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is os. THE MARINE REVIEW only require the sending out of six fleets instead of one each day. The matter of "the system of boats now in use on the river in the transportation of freight to New Orleans" deserves but little consideration. As the Ohio is a pub- lic waterway and as no revenue is derived therefrom, it would be more to the purpose for steamboat owners to build their boats so as to conform to the river conditions, than that the government should expend large sums to so improve the river as to accommodate certain boats. Should reasonably continuous navigation be established on the Ohio, boats will, no doubt, be designed to meet all requirements. These are matters that the board appointed by the Sec- retary of War must consider; and should it decide that indications, both present and future, point to the adoption of a 6-ft. channel, of what advantage will be the g-ft. channel in the 23 miles of river? Will not the continual movement of 6-ft. draught boats, without harborage, be more economical than the periodical movement of g-it. draught boats with harborage? Will not as great a num- ber of people be benefited by the 6-ft. channel as by a g-ft.2 The importance of an improvement, when under- taken by the general government, should be gauged by the number of people benefited. There is no doubt of the advantages of a 9-ft. channel, but will the needs justify the cost? Congresses in the past have been providing for a 6-ft. channel for the Ohio river from Pittsburg to below Cin- cinnati, a distance of over 470 miles, the accomplishment of which will require thirty-seven locks and dams, the minimum cost of each of which will be $1,000,000. With this end in view, structures are building at or near the following localities: Coraopolis, Sewickly, Glenosborne, -and Rochester, Pennsylvania; Wellsville, Brilliant, Mar- ietta, and Cincinnati, Ohio; and McMechen, West Virginia. A lock and dam has been completed and is in operation at West Bellevue, Pa., and another practically completed an in operation near Beaver, Pa. To June 30, 1904, $5,749,000 has been appropriated toward providing a six-foot channel (exclusive of Dam No. 1); of this amount $3,175,448.34 has been expended, with the result of only one structure, that known as Dam No. 6, in operation. This lock and dam was formally opened to navigation in October of last year, the first appropriation for the work having been made in September of 1890. Work on the lock and dam at West. Bellevue was begun on August 19, 1878, and opened to naviga- tion on October 7, 1885, at a cost of over $910,000. Much of the present delay in completing the proposed struc- tures is due to congress. Instead of following the recommen- dations of the officers in charge of the works, that sufficient funds be apprepriated to permit of contracting for all the structures required at a locality, congress continues to provide inadequate amounts for carrying on the works at several lo- calities, with the results that the progress is most unsatisfac- tory, that the cost is unnecessarily increased, and that the officers are unjustly criticised. Whatever the form of improvement adopted, the board should strongly recommend the appropriation of adequate funds to promptly and properly put the work in course of completion. With all the funds so far expended toward the canalization of the Ohio, navigation has received but little, if any. benefit. Six-foot navigation has been very successful on the Kanaw- ha river, a tributary to the Ohio. During the year 1904, 1,094,- 700 tons of coal was transported, and that with a channel of only 100 ft. in width when the dams were up. This amount will, no doubt, be greatly increased when the Ohio is canal- ized below Point Pleasant, W. Va. With the exception of the Monongahela, which has a channel depth of from 4 to 8 ft., the navigable depth of the improved tributaries to the Ohio is not over 6 ft. The problems which will confront the board are such as will require much thought and study. The engineering features have received considerable attention in the past, therefore the principal matter for consideration will be the necessity for and the kind of improvement and its cost. It is not only the first cost of the improvement which must be considered, but also the cost of maintenance; and the cost of maintenance is a most important factor. To maintain a g-ft. channel will undoubtedly require the removal of large quantities of deposit each year, as the water in the Ohio carries an unusual amount of sediment after heavy rains. Not only the sediment carried by the water, but there are numerous small streams (runs and creeks) which carry into the Ohio enormous amounts of material--it is known that Wheeling creek has put out enough material after a severe rainstorm to form a bar which practically interrupted navigation. Dredg- ing on this river has thus far proved very costly. Since the completion of Dam No. 1, in 1885, to June 30, 1904, it has cost $360,836.21 to operate and +maintain--this amount does not include any expense for dredging--or practically $19,000 an- nually for a period of twenty years. At this rate the cost of operating and caring for thirty-seven locks and dams, which the present project contemplates as necessary to provide for 6-ft. navigation over a distance of 470 miles, would amount to over $700,000 annually, exclusive of dredging. To maintain a 9-ft. channel from Pittsburg to Cincinnati would require at least two well-equipped dredging fleets, the operation of which would cost fully $100,000 each year. And this is for not quite one-half of the length of the river. While it is the most troublesome section, the maintaining of similar improve- ments on the lower section will add greatly to the total cost of maintenance. . SITUATION AT BUFFALO Buffalo, July 11--The firing up last week of the second blast furnace of the Buffalo & Susquehanna Iron Co. adds quite materially to the iron-producing capacity of this port, though such an addition might not be noticed by some of our western rivals. Still when it is remembered that at no very distant date practically no iron at all was turned out here the production is very significant, especially as the limit has by no means been reached. Speaking by district, as well as by own- ership, Buffalo is already an ambitious ore-consuming cen- ter and it appears that the shipment through here to eastern furnaces is to increase very rapidly. All eyes are on the Pennsylvania Railroad, which is not only actively engaged in building what promises to be the larg- est, or at least one of the largest ore-shipping docks here, but is rapidly acquiring land in the vicinity of these docks. Some of this property is no doubt to be used for land ter- minals, but it is practically all close down to the level of Lake Erie, so that canal extensions ought to be the natural use for the property and it is already reported that the company will build canals on its new property. It is also said, though unofficially, that the Pennsylvania will discontinue its ore docks at Erie when the handling can be done here, so that Buffalo is likely to be the iron center of that company on the lakes in a short time. It is noted that the Pennsylvania is apparently making all effort to come up neck and neck with the New York Central in ownership of prop- erty here and in commanding importance, though so far the New York Central has pretty nearly owned Buffalo, being the only road with a line all round the city, which it uses with imperial hand, commanding the route to Niagara Falls and Canada and doling out privileges to other roads in a way that merely permits them to edge into the city from that direction. But to the ore industry of the port proper. The oldest fur- naces are those of the Buffalo Union Furnace Co., on Buf-