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1898.] MARINE REVIEW. 13 BUFFALO'S PROUD_BOAST. THE GREAT GRAIN PORT OF THE WORLD--L£WO HUNDRED MILLION MARK AGAIN PASSED--A BRIKK SUMMARY OF THE SEASON'S RECEIPTS. Buffalo, Dec. 28.--With the departure, during the past few days, of all the boats that are to lay up at Uhio ports, the season of navigation at Buffalo is at an end. It has in most respects been a notable one, though in some cases in its failures as well as its successes. The success has been in grain handling. In 1897 the amount reached an even 200,000,000 bushels. (not including fiour), having increased about 19 per cent over the season previous. This was achieved by the wonderful size of the oat crop, which exceeded in bushels received either wheat or corn, beimy v+,000,0UU to only 06,000,000 each of wheat and corn. This season the entire amount has been about 214,000,000 bushels of all grains, with wheat far in the lead and oats badly fallen off. The constant war of the rail lines has cut down the amount of flour, making us more than a million packages short of the proud 12,000,000 of 1897. _ The great failure has been in the elevator business. Internal dissen- sions, said to be chiefly due to the refusal of the Kellogg elevator to come to any sort of terms, and this added to the indifference of the rail and western houses, drove rates down to a mere nothing at the opening of the season. It is doubtful if any harbor elevator has taken in enough as net earnings this season to pay running expenses and taxes. It is said that the New York Central elevators have handled 50,000,000 bushels of grain alone, but this will have to remain unofficial and may be overstated. The worst of all this is that it is not believed that the wanton throwing away of close to $2,000,000 has attracted a bushel of grain to this port. As to the grain blockade there is little to say. The car supply gave out and that was the whole case. There has been a call from certain Cana- dian sources for a general voting of Buffalo incompetent to handle the grain of the lakes, but this was as plainly an inconsiderate as it was an interested demand. Buffalo has a canal and five trunk lines of railroad to 'the seaboard, running in all twelve tracks. If there is any port elsewhere that can boast one-fourth these facilities let her claim the business. With elevators of the capacity of those in Buffalo harbor it is after that a mere matter of keeping them from filling up. Reference has been made before to the growth of the iron ore trade. Buffalo handled considerably more than 900,000 gross tons of ore and Tonawanda 234,000 tons. Both ports failed to obtain an adequate supply at that. For a port that lays no particular claim to the iron trade this showing is certainly of a creditable kind. The growing demand for Lake Superior ores east of the Alleghenies is, of course, bound to help Buf- falo. There was another notable failure in the management of the canal and a very aggravating one it turns out to be, for a great part of the early season was irittered away by a late opening, followed by a succession of breaks, till the shippers of wheat refused to patronize it, and less than a dozen wheat cargoes were taken for tide-water during the whole season. The whole amount of grain carried was less than 25,000,000 bushels. Just now the canal men are showing considerable activity and are preparing to demand that when the state sets to work on canal improvement again it begin at the locks, so that a new model boat, carrying about 20,000 bushels, can be built. As matters are now no boats can be built, as it is not known what size they ought to be. The Buffalo breakwater will be finished in two seasons more, accord- ing to the plans of the contractor. About 2,400 feet of the timber crib work at the south end is done and 300 feet of the stone portion. When done there will be four miles of structure, the longest in the world, and capable of hiding probably the whole lake fleet at a time. _ The shipment of coal has more than held its own, largely on account of the growth of soft coal shipments and the establishment of a car dump- ing machine of the latest model on the docks of the Rochester & Pitts- burg Company. The amount, 2,455,000 tons, is more than that of either of the past two seasons. As a rule the receiving ports up the lakes show a pretty uniform increase of amount, indicating a normal and healthy growth of the trade. EXAMINATION FOR SHIP DRAUGHTSMEN. There are a number of places for ship draughtsmen and assistant ship draughtsmen at various yards in this country to be filled soon by persons receiving high percentages in competitive examinations to be held under the direction of the United States Commission in cities where there is a board of examiners. Ship draughtsmen will receive in most cases $5 a day and assistants $4 a day. The examinations will begin Feb. 7 and last four days. All persons who desire to compete should at once write to the United States civil service commission, Washington, for application blanks (forms No. 304 and No. 375), which should be properly filled and promptly forwarded to the commission at Washington. The Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. has just awarded to the Brown Hoisting & Conveying Machine Co. of Cleveland, the con- tract for a second electric cantilever crane. The new crane will be in most respects similar to the one for which the Newport News company gave the Brown company the contract some weeks ago, save that it will be larger, it will, indeed, be the largest in the world, having a length of almost 800 feet. The United States revenue cutter Manning, built by the Cramps, has returned to Boston after making a most creditable record as a member of the auxiliary fleet during the war. She frequently developed a speed in excess of 18 knots while carrying dispatches. Twenty-five of the thirty-eight steamers purchased by the United States navy department during the war with Spain were built abroad. Of twenty-six yachts also purchased by the department, five were built in foreign yards. Higher costs of ship building in Europe are indicated by the report that a eleeor firm recently netted $50,000 on the sale of a _ 6,800-ton steamer building on the Clyde. SUBSTANCE OF THE SHIPPING BILL. A OLEAR AND CONOISE STATEMENT OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE HANNA-PAYNE MEASURE TO PROMOTE COMMERCE AND INOREASE THE FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES. What are the provisions of the Hanna-Payne shipping bill? This question will be asked repeatedly when the measure comes up for con- sideration shortly in congress. It isa matter of as much importance as the policy of expansion resulting from the war, or the Nicaragua canal bill, now before congress. The bill was printed in full in the Marine Re- view, but there is always considerable difficulty in learning the scheme and main points of such a lengthy measure when it is read in the form that contains a large amount of legal.phraseology. The substance of the bill may be stated as follows: 1. In order to obtain the earliest possible action pursuant to the policy of the United States above referred to, the bill provides for bring- ing under our flag and the protection of our laws the few foreign-built ships now actually owned and contracted for by American citizens, and in which and in their trade American capital has been and is actually in- vested. These ships have been built and their trade established under a foreign flag, because the ships could not be built and fitted out here and operated at a cost that would enable them, successfully, to compete with the ships and trade of foreigners, aided as they have been, are, and will continue to be in various ways, by their own governments, 2. The American registry of these foreign-built ships is conditioned upon their owners building here and putting into our own trade at the earliest practicable time new vessels of a tonnage fairly proportionate to that of the admitted ships. 3. None of these foreign-built ships, or of the new ships so to be built here, are permitted to engage in our coasting trade; but they are permitted to engage in trade with such other ports belonging to the United States as ships under foreign flags are permitted to trade with. 4, All the owners of American trading ships now existing are re- quired to undertake the construction of new tonnage fairly proportioned to that of the ships claiming the benefit of this act. : 5. All these ships are required to carry the mails of the United States free of charge. _ 6. All the new ships must be built so as to be readily converted into cruisers or other auxiliary aids to the military power of the United States whenever needed for such purposes. . 7. When needed, they can be taken or employed by the United States at any time. All these ships are bound (in addition to the indispensable train- ing of their crews) to constantly educate and train American boys for the various necessities of naval operations. 9. All the foregoing mentioned conditions and requirements being complied with, American vessels are to be aided and assisted in regaining and increasing our trade to distant ports by a compensation graduated (with one exception) upon the distance sailed and upon the size and speed of the ships. 10. The exception referred to in the last paragraph applies to sailing vessels and to slow steamships, the maintenance of which is also essential to our maritime progress and prosperity and also to the strength of our military power. ll. Vessels engaged in the deep-sea fisheries are also provided for upon the same policy of supplying to the United States a body of intelli- gent and experienced American mariners at all times, ready to serve our country when needed. 12. The respective compensations arranged in the bill have been computed, it is believed, upon the lowest basis consistent with the attain- ment of the great and trgent objects already stated. RETIREMENTS IN THE NAVY DURING 1899. The following retirements on account of age will take place in the United States navy during the year 1899: Feb. 10, Chief Engineer George J. Burnap; Feb. 10, Mate Charles Wilson; March 17, Boatswain William Manning; March 25, Chief En- gineer William G. Buehler; April 7, Medical Director George A. Bright; April 9, Pay Director Rufus Parks; April 16, Medical Director John H. Clark; May 2, Boatswain Charles Miller; May 5, Pay Director Edwin Stewart; May 7, Pay Inspector George W. Beaman; May 22, Professor Edgar Frisby; July 8, Chief Engineer James Entwistle; July 11, Chiet Engineer Albert C. Engard; August 5, Naval Constructor Joseph Feas- ter; Aug. 29, Boatswain Charles E. Hawkins; Sept. 1, Pay Director Joseph A. Smith; Sept. 15, Paymaster William W. Barry; Sept. 25, Chiet Engineer Joseph Trilley; Sept. 26, Mate William Jenney; Dec. 10, Gunner George Fouse; Dec. 14, Chief Engineer Charles J. MacConnell; Dec. 15, Boatswain William A. Cooper; Dec. 17, Professor William Harkness; Dec. 17, Gunner Robert Sommers; Dec. 23, Pay Director George A. Lyon; Dec. 26, Rear Admiral George Dewey. Although several vessels were placed immediately after the close of navigation to store corn at Chicago and deliver it at Buffalo in the spring at 2% cents, the market already shows improvement, and vessel owners who have capacity to offer on Lake Michigan are confident that the scarcity of ships, due to a big fleet being held up at Lake Erie ports, will result in higher rates. Most of them say they will hold their vessels for 3 cents'on corn, in view of the present outlook. Leander Burdick, vessel owner of Toledo, has received an inquiry from a Boston capitalist for a lake vessel to be chartered for service in the coal trade between Cape Breton and Boston. The boat, which must have a capacity of from 2,000 to 2,500 tons, will be needed for at least two seasons. Contracts now on the books of the Roach ship yard, Chester, Pa., aggregate between $1,300,000 and $1,400,000, and the weekly pay roll is about $11,500, the largest that the establishment has had for many years,