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MARINE REVIEW Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. Vou. XXII, Reeds vey Taeawy aes Peer CLEVELAND, O., APRIL 25, 1901. Subscription $3.00 a year. Foreign $450 a Deak. No. ] if LAKE FREIGHT CONTRACTS. __ The first move of the United States Steel ‘Corporation in its dealings with shipping interests on the great lakes is indicative of a liberal policy. Immediately following his appointment as general manager of transpor- tation matters, Mr. A. B. Wolvin entered into contracts with vessel owners of Cleveland, Chicago and Bay City for the movement of about 2,000,000 tons of ore during the coming season. It is understood that mines owned by the Steel Corporation are expected to produce some- thing more than 13,000,000 tons of ore this year and that this is about 3,000,000 tons more than the capacity of their large fleet of vessels run- ning up light for the full season. The freight contracts were made at 80 cents from the head of Lake Superior, 70 cents from Marquette, and 60 cents from Escanaba, and it is understood that the vessels are to be sub- ject to assignment to any of the shipping ports at the rates named. These rates are looked upon as liberal rates. for the reason that the big corpora- tion could undoubtedly have secured some vessel capacity on a basis of 70 cents a ton from the head of Lake Superior if disposed to do so, but it is also true, of course, that the policy of paying a better rate now and thus avoiding the possibility of a turn in the market, due to the uncer- tainties of labor troubles and other difficulties, may in the end prove wise. Other companies that will have ore to move have not as yet followed the lead of the corporation, some of them claiming that they will be able to get vessels at lower figures later on, and if not they will take chances on shipping the ore by “wild” charters throughout the season. Shippers of soft coal have done little in freights as yet. One or two blocks of coal for the head of Lake Superior have been covered by contract at 40 cents. Large quantities of coal could undoubtedly be covered at the same fig- ure, but the shippers are disposed to hold for a lower rate. These trans- actions have, of course, broken up arrangements for a combination of individual vessel owners. When the contracts above referred to were an- nounced, it was agreed at a meeting held in Cleveland, Wednesday, that nothing more would be done towards the formation of the proposed asso- ciation. Efforts were made on two or three occasions during the past week to settle difficulties with the marine engineers, but the situation is now just as it was in the beginning, except that it is said the engineers have decided to waive the claim of recognition as an organization and treat with the owners individually. However this may be, it is certain that officials of the Steel Corporation, as well as all the individual owners, are determined upon going ahead with the employment of engineers wher- ever they can get them, and fighting the matter out on the basis of last year’s schedule of wages and no recognition of anyone excepting their employes. STEEL CORPORATION OFFICIALS ON THE LAKES Within a few hours after the appointment of A. B. Wolvin as gen- eral manager and Edwin S. Mills as assistant general manager of affairs of the United States Steel Corporation in the lake region plans were under way for placing under single management the 112 steel vessels of the new organization and for the appointment of a corps of assistants in offices at Duluth and Cleveland that will look after the movement of between 13,- (000,000 and 14,000,000 gross tons of iron ore during the season now opening. Contracts were also made at once with several vessel owners for transportation of the greater part of 3,000,000 tons of ore, which amount about represents the difference between the capacity of the Steel Corpora- tion fleet and its output of ore. Appointments for different positions in the new organization include Capt. W. W. Smith as marine superinten- dent or principal assistant to Mr. Wolvin in charge of vessels’ hulls, captains, operation of vessels, etc.; Joseph F. Hayes as chief engineer, with F. B. Smith and W. Fraser as assistants; Edward C. Collins as principal assistant to Mr. Mills in dispatch of vessels, Lake Erie docks, etc,; A. M. Harvey as assistant to Mr. Wolvin at Duluth in the loading of vessels at upper lake ports, and ‘C. G. Lampman as chief steward. Capt. W. W. Smith was marine superintendent for ‘Pickands, Mather & Co. and has a practical knowledge of vessel construction, wrecking opera- tions and repairs. Joseph F. Hayes has been chief engineer of Wolvin vessels for several years past. Messrs. Smith and Fraser, who are to be engaged with Mr. Hayes, were chief engineers of the Carnegie and Bessemer ships, respectively. r. Collins has occupied with the Car- negie organization a position similar to that which he is to have with the big corporation and Mr. Harvey was principal assistant to Mr. Coulby in charge of vessels at the office of Pickands, Mather & Co. C. G. Lampman was in charge of the supply store maintained at Sault ’ Ste. Marie by Pickands, Mather & Co. RUMORED CONSOLIDATION OF COAST SHIP YARDS. For sometime past persistent rumors have been circulated regarding the proposed combination of several of the coast ship yards, though nothing of a definite character has ever been given out. - During the present week these reports have crept into the newspapers and are identi- cal with those which the Review has received of late from various sources. The story as published is that the proposed consolidation includes’ at present the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me.; the Union Iron Works, San Francisco; the Newport News Ship Building & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., and the Crescent Ship Yard, Elizabethport, N. J. Mr. Lewis Nixon of the Crescent Ship Yard is represented as being the one most active in bringing about the consolidation. It is understood that the arrangement is to be more of a pooling of interests rather than a trust. The purpose is to keep each yard busy upon the work which it is best fitted to perform. A change in a type of ship means a complete change in method of construction. A ship yard with several types on its ways is practically engaged in various forms of enterprise. Any combination of interest would, therefore, be directed to bringing about uniformity of construction in the individual yards, LAKE SHIP YARD MATTERS. _ With the close of the coming month the several yards of the Amer- ican Ship Building Co. will have disposed of new vessels to such an ex- tent that they could readily take on a dozen or more new orders. But the boom in ship building, as far as the lakes are concerned, is over with, and for the present little is expected in the way of new contracts. At the Lorain works two of the steamers building for F. H. Peavey and others of Duluth are still on the stocks, but one of these will be launched late in May (24th to 28th) and the other about the 15th of June. This will clear the stocks at Lorain unless new orders are secured in the meantime. The Globe yard, Cleveland, will launch the large car ferry for the Pere Mar- quette company about May 18, but will still have two 7,000-ton salt-water vessels under construction for Chas, E. & W. F. Peck of New York, and it is not expected that these will be finished until late in the fall. At West Bay City the two steel tow barges for D. R. Hanna and others have been completed for some time past, and one of the Gilchrist steamers building there will be launched on Thursday next. The second Gilchrist steamer will follow into the water in about two weeks. This will complete operations at West Bay City, as these two steamers are to get their machinery at Detroit. It is probable that Mr. Robert Wallace, who is in charge of the West Bay City yard, will later on go to Quebec to superintend the work of putting together there the two large steamers that are to go through the Canadian canals in halves from Cleveland to Quebec. The Chicago, Detroit and Buffalo yards are more fully sup- plied with work for the balance of the season. The four Counselman steamers for Chicago-Liverpool trade are practically disposed of at Chi- cago, but it will be late in the season before four big lake freighters still under way—two for C. W. Elphicke and others and two for F. ; Peavey—are entirely completed. The West Superior yard will also be employed on new work practically for the entire season, as the two D. R. Hanna steamers building there are not yet fully ready for service, and work is only starting on the large freight steamer for the Milwaukee Tug Boat Line. With three very large passenger steamers to build and two 5,000-ton freighters for Frank E. Kirby and others, the Detroit works will have employment late into the spring of next year, even though no more new orders are booked. At Buffalo facilities permit of the building of only one steamer, and the yard at that point will therefore be engaged during the greater part of the summer on the package freight steamer just started for the Western Transit Co. The freight steamer Mauch- Chunk for the Lehigh Valley Transportation Co., was launched at the Buffalo yard Wednesday. She is 404 ft. long, 50 ft. beam and 30 ft. depth of hold. She has quadruple expansion engines and three boilers capable of carrying 210 lbs of steam. She will carry 6,000 tons of freight. The keel was laid late in December and the new: boat will be ready for business about June 1. The announcement from Toledo that the Craig Ship Building Co. is to build four instead of two ocean-going steamers for the United Fruit ‘Co. of Boston gives assurance of active operations at the Toledo works until well into next year, as the Craigs already have five other steel ves- sels under way. Two or three of the latter, however, are now almost as well as completed. The two new United Fruit Co. vessels are to be prac- tically duplicates of two ordered some time ago. They will cost nearly $200,000 each, and in addition to large freight capacity will have accom- modations for sixty cabin and 100 steerage passengers. _ James Davidson.of. West Bay ‘City confirms the announcement made in these columns some time ago regarding his plans for the establishment of a ship yard at Erie for the construction and repair of steel vessels. He says the people of Erie have offered him a free site, a liberal cash bonus and low taxes for ten years. The plant will include a dry dock, foundry and machine and boiler shops. © A wooden tug to be used at Manistique, Mich., by the Chicago Lumber Co., was launched at the ship yard of Burger & Burger, Mani- towoc, Wis., Saturday. The tug will cost about $14,000. INTERNATIONAL STEEL, IRON & PIPE CO. During the past week F. H. Clergue of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and A. R. Harvey of the Commercial Development Corporation of Liverpool, London and New York, have formed the International Steel, Iron & Pipe Co., with a capital of $50,000,000, to establish two large steel mills, one on each side of the St. Mary’s river at the American and Canadian saults. It is said that the mills will have a capacity of 600,000 tonswannually and will employ 10,000 men. Interests controlling the Lake Superior Power Co. and other Clergue enterprises are connected with the new project. In discussing the enterprise Mr. Harvey said: “Our product will be steel ingots, blooms, billets, rails, plates, struc- tural iron, pipes and tubes. We have already made arrangements for lands for the homes of the workingmen in addition to the 1,000 acres that we shall require for our mills. I have made contracts with Mr. Clergue running for thirty years by which we will get iron ore from the Michi- picoten range and nickel from the mines of the Sudbury range, and I have also made a thirty-year contract with the Lake Superior Power Co. for shipping our products and our supplies.” The Duluth, Mesabi & Northern Railway has stopped all work upon its extension to the Stevens mine of the Mesabi range. This mine lies much nearer the terminus of the Duluth & Iron Range Railway, but when the property was leased to the Carnegie interests by John D. Rockefeller it was stipulated that the ore should be transported over the Duluth, Me- sabi & Northern Railway. A contract aggregating $300,000 was entered into for the spur and about $150,000 had been expended when the Steel Corporation took over the Rockefeller interests. The ‘railway contrac- tors were requested to name a figure at which they would relinquish their contract. They did so and it was accepted. A short spur will now be built from the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad to the mine. ;