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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. Vote XXL CLEVELAND, O. JULY. 19, 1906. , Foreign Subscription $3.00 a year. $4.50 a year. No. 2 LAKE SUPERIOR IRON REGION... ITS DEVELOPMENT COINCIDENT WITH THE HISTORY OF THE CLEVELAND IRON MINING CO., AND GREAT INTERKST IS THEREFORE ATTACHED TO THE CELEBRATION OF THAT COMPANY'S SEMI-OENTENNIAL. From 1850 until 1900 is the semi-centennial of the organization of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co.; from 1850 until 1900 is likewise the period of the world's revolution in iron making. The Cleveland Iron Mining Co. is linked to its very marrow with the discovery which swung the world's center of iron and steel production west of the Alleghenies. Will the story of the vast deposits of iron ore in the Lake Superior region ever be written as it should be written? It is a frontier story as pic- turesque as any that Cooper ever wrote; it is a romance of hidden wealth that throws in shadow the vaulting fancy of Dumas. There is nothing in literature so fascinating as the great commercial novel of the upper Michi- gan peninsula. Men are born for all things--Shakespeare to crystallize a language, Cervantes to laugh knighthood out of flower, Napoleon to strip the trap- pings from a false aristocracy, Washington to establish a democracy and Lincoln to maintain it; and assuredly the men who developed the Lake Superior region were born for the occasion. At the time of the discovery of iron ore in that part of Michigan which the state had accepted under protest the region was further away from civilized habitation than the Klondike. It was a vague, undefined country which could only be reached after infinite labor. Navigation between Lake Superior and Lake Huron was impossible. A mile of racing waters separated the lakes. All freight had to be portaged over the falls--an undertaking both tedious and ex- pensive and an inevitable profit destroyer. The country was uninhabited save by a few Indians and an occasional trapper. All and about was forest, dense and trackless. A government surveyor, William Burt by name, inventor of the solar compass, was laying out a township line throughout this country when the extraordinary variations .of the mag- netic needle attracted his attention. At no time did the needle point twice in the same direction--at one place it actually went due east. He at once sought about for the cause of the disturbance and found it in indications of rich deposits of iron ore. His discovery was made fourteen miles in- land from the shore of Lake Superior. He must have been unconscious of the enormous character of the deposits, since he made no effort to profit by his discovery, but, at any rate, to him belongs the honor of the discov- ery. The country became flooded with a number of adventurers, who located claims at random and abandoned them later. Indeed the loca- tion of the Jackson mine was secured by a man, Dr. Hamilton of Water- veldt, N. Y., who abandoned it later as worthless. Many of them were after copper and considered iron too cheap a commodity to bother about and the distance too far from civilization to make its development profit- able. Not so with a handful of Clevelanders. Samuel L. Mather, a young lawyer, had but recently-come to Cleveland to look after his father's real estate interests. The signs were sufficiently plain to him to lead him to forsake his chosen profession and devote his time to the development of the iron mines of Lake Superior. The attention of John Outhwaite, a young chemist, was likewise attracted. Dr. Morgan L. Hewitt, too. joined forces and at various times they visited the region and played the role of original pre-emptors. Outhwaite planted potatoes upon a huge knob of jasper which he took to be iron ore. Planting potatoes was the customary indication of a desire to live upon the premises. The location of the original Cleveland mine was purchased from its finder--a man named Burnell--and then came the work of financing the company. This was done practically by Mather alone, who, as secretary and treasurer. was the moving spirit of the organization. _ The mine was 14 miles from the lake. Only an Indian trail led to it. The winters were long and the summers were short. There were litigants to fight bitterly, for the claim did not go undisputed. Every sort of dis- couragement had to be met and downed. No attempt was made at first to ship ore to the furnaces of Ohio and Pennsylvania. It was converted into blooms in little forges on the shore of Lake Superior. It cost about ' $200 per ton to make and to transport the blooms to Pittsburg, where they sold for $70--a financial return which soon closed the bloomaries. When the first few barrels of ore were shipped down the lakes the Pittsburg iron makers pronounced it worthless. Owing to its very rich- ness they had failed to convert it into iron. The world indeed had hitherto been unused to ore of so high a grade. It was of higher grade than the famed ores of Sweden. The Cleveland Iron Mining Co. did not know that then. The dis- appointments were sufficient to upset most men, but they had faith in their product and faith in themselves. They persevered. They put more money into the business. A plank road was constructed from the mine to the shore of the lake, where a small dock had been erected. In 1855 the canal at the Sault was completed and the first shipment of ore was made to Lake Erie ports. It consisted of about 100 tons of ore and was from the Cleveland mine. Indeed, the Cleveland mine was the only one which shipped ore through the canal at all that year. During the season 1,449 tons were shipped. The ore was tested in various furnaces and found to be of unusual purity. The future of the Lake Superior region was assured, though it was some years later before the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. declared its first dividend. The company developed rapidly there- after, acquiring additional land, opening new mines, founding a town and gradually building for itself a fleet of vessels. On Saturday of this week the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. at Ishpeming, Mich. The incorporators in 1850 were Samuel L. Mather, M. L. Hewitt, C. D. Brayton, John Outhwaite, John W. Allen and Isaac L. Hewitt. The directors in 1900 are: William G. Mather, J. H. o Wade, E. R. Perkins, Samuel Mather, J. H. McBride, Samuel E. William- son, W. S. Tyler, J. H. Hoyt and Peter White. _ _As stated, the company in 1855 shipped 1,449 tons of ore. In 1899 it shipped 1,052,097 tons. Every year the company has shown growth. There has been no retrogression ever. It is one of the greatest enter- prises on the continent. _To show how absolute has been the dominion of the Lake Superior region in the world's production of pig iron it is only necessary to quote the statistics of the United States, of the south, and of England and Ger- many for 1855 and 1899. It was, as shown, in 1855, that the first shipment of iron ore was made from Lake Superior. 2 United States. The South. Great Britain. Germany. WSO0n ee ee 784,178 107,669 3,218,154 369,000 S90) ee 13,620,703 2 O15, (3 9,305,319 8,117,594 The semi-centennial of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. will be cele- brated upon the site of the company's original mine, which will be indi- cated by a flag. The exercises will be opened with prayer by the Rt. Rev. G. Mott Williams, D. D., bishop of Marquette. The historical address will be delivered by the Hon, Peter White of Marquette, Mich., who has been identified with the history of that region since 1849. During the afternoon a reception to the employes will be given. INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF MERCHANT MARINE. The international congress of the merchant marine will be held during the week of August 4-12 at the Paris exposition. The business of the con- see is divided into five sections. The program may be summarized as ollows: : _ The first section is general and statistical, and has six divisions First, the changes that have taken place during the last thirty years in the merchant fleets of different countries, in their steam and sailing ships, in tonnage, in speeds and in lines of travel; second, state interference in merchant navies, especially with regard to technical maritime education, recruiting and discipline, sailing contracts, efficiency of captains and other officers, mobilization and surveillance of merchant ships; third, statistics of development during thirty years, and changes that have taken place in the same time in salaries, wages and cost of materials; fourth, the relation and competition between sea-borne freight and similar freight carried on railways, canals and rivers; fifth, points connected with various systems for protecting and encouraging the merchant marine, this subhead including questions as to premiums for speed, subsidies and subventions; sixth, the relation between the merchant service and the navy, the obligations of merchant crews, the utilization of passenger and freight ships in time of war, as dispatch boats and transports, and the conditions under which such ships should be reserved by government. The second section relates to fiscal matters and has four divisions as follows: First, what influence do existing systems of dues and taxes exert on the merchant marine?; second, what is the organization of free ports and zones, and the influence of these ports on the merchant service?; third, statistics on the fluctuation of freights during a certain number of years and the principal causes of such fluctuations; fourth, various methods of measurement. The third section is technical and has three divisions: First, what modifications can be introduced into existing international rules to pre- vent collisions, with special reference to signals, alterations in speed, saiety apparatus, ocean routes, etc.?; second, international agreement on the load-line question; third, international work to be undertaken to in- crease safety at sea, such as investigation of ocean currents, destruction of floating wrecks, the path of icebergs, meteorological stations, marine and pilot charts, wireless telegraphy, lighting coasts and dangerous localities, systematization of help at sea. The fourth section has five sttbdivisions; it refers to matters con- nected with the working of the merchant marine. The first subhead deals with improvements that might be introduced in ships, their hulls, engines, boilers, fuel, etc.; second is the nature of crews employed and their wages, especially with reference to negro and lascar crews; third, rules, monopolies and tariffs in the merchant marine; fourth, the reforms that could be introduced with reference to pilotage and salvage; and fifth the neutralization of submarine cables, their improvement and extension, The fifth section deals with the moral aspect of the merchant service and has three divisions as follows: First, what measures can be adopted to improve the material and moral conditions of the merchant sailor?; second, the best method of organizing provident associations, savings banks, insurances, etc., and the advisability of state interference and the results of existing private philanthropic enterprise; third, the best arrange- -ments for shore and floating hospitals, and generally, the hygiene of the merchant marine. It will thus be seen that the congress is most important and most comprehensive in its purpose. Mr. Eugene Tyler Chamberlain, United States commissioner of navigation, has been designated by the French | authorities as member of the honorary committee headed by Casimir Perier, ex-president of the French republic, under whose auspices the con- gress will be held. A despatch from Kingston announces that Calvin & Co., wreckers and general forwarders of Garden Island, Ont., succeeded in releasing uninjured the steamer Spartan from her perilous position in the middle of Lachine rapids, where the water flows at a terrific speed. This is certainly considered the greatest feat in wrecking ever accomplished on the St. Lawrence river. * The business of La Salle & Co., Duluth, will hereafter be operated under the name of G. A. Tomlinson, who was Capt. La Salle's business partner.