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MARINE REVIEW ~ Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. CLEVELAND, O., DEC, 90, 1966, Foreign | $4.80 & year, Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Oo. VOL. XXII. No. 25 PRACTICALLY NINETEEN MILLIONS. OUTPUT OF IRON ORE FROM LAKE SUPERIOR MINES DURING 1900 -- IMPORTANT QUESTION OF SHORTAGE IN STANDARD ORES OF OLD RANGES. Official reports covering the entire movement of iron ore by lake during 1900 suggest two thoughts of special importance to the iron in- dustry. First it is shown that in the five year period since 1896 the output of the Lake Superior region has been almost doubled; but in the re- turns from Escanaba, Marquette and Ashland, shipping ports that are outlets for the old range ores, there are decreases of 100,000 to 300,000 tons as compared with last year. The gain is all from the state of Min- nesota and almost entirely from the Mesabi, the new range of that state. This means that the fear of a shortage in the valuable ores of the old ranges is not without foundation. In fact it is said by those who are most alarmed regarding this situation that the end is already -in sight on the Gogebic range unless some discoveries now unthought of are made very shortly: This may be an extreme statement of the situation, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that this year's experience on the old ranges will have a tendency to stiffen prices on standard ores for another year. The reduction from last winter's high prices will probably not be anything like what was expected. It is understood, of course, that although the new ores of Minnesota may possibly be produced for a long time to come in almost unlimited quantities, it is not possible as yet to use them to advantage in the furnaces without a liberal mixture of the standard products from the old ranges. More will undoubtedly be heard from the ore interests on this score before the Lake Superior product is sold for another year. " 3 As was anticipated early in the summer when a reaction from high prices occurred in the iron industry, the 20,000,000 ton output was not reached. The total shipments, including ore moved by rail, will fall a little short of 19,000,000 gross tons, against 18,251,804 gross tons in 1899. The lake output, with returns complete from all the shipping ports, is 18,570,315 tons, against 17,901,858 tons by lake in 1899. The rail ship- ments in 1899 amounted to 350,446 tons. Shipments from Noy. | to the close of navigation were 1,282,358 tons, against 2,306,898 tons for the same time last year, a falling off of 1,024,540 tons; and still the full output by lake for the year is 668,957 tons greater than in 1899, and therefore greater than in any other year in the history of the industry. OUTPUT OF IRON ORE FROM ALL MINES OF THE LAKE SUPERIOR ORE REGION 1896 TO 1900 INCLUSIVE--GROSS TONS. PORTS. 1900 1899 1898 1897 1896 HISCAMADE ccs, « civsccs os 3,436,734 3,720,218 2,803,513 2,302,121 2,321,931 Marquette. . 2,661,861 2,733,596 2,245,965 1,945,519 1,564,813 Ashland..... 2,633,687 2,703,447 2,391,088 2,067,637 1,566,236 Two Harbors. 4,007,294 3,973,733 2,693, 246 2,651,465 1,813,992 Gladstone... .c6 esos ss 418,854 381,457 335,955 341,014 220,887 Superiore o.00 5... vee 1,522,899 878,942 550,403 531,825 167,245 POU ee sore reds 3,888,986 3,509,965 2,635, 262 2,376,064 1,988,932 Total by, lake... 2.64. 18,570,315 17,901,358 13,655,432 12,215,645 9,644, 036 Motel: DY Talli ia. leks accesess 350,446 369,241 253,993 290,792 Total. shipments. .-<2.4%. 500s 07!) 18,201, 804 14,024,673 12,469,638 9,934,828 The gains and losses for 1900 at the several shipping ports as com- pared with 1899 indicate at Escanaba, Marquette and Ashland the de- crease of old range output, and at Duluth, Superior and Two Harbors increase of Mesabi output, as follows: Decrease, Increase, tons. tons. ccamaba ocr... isc. PR ee cee et USA Aes 6 oe MMnrdUeIte 2 2) a re aa (GOO a Ashland =o... 48.56. Ne et ee cans OOOO Ge ee: oe WO AED OLS, acces ce os cic eos Fs Sie 33,561 RIOSHONG os ee is bees 37,397 SiUPeLION . (65 een Oo. BRS Og dh wae Ne oe e 643,957 WN a Pe a ee ees 379,021 Hotel 6.0. ee 424,979 ~ 1,093,936 Excess 40k inerease '. 22 oi. 0 GOSS 8 1,093,936 1,093,936 The next issue of the Review will show how much of the Lake Superior product is still on dock at Lake Erie ports. A TRAGEDY OF NATURE. Truth is stranger than fiction. The tragedies of nature defeat the imagination. One reads of tales of horror which are feats of the mind, but they frequently lack the heartlessness and devilish cunning of nature itself. For striking originality and primal barbarity, which has no note of pity in it, one must go to the elements. There is no story of the lakes so pitiless as the one which came this week from Squaw island in Lake Michigan. This little island marks a dangerous and rebellious bit of water and a light-house has been stationed upon it. The province of the light-house keeper and his assistants is to keep this light burning during the season of navigation and to extinguish it during its close. Their business is to stay upon the patch of rock until the last boats have passed for the winter. They did that--the last boats passed on Friday-- and they had orders from the naval officer in charge of the light-house district to close the light-house for the winter. On Friday morning William Shields and William McCauley, the light-house keepers, Mrs. Shields and her niece, Mary Davis, and Lucien Morden, helper, started for the mainland, seven miles away, in a yawl. They hoisted their little sail and were fairly well out into the sea when a heavy wind struck the boat suddenly and capsized it, throwing all five into the water. The water was icy cold and it was only after a desperate struggle that Shields and McCauley reached the overturned boat and managed to drag the women upon it. With infinite pains they lashed the women to the yawl and then made themselves fast. Morden, who was clinging to the craft, had become delirious with the cold and refused to be bound. Presently he loosed his hold and sank. The four, frozen and helpless, went where the elements directed. There was no hope of res- cue. The lake fleet had sought winter quarters. Probably there was not a ship afloat in that part of Lake Michigan. All Friday morning-and Friday afternoon they tossed about hoping that a favorable wind would drive their boat shoreward. As evening came on Mrs. Shields died. Night settled down upon the helpless living and the dead that was with them. All night iong they were tossed from wave to wave, being sub- merged part of the time and being constantly drenched with the spray that froze as it fell. When morning broke it was seen that Mary Davis had died during the night. The tao living and the two dead were carried shoreward by the wind; and the men were in momentary expectation of being beached when the caprice of the elements drove them back to the sea again. They were buffeted about all Saturday morning, and with hope abandoned grimly waited for death. What hours of agony these men spent is past all reckoning. Their longing was to join the dead women lashed by their sides. At 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon the steamer Manhattan, making a belated trip to Manitowoc, espied an overturned boat floating in the lake and steamed out to it. They picked up its freight of the quick and the dead. The men were barely alive, but under. the influence of stimulants were sufficiently revived to tell their story. It is probable that their limbs will have to be amputated. REPORTS FROM SHIP YARDS OF THE GREAT LAKES. Capt. James Davidson of West Bay City has sold two of the wooden steamers built recently at his ship yard to Sayers & Hoyt, vessel owners of San Francisco. One of the vessels is the Bermuda and the other is the steamer built at the Davidson yard during the past summer, but which was not finished in time to go into lake service. She has not yet been named. Both these steamers will take partial loads of grain or flour from Chicago in the spring for Montreal. Then they will take lumber to New York, and from New York they will load general merchan- dise for San Francisco, The vessel that has not yet been in commission is of full Canadian canal dimensions and will therefore carry about 3,000 net tons on deep draught. She has triple expansion engines, modern steam auxiliary machinery, electric light plant, etc., and it is understood that her new owners are planning on having her engage in transpacific trade. The Bermuda is a smaller vessel and has only compound engines. Shewill engage in Pacific coasting trade. S. F. Hodge & Co. of Detroit are to install surface condensers and otherwise fit the two steamers for their departure to salt water in the spring. Capt. Davidson says he has ° not yet made up his mind as to what he will do regarding the con- struction of wooden vessels at his West Bay City yard during the winter. He is not enthusiastic over the outlook for another year or two. "I notice," he says, "that although the consolidated ship yards are full of vessels under construction for next year, none of them are for the big industrial organizations that have iron ore to move. They are all for the individual owners who control no ore. Probably it would be as well for some of us to go slow for awhile." A very important order for new vessels, just closed by Gen. Mngr. James Wallace of the American Ship Building Co., brings the number of steel ships under way in the different works of that company up to thirty. This latest order is from Mr. Frank H. Peavey of the Peavey grain elevator interests of Duluth, and is for four steel freight steamers, to cost nearly $1,500,000. The vessels will be duplicates and similar in nearly all respects to the Minnescta line steamer Mataafa, which was originally owned by Mr. A. B. Wolvin of Duluth and first named Pennsylvania. Dimensions of the new vessels will be 450 ft. over all, 430 ft. keel, 50 ft. beam and 28% ft. deep. They will have quadruple ex- pansion engines and steam will be furnished by Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers. Two of them will come out next September and the other two will be ready for sea the following month. The steamer Neptune, first of the fleet of six steamers being built by the American Ship Building Co. for the Globe Steamship Co., J. C. Gilchrist of Cleveland, manager, was launched at the consolidated com- panies' Lorain yard on Saturday. The next vessel-to be launched there will be the Saturn, building on the south berth of the ship yard for the same company. The keel of the Venus will be laid at once in the berth just vacated. The Neptune is 366 ft. over all, 346 ft. keel, 48 ft. beam, and 28 ft. deep. She will be fitted with triple expansion engines and steam will be furnished by Scotch boilers, 13 ft. in diameter and 12 ft. long. Two freight steamers in addition to. the six just referred to are also being built by the American company for another corporation, in which Mr. Gilchrist is managing owner. The vessels are all of about the same dimensions, Mr. Robert Wallace, Jr., who is in charge of the American Ship Building Co.'s West Bay City yard, is making arrangements to launch during Christmas week one of the two steel tow barges building there for D. R. Hanna and others of Cleveland. The second harge will not be launched for several weeks. These vessels are each 310 by 40 by 24 ft. Two steel freight steamers for J. C. Gilchrist and others of Cleveland will be put down on berths vacated by these barges. ie ; It is reported that the Jenks Ship Building Co. of Port Huron has just secured a contract for a steel steamer (a lumber carrier), making three steel steamers which they now have under order.