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WOL. XX°"No. 14. ESTABLISHED 1878. CLEVELAND---APRIL 8, 1897---CHICAGO. LAKE CARRIERS’ ASSOCIATION. To consider and take action upon all general oo relating to the navigation and carrying business of the Great Lakes, maintain necessary shipping offices.and in general to protect the common interest of Lake Car- riers,and improve the character of the service rendered to the public. PRESIDENT. — Capt, JAMES W. MILLEN, Detroit, Mich. VICE PRESIDENTS, J. S. Dunham, Chicago. Howard L. Shaw, _ Bay City. C. E. Benham, Cleveland. F. J: Firth, Philadelphia. David Carter, Detroit. L. 8S. Sullivan, Toledo. S. D. Caldwell, Buffalo, M. J. Cummings, Oswego. W.H. Wolf, Milwaukee. Geo, Berriman, Erie. W. C. Farrington, Duluth. SECRETARY. i CHARLES H. KEEP, Buffalo. TREASURER. Grorce P. McKay, Cleveland. COUNSEL. Harvey D. GouLpER, Cleveland. ; FINANCE AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. ames Corrigan, Cleveland, W.P. Henry, Buffalo. Toi Mitchell, Cleveland. . J. H, Brown, _ Buffalo, . A. Hawgood, Cleveland, . P. Fitzgerald, Milwaukee. Thos. Wilson, Cleveland. C. W. Elphicke, Chicago. M. A. Bradley, Cleveland. H. G. Dalton, Cleveland. . C, Gilchrist, Cleveland. W.C. Richardson, Cleveland. L C. Waldo, Detroit. B.L, Pennington, Cleveland, D.C. Whitney, Detroit. COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION. ag L. M. Bowers, Cleveland, Wm. Livingstone, Detroit. E. T. Evans, Buffalo. . S. Dunham, Chicago. P. P. Miller, Buffalo. -D Caldwell, Buffalo. -H. C. French, Buffalo, Jesse Spaulding, Chicago. Charles Paine, Buffalo. C. A. Eddy, Bay City. ‘ Edward Smith, Buffalo. Alex. McDougall, W. Superior. : H. M. Hanna, Cleveland. ¥, J. Firth, . Philadelphia. James Corrigan, Cleveland, COMMITTEE ON AIDS TO NAVIGATION. Geo. P. McKay, Cleveland. W.M. Egan, Chicago. W.H. Becker, Cleveland. Frank Owen, Ogdensburg. -C. E. Benham, Cleveland. A. W. Colton, Toledo. . G. Keith, Chicago, James Davidson, W. Bay City. . A. Hawgood, Cleveland. Alvin Neal, Port Huron. Thos. Wilson, Cleveland. M.M. Drake, Buffalo. ohn W. Moore, Cleveland. Philip Minch, Cleveland, . A, Livingstone, Detroit. NIAGARA SUSPENSION BRIDGE. The old suspension bridge across the gorge below Niag- ara Falls will soon be replaced by a steel arch double- track bridge which is now in process of construction under and around it. This suspension bridge was once one of the marvels of the age, and tourists viewed it with wonder as one of the attractions of Niagara Falls. It was built by Roebling in 1855, and has a span of 821 feet, car- rying the railway tracks at a height of 245 feet above the water. The new bridge, which is now so near completion that the old suspension bridge is practically no more, will have a main span of 550 feet, connected with the bluffs on each side by spans of 115 feet. The new bridge although less slender in its fabric than the famous suspension bridge, is a graceful specimen of - modern engineering skill. It will constitute one of the “sights” of the vicinity of the great cataract, in connection with the cantilever bridge and the suspension bridge near- er the falls, which has a span of 1190 feet from cliff to cliff, and 1268 feet from the towers on each side. iO oer NEW ROUTES TO THE SEABOARD. The last angle bar in the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railway, connecting Kansas City with Shreveport, Ia., has just been placed in position near Horatio, Ark. This marks the partial completion of Kansas City’s pet scheme, namely, the building of a railroad from Kansas City to the Gulf, by which the gate city of the west and the southwest could become a factor in eastern freight rate 2 competition. The officers says the trains will be running regularly May 1 between Kansas City and Port Arthur, Texas. President Guerin of the Columbus, Sandusky & Hock- ing Railroad, announces that arrangements have almost been completed by that company for a through route from the Northwest to the seaboard, or from Minneapolis to Norfolk, Vo., via the Ann Arbor, Flint & Pere Marquette, Wisconsin Central, the Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking and either the Baltimore & Ohio or the Norfolk & West- ern. General Freight Agent Daniels has been in the Northwest and represented the company in a conference in St. Pauly with General Superintendent Collins of the Wisconsin Central; E. M. Platt of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Coal Co., at Manitowoc; J. S. Jones of the firm of Turney & Jones, of Columbus, O.; Burton Johnson, gen- eral freight agent of the Wisconsin Central, with other railroad and coal representatives interested in the work of arranging for the new route. Teagan Ee LAKE AND RAIL RATES. The Board of Managers of the Joint Traffic Associa- tion has announced the lake and rail rates for the season of 1897. They take effect April 8. Westbound from New York to Duluth, they are per 100 pounds: First’ class, 60 cents ;second class, 52 cents; third class, 41 cents; fourth class, 30 cents; fifth class, 26 cents; sixth class, 23 cents. East-bound rates for the different classes from Lake Mich- igan ports are: 60, 52, 40, 30, 25, and 20 cents. From Lake Superior ports the rates are 75, 65, 50, 35, and 25 cents. Grain rates are 15 cents from Lake Michigan ports, and 17% cents from Lake Superior ports. East-bound rates On copper are 21 cents. : << —_— SS eS - AMERICAN SHIPBUILDING. Returns to the Bureau of Navigation show that for the last nine months American vessels built and documented were 460, of 125,035 gross tons, compared with 452. ves- sels of 116,560 gross tons for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year. The construction for-the last nine months comprised 258 sail vessels, of 41,950 tons and 202 steam vessels of 83,084 tons. O_o NOTICE TO MARINERS. MAUMEE BAY, INNER END OF CHANNEL GAS BUOY. Notice is hereby given that, on the opening of naviga- tion, 1897, a gas buoy, painted black and showing a fixed white light, will be moored in the position heretofore oc- cupied by spar buoy No. 20, on the southeasterly side of the inner end of the Straight Channel, Maumee Bay. All mariners, and especially those having vessels or rafts in tow, are cautioned to avoid fouling this buoy. GEORGE F. F. WILDE, Commander, U. S. Navy, Naval Secy. ee LINE BOATS. Theodore H. Myer, secretary and treasurer of the Union Transportation Co., says that the matter of opening the seson depends entirely upon the Lake Line Association. He thinks that April 15 might be the date decided upon. He says the companies generally did not care to start until May 1, owing to the bad outlook. Rail rates are so low and business is so poor that the prospects are any- thing but flattering, although he hopes for a better out- look. Seven boats will be used, and they have all been overhauled. General Manager Douglass, of the Western Transit Co., says that all thirteen of his company’s boats will be put in commission. They have been overhauled. and everything depends upon the weather. He cannot see any indication of possible heavy business, at least during the early part of the season. IRON ORE. It is stated that there are probably not less than 3,900,- ooo tons of iron ore on the docks at Lake Erie ports. At the close of navigation, December 1, 1896, there were at Lake Erie ports 4,954,084 gross tons of iron ore, di- vided as follows: Toledo, 115,950; Sandusky, 509,491; Hu- ron, 300,075; Lorain, 231,288; Cleveland, 1,416,311; Fair- port, 773,905; Ashtabula, 1,441,665; Conneaut, 275,800; Erie, 355,222; Buffalo, 82,267. Iron ore men do not believe that more than 1,000,000 tons of this ore have been removed to the interior or consumed at points of receipt during the period since navigation closed. This is partly due to the fact that fur- naces filled their yards before navigation closed last fall and in a larger extent to the small consumption due to the hard times. Large sales of steel rails recently made are expected to produce a demand which will take another million tons from lake port docks before the opening of upper lake navigation on May 1. This would leave nearly 3,000,000 tons at the opening of navigation, 750,000 tons of which will probably be at Cleveland. While it must be largely guesswork, there are probably 2,000,000 tons of ore lying on the stock piles of the Lake - Superior ranges, awaiting the opening of navigation to come down. The shipments of iron ore from Lake Superior ranges during 1896 amounted to 9,657,921 gross tons. The open- ing of navigation will probably find 4,000,000 tons on lake port or furnacemen’s stock piles. In figuring the prob- able amount of ore to be mined and shipped, the con- sumption must be figured. A Duluth authority believes that it will amount to 12,000,000 tons during the season 1897-98, but iron men hardly expect it to run that high. —_———oOoOOO Te Oe SS A WELL-TIMED GIFT. Through the generosity of Capt. E. G. Ashley, of To- ledo, the First Battalion of Naval Reserves has been pro- vided with a practice vessel. A meeting of the battalion was held after the regular weekly drill last week, and the committee, consisting of Adjt. Wellbone, Signal Officer Cushing and Commander Betts, reported that a proposi- tion had been made to Mr. Ashley for the purchase of the schooner Brooklyn, and he had presented the battalion with the boat at once. The Brooklyn was built at Clay- ton, N. Y., in 1864, is 140.2 feet over all, 25.8 beam and 12 feet deep; net tonnage, 303.75. About nine years ago her upper works were rebuilt and two years later were burned and again rebuilt. -_ ee _ OO OE SS RIVER AND HARBOR WORK. Contracts have been awarded for harbor improvements along the Lake Michigan shore from Petoskey and Michi- gan City as follows: Michigan city, St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, South Hav- en and Saugatuck, to William A. Starkey of Milwaukee, at 13 cents per cubic yard for dredging, and $2 per load for towing. Holland, Grand Haven, Waukegan and White Lake, to the Green Dredging Co., of Chicago, at the same price. Pentwater, Ludington, Manistee, Portage Lake, Frank- fort and Charlevoix, to the Green Bay Dredging and Pile Driving Co., of Green. Bay, at 13% cents for dredging and $2 a load for towing. Repairs to piers at Ludington to William Brownrigg of Manistee, $8851.31. The dredging of Grand River will be done on govern- ment account under Capt. Townsend’s direction, the bids submitted for the work having been rejected as too high. The dredge is now at Grand Haven, and work will be commenced April 1 at the Grand Haven end. | - ;