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MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Co. Vou XX 1. CLEVELAND, O., JUNE 28, 1900. Goria $82 Yet No. 26 AMERICAN SHIP BUILDING CO. FIRST YEAR'S BUSINESS OF THE CONSOLIDATION--NOTES FROM THE DIFFERENT LAKE YARDS. With the close of a year's business considerable interest is, of course, manifested in the affairs of the American Ship Building Co., which con- trols all but three of the ship yards of the lakes that are equipped for the construction of steel vessels. The annual meeting of the company takes place next month, and it is said that Mr. L. M. Bowers and John A. McGean, representing Rockefeller interests, will be given places in the board of directors and that Mr. Bowers will very probably be made a member of the executive committee. The executive committee is a small 'body in direct charge of all affairs of the company, and the ap- pointment of Mr. Bowers to a place on this committee would mean that it has been deemed advisable to recognize the Rockefeller stock holdings, which amount to something more than a million dollars, se- cured through the sale of the American Steel Barge works to the consoli- dation. It is the general opinion in shipping circles that Rockefeller representation would add strength to the organization and_ should be welcomed at this time, in view of the mistrust that has prevailed regard- ing all the combinations, 'but as nothing has been said on the subject by the people in control of the ship yards there is no telling how they will take to it. The company has undowbtedly had a very successful year, and its stock has held closer to original figures than probably any of the other industrial organizations. The principals say that the decline that has occurred has not done as much to lower values in industrial shares generally as to large blocks of stock thrown wpon the market first by the purchase of the Wheeler ship yard at West Bay City and later by the purchase of the Buffalo Dry Dock Co.'s plant. Another regular quarterly dividend of 134 per cent. on the preferred stock, payable July 16, was declared at a meetimg of the executive committee on Monday last. The Wm. Ederborn, one of the four very large steamers built by the American Ship Building Co. for the American Steamship Co. (A. B. Wolvin, manager, Duluth) was launched at West Bay City a few days ago. The Edenborn is 498 feet over all, 478 feet keel, 52 feet 'beam and 30 feet moulded depth. She has a quadruple expansion engine, 16%, 25, 88%4 and 60-inch, with a stroke of 40 inches. She has a registered tonnage of 5,500 and will carry 9,000 tons of ore on a draught of 20 feet. Her speed is placed at twelve miles an hour when loaded and thirteen miles an hour when iight. She hails from Duluth and will leave that port as soon as she is ready for sea, which will be in a week or ten days. The steamer Simon J. Murphy was launched from the Wyandotte yard of the Detroit Ship Building Co. on Saturday last. She is the first of two steel freighters building at the Detroit works for Eddy Bros. of Bay City. The vessel is 446 feet over all, 50 feet beam and 28% feet molded depth. Her engines are of the triple expansion, vertical, inverted type, the cylinders being 22 inches, 35 inches and 58 inches with 42 inches stroke. The boilers are of the Scotch type, 13 feet 2 inches in diameter by 12 feet long, each having two furnaces and using Howden draft. Instead of one new steamer, as announced last week, the American Ship Building Co. is to build two for Capt. John Mitchell and others of Cleveland. Both are to be duplicates of the Mitchell steamer W. E. Reis, built last winter, and both are to be delivered upon the opening of navi- gation next year. It is quite probable that both vessels will tbe built at the Globe works, Cleveland. The capacity of each will be about 6,000 gross tons. Engines are to be triple expansion and the boilers of Scotch type. The price is said to be about $275,000 each. The Craig Ship Building Co. of Toledo also has a new order for a steel steamer. The vessel is to 'be of Canadian 'canal dimensions, fitted for salt water service, and is for the Hawgood Transit Co. of Cleveland. She is to come out in April, 1901. This will give the Hawgood interests three vessels of canal size. They already have the Tampico and Eureka. WORKS OWNED BY CARNEGIE STEEL CO. Works owned and operated 'by the Carnegie Steel Co. now have an annual capacity of 2,750,000 gross tons of jpig iron and 3,250,000 gross tons of steel. It is understood, of 'course, 'that the Carnegie Steel Co. is the manufacturing organization, and that the mines of the Lake Su- perior region, ships on the great lakes, railroad from Conneaut to Pitts- burg and other allied interests are operated by other corporations. But the operations of the parent organization are in themselves enormous. First are the 'blast furnaces, as follows: Edgar Thomson furnaces, located at Bessemer, two miles from Pitts- burg, on the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pittsburg & Lake Erie, the Pittsburg, Bessemer & Lake Erie and the Union railroad, and the Monongahela river, Nine stacks. Product: Bessemer pig iron, spiegel-eisen and ferro manganese. Annual capacity, 1,000,000 gross tons. Duquesne furnaces, located at Duquesne, four miles from Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania and the Union railroads, and the Monongahela river. Four stacks. Product: Bessemer and basic pig iron. Annual capacity, 800,000 gross tons. Carrie furnaces, located at Rankin, one mile from Pittsburg, on the Baltimore & Ohio, Pittsburg & Lake Erie and Union railroads, and the Monongahela river. Four stacks. Product: Bessemer and basic pig iron. Annual capacity, 700,000 gross tons. Lucy furnaces, located at Fifty-first street, Pittsburg, on the Alle- gheny Valley railroad and the Allegheny river. Two stacks. Product: Bessemer, fonge and foundry pig iron. Annual capacity, 250,000 gross tons. The company steel works, all located in the immediate vicinity of Pittsburg, are thus described: Edgar Thomson steel works, located at Bessemer, two miles from Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Pittsburg & Lake Erie, and the Union railroads, and the Monongahela river. Four l5-gross-ton Bessemer converters. Product: Bessemer steel rails and billets, and iron and 'brass castings. Annual capacity, 800,000 gross tons. of steel ingots and 50,000 tons of castings. : Duquesne steel works, located at' Duquesne, four miles from Pitts- burg, on the Pennsylvania and the Union railroads, and the Mononga- hela river. - Two 10-gross-ton Bessemer converters; fourteen 50-ton open-hearth steel furnaces. Product: Rails, billets and splice, sheet and merchant bars. Annual capacity, 650,000 gross tons of Bessemer steel ingots, and 200,000 gross tons of open-hearth steel ingots. .. Homestead steel works, located at Munhall and Homestead, one mile from Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania, the Pittsburg & Lake Erie, and the Union railroads, and the Monongahela river. Tiwo 10-gross-ton Bessemer converters; forty open-hearth furnaces. Product: Blooms, billets, structural shapes, bridge steel, and armor, boiler, ship and tank plate, and steel castings. Annual capacity, 400,000 gross tons of Bessemer steel ingots; 1,400,000 gross tons of basic open hearth steel ingots. The rolling mills known as the upper and lower union mills in Pitts- burg have a combined capacity of about 380,000 tons of material an- nually. They are thus described: Upper union mills, located at Thirty-third street, Pittsburg, on the Allegheny Valley railroad and the Allegheny river. Product: Structural steel, steel bars and steel universal mill plates. Annual capacity, 250,000 gross tons. Lower union mills, located at Twenty-ninth street, Pittsburg, on the Allegheny Valley railroad and the Allegheny river. Product: Universal mill plates, car forgings, bridge work, anigles, links, pins and bar steel. Annual capacity, 130,000 gross tons. The comipany also owns and operates the Howard Axle Works at Howard, one-half mile from Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania, the Pitts- bung & Lake Erie and the Union railroads. and the Monongahela river. Car and locomotive axles are produced at these works and the product is about 100,000 tons per annum. General offices of the company are in the Carnegie building, Pitts- 'burg. Branch offices and sales agencies are maintained in the following places: Atlanta, Equitable (building; Boston, 125 Milk street; Buffalo, German Insurance building; Chicago, Marquette building; Cincinnati, Neave 'building; Cleveland, Perry-Payne building; Denver, Peoples Bank 'building; Detroit, 122 Griswold street; Minneapolis, Guaranty Loan 'building; New York, 71 Broadway; Philadelphia, Harrison build- ing; St. Louis, 721 Olive street; San Francisco, 258 Market street; Washington, National Safe Deposit building; Montreal, Bell Telephone building; Mexico City, Calle de San Francisco; London, 71 King ° William street; Sydney, 24 Bond street; also in Shanghai, Tokio, Bom- -- bay, Calcutta and Rotterdam. BLESSING JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, It is interesting to note the change of feeling towards John D. Rockefeller that has come over the vessel owners of the lakes within the past few months. Not long ago the Cleveland owner of a fleet of steel ships that will almost pay for themselves this year on dollar-and-a- quarter ore was quoted as saying that he had asked his wife to remem- ber the great millionaire every day in her prayers, and now it is actually © proposed to 'make Mr. Rockefeller president of the Lake Carriers' Asso- © ciation at the next annual meetinig of that body. G Of course he would not conduct affairs of the office himself, the en- - thusiasts say, but he would have it in name and the work could be done by one of his representatives. Those of the ship owners who' were in-~ discreet in the past are taking back all the bad names ever applied to the man of Standard Oil fame, and others are saying "I told you so; he has the ships and should all along have been relied upon to uphold freights." But seriously speaking it is certain that the entire lake freight situation would 'be badly demoralized at this time if it were not for the amazing stand that Mr. Rockefeller's representatives have taken in put- ting out of commission some forty-five steel ships, many of them among the finest on the lakes, rather than submit to a general reduction in carry- ing charges. There is no question now of a determination on the part of the Rockefeller interest to carry out during the full season the policy inaugurated in October last. Even within the past few days, when an effort was made to reduce to 40 cents the rate on coal from Ohio ports to the head of Lake Superior, it was clearly evident that the Bessemer company was 'back of a determined stand taken by all the vessel owners against the reduction. In the past none of the ship owners dare lead in such amovement. This time they were united with an interest strong enough to have no great fear of what might happen on account of taking the lead, and they won. The official announcement, a day or two ago, that the Rockefeller ships would carry no ore this season at less than $1.25 was so lbold, in view of unfavorable conditions in the iron trade, that most of the ore dealers say it may yet be necessary for a power even as great as the Bessemer company to take back such a statement. But on the other hand there is some sound reasoning in the claim that this will be done in the interest of vessels, mines and furnaces, in view of the very large proportion of this year's ore covered on the $1.25 basis. "In other words," says a vessel owner who has kept in close touch with the situation, "it would seem that one aim of the Rockefeller in- terest is to bring about stability in carrying charges on ore and that the policy is not for this year alone. In the past matters of lake freight have been dictated 'by ore interests. The vessels have been paid at times just what certain large producing concerns saw fit to pay them. If Mr. Rockefeller, with predominant interests involved in carrying the ore, is to change this condition of affairs and have his say next winter when another year's business is being planned, he can not afford to retrace the steps already taken in regard to lake freights." sak