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eee MARINE REVIEW. © WhO keV Ee Lake Freight Matters. Ore shippers who have been offering only 45 cents on Escanaba sea- son contracts have not covered as yet more than 200,000 tons at that figure. About seven boats, all of medium class, are involved in these contracts, and in nearly all cases they are to carry Lake Michigan coal on up-bound trips at 25 cents. The early movement of grain carriers out of Chicago will have a damaging effect on the lake freight market until such time as all of the ore shipping ports are open and ore is moving freely.. Return coal cargoes are sought for all vessels of the grain fleet, and they would freely accept 20 cents on coal to Lake Superior ports, but there is little coal to be had at any price as yet. In the scramble to get ore cargoes, it is quite certain that the opening rates will be low, and if vessels are crowded onto the market, it would not be surprising to find shippers of- fering only 40 cents from Escanaba. Two small blocks of ore to be geet from Marquette to Ohio ports have been covered at 55 cents to ov. 1. Cold weather in the Lake Superior region during the past week will undoubtedly delay the plans of vessel owners who had figured on sending their ships to Lake Superior immediately after making one Lake Michi- gan trip. J. W. Corea and M. Schrank, in charge of ore docks at Ash- land, are both of the opinion that it is not at all probable now that navi- gation at that port will open before April 25. Freezing weather has given ice in Chequamegon bay a new lease of life. Several vessels that wintered at Duluth and Superior, where they were undergoing repairs, have been sent to Two Harbors for ore cargoes, but it is not probable that any of the vessels at the head of the lakes will be ordered down until a passage through the Sault river is assured. Executive officers of the Lumber Carriers' Association are proceed- ing cautiously and they seem to have the affairs of the organization fully in 'hand. Additional tonnage has been entered on the books of the asso- ciation within the past few days, and it is confidently expected that the minimum rates, which are entirely fair, will be maintained. Another Ship to be Built at Lorain. Mr. A. B. Wolvin of Duluth, and his associates in the vessel business, | who were figuring with lake builders for another large steel freight steam~ er, have decided not to build. Announcement may now be made, how- ever, of another contract for a steel steamer, which was 'closed several days ago by the Cleveland Ship Building Co. The vessel is for the Northern Lakes Steamship Co. of Detroit and will be 414 feet keel, 432 feet over all, 5() feet beam and 28 feet depth. Engines will be triple ex- pansion, having cylinders' of 22; 85 and 58 inches diameter with 40-inch stroke. Boilers will be cylindrical, 13 feet. 2 inches diameter and 11. feet 6 inches long, fitted with Howden hot draft and built for a working pres- sure of 165 pounds. The principal' owners of this new vessel were in. control of the Progress Transportation Co., organized some time ago to operate the wooden steamer Progress. The Progress Transportation Co. is now controlled by J. G. Keith and others of Chicago. The new vessel will be built under the inspection of Robert Logan of Cleveland. With this order under way there will be four steamers building at the Lorain yard. They will represent a combined investment of more than $750,000. There are some vessel owners who are of the opinion that if the three . new lake revenue cutters--Gresham and two vessels building at the Globe works, Cleveland--are sent to the Atlantic coast as a result of the Cuban troubles, they will never be returned. During the late war six schooner cutters were sent from the lakes to the seaboard and were not returned. They were twin vessels, built at Milan, O., about 1859, and named for the members of President Buchanan's cabinet. If the present difficulties with Spain are not settled within the next two weeks the order to send the Gresham and her two sisterships to the coast will undoubtedly be carried out, but it would seem that they should be returned to the lakes when the trouble is over, as a new fleet of cutters for both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts is gradually being secured. The sundry civil appropriation bill, now approved by both houses of congress, makes provision for three first-class cutters and two of smaller class, all for coast service. One of the first-class cutters for the Pacific (Columbia river and Puget sound) is to cost $250,000. The other two, costing $160,000 each, are to take the place of the Seward on the Gulf of Mexico and the Colfax at Charleston. The two smaller vessels ate for harbor service at Boston and Philadelphia and are to cost $45,000 each. _ A navy board in session in New York sent to President McKinley, a few days ago, the names of ten steamers belonging to coast lines which were selected as auxiliary cruisers, and it is now announced that four of these vessels--El Rio, El Norte, El Sol and El Sud--all of the Morgan line, have been purchased by the government. The Morgan boats are vessels of the first class and well adapted for naval purposes. The other ships in the approved list are the Jamestown, the Yorktown and Princess Anne, of the Old Dominion line; the Red D liners, Caracas and Venezuela, and the crack Savannah liner Kansas City. It is thought that these latter vessels will also be transferred to the government before the close of the present week. These ten steamships are all steel. They have been se- lected from a list of about 100 coast vessels. They have been constructed within the last few years in American' ship yards. They represent a total tonnage of 36,487, the Morgan vessels averaging 4,600 tons each, the Old Dominion liners nearly 3,000 tons each, 'the Red D steamers 2,700 tons each, while the Kansas Citv is registered at 3,679 tons. There aré no orders as yet regarding changes to be made in the vessels to fit them for war purposes, and it is probable that nothing will be done in this regard until peace measures with Spain are finally exhausted. CLEVELAND, O., APRIE7, 1893). Nop Appropriations for the Lakes. Although no river and harbor bill will be passed by the present con- gress, there are appropriations for the lakes in the sundry civil bill amount- ing to $2,976,484. These are largely for continuous contract improve- ments in harbors of the leading lake cities, but there are also a large num- ber of important items for the light-house service. This bill is now. prac- tically through both houses, so that there is no further question about the lake appropriations. Unfortunately, the officers of the Lake. Carriers' Association were unable to secure in this bill a clause setting aside a spe- cial appropriation for gas buoys for the lakes, but they are assured through Senators McMillan and Hanna that a liberal share of the $550,000 appro- priated for buoyage service throughout the country will be devoted to this purpose. The bill contains an item of $85,000 for a new light-house tender for the lakes, There are also items providing $15,000 each for new light- house depots, one to be located in the vicinity of the Straits and the other at Sault Ste. Marie. Following are lake items in the bill that have re- ceived the approval of both houses, and which will probably not be changed in any way in conference: Light-house service.--For construction of new light-house tender for lakes, $85,000; steam light-ship for Poe reef, Straits of Mackinac, _ $15,000; Grand Traverse (Cat Head), Lake Michigan, fog signal, $5,500; South Milwaukee, Lake Michigan, light station, $7,500; Tail point, Wis- consin, for moving station to a point near the channel, head of Green bay, $7,500; Ludington, Mich., keeper's dwelling, $3,000; depot for ninth light- house district, near northern end of Lake Michigan, $15,000; light and fog signal station to mark outer end of main channel, entrance to Toledo harbor, Lake Erie, $75,000, of which $37,500 is appropriated at once; keep- er's dwelling for Grassy island range light station, Detroit river, $5,000; keeper's dwelling for Grosse Isle, north channel, range light station, De- troit river, $3,500; keeper's dwelling for Grosse Isle, south channel, range light station, Detroit river, $5,000; additional lands for Cheboygan river front range light station, Straits of Mackinac, $1,750; light and fog signal _ station to mark new 20-foot channel, Lake St. Clair, $20,000; light to mark turning point in channel through Mud lake, St. Mary's river, $3,500; head of St. Mary's river, additional range light to mark channel at entrance to river, $1,000; depot for eleventh light-house district, to be located in vi- cinity of Sault Ste. Marie, $15,000. ~ ¢ esate River and harbor improvements under continuous contracts.--Buffalo, $489,746; Duluth and Superior, $770,138; Chicago river, $400,000; Cleve- land, $300,000; water communication across Keeweenaw point, Lake Su- perior, $450,000. ~" | the gia ae aine tA Miscellaneous--For Deep Waterways Commission (survey of ship- canal from lakes to Atlantic tidewater), $225,000, said commission to make a full report of its proceedings to congress at commencement of its next session; for printing and issuing lake charts. by army engineer corps, $3,000; for additional surveys and correction of plates for lake charts, 25,000. Genin : Marine hospitals----Improvements in marine hospital at Chicago, $37,350; marine hospital at Cleveland, $8,000. "Cost of Unloading Iron Ore. In answer to the request of vessel owners for a reduction in the charge that is made at Lake Erie ports for unloading iron ore, the dock managers claim, in effect, that their property is being operated to some extent at a loss under the present labor cost. The dock managers, who met in Cleveland a few days ago, decided to continue last year's charge to the vessels and to pay to the men the same wages that prevailed last year. In support of this position the following statement was made: _ "The request of the vessel owners for a reduction is reasonable, in view of the reduced lake freights inaugurated at the opening of the present season, but the dock managers find that they cannot fairly ask their men to work for less. wages than prevailed in 1897. They find, also, from re- turns made since the close of navigation, that in some cases the cost to the docks for doing this work ranges from % to 1 cent per ton more than the charge made to vessels. It was clearly shown from these reports that the docks could not afford to stand any further reduction themselves. In fact, it seemed more reasonable to ask for an unloading charge at least equal to the cost. However, after discussion, it was decided to let last year's prices and wages stand. Meantime there is to be a closer com- parison of costs, and it is not unlikely, if the same condition is found to prevail another year, that the unloading charge will be fixed at least equal 'to the cost of doing the work. Last year, when the vessel interests re- quested and were given a reduction in their unloading charge, the dock companies decided that they could only slightly reduce the wages of their men, and consequently stood most of the reduction themselves, with the result that it has since been found that they have been doing the work for less than cost." The North German Lloyd steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse has again lowered the record from Southampton to New York. She arrived in New York on the 6th inst., having made the passage in 5 days and 20 hours, which is 2 hours and 35 minutes less time than her best previous record from Southampton, which was made on her maiden trip in Sep- tember of last year. On that trip she covered a distance of 3,050 knots, at an average speed of 21.39 knots..On this last trip she covered 3,120 knots, increasing her average speed to 22.29 knots. Following the arrival of Charles H. Cramp.at St. Petersburg, March 98, it was again announced that the Philadelphia ship builders are to have contracts for three or four of the new war vessels for which large appro-. priations were recently made by the Russian government. We | |