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THE MARINE RECORD. NEWS FROM THE FIELD. es DETROIT. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. Daniel McCarthy has been appointed to command the steamer State of Michigan, of the Grummond Detroit and Cleveland Line. Large steel strops in the form of arches have been put in the schooner Nelson and the steamer Forest City, both boats will be much strengthened thereby. The City of Cleveland has had new smokestacks put in, and is said to have a new cylinder also. She has re- turned to her dock at the foot of Wayne street, where painting and general preparatory spring work is going forward. The steamer Mascot of the Stevenson fleet is now nearly ready to leave the dock at Hodges’ Engine Works, and will have her cabins put on at her dock at the foot of Randolph street. She will commence running about April 1 to Mt. Clemens, Anchorville and New Baltimore. The Star Line Dockage and Storage Co. is building a fine new warehouse on its property at the foot of Griswold street. The dock will be repiled and replanked, and a fine house erected on it. Its owners claim they will have as good a warehouse and dock, if not he best of any in the city. ; Thomas Adams has decided to move his vessel office and insurance business from its present location at the foot of First street, to the foot of Griswold street. He will probably occupy the offices formerly used by Waldo A. Avery before his removal to the Majestic building. Mr. Adams said that he was perfectly satisfied with the present offices, but considered he would be in a better position to do marine insurance work in the other loca- tion. Except for some general repairing in a small way, De troit is very quiet this spring in vessel lines. The De- troit Dry Dock Co. positively refuses to talk. about the proposed Toledo car ferries, and the appearance of the whole matter would indicate that nothing definite had yet been really accomplished. The extreme secrecy of the promotion, which leaked out accidentally, would indicate that the measure was considerable of a venture, and though it might pay, it is rather remarkable that so many able business men overlooked the matter for so long. ’ Mr. E. H. Morton, who is fathering the scheme in De- troit for the original promotor. Mr. Jacobson, of Chicago, is not a vessel man at all, but is in the truck and storage business. Detroit vesselmen are not unanimous in be- lieving that the proposed route will pay. On Monday morning the steamer State of Michigan left for Cleveland, and when three miles below Amherstburg became fast in the ice, which was heavy, and was com- pelled to return to Amherstburg. Her crew have been discharged with the exception of Capt. Steward and en- gineer, and the steamer will remain at Amherstburg until a favorable opening comes. The venture was a hardy one, though many vesselmen believed she would fail in getting through. Lake Erie between Bar Point and the Dummy lighthouse is particularly bad to get through, the experience of the two ferry steamers Promise and For- tune, a year ago proving that, when after the disabled Shenango No. 2. There is no doubt that a properly built and equipped steamer of sufficient power could maintain a winter route to Cleveland in most winters. The only question would be whether it would pay. Mr. Grum- mond’s steamer used to run across Lake Michigan dur- ing cold weather, and may be fit for any ordinary work, but crossing Lake Erie in February is extraordinary work. SO oe oo BUFFALO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. Soper will serve another year as harbormaster at this port. He worked hard for his retention and was successful against a number of other candidates. The names of the two new steamers to be built for the Union Line at the yards of the Union Dry Dock Co., are to be Starucca and Tuxedo, the former being named after the old boat of the line which was lost off Whitefish Point, Lake Superior, some years ago. There has been some slight trouble here this week with the boiler makers, who, by the way, require less hours work and increased payments; that is to say, from $2.25 per day of ten hours to $2.47% per day for nine hours’ work. While some boilershops have been more or less af- fected, those engaged on marine work express no serious- ness on the outlook or movement and all work on hand will no doubt be carried through promptly as the strike or dissatisfaction is not general. The Western Transit Co. will have a Lake Superior Line this season, all rumors to the contrary notwithstanding. It has been frequently reported of late that the Western Transit Co. would not continue its Lake Superior line the coming season. This is officially denied by the manage- ment. The Lake Superior business of the Western Transit Co. engaged seven boats last summer and occasionally employed one from the Lake Michigan fleet. This season the company will improve its service and will be in a po- sition to handle a large business. The completion of the breakwater extension to Stony Point, a distance of three miles, will involve the deepest dredging of the kind ever done on the lakes. In some places the dredgers will have to go through 50 feet of mud, to a depth of 75 feet below the surface of the water, in order to strike rock bottom. A special dredge is to be built. It will be a “clam-shell.’” On the end of a heavy spar will be valves, opening outwardly and curved like a clam-shell, so that when closed they are perfectly tight. Their own weight will sink them into the soft mud, and they will bring up about ten cubic yards every raise. This dredge the contractors expect to have. ready for use by the 1st of July. ‘ rr oo CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. There is no change in grain freights and not much de- mand for boats. : One of Fitzsimmon’s & Connell’s dredges was in dry dock for repairs and calking. Two canal boats were in the floating dry dock for a general overhauling and calking. The steamer Waldo will discharge her coal cargo at Pea- body’s coal dock after the City of Berlin is unloaded. The tug T. T. Morford towed the steamer Italia from Milwaukee to South Chicago last week. The Robert Mills was towed to the Alton elevator, the Samuel Mitchell to Armour’s A & B elevators, the City of London to the Minnesota elevator to load grain, the City of Berlin to Peabody’s coal dock to discharge her cargo of coal. The stockholders of Barry Brothers’ new tug line at Du- luth will meet very shortly in that city to complete the organization and elect their officers for the ensuing year. An article recently appeared in one of the Duluth news- papers to the effect that there was a possibility that the Barry Brothers would not enter that field. That was er- roneous and without any foundation whatever. The Barry Brothers will be there to do business upon the opening of navigation. Herman Dahlke has purchased the entire plant of the Illinois Sand and Gravel Co., comprising sandsucker, scows and elevating outfit, which with his tug Leslie will make the outfit complete. Capt. Dahlke will continue the sand yard at North avenue bridge and will probably open ’ anew yard in the south branch of the river. With his gen- eral knowledge of the business and locality and his well known hustling capabilities he will without doubt make a success of his new venture. ; —————$__——— i er TOLEDO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Vesselmen, merchants and manufacturers are of one opinion and they wish the city to have a fire tug built. The fact was referred to that a number of buildings have burned on Water and Summit streets that might have been saved by a fire tug. The fire in the elevator this week could have been easily reached, as a fire tug could have run right up to the wharf. : On Saturday night, the ice in the river began to move out. It had melted away until it was very thin and rotten. No damage was done at any point on the river. At River- side Park there were a number of ice boats, but pre- caution had been taken to get them well up on the bank. Although the water had got well up around some of them, they were not damaged. Vesselmen are of the opinion that while there may be some severe weather between now and the middle of March, no heavier ice will form, al- though back in the sixties there was very cold weather in March, and ice formed to the thickness of 7 or 8 inches. The ice has broken up all along the river from Perrys- burg down to a little below the Lake Shore bridge. It is curled up from one side of the river to the other near the bridge. The ice on the river abreast of the city is full of holes, and nothing but a shell is left of it. Out in the river abreast of Quale’s, on the east side of the river the ice has broken a little, but has not moved. Around the Cherry street bridge on the west side, the river is full of ice, and all the way down to the Wheeling bridge there are wide openings in it. The indications now are that by the end of the week the river will be clear of ice. A short time ago about half a dozen members of the Shipmasters’ Association walked into the residence of Capt. E. G. Ashley, who wondered why they did not pay much attention to him, but when they saw Mrs. Ash- ley they were all courtesy and smiles. Before the lady was aware, Capt. Homer Durand commenced. speaking, and he did it well. At the close she was informed that the committee had brought her a costly rocking chair of mahogany. Mrs, Ashley was embarrassed for the moment, but soon recovered and made a very pretty ac- ceptable speech. Afterward Mrs. Ashley served refresh- ments and cigars to the gentlemen who had ‘brought her so elegant a gift. a MILWAUKEE. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. Vessel men are much exercised at an attempt in the Wisconsin legislature to increase the taxation on vessel property. They claim that Milwaukee has profited by the present system greatly, and that any change would drive tonnage away. The mover of the reform measure, however, showed that assessments were very uneven, and that they were not. quite just. The large new steel car-ferry boat, built at the yards of F. W. Wheeler & Co. and named the Pere Marquette, is for holding immovable the cars on the track, in the re intended to run between Ludington and Manitowoc thus establishing all winter connection with the rail lines on the west shore of Lake Michigan, and m the most direct and shortest line+between New Ye and the East and St. Paul and the Northwest. She w make four trips in each twenty-four hours, two East a two West, the only delay being inthe running abo and ashore of the thirty cars which will ordinarily m up her cargo. She is in all respects the most modern an one of the best of car ferries, having the latest appli est weather. She is also a big powerful ice-crusher needs to be. ; ot The estate of Conrad Starke is appraised at $106,190: an inventory filed by Hamilton Townsend and Fred Wilmanns, the official appraisers. The testator’s vess property is valued as follows: Three-sixteenth interest in the steamer Helena, $15,000; one-fourth interest — the steamer Veronica, $6,000; eleven-twelfth interest the steamer E. A. Shores, Jr., $18,000; one fourth inter in the barge Amboy, $3,000, Mr. Starke’s one-fourth in terest in the firm of the Milwaukee tug boat line, the sur- viving parties being C. H. Starke and William H. Me is appraised at $11,375. One hundred shares in the Mil- waukee Worsted Cloth company are valued at $6,000. Eighty shares in the Sheriff's Manufacturing company appraised at $8,000, and 160 shares in the Sheboyga Dredge and Dock company at $15,000; also the one-thi: interest that the testator owned in Riebolt, Wolters & Co. shipyard at Sturgeon Bay, valued at $5,000. The home- stead in the Sixteenth ward is appraised at $14,000. : ro ior or CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. Thos. tour. Capts. Alex. Clark and J. B. Hale from Buffalo an W. H. Singer, the Duluth tug owner, visited the po this week Ree Capt. J. V. Tuttle, inspector for the Great Lakes Vessel — register, has decided to make Cleveland his future hom after a residence of about thirty years in Milwaukee. Cap Tuttle’s family will leave the city about May 1. tg Mr. W. J. Wood, consulting engineer with the firm of Goodrich & Co., Chicago, rejoined his troop, Company A, and paraded on Washington’s Birthday. He will also ac company his troop to Washington to participate in the inauguration ceremonies. ee Mr. Charles W. Whitney, 68 Broadway, New York, agent for Purves ribbed furnace flues and the Ellis ar Eaves system of draft, was on a western tour last wee and from Detroit stopped over at this port to call upon ~ business friends. His stay here was only for a few hours whee he made connections for Buffalo en route to New ork. Mr. Robert Logan, consulting marine engineer, naval architect and surveyor, has removed from his office, 810 Western Reserve building to the large and commodiou suite at 407 in the same building. The increased business connections formed by Mr. Logan and the work in con- templation has made the change to larger office room nec- essary. The Cleveland Ship Building Co. took their usual pr cautionary steps when they had the new steel steamer Carnegie towed out to the breakwater and turned around so that during the period of finishing her the waves o! induced magnetism would have a chance to become parth neutralized. The new ship, which was only launched o Saturday, was built with her head about south-west anc she is now heading on the opposite point. A reception was held this week at the residence of M George Presley to celebrate his arrival at the age of three score and seventeen years. Mr. Presley came to Cleveland in 1843, and for fifty years thereafter was actively identified with marine interests. He has retained financial interests — in shipping, but a few years ago retired from active busi- — ness. If anyone wants to point a moral, it may be known that Mr. Presley has been a teetotaler all his life, never used tobacco either, and now at the age of seventy-three is as active, alert and fresh looking as many men at half his age. Bea Large contracts involving about $30,000 has been let this week for dredging and dock building in the river. This amount divided between the firms of L. P. & J. A. Smith and the Cleveland Dredge Co., Will A. Collier manager, has been approved by the city council and w begins at once. Nearly half a million dollars has be disbursed in the purchase of property to be used for riv widening besides the extensive work to be entered upo the government engineer in removing the old and bu ing a new west pier to the westward of the present dila dated structure, I was going to say, but it is only a p of rubble, rock and rotten wood. ine There is nothing heard just now relative to ore charter nor is there likely to be until the owners of Lake Superio mines either get together or go wider apart, and when they have found out what they intend doing there will no doubt be some figures to quote on next season’s bu : ness. One owner suggested that he might contract for a few trips at 85 cents, and this for large tonnage, bu did not want to tie up to or make a season chart that figure. As usual though, it is difficult to learn within a few days at this season of the year, what individu owners or managers are doing with their tonnage, Wilson has returned from his Mexican