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July, 1919 many American~ steamship brokers have gone to London for the purpose of chartering and buying British ves- sels. It is learned that one Philadel- phia broker who has been in London for more than two months trying to buy and charter British ships, al- though he has had orders from his company to buy as many as 20 ships and is well financed, has been unable to obtain one ship. American shipping agents find it a waste of time endeavoring to buy or charter British tonnages. Despite the fact that the shipping controller has announced that he will approve the sale of steamships over 15 years old to American firms, no Americans have been able to obtain them. American commercial attaches in England have informed the department of commerce that efforts on the part of American brokers to buy British vessels will be absolutely futile. Government Control Data : Americaris are often criticized for their lack of knowledge of shipping technicalities and unjust comparisons are made with the abilities of the British: The story is told of an in- cident during the war which has been alleged to be the acme of mis- direction. This was when the Unit- ed States government had control .of the railroads and the steamship lines, and shipments moved forward on priority orders. Quantities of food and coal were sidetracked while a trainload of anchors for ships upon which work had scarcely begun was hurried from a manufacturing town in the Middle West to the sea. ~ The British might well point to that as a blunder seldom equaled for 'absurdity, but now that-the war is over and the censorship has been lift- ed another story is going the rounds. Knowing that the British forces in Egypt would need parapets for their trenches, the British war office sent both the necessary bags and the mate- rial to fill them. A shipload of sand - was carried in triumph from the Brit- ish Isles to the edge of the Libyan desert. -- To Nationalize Port It is proposed to nationalize the harbor of St. John, N. B. Auditors have been in the city for the purpose of looking over accounts and records to furnish a report to the federal department of marine and _ fisheries on the value of the harbor property. It is expected that within a com- paratively short time the Canadian government will have a report to en- able it to make definite proposals to THE MARINE REVIEW the city commission. A vote as to whether the citizens desire to retain the port or sell it to Ottawa will probably be taken in the. near future. Soo Canal Report Freight movement through the Soo canal in May, 1919, shows a decrease when compared with the same. period in 1918. The figures are, 10,566,326 net tons for 1919 and 11,404,045 net tons for 1918, a decrease of 837,719 net tons. The comparison of tonnage figures for' the past six years follows: Net tons oMay; LOt ae e 10,566,326 May 1918. ec 11,404,045 Mary 8 IOI7, oe ee 8,807,892 Moy, 1910. cisco 12,293,476 Maye FOIS. oie 7,348,567 May, Olde 7,488,116 Last. month's shipments are 1,727,- 420 tons less than the amount carried in May, 1916. Of the total freight carried in May 9,092,947 tons were handled through the United States canal while 1,473,379 tons passed through the Canadian canal. The following bulation gives the figures in detail for 1919 and 1918: EASTBOUND To June1, To June 1, 1919 1918 Lumber, M. ft. B. M...... 31,405 35,647 Bloue; barrels c"sies cio bs Sees 910,524 858,070 Wheat, bushels ........... 45,825,116 7,074,219 Grain, . bushels ©... ..'..0.%. 13,546,415 10,270,479 Copper, net tons........... 3,942 14,236 Iron ore, net tons......... 7,761,553 8,939,350 Pig iron, net tons......... BON Seki ee eas Stone, net tons........... D640 eta ss oy General merchandise, net tons 13,877: 10,403 Passengers, number ........ 602 286 WESTBOUND Coal, soft, net tons........ 2,655,562 1,966,051 Coal, hard, net tons....... 891,127 166,155 Iron ore, net tons....... iets 11,665 14,671 Mfed. iron and steel, net tons 28,508 7,917 Salt, (net: tON8e) osc p 55s 4c< 22,854 12,835 Oil, nebo ONS. os fac se ac 90,958 S167. Stone; Nel: fons. 00% oes Sa ee 15,266 50,454 General merchandise, net tons 71,741 54,641 Passengers, number......... 609 327 SUMMARY: Vessel passages, number.... 3,360 2,974 Registered tonnage, net...... 9,739,171 9,341,015 Freight-- Eastbound, net tons...... 9,651,808 9,522,139 Westbound, net tons...... 3,287,681 2,304,395 "Total freight, net tons.... 12,939,489 11,826,534 May Lake | Levels The United States lake survey re- ports the monthly mean stages of the Great Lakes for the month of May. 1919, as follows: Ft. above mean sea level Lakes ; April May Suneriok 60 so. 602.02 602.25 Michigan-Huron 581.02 581.38 St. Clair' 3-3. 575.88 576.38 Bete kee ee 573.05 573.69 Ontarie in 5. ieee 246.43 247.27 345 Lake. Superior is "9.23)foot higher than last month, 0.57 foot higher than a year ago and 0.35 foot above the average stage of May of the last 10 years. Lakes Michigan-Huron are 0.36 foot higher than last month, 0.28 foot lower than a year ago and 0.86 foot above the average stage of May of the last 10 years. Lake Erie is 0.64 foot higher than last. month, 1.52 feet higher than a year ago and 1.04 feet above the average stage of May of the last 10 Vearsic Lake Ontario is 0.84 foot- higher than last month, 0.14 foot higher than a year ago and 0.59 foot above the average stage of May of the last 10 years. May Ore Shipments Shipments of iron ore' from the Lake' Superior district' last month were 6,615,341 tons. Detailed figures follow: May, To June 1, Port 1918 1918, HSCanaba nies te yc eee ee 583,463 654,880 Marquette Sica ieee ws ee 151,749 151,749 ASHIANGR 6c. Giaritcs ooh sew oes 669,647 817,005 SUPCMION Ves sees ae ewes 1,250,536 1,352,267 Duluth bes. oe eee de © 290 TOO Si pdeee Two Harbors... 0... cee as 1,002,608 1,300,292 . Ota Gy vac ues ys ss ee 6,615,341 8,027,580 1919. decrease: 40.4. 2,176,890 1,000,521 Lake Erie Receipts Out of a total of 6,615,341 tons shipped from upper lake ports in May, Lake Erie ports received 4,897,166 tons, as shown by figures compiled by THe Marine Review. The balance on dock June 1 was 0,000,000 tons against 5,650,059 tons on June 1, 10%6. Detailed figures are: Port ' Gross tons Buffalo and Port Colborne......... ib es "635,108 Erle: su. Fe cedar es a ei ee 76,240 Contiealit: so esse ieee ee oa 1,154,376 Ashtabula 46 e860 ce see cal, is oe eee ee 850,441 "Fairport? 0.9 vhcceka cule Oe eee es 876,874 Cleveland 00. Ge Soe i 900,937 Loraine |. ai ee eee 605,167 Huron' eee ee eae ae oe 143,860 Toled0; sss it Beae ee ees ees 85,414 Dettolt. <2) 4s padasul seen ite 68,749 © otal st eee 4,897,166 . The Hill Steamboat line is operating this year the steamer CHARLES McVEA between the ports of Kenosha and Wau- kegan, Wis., and Chicago. This is the route which has been served by the company since the organization of the line in 1903 by Ludlow Hill, who is still manager of the line. This was the first steamboat line to attempt this run and the service is well developed.