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secereiemneetdienntegiinapeennaniarerseneammerem pees asidtienincenetsepia stn anciritnimatmate Rene ein ies Seehcibe sitet 4 will do anything of the sort, and he may be waiting for the developments when the work begins. : As the work of raising the Oceanica and the William Chisholm in St. Clair Lake goes on it slowly develops how the collision came about, in spite of the silence of captains and the crews. Capt. McLeod had to put a 19-foot patch on the Chisholm before he could raise her, because the Oceanica’s stem had cut her down to the bilge. The Oceanica’s bow is crushed in, which explains the matter so far. It is said on the Chisholm side of the case that the Oceanica changed her signals twice and so confused the Chisholm that she did not know what todo. The Oceanica’s side is not out yet. The boom in the salt shipping by lake continues. If this port continues to send Chicago two big cargoes of it every week, besides all that goes by the package freight boats, that town will be pickled by fall. Some of it ought to be thrown into the Chicago River to see what the effect would be. It is about cheap enough for any use. The new flour warehouse of the Northern Steamship Co. will be ready about next week. ‘Then there will be another flour-storage place. The fact is, though, that the new rule charging storage on all ex-lake flour that has been in warehouse twenty days has cleaned out the stocks of flour terribly and cut off the receipts nota little, so that there is not the delay at the package- freight warehouses that there was. One of the North- ern boats was held over Sunday for lack of an elevator, which may cause the company to change its mind and build an elevator of its own if this sort of thing goes on. There are next to no vessels laid up here yet, in spite of expectations to the contrary. There are always sev- eral waiting somewhere, as the Stone and Pasadena are now, but first one knows out they go again. The Lehigh has two wooden liners laid up and the Lacka- wanna has the Grand Traverse in ordinary, but they do not cut much figure in the business. If the canal men should succeed this time and geta good elevator of their own built here they would do this port a world of good, in one direction at least, for the stories of overcharging by the elevators would then come to the ground. There is need of such a house, and the subscriptions now under way may bring the plan to a success. CHAMBERLIN. DETROIT. THE STEAMER UNIQUE SOLD TO JOHN G. KEITH, OF CHICAGO, WHO ACTS AS AGENT FOR UNKNOWN PAR- TIES, PROBABLY CUBANS—MR. LIVINGSTONE’S SuG- GESTION FOR IMPROVING THE FREIGHT SITUATION. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. DETROIT, August 25. The steamer Unique, the unluckiest steamboat on the lakes for two years, has been sold. The price was be- tween $35,000 and $40,000. She was purchased for a party unknown by Capt. Keith, of Chicago, and has. been repairing at the Frontier Iron Works. It is re- ported that she is intended for Cuban service, but the truth of the statement lacks proof. The Unique was built in 1894, and was owned by C. McElroy of St. Clair, and others. Almost from her inception she proved an unlucky boat, and her amazing number of accidents fairly astonished the vessel men of Detroit. She was very speedy, being as fast as anything in De- troit, and proved herself rather a favorite with the traveling public in spite of her many mishaps. Considerable comment has been stirred up by a state- ment that the Hawgood & Avery ‘Transit Co. would lengthen their steamer S. S. Curry to 500 feet, and build a consort to go with her 450 feet long. While nothing of the sort is likely to be done for some time, this com- pany certainly realizes that only the big boats are mak- ing money. It is estimated that two boats built as above will carry some 15,000 tons of iron ore. Waldo A. Avery has made a careful study of the European shipping and is known to have very marked views on Great Lake commerce, so it is possible that the pro- posed extension of their line may be due to that some- what. In discussing the matter a few days ago, Mr. Avery said: ‘The trade of the lakes, like the much more greatly diversified trade of the ocean, is centering itself in great corporate combinations and the only way left is to oppose might with might. On the Clyde, at Liver- pool, in London, tramp ships of 4,000 tons are laid up the greater part of the time, often for weeks ata stretch, and the lakes, in my opinion, are fast coming to such a position. What we necd is combination and we need it badly.”’ Thomas Adams reports that things are ‘‘worse,”’ though he had supposed them as bad as possible before. He now looks f. r no marked change till election is over. W. A. Livingstone has suggested that if one-half the boats would lay up the other half might stand a fair chance of keeping even anyway. He said: ‘‘There are few owners of any consequence who do not control at least two boats. Now, if they would all lay up one out of every two afloat to-day, I think we would see a marked change for the better almost immediately.”’ The Detroit Boat Works last Thursday completed a 25-foot double cot-rigged boat for W. C. Farrington, of the Northern Steamship Co., and sent her to Duluth on board the steamer Northern Light. The D. B. 1 & W. ferry steamers Pleasure and Promise are chartered to the Toledo International THE MarinE RECORD. Yacht Race Association for the races there. The Promise is Jimited to 1,000 people at $1.50 each, and the Pleasure will carry 1,500 people at $1.00 each. The association has the option of keeping the steamers the whole week. 3 The position of Mr. C. C. Schauroth, clerk of all bids in the office of Col. Lydecker, has been abolished and he has been transferred to Grand Rapids, where he will assist Capt. Townsend, who was recently placed in charge of river and harbor work on the east shore of. Lake Michigan. The Ll. C. Waldo had another narrow escape last Thursday. She was twice struck in a fog in Hay Lake by the steamer Philip Minch. The Minch grounded shortly after striking her the second time. A report that the steamer Frank E. Kirby is for sale is totally without foundation. She is probably the most popular day passenger boat out of the city, and her owners are and always have been well satisfied with her. The steamer Imperial carried the body of Hon. W. D. Balfour, M. P., from Windsor to Amherstburg on Sat- urday: ‘The steamer carried half-mast flags, and was met by a deputation at Amherstburg, the dead politi- cian’s home. Boats in passing the wreck of the Oceanica are check- ing down to avoid cansing too much commotion and interfering with the divers at work. There are three divers at work on the wreck. McC. CHICAGO. Somsé Famous Rapip HANDLING RECORDS BEING MADE ON THE CALUMET—COAL RECEIPTS. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. OFFICE of the MARINE RECORD, CuHIcAGo, Aug. 26. This is the second week the Bradley steamer Maurice B. Grover has been in ordinary here; the steamer Hes- per has been laid up here several weeks. Mr. W. J. Conners’ handsome steel steam yacht Eyn- quirer, of Buffalo, arrived here last week, and was visited by a large number of marine men and others during her stay. She'was muchadmired, and many ex- pressed themselves that she was the handsomest yacht they had ever seen. ; I paid a short visit to Manistee and Milwaukee early this week. At the former port the ManisteeIron Works are building a fore-and-aft compound marine engine, 18 and 24 by 36 inches. : Seymour Bros., of Manistee, must be doing a thriving business, judging from the appearance of thejr ware- house and dock, which are chock full of fruit and mer- chandise. Buckley & Douglas, lumbermen of Manistee, are run- ning their mills night and day. They have just com- pleted one of the largest salt blocks in the United States, ‘There was 3,500,000 feet of lumber used in the construction of the building. On reaching Milwaukee I was surprised and shocked to learn of the death of Captain John Hitzgerald, last Saturday morning. His death had cast a gloom over all of his large circle of friends, and he will be sadly missed. ; Steamer No. 4o0f the F. & P. M. Line, between Mil- waukee and Ludington and Manistee, has just been put into service after having been completely remodeled and overhauled throughout. The No. 4 has been in dock at Manitowoc for several months, where Burger & Burger made practically a new boatofher. She is now trim, neat and modern in every sense, and isa twin in appearance to the No. 3, which was entirely overhauled a yearago. ‘The interior cabin finish of the No. 4 isin lincrusta walton, which gives unusual brightness and attractiveness. The ornamental work, electric light plant, etc.; were furnished and put in by Milwaukee firms, the company getting everything donein Milwau- kee that could be secured there. The decoration is by Nase, Kraus & Koken; the carpets, draperies, etc., by Stark Bros.; the electric plant by the Julius Andrae & Sons Co., and the Wisconsin Hlectrical Construction Co., all of Milwaukee. Thecapacity of the boat has been materially increased. The sleeping rooms, of. which there are over forty, are supplied with 6-inch hair mat- tresses On woven wire springs, and each room is sup- plied with electric lights and all modern furnishings, General Agent Whitney thinks the company now has two as handsome and comfortable steamers as touch at Milwaukee. The Queen City arrived at South Chicago Monday evening of last week, at 5:30 with 4,109 gross tons of iron ore. ‘Twenty-seven hours later she was being towed down the Calumet with 5,796 tons of grain aboard. The handling of over 10,000 tons of freight in less than twenty-four working hours 1s said to be with- out precedent. The steamer Griffin also did some fast work at South Chicago Tuesday night of last week. She arrived there at 6 o’clock and left at 10 with 83,000 bushels of wheat aboard. Receipts of anthracite coal by vessels show an in- crease of 11,288 tons and by rail an increase of 26,980 tons for July, 1896, as compared with the corresponding month last year. But the total increase from January 1 to July 31 this year is only 199 tons. The extremely low rate—20 cents—at which charters are now made, has enabled shippers to nearly double the tonn esl ped from Buffalo last week, as compared with week of August. $ eee Bituminous coal receipts show increases in all va ties except Indiana, which have decreased during due, of course, to the strikes. ; The news of the decease of Captain John Fitzger president of the Milwaukee Dry Dock Company, ; Milwaukee, on Saturday, was received with ‘expressi of profound regret among Chicago marine men. Cay tain Fitzgerald’s long service and large vessel intere had given him a prominent place in the la i and his kind ways, geniality and honesty, had © him many friends. Flags were placed at half-mast on n.any vessels out of respect to the memory of the deceased. : WILLIAMS. — DULUTH. KK (ow THE Coa, RATE BETWEEN THE HEAD OF THE LAKES AND THE TWIN CITIES AGAIN REDUCED—REBELLION AGAIST INCREASED PRICES. kali vA. oy Special Correspondence to The Marine Kecoré. t > DuLutH, August 25. The coal dealers declare that business is dead. No orders to speak of are coming in from outside, although the traveling men who are now out are reporting a few contracts made. They are, however. nearly all for soft coal. Hard coal is not selling at all, owing to the fact that the price is higher than it has been in years at this season. Letters are being received from men through- out the West, who ask why it isthat when lumber and all other commodities are way down in price, coal should be higher than ever. They think a similarity of condi- tions should prevail in the coal and all markets. = The roads between the Twin Cities and Duluth have again cut the rate on soft coal between the'two points to 75 cents. It was cut several. weeks ago from $1 to 75 cents, and a raise was then announced. This was con- ditioned on the T'win City-Chicago lines raising to $1.62 from $1.50. This deal seems to have fallen through. Some of the dealers here do not think the 75-cent rate is sufficiently low to enable them to successfully compete with the West Virginia coal. ; » oom CLEVELAND. Tris Port to Possess, NEXT TO WASHINGTON, THE — Finest WEATHER OFFICE IN THE UNITED STATES— TuE COMANCHE RETURNS. < Special Correspondence to The Marine Record, ; CLEVELAND, August 26. | Mr. &. A. Beale, inspector of the U. S. Weather Bureau, is in the city this week, and in company with Major W. B. Stockman, local forecast official, is scour- ing the place for suitable quarters in. which to establish the Greater Cleveland Weather Bureau. Mr. Beale, who stands next in authority to Chief Moore, has been directed to establish his headquarters in this city. This will considerably enlarge the suite of officers — necessary to accommodate the local bureau, the work of which will be further extended by the installation of additional apparatus for automatically recording meteorological data, and of machinery adapted to the publication of the new chalk plate process daily weather maps. The new Cleveland office will, in the scope of the work and the completeness of its equip- ment be second only to the headquarters of the Weather Bureau at Washington. Cleveland was selected as Inspector Beale’s headquarters partly on account of its central location as regards the weather offices of the United States, but largely because of the importance of the port as the headquarters of the lake marine interests to which the Bureau has always been of great service. The selection of Cleveland was made by Chief Moore, who instantly saw, on his recent visit, the superior ad- vantages this locality afforded for the location of an office of this description. The signal ability shown by Major W. B. Stockman had probably also a good deal to do with the selection, as the Major will, of course, be of the greatest assistance to Mr. Beale in the performance of his duties. It is a pleasure to announce that while the condition of Capt. W. S. Mack, who suffered a stroke of apolexy last week, has been very critical and at times extreme- ly alarming, he is much better, and his family feel that they have now well-grounded hopes for his recovery. General Freight and District Passenger Agent D. C, © McIntyre, of the D. & C. S. N. Co., who has not been well all summer, but who has been seriously ill at his — home in Detroit for a few weeks past, is rapidly regain- ing his strength after an attack of Bright’s disease. Mr. H. M. Hanna’s steam yacht Comanche arrived Tuesday from the coast, having come in after a good voyage by way of the St. Lawrence River. She has been absent from port for two years. Capt. Joe Gor- man piloted her up. , ae Gen. Mangr. James Wallace, of the Cleveland Ship Building Co., has returned after a two weeks’ yacatio inlet spent on the Island of Nantucket, whither he wen the return of his father, President Robert Wallace, who spent several weeks at the same place, among relatives. Secretary Luther Allen, of the Globe Iron Works Co., has arrived in England, having crossed on the pania in company of Secretary Ryerson Ritchie, of | Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. —