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26 . MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. MARITIME MAN IN A NEW ROLE. The Republican party of Cleveland, being sadly in need of a candidate for mayor, has invaded the maritime ranks and seized upon the counsel of the Lake Carriers' Association, up to his ears in work and likely to be so until he can no longer wag his eyelids. They have saddled upon him the irksome necessity of making a campaign which, if he is defeated, will have its inev- itable sting, and if he is elected, will constitute a calamity in the eyes of many vesselmen too appalling to be mentioned. For nothing can happen on the great lakes of North America which has any potentiality for litigation whatever that both sides to the controversy do not pelt to the wire with their tongues hang- ing out for want of breath and engage the services of Harvey D. Goulder. Goulder did not want the nomination for mayor; but there is a certain excitement about a political convention and a certain irresistibility of a thousand minds acting in unison upon one mind. It grips the emotions powerfully and bends men to its will. Goulder bowed also. 'Then there was a scene. A prominent iron man rushed up, clasped him about the neck and promised that his work should not suffer; delegation after delegation promised that it should not suffer; though exactly in what way it is goine to be done is not clear. Does the promi- -nent iron man intend to take Mir. Goulder's cases into court? If he does, depend upon it he will cut a sorry figure. However, the die is cast and one must stand the hazard of the throw. Mr. Goulder intends to make an energetic campaign and will pro- bably work all day and talk all night. Meanwhile the vessel interests of the great lakes will have their eyes directed to the mayorality of Cleveland and will watch the gradual evolution of the campaign with the same earnestness that they follow the changes in the rate of freights. _ ' _---- DULUTH VIEWS AS TO FREIGHTS. Duluth, Mar. 18--Grain continues to arrive at head of the lake elevators in considerable quantity, and there will probably be about 8,000,000 bu. of wheat, 4,000,000 bu. of flax and 3,000,- 000 bu. of oats, rye and barley at the opening of navigation. So far there is very little inquiry for vessel room for Duluth wheat, and not much inquiry for room for Duluth flax or oats, but considerable of Manitoba wheat in store at Port Arthur and Fort William is offered to vessels. Railway warehouses are full of Minneapolis flour, which the railroads do not report as in store. The ore movement from mines to docks will begin early next month. The nineteen heavy locomotives sent by Duluth ore roads to Pittsburg for the winter are returning now. It is rumored here that some of the vessel interests that have many ships in the Duluth trade will provide their own tugs this season if there is any great danger of trouble between the towing company and the unions. These interests have, in the past, and when their vessels were less numerous than now, main- tained a tug or two here. Neither the Duluth & Iron Range nor the Duluth, Mesabi & Northern roads expect to handle much more ore this year than last. There will be a number of new shipping mines that will increase the amount to be moved but a few old ones will be idle. Among tnese latter are the Penobscot, Hale and Roberts. The new properties will, for the most part, ship via the Great North- ern, for they are operated by independent concerns who were able to make bargains with that road and secure in return for traffic concessions as to lands, etc., which the other roads were not in a position to give. They had no ore bearing lands to give out to others for mining purposes. 'Ihe Great Northern will increase its shipments materially over last year, but not in so large a proportion as then, and several mines that have shipped over that road will probably change to other lines. Ore men do not expect the rate of freight for ore to be much over last year, perhaps 80 cents, possibly 85, though some of them say it would not surprise them to see it at some time during the season down to 75 cents a ton. 'There has been a greater increase in vessel capacity than in ore to be carried, they claim. Railroad men do not look for any considerable ore movement until April 10 to rs. When the Duluth, Mesabi & Northern extends its No. 3 ore dock next winter it may use some steel and some concrete in the work, particularly on the floors. Such a plan is under consid- eration at this time and is liable to be carried out unless lumber takes a decided drop in the meantime, which is improbable. BIG CONCRETE JOB. Duluth, Minn., Mar. 18--When it came to opening bids, a few days ago, for the large job of concrete pier work at Superior entry the government engineer office here found the appropria- tion exceeded by $70,000. It was proposed to expend $250,000 on this job, which involves the building in place of 43,000 cu. yds. of concrete, together with the excavation or refilling of 5,000 yds. of sand on the bottom of the pier trench. 'The low- est bid, that of the Lake Superior Contracting & Dredging Co. of Duluth, was $321,420. Hugo & Tims of Duluth bid $374,450, while the bid of Butler Bros., St. Paul, was $441,450 and that of Porter Bros., Duluth, $393,800. Under the terms of the ap- propriation the work should be done bv contract and the situation is therefore embarrassing to the local engineer. It is thought that with the approval of the board of government engineers hav- ing to do with such matters, the secretary of war can authorize [Mar. 19, the engineer's office here to have the work done by day labor, and it is for this change that Capt. Gaillard, engineer in charge, 1s now in Washington. 'The local engineering force claims that it can save the $70,000 by doing the work itself. They say that the job presents so many features new to contractors, In the large amount of under-water concrete erection and in other respects, that they all figured very heavily for contingencies. The government engineer's office here has had more experience with concrete construction than any other engineering organiza- tion, government or private, in the United States, and has in- vented some machines for this under-water work that it feels sure will make a large saving. The engineers therefore hope that the work will be carried out by day labor. In case it is not, the office here will very probably modify its plans for a cheaper structure. 'he present job is the biggest of a concrete kind ever undertaken in America. Contracts for all work on the south pier preliminary to this job of the placing of concrete have been let. 'Lhe material for concrete has been purchased and will be delivered early in the navigation season. A STATISTICAL CHART. A chart containing a variety of statistical information re- gardine the great lakes for the season of 1902 has been prepared by the weather bureau. It gives a list of storms of the season, contains. a table dealing with the atmospheric precipitation and lake levels, a report on the opening and closing of navigation, a list of wrecks and casualties, with the number of lives lost and the value of property destroyed. 'The chart shows that 166 ves- sels were damaged to a greater or less extent; twenty-three be- came total losses and passed into history; eleven vessels became total losses through causes other than the weather. 'The esti- mated amount of losses for the season was $1,365,300, of which amount $816,800 was in total losses and the remainder in partial losses. 'The number of lives lost through stormy weather dur- ing the season was III: other causes, 126. By lakes the record was as follows: Lake Superior, weather twenty-two, other causes twenty-four; Lake Michigan, weather thirteen, other causes twenty-four: Lake Huron, 'weather eighteen, other causes nine: Lake Erie easily tops all the others with the grim record of forty-four lives sacrificed through stress of weather and thirty-three from other causes. On Lake Ontario the number of lives lost on account of weather was ten, other causes eleven: Lake St. Clair and connecting rivers, weather four, other causes twenty-five. The loss of life from other causes includes that by reason of capsizing of small boats, falling from docks, ves- sels, etc. The greatest loss of life in one disaster occurred in the foundering of the Canadian steamer Bannockburn on Lake Superior, when twenty persons went down with the vessel. The total number of vessel passages at Detroit during the season of navigation as noted on the chart was 22,825. 'This is 2,291 more than the season of IgoI. CONDITION OF ICE ON THE LAKES. The latest bulletin on the condition of ice on the great lakes issued by Norman B. Conger, inspector and marine agent off the United States weather bureau at Detroit, indicates that the ice has decreased rapidly during the week under the influence of warm weather and rain. The Duluth entry is open but the pack ice remains along Minnesota point and the south shore. The fields extend out from Keweenaw point, but over the east- ern portion of Lake Superior the ice fields have moved out of sight into the lake. Whitefish bay is softening up with some open water spaces. Ice in the St. Mary's river has decreased about 5 in. and is honeycombing and discoloring. Over Green bay the ice is softening rapidly over the southern portion and decreasing and softening over the northern portion. In Lake Michigan no ice is reported on the west shore, and the ice fields on the east side have decreased materially and offer no obstruc- tion to navigation. At the Straits of Mackinaw the ice is becom- ing thin and soft and will break up with high wind. But little ice is reported over the northern portion of Lake Michigan, and the east end of the straits is clear of ice. No ice is reported in Lake Huron except small broken fields on the east shore. Some soft ice has been running in the Detroit river during the weck from the east side of Lake St. Clair. No ice is reported over the extreme west end of Lake Erie, except about Bass island. Fields over the eastern end of this lake are honeycombing and becom- ing soft, and will probably break up with high easterly winds. On Lake Ontario the ice is confined to the extreme east end. In comparison with the same period last year the conditians over Lake Superior are about the same; a little more ice reported in Whitefish bay; ice in St. Mary's river 2 in. thicker; at the straits conditions more favorable than last season; in the dther lakes conditions about the samie. Ice conditions at the straits are favorable for an opening about April 1, but with high winds and continued warm weather the ice may move out.the last of March. In St. Mary's river the ice can be broken up about the first week in April. Stewards' Protective Association is the name of the latest maritime association. It is to embrace the stewards of passen- ger lines, including tae chiefs on shore.