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Up and Down the Great Lakes Ore and General Freight Increases—Agreement Rejected—Lake Levels— Propeller Club Activities—More Ships in Service—Coal Shipments Large States and Canadian locks at Sault Ste. Marie canals during June, 1933 amounted to 3,582,282 tons, an increase of 1,594,400 tons over June, 1932. Wheat showed an increase of 5,532,425 bushels, iron ore an increase of 1,073,641 tons, flour an increase of 105,110 barrels, and soft coal an in- crease of 199,186 tons. The amount of hard coal decreased by 10,668 tons. During June 1,238,753 tons of freight transitted the Welland Ship canal, an increase of 174,226 tons over the corresponding month last year. The chief increases were: soft coal, 167,- 444 tons; wheat, 63,684 tons; and mer- chandise, 45,279 tons. Decreases were shown as follows: barley, 29,674 tons; pulpwood, 18,510 tons; and petroleum and other oils, 12,606 tons. Traffic on the St. Lawrence canals during June reached a total of 994,429 tons, an increase of 91,645 tons over June, 1932. Gains registered were as follows: wheat, 78,018 tons; merchan- dise, 42,030 tons; and hard coal, 19,334 tons. Rye decreased 47,152 tons and barley decreased 38,846 tons. T se traffic through the United Board Rejects Agreement The shipping board on July 11 held that the Milwaukee Boat Co. is not a common carrier or other person sub- ject to the shipping act of 1916 and declined to grant approval under sec- tion 15 of agreement between that company and the Pere Marquette line steamers in regard to the operation under charter of the vessel MIssourRt. The Wisconsin and Michigan Trans- portation Co., a competitive line oper- ating on Lake Michigan, filed a pro- test with the board against the approval of the agreement and hear- ings were granted by the board to all parties concerned. Eastland Found Seaworthy The excursion steamer EASTLAND, in 1915 capsized and sank in the Chicago river, with a loss of 834 lives. It was the outstanding maritime disaster of its time and many long investigations were made. Now at this late day, 18 years after the disaster, a _ special naval commissioner, Lewis F. Mason, is said to have reported to the Fed- eral court that this vessel was sea- worthy at the time of the accident 36 except for improper distribution of water ballast. It was found according to the re- port that the tanks on the port side were full and those on the starboard side practically empty and that this condition contributed to the _ over- turning of the vessel which was crowded with passengers for a cruise on Lake Michigan. In effect the re- port recommends that no claims be allowed for damage suits as a result. of the disaster. Ju ne Lake Levels The United States Lake survey re- ports the monthly mean stages of the Great Lakes for the month of June as follows: Lakes Feet Above Mean Sea Level SUPERIOR: acacccesssere wae uisueupessarcnees 602.63 INPLONT2 AEGON ss; ictsaceresestecesuece 578.72 Ge Gleaner y secoutee sect eeassueas ae eueestigouins 574.61 UG: Sach ever sa ceentek ae kee 572.04 ONEARTOS Fakes cous cena ecioccabers cseceswe 245.45 Lake Superior was 0.26 foot high- er than in May and it was 0.22 foot higher than the June stage of a year ago. Lakes Michigan-Huron were 0.26 foot higher than in May and they were 0.08 foot higher than the June stage of a year ago. Lake Erie was 0.06 foot lower than in May and it was 0.18 foot higher than June a year ago. Lake Ontario was 0.13 foot high- er than in May and was 0.60 foot lower than the June stage of a year ago, 0.92 foot below the average stage of June of the last ten years. More Ships Enter Service In Great Lakes Trade More and more ships are being called back into service on the Great Lakes, and _ still further increasing activity is looked for. From a state- ment compiled by A. B. Kern of the M. A. Hanna Co., 164 American lake ore vessels of a total trip capacity of 1,432,900 tons were in commission as of July 15. This represents 59.86 per cent of the total aggregate trip capac- ity of 2,763,000 tons of American lake ore vessels, and 49.70 per cent of the total number of 330 vessels. Of these 164 vessels no less than 116 were engaged in the ore trade. This is an excellent showing as com- pared with the standing of ships in MARINE REvIEw—August, 1933 commission Aug. 1, 1932, when only 76 vessels or 22.98 per cent of the total capacity were in operation and only 17 were in the ore trade. With the Pittsburgh Steamship Co., subsidiary of the United States Steel Corp., and largest vessel owner on the Great Lakes, issuing orders on July 20 for commissioning 40 additional vessels over and above the 31 that were already in commission, it may fairly be said that the bulk shipping trade is rapidly approaching a pre- depression activity. These 40 addi- tional ships will give employment to about 1200 men, and when all com- missioned will bring the total number of American lake ore vessels in serv- ice to well over 200. What the re- mainder of the season has in store, it is still difficult to predict with any certainty. But it is now generally believed, that there will be continued and increasing activity. Propeller Club Meeting The first annual meeting of the Propeller club, port of Cleveland, for the purpose of electing a board of gov- ernors and officers, was held at the Sleepy Hollow Country club on July 10. About 45 members attended. A. B. Kern, president of the club, presided. The following were elected to the board of governors for a three year term: A. B. Kern, G. C. Hutchinson, W. P. Schaufele, F. S. Hutchinson, A. T. Wood and G. A. Myers; for the two year term, R. W. England, L. C. Hinslea, H. N. Herriman, J. L. Wal- lace, and R. H. Burns; and for the one year term, C. R. Kells, J. H. Law- rence, W. C. Dressler, E. L. Jefferson and B. R. Tewksbury. The officers of the club selected by the newly elected board of governors are ALE Wood; president: b. C: Hinslea, vice president; G. C. Hutch- inson, secretary; and R. H. Burns, treasurer. The term of the officers is for one year. Over 20 new members joined the club recently, making a total member- Ship of about 130. The next meeting is to be held at the Pepper Pike Coun- try club on Aug. 9, and will be re- stricted to members only. L. C. Hinslea was appointed dele- gate to the annual convention of the Propeller club of the United States to be held at Pittsburgh, Oct. 12, 13, 14.