The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1903-] MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. 23 BUILDING STEAMERS UPON BONDS. A feature of the business of a trust company which has grown up during the past few years is that of a steamship bond. And a very excellent bond it is. Nearly all of the latter-day freighters are built upon bonds. While' a government bond pays from 21%4 to 3. per cent. a steamship bond pays 5 per cent., and for all practical purposes the security is quite as good. .The building of steamers upon bonds is peculiarly a lake practice. It does not, as far as known, obtain on the coast. It owes its in- ception and, development to the fact that lake steamers are now- adays built of steel and are to all intents and purposes of indefi- nite life. The hull, therefore, is its own. security. 'The same thing cannot be exactly said of the wooden vessel which is prob- ably the reason that no wooden vessels are built upon bonds. As a rule in financing the construction of'a steel vessel one-half of the sum needed is supplied in cash and the other half secured upon bonds. In organizing a company, therefore, stock would be issued to the shareholders for half the value of the steamer and a mortgage, covering its entire value, be given to the trust com- pany as security for its loan. But it is not to be supposed that a trust company would advance one-half the sum necessary to build the vessel if the hull was its only security. It would still have to face the risk of loss through collision or storm and if the vessel went down its security would have totally disappeared. The mortgage therefore contains the provision that the vessel is to be fully insured with the trust company as beneficiary. By this means the bondholder is secured from any loss whatever, for, should the vessel founder, the insurance is more than ample to re- turn to him his principal. His interest, moreover, is safeguarded in other ways. The trust company requires to be returned to it quarterly a statement of the earnings and expenses of the vessel 'in order that it may be known precisely whether the steamer is a well managed property. The mortgage also stipulates how much debt the vessel may contract--and any vessel owner who has a bond-built vessel will declare that the trust company scarcely al- lows any debt whatever over the bare operating expenses. Thus are the bonds safeguarded again for the vessel is practically com- pelled to operate upon a cash basis. Additional security also lies in the fact that the bonds are usually made redeemable annually in 10 per cent. lots. Thus if a vessel is bonded for $100,000 for ten years, only $90,000 of the bonds will be outstanding at the end of the first year, and at the end of the fifth year only $50,000; yet the entire vessel and all its insurance remains security for the outstanding $50,000. The bonds, as stated, bear interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. With $100,000 outstanding the vessel would have to pay $5,000 in interest at the end of the first year, and $2,500 in interest at the end of the fifth. It would be a very poor season, indeed, when a modern carrier would be un- able to do: this. Yet these bonds so far have been sold at par. There's many a county and municipal bond, bearing a lower rate of interest and with a security that certainly cannot be any better, selling at a premium. Probably when this "bonding business," as one of the old-time vessel owners called it, is better, known, steamship bonds will also.be at a premium. COLUMBIA IRON WORKS TO BE SOLD. Apparently the creditors of the Columbia Iron Works of Port Huron have been unable to agree upon any concerted action or to unite upon any definite plan for the reorganization of the company, for no meeting of creditors has been called since the special committee met a week ago. Meanwhile Russ S. Jenks, the assignee, appeared on Sept. 5 before Judge Tappan in the circuit court at Port Huron with a petition authorizing the sale of the property at public auction to the highest bidder. Judge Tappan granted the order and the sale is set for Sept. 18, the "property consisting of land, buildings, machinery, tools to be sold' in bulk for cash. Various of the creditors are now endeav- oting to replevy material furnished to the company prior to its paneenent but doubt is expressed as to whether these suits will old. 'ort STATEMENT REGARDING THE PITTSBURG. The side-wheel steamer Pittsburg which was burned at the dock at Sandwich recently was insured for $50,000. Manager W. J. Brown of the Georgian Bay Navigation Co. has. issued a statement concerning the causes advanced of the origin of the fire. He says that the underwriters through their inspector placed a valuation of $62,500 upon the Pittsburg and were always ready to write that amount of insurance upon her. She has carried $50,000 of insurance during the past four years. Continuing he Says: "Tt was necessary to carry $50,000 to secure the lowest rate. On a risk for an amount less than that the rate was advanced considerably higher. The company was obliged to take out poli- cies for that amount or become a co-insurer with the under- writers. In the winter and spring of 1900 at Collingwood the owners spent on the rebuilding of the steamer, and for her out- fit and furnishings since that time, over $80,000. If the boat was over-insured, the insurers have the option of rebuilding her and the company would be very much pleased indeed to have them take advantage of that option. She was a steamer with first- class accommodations to sleep 256 people, and her equipment in that department was first-class in every respect. She had plumb- ing throughout with running water in every state room, and had fully equipped electric light and refrigerating plants. There are not more than five boats running out of Detroit that are better equipped for taking care of their passengers than was the steamer Pittsburg. - At the time of the fire she had all-of her furniture, carpets and furnishings aboard, which were packed ready to be removed on Monday, together with enough linen to take care: of 300 passengers for six: days." ee eee Mr, Brown's opinion is that the steamer was burned by per- sons who were aboard for the purpose of theft, and who, either by accident or design, threw a match among the cotton-felt mat- tresses whicn were stacked up in the center of the cabin. He says that he is well informed that silverware and linen marked Pitts- inte were. Offered for sale in Sandwich on the day preceding the Fe, eS IMPROVEMENT AT STEEL CORPORATION MINES. Duluth, Sept. 9--Arrangements are made. for the erection at the new "B" shaft, Pioneer mine, Ely, Minn., of a splendid steel shaft house, to be 168 ft. high, to have two compartments and a ladder way. Five-ton skips will be hung and engines to hoist them at the rate of 2,000 ft. a minute are to be provided. This shaft is now 1,068 ft. deep, and two levels are to be opened into ore at once, so that shipments another year will be very large. This shaft was made necessary by the vastly increased tonnage shown in the mine, and by the fact that "A" shaft will some time probably cave near the surface, requiring the same treatment that was given to No.1 Chandler, close by. "B" shaft is in rock its entire depth, and some distance back from ore; while "A" was sunk by the former owners on the hanging and too close to ore. Two 26 by 60 automatic hoisting engines with 12-ft. direct. motion drums supplied from 450 H. P. of tubular boilers will provide power. Engine and boiler houses are under way and the foun- dations for the shaft house are finished. This mine is hoisting from its single two-compartment shaft 75,000 tons of ore a month, a record that is probably exceeded at very few points. Its ship- ments for the season to Sept. 1 have been in the neighborhood of 425,000 tons. The next big steel shaft house to be erected by the Oliver Iron Mining Co. will be at Norrie "A" shaft, which is similar in most respects to that at Pioneer. At Norrie the new shaft is about goo ft. deep, and is built with steel sets and wood lath, ex- cept for the portion above ledge, which is 20 ft. long and is tim- bered in the customary way. At Pioneer wire rope is used for lath for some distance where the surrounding rocks are dense. "A" Norrie is 6 by 23 ft. inside timbers, carrying four compart- ments, and is at an incline of 58 degrees. Norrie house will not be as elaborate as at Pioneer or others at Ely. |. , oe Head frames of the same general nature will be built at Chap- pin's new steel-lined shaft that is under construction at Aragon and at Zenith, it being the policy of the Steel Corporation to provide its important deep mines and large producers with equip- ment to carry on the largest possible business at minimum costs. COAL SHIPMENTS TO MILWAUKEE. ages Milwaukee, Sept. 8--With a total of 1,362,003 tons of coal received by lake from the opening of navigation to Sept. 1, 1903, Milwaukee has beaten all of its previous records by almost 500,000 tons. The amount of anthracite received during the season was 498,189 tons, of which 149,083 tons arrived in August. Bitumin- ous receipts for the season were 863,814 tons and for August 158,- 110 tons. Despite these enormous receipts, none of the coal docks of the city are over-supplied, and, especially in anthracite, a large shipment in September will be necessary to fill out the winter sup- ply. The demand this year has been earlier and heavier than in previous 'seasons, and this accounts for the rapidity with which the coal has left the docks. The comparativé figures for the last four years, showing the receipts for the month of August and for the season to Sept. 1 compiled hy President W. H. Simpson of the Northwestern Fuel Co. are as follows: ANTHRACITE. . Dey 1900. 1901, 1902, * 1908, PiMRUSE cies foe 92,229 110,399 none 149,083 'ho Septe saee ) Gates 360,556 = 358,308 92,475 498,189 BITUMINOUS. ) AMoUSE i.e 113,861 90,402 175,856 158,110 Te Sept 1.0 3 501,054. 378,213 781,457 863,814 BOTH KINDS. Aiigust 2.54500 .. 2.25. ae 0on 201,001 175,850 307,193 Toy Sept hi. ea as 862,510 736,611 873,982 1,362,003 As September's receipts are expected to eclipse those of Au- gust there seems now to be little doubt that 1903 will prove hy far the heaviest year for coaj receipts in the port of Milwaukee. The twin-screw lighthouse tender Juniper, built by the Sped- den Ship Building Co., Baltimore, Md., has had her trial-and has just left for her post off Long Point, N.C. The Juniper is a steel vessel ico ft: long, 19 ft. beam and 8 ft. depth of hold. She has twin compound engines of the fore-and-aft type, with cylinders 12 in. square, for which a Roberts water-tube boiler furnishes steam. The apartments for officers and crew are situated in a trunk cabin aft, but will be used only when the vessel is on duty, as quarters are fitted up ashore for all at Long Point, where an apparatus for manufacturing gas is located. In the forward hold of the Juniper there are twenty tanks for carrying gas to be used in filling the gas: buoys in the Carolina sounds. They have a ca- pacity for 17,000 cu. ft., and a compressing engine is in the outfit, by means of which the buoys are filled. : ee