been made in the weight. be ee It will be observed that in this case the cargo was not delivered to the vessel by the consignor but by an independent warehouseman. signor, "accepting the receipts of the carrier on the bills of lading as cor- : rectly representing the cargo laden on board under the carrier's super- vision, relying upon their accuracy and on the clause in the contract, he gave up to the warehouseman, at the elevator, receipts of the latter for a quantity of grain equal to that which the carrier represented that he had received on board. * * * It seems reasonable that parties should agree upon the quantity of grain shipped when the grain is actually delivered to the carrier, not by the shipper out of this warehouse, 'but by an inde- -- pendent warehouseman in another port,-who delivers it on the shipper's order and under the supervision and control of the carrier, in the absence of the shipper or his personai representative. As-the language of the contract is broad enough to protect the shipper as well as the consignor against the carrier's mistake, there seems to be no good reason for restrict- Tre oes Saal eee is ie S The court also said: "There is nothing in the bill to indicate that this special agreement shall not apply to mistakes in weighing, arising, as this one apparently did, between the warehouseman and the carrier. Neither authority nor the nature of the business calls for any different construction." The contention was that "deficiency in cargo" meant "deficiency in cargo actually received on board," but it was held not good. After the decision in this case by the circuit court of appeals was ren- dered, as above, the owners of the vessel demanded from the elevator the balance of the grain (1,502 bushels) and were refused on the ground that the wheat was weighed out of the elevator by the'state grain' inspector and for any mistake the state and not the elevator was liable. The vessel owners then brought their action in the state court at Duluth, and Judge Moer, finding that the shortage arose by mutual.mistake of the parties. and that the vessel had not in fact received the 'grain for which her owners had been obliged to pay, held the elevator owner to be liable to them. The ruling of the circuit court of appeals, between different parties but on the same facts as to shortage, is only in apparent conflict with the decision of the Minnesota court. It will be observed that the court of appeals says: "It seems reasonable that parties should agree upon the quantity of grain shipped when the grain is actually delivered to the car- rier, not by the shipper out of his warehouse, but by an independent ware- houseman." In one case the vessel owner is at no greater disadvantage, if as great, as the consignor and consignee. When, however, the action is, as in the Minnesota cases, against the shipper who furnishes the grain without the intervention of an independent warehouseman, the reason of the holding seems in a measure to fail. The action of the supreme court of Minnesota will finally determine the question so far as that state is concerned. A study of iron ore shipments in the tables published last week shows a gain of 27 per cent. over 1896 in the output of all ranges, while the Mesabi range gained 49 per cent. on its record for the preceding year. Yet the Mesabi range, with its output of 4,280,000 tons this year, furnished but 35 per cent. of the total. Counting in last spring's dock stocks of Mesabi ores, and allowing for unsold Mesabi ore brought down the past season, it is estimated that that range contributed close to one-third of the Lake 'Superior ores consumed in 1897.--Iron Trade Review. The Bulletin of the American Iron and Steel Association says that . the production of pig iron in the United States in 1897 will be not far - below. 10,000,000 tons, the largest-yet attained, and that German produc- 'tion for this year will be the largest ever reached, as also probably that of Great Britain. a The maximum rate of pig iron production in this country--226,024 tons per week--was reached Dec. 1 with 191 furnaces in blast. The:con:*: