The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

18 MARINE REVIEW. -LOctober 19, -- _ MARINE REVIEW " Devoted to the Merchant Marine, the Navy, Ship Building, and Kindred Interests. Published every Thursday at No. 418-19 Perry-Payne building, Cleveland, Ohio, by THE MARINE REVIEW PUBLISHING Co. Eastern Agents--The Samson Advertising Agency, 102 and 104 Fulton St., New York, N. Y. SUBSCRIPTION--$2.00 per year in advance; foreign, including postage, $3.50. Single copies 10 cents each. Convenient binders sent, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. As repeatedly noted in these columns, the industrial and engineering journals.of England have for more than a year past been reflecting in numerous communications and editorial articles the fear of American competition that exists among British manufacturers. 'Now comes Engi- neering of London, one of the greatest technical journals of the world, with the bold statement that manufacturers of the United States are steadily 'becoming more dangerous antagonists of their English com- _ petitors, not only throughout Great Britain, but in foreign markets, and especially those markets which the British manufacturers have been ac- 'customed to regard as their own. If this fear is so great now, what will "happen when the present enormous home demand is cared for and when . our manulacturers, with greatly increased facilities, especially in steel and | "iron lines, begin to look in real earnest for other fields? The keen in- | "terest in this question now shown by British manufacturers has, prompted Engineering to invite the co-operation of a number of prominent English- "men and Americans to speak on the subject as they think best, each approaching it by his special path of knowledge, and dealing with it as he may think most useful. 'As an introduction to these communications, which are already being printed, the London journal says: "For a long time past our manufacturers, merchants, and shippers have been unable to close their eyes to the fact that since the United States have recovered from the effects of the panic of 1898, they have steadily become more dangerous antagonists, not only in this country, but in foreign markets, and especially in those markets which we have been accustomed to regard as our own. It is still urged by not a few persons that this competition is factitious; that in order to take away our customers, goods are supplied by enterprising Americans at a loss; that the articles forced on the mar- kets of the world in preference to our own, are of inferior quality, and will not stand the test of time and use, and that this spurious phase of manufacture and commerce, is but transient. ~But those who are able to take a broader view know that such statements are fallacious; they know that in many manufactured products the United States can beat us in price, and at least equal us in quality; they know that at present, and still more in the near future, the struggle of competition will grow keener, and that the advantages of this struggle do not lie with us. The causes of 'these advantages are probably not understood by any one person, though the results may be keenly felt by all, and we believe that we shall be ren- dering a service of the highest value to British manufacturers if Wwe are able to throw some light on the many aspects of a complicated problem by the proposed discussion. 'We are convinced that such a collection of authoritative views will teach our industrials where America is strong and where we are weak, and the converse; will suggest what methods we may modify or adopt to our own profit; and will prove that the true way to overcome an adversary is not to despise him, but to be familiar with his strength." Invitations were sent out this week for the seventh general meeting of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, which will open in New York on Thursday, Nov. 16, and the full program of which was presented in the naval edition of the Marine Review. As on former occa- sions the president and managers of the American society of mechanical engineers have extended the courtesy of the use of their rooms at 12 West Thirty-first street. The sessions of the convention will extend through Thursday and Friday and the meeting will close with a banquet at Delmonico's on Friday evening, to which members and their guests are cordially invited. The council will meet at the address above given at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 15, and it is requested that all members intending to propose candidates for membership return the filled out applications to the secretary on or before Nov. 14. This entire issue of the Marine 'Review might be filled with letters of congratulation and with newspaper clippings from all parts of the coun- try pertaining to the special naval edition of Sept. 28. These favors are fully appreciated, but it would, of course, be unfair to give up to.a parade of our own glory space that may better be applied to the kind of live .teading matter that is printed from week to week in these columns. The best evidence in the office of the Marine Review of the success of this edition is 'the fact that every mail brings orders for extra copies of it -aS well as-yearly subscriptions to, begin with that particular number. There are others in view, that will, of course, be on different lines, but in every respect equal, if not better, than the last one. The New York Ship Building 'Co. which is erecting a plant at Cam- den, N. Mo was incorporated \in that state a few days ago. The company is authorized to manufacture and deal in all kinds of marine and nautical supplies. The capital stock is $3,000,000 and the incorporators are Henry G. Morse and George L. Brown of Woodbury; Charles S. Hall and Wil- a F. Granan of Wilmington, Del., and William G. Randle of Chester, a. The battleship Kearsarge has returned to the yard of her builders, the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co. She made the trip from Bioston to Newport 'News in just forty and one-half hours, and her average cruising speed for the entire trip was 14.1 knots per hour under natural draught. Her fourteen 5-inch rapid fire guns will be put on board within 1a few days. | THE STRUGGLE FOR SHIPS. ROOKEFELLER HAS ABOUT SIX MILLION TONS CAPACITY OUT OF A TOTAL OF FOURTEEN TO FIFTEEN MILLIONS ALREADY UNDER CONTRACT FOR NEXT YEAR. As regards lake freights, the ore business of 1900 is practically closed up. Tonnage to move between fourteen and fifteen million gross tons is engaged. This includes, of course, the big fleets owned or controlled by the ore companies. The Rockefeller interest has about six million tons of this capacity (as near as can be figured), this total involving say 2,500,000 tons in the twenty-seven Bessemer ships, 1,500,000 in thirty whalebacks and about 2,000,000 tons chartered. It is quite evident, no matter what may be said to the contrary, that the Rockefeller representa- tives have started out to not only maintain lake freights on a basis of $1.25 from the head of Lake Superior, but to also mine and sell ore to consumers generally on the biggest possible scale next year, irrespective of their relations with the Carnegie company. They are evidently figur- ing also on an output of ore in 1900 approaching the 20,000,000-ton mark and expecting that the Carnegie company, as well as the Federal Steel and other big concerns, will be caught short of vessel capacity on account of contemplated large increases in output. ; Representatives of consuming interests, on the other hand, insist that . the situation is overdrawn, and that there is stilloquite a large amount of vessel capacity over and above the fourteen million tons: to be drawn upon, They admit that.there is more than 2,000,000: tons of new furnace capacity to be built by the Carnegie company, by the American Steel & Wire and National Steel, but they say that the amount of next season's ore torbe consumed by these new furnaces will be a very small item, on account of the great length of time that must elapse before the furnaces are com- pleted. However this may be, it is a fact that all vessels offered for next year are still being taken on the $1.25 basis, and it is announced by the Rocke- feller representatives that they are not yet through. The rate would cer- tainly have been no more than $1 if it were not for the move made by the Rockefeller interest when the 'Carnegie company proposed to pay $350,000 each for four steel steamers owned by John Mitchell and others of Cleveland. It was this transaction that started the ball rolling, The Carnegie company is still figuring on the purchase of ships. In addition to the steamer Black, which they purchased a few days ago (price said to be $360,000) they will have the Chicago steamer Lynn and consort Carrington, either by charter or purchase. James Davidson is said to be figuring with one of the large Cleveland concerns for the sale of his entire fleet of wooden vessels. Corrigan, McKinnie & Co. of Cleveland have purchased from the J. Emory Owen Transportation Co. of Detroit the wooden steamer J. Emory Owen and consort Michigan. NORTHWESTERN GRAIN SITUATION. _ Duluth, Minn., Oct. 18.--One of the leading vessel agencies makes this summary of the grain freight market: 'We are offered for vessels to load here, on the opening of navigation in 1900, 314 cents on wheat to Buffalo. This is not as good a rate as was paid some time ago when the market was somewhat stronger than it is at present, but from the fact that shippers are still trying to engage tonnage for next year it would seem that they look for a heavy grain movement in the spring. Inquiry for steel tonnage to move cargoes late in November and hold the grain in Buffalo all winter has been a feature of the market for several days past. Some business of this kind was done at 5% cents. Requests for cur- rent tonnage come almost exclusively from coarse grain shippers. Wheat shippers still complain of the absence of export demand, but the supply of vessels under contract to carry grain at low rates is now practically exhausted and shippers must hereafter enter the market when they desire ships. More than eight millions of wheat are in store here. If a demand for grain should suddenly arise during the next fortnight this market would be in splendid position to furnish it quickly. The wheat is owned by the elevator companies and it will require a considerable premium to persuade them to part with it. All coal companies complain of short supplies. While receipts have been about equal to preceding years, the western consumption seems un- limited. One railroad centering in 'Chicago, with mo terminals at the head of the lakes, was endeavoring, a few days ago, to purchase a quantity of coal from local wholesalers. FROM BATH SHIP YARDS. This week the New England Ship Building 'Co. of Bath, Me., closed a contract to build a trio of barges for the B Line Transportation, Co. of New York, to be ready 'for service in January, 1900. These vessels will measure 180 feet keel, 33.5 feet beam and 18 feet depth, and they are designed to have a 'dead' weight capacity of 1,700 tons each. The New England company has just finished the barges Bath and Bangor for the B-Line company. The néw barges will be built under the supervision 0 Capt. Frank Ross of New. York. _The seven steel vessels to be built by Arthur Sewall & Co. of Bath, Maine for Dimond & Sewall of San Francisco are modern A 1 barques and not barges as reported in last week's issue. As Arthur Sewall & Co. have already built four large steel shipentines, the days of American steel sailing ships cannot be said to be as yet a thing of the past. Wm. Rogers of Bath has closed a contract with Palmer of Massa- chusetts for another large four-masted wooden coasting schooner, similar to the one on the stocks in his yard. It is reported that a large six-masted schooner will be built in Bath during the coming winter. The Wm. 'Cramp & Sons 'Co. of Philadelphia, has received a telegram from Engineer Cox, who accompanied the recently completed Japanese cruiser Kasagi, stating that the vessel is entirely satisfactory to the Japanese government.