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24 importance we will let this suffice joe the present. -- Jt is: safe to. say that if the foregoing 'routine were practiced on every boat there would be less strandings and collisions. . STRIKE SITUATION. (Continued from page 21.) fered' with but little up to today though of course there is no shipping. ' The strike is to. be carried to these mines at once it is claimed but whether it is or not the independent interests will 'act with the Steel Corporation and confer- ences have already been held. The Ver- million .range has not been affected as yet but. the Western Federation' has some members all over the Mesabi range. There are about 25,000 miners on the Mesabi range and of these about 12,000 are now idle. 'The troublemakers consti- tute not much more than 10 per cent, of the 12,000 and are mostly Finns. During the last two years wages have been twice increased, on January 1, 1907 by 10 per- cent. Under the contract system, which it is demanded shall be abolished, the better class of miners earn more than they will be able to under the. proposed scale. Of the operating interests the greatest sufferers are the vessel owners and the railroads and the employes of both for every hour of idleness means a direct loss of money. From the mining stand- point conditions demanding the contin- ued output of, ore might be a great deal. more insistent than they are just now and a delay while by no means desirable will not be critical, , Furthermore the strike will afford an opportunity for the- companies when rehiring their men to weed out the undesirable element. IRON SITUATION. ° oA factor of absorbing importance in the iron and steel industry at the present time is the strike at the head of the lakes and on the iron ore ranges. The present prospects of an immediate settle- ment are not very promising, and many boats are being laid up at lower lake ports becatise of inability to find car- goes, and crews are being discharged. A_ -. considerable activity in rails for export has developed and has resulted in con- tracts being closed for 12,000 tons to Japan, 10,000 tons to Australia and 6,000 tons to Mexico respectively. The Trans- ' continental Railway Commission of Can- 'ada has closed for about~ 45,000 tons from the Dominion Iron & Steel Co. and about 21,000 tons from the Lake Superior Corporation. 'The dull. pig iron situation practically continues, although (ere is a little better inquiry in some "tes,, The. contract for plates and "* two new vessels has been it is. probable that other "TAE MvaARINE. REVIEW orders which were cancelled on account of the strike in the ship yards will soon be replaced. FLORA IN COLLISION. The passenger steamer Flora, bound from Dettoit for Lake Huron _ ports with 100 passengers aboard, collided with the steel sand sucker John M. McKer- chey below Belle Isle last week. 'The Flora's stem was badly smashed and twisted to starboard. The collision caused a panic among the women pas- sengers. The Flora made for the dock at the foot of Orleans street, where the passengers were transferred to the ferry Larsdowne lying "at"the- dock for re- pairs' 'The freight 'was 'discharged at the Randolph street dock, tugs "méean- while keeping the Flora afloat by pump- ing, An examination of the'Flora shows that she will require new, planking from a point below the waterline to the bul- warks. She is now lying at the dock of the Detroit Ship Building Co. and is kept afloat by a canvas jacket and a big plug 'of hay and other material stuffed below the surface. LAUNCHING THE JAY C. MORSE. The freighter Jay C. Morse, building for the firm of Pickands, Mather & Co. of Cleveland, was launched from the Cleveland yard of the American Ship Building Co. on Saturday last and was christened by Mrs, J. N.:Pickands. The new steamer is 552 ft. over all, 532 ft. keel, 58 'ft. beam and 31 ft. deep. Her engines will be triple-expansion with cylinders 23, 38 and 63 in. diameters by 42-in. stroke. Steam will be furnished by two Scotch boilers, 14% ft. diameter by 11% ft. long, fitted with Ellis & Eaves draft and allowed 180 lbs. pressure. Capt. A. H. Reed will command her and' A. A. Marrion will be her chief engineer. TUG LAUNCHED. The tug Abner C. Harding, which is the second steel vessel ever constructed on the Chicago river, was launched July 18 at the yard of the Great Lakes Tow- ing Co. Miss Elsie Johnson of Cleve- land, daughter of Capt. Thomas John- son of the Great Lakes Towing Co., christened the tug. The new tug is 95 ft. long and 20 ft. beam and will be sta- tioned at Port Huron. CONTRACT FOR FREIGHTER. The Wilson Transit Co. of Cleveland, has closed contract with the American Ship Building Co. for a new steamer to come out during 1908. The new vessel will be a duplicate of the Charles S. Hebard and will be 524 Yt. over all, 504 ft. keel, 54 ft. beam and 30 ft, deep, equipped with triple-expansion engines and Scotch boilers, NEW LIGHTS AT LIME KILN CROSSING. Owing to the number of lights in use by the contractors on their drills, dredges and so forth, at the Lime Kiln Crossing it has been decided to change the lights of the Lime Kiln Crossing North or upper lightship from the pres- ent two white lights to' two fixed red lights, one above the other, the upper light to be 15 ft. high above the water and the lower 12 ft. This change will be made ard go into effect on Saturday evening, July27;' 'the' reason 'for - this charge being to make these lights so dis- tinctive that the masters of down-bound vessels cannot possibly mistake or. con- fuse them with any other lights. NAVIGATION AT INTERSTATE BRIDGE. The' United States Lake Survey is in- formed by Maj. Graham OD. Fitch, United States Engineer at Duluth, that the south opening of the interstate bridge at Duluth-Superior is now available to ravigation, Up-bound vessels must use this opening, and down-bound vessels must pass through the opening provided after the wreck by removal of the raft span; in other words, take the right hand passage. The Reid Wrecking Co. will at times have a barge or scow lying in the south opening alongside the cen- ter pier, and this should be carefully avoided. The order prohibiting vessels to pass each other at the bridge is can- celed. SHIP'S LADDER. The portable fire escape and Jacob's ladder manufactured by the McArthur Portable: Fire -Bscape Co., 1999: Clark avenue, Cleveland, has recently received the fire endorsement of Chief Croker, of the New York fire department. He pro- rounced it to be one of the best appli- ances of its kind that he had ever seen. The company is now installing the lad- der upon the fleet of the Lehigh Valley Transit Co. of Buffalo. This ladder has unusual adaptability aboard ship. It is always available, is practically indestruct- able and is far more serviceable than the ordinary rope ladder. REMOVING CRIB NO. 1. The United States Lake Survey an- nounces that the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. is now removing the temporary waterworks crib No. I at Cleveland, lo- cated two miles N by E 3% E from the main harbor entrance, and expects to complete work by August 10, A bright light on a spar will be maintained within 50 ft. of the northwest corner of the obstruction, and vessels should avoid the immediate vicinity of. operations.