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

P= 2] N March first, Lake Erie was vis- ited by the most severe gale of the season. Much apprehension was felt in marine circles in Buffalo for the safety of the large fleet moored at that port. Under the breakwater, several vessels dragged their anchors as did a few’ ships moored at inside berths. ‘Taken as a whole, however, the actual damage encountered was light. The stern end of the:'.steamer D. Z. Norton of the Richardson fleet, which was discharging grain at the Grand Trunk railroad ele- vator, parted her mooring lines and was blown over against the steamer VENUS of the Interlake Steamship Co. To ex- ternal appearances, no damage resulted. At the Mutual elevator, the forward end of the W. D. Crawrorp broke loose to sweep across Blackwell channel. She did ‘no damage, however. The forward end of the stern section of the VAN Hiss, which was moored in the Erie basin, broke some of its mooring lines and was blown across the basin where it collided with a scow. Tugmen, who made tem- porary fastenings, reported that no dam- age resulted. The J. H. Reep dragged both her anchors but tugmen who brought her back to her berth reported no damage to the vessel. Several other vessels dragged their anchors and the fact that no serious damage resulted was commented upon freely by lakemen. River men estimated that the wind reached a velocity of between 60 and 70 miles an hour during the height of the gale. OK Ok _ During February, Buffalo elevators re- moved 14,582,000 bushels of grain from the winter storage fleet. Seventy-one ves- sels of the grain storage fleet have been unloaded at Buffalo so far out of the 117 that went into storage with grain at the close of navigation in 1918. This leaves 43 ships containing approximately 14,500,000 bushels. kK OX City officials and industrial leaders of Erie, Pa. are making an effort to ob- tain federal and state appropriations to be expended for harbor improvements. A committee of four members has been appointed, headed by Lieut. Commander W. S. Marrison. The committee will visit a number of Great Lakes ports and report on improvements. New docks and docking facilities, grain elevators and — storage accommodations, together with a ship canal through the neck of Presque Isle peninsula, are included in the tenta- tive plans. * OK O* The American Shipbuilding Co., De- troit, recently launched two vessels for the Emergency Fleet corporation. Ship- building work on the Great Lakes has Latest News from Ships and Shipyards iT Little Ice in Lakes ECENT reports from the United States weather bureau, Detroit, contain interesting figures on lake ice conditions. These figures show that in comparison with an average for the last 11 years, there was early in March 10 inches less ice at Duluth, 3 inches less at Sault Ste. Marie, 8 inches less at the Straits of Mackinac and 7 inches — less at Escanaba. There was less ice in all lakes this year than was reported last year for the same period. In Lake Superior a small field was reported along the south side of Minnesota point that extended about & miles along the Wisconsin shore. Also there was a small field off Portage canal and some slush ice from Point Sable east to Whitefish point. Whitefish bay contained no 1Cé. In St. Marys river the ice was 16.5 inches thick. At Escanaba the ice was 16 inches thick. In Lake Michigan no fields were reported except some slush ice im the ex- treme southwest portion and at the Straits. Here the ice fields were light and broken and drifting with the wind. In Lake Huron small fields of slush ice were reported in the northern portion. Lake St. Clair was practically free of ice. Detroit river was open to Lake Erie. No ice was reported in Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. The lake route between Cleve- land and Detroit was opened for service on March 10 with the de- parture from Detroit of the steamer EASTERN STATES, commanded by Capt. John Lightbody. The Eastern States left Detroit at 8:30 a. m. At 10:45 p. m. the WESTERN States left Detroit in command of Capt. S. O.. Robinson at which time the EASTERN States started on her return trip to Detroit, thus establishing regular night service each way. The date is about 16 days earlier than that of last season. 209 SHR IUUUULLUUULLULAU UT progressed rapidly during the winter owing to the mild weather. * * Xx The largest amount of ice for the sea- son at Duluth was reported recently as a result of a cold spell at that port. The thermometer registered 22 degrees below zero, an unusual mark for the past open winter, pay ‘ kok x At the: regular monthly meeting of the American Shipbuilding Co. held re- cently, routine business was discussed. No change in the ship program was an- nounced. Launchinos of vessels are to take place three or ‘four times a week because of the open weather.. * ok OK The steamer Compton, which went on the rocks near Crossover light, five miles west of Brockville, has been purchased from the underwriters and efforts will be made to release her during the com- ing season. Toward the close of navi- gation last year the Compton met with two mishaps when running west from Montreal light and was finally abandoned to the underwriters at the point named. * * Ox The Lorain, O., yard of the American Shipbuilding Co. recently launched steamer No. 775, which is building for the‘ Emergency Fleet corporation. kok Ox Work on the steamer VULCAN, sunk at Houghton, Mich., recently has been started by the Reid Wrecking Co. Cap- tain Reid, in charge of the operations, expects to have the steamer afloat and in shape to be taken to port at the open- ing of navigation in the spring. The VuLtcaNn has been resting on the bottom since last fall and was abandoned by her owners to the underwriters. * ok Ox Charged with negligence in permitting the fire tug Grorce R. Potrer to become unseaworthy, John J. Hylant, pilot, and Eugene T. Day, chief engineer of the vessel, must stand trial before the United © States local inspectors of steamboats at Buffalo. The Porrer sank at her dock recently. The inspection board conducted an investigation of the sunken craft and ‘examined several witnesses and handed down a decision fixing the blame on th pilot and chief engineer. ; ; * * * Walter M. Williams, assistant govern- ment director of operations on the Great Lakes, recently went to Washington to confer with officials about the building of two large oil storage tanks in Cleve- land as a means of supplying government oil-burning vessels. The total capacity of the proposed tanks is estimated at 20,000 barrels. Plans for sending 154 ‘ i ee ea i Wo ws Cre Sd RES Ae Be ae EP eo