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THE MARINE RECORD. —— NEWS AROUND THE LAKES. CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Repairs on the schooner Helvetia were completed at the Ship Owners’ dry dock this week and she was towed to Lorain by the tug Henry. The steamer State of Ohio, ; the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior Mackinaw on Wednesday night. The steel steamer Hendrich S. Holden, built by the Globe Iron Works Co. for Mitchell & Co,, as managing owners, is measured at 4,444 tons gross and 3,091 tons net. The revenue cutter Onondaga left this port for Ogdens- burg, Wednesday evening. In addition to her officers and crew, she had on board Manager R. L,, Newman, of the Globe Iron Works; Pilot John Brown, and Assistant Pilot Joseph Gorman. ‘Barge 110 went aground opposite the river custom house on Wednesday night. The tugs Kennedy and Grover worked at her and finally released her. She was drawing seventeen feet eight inches. The Alexander McDougall went aground Monday night when entering the harbor. The McDougall was drawing seventeen feet eleven inches. There was also one other case of grounding in the harbor - this week. - The steamer building at the Lorain yards of the Cleveland Ship Building Co., for Robert R. Rhodes and others, will be named the Huron. She will be launched next Thursday afternoon. She will be completed about September 15 and will be operated with the steamers Minneapolis and St. Paul between Gladstone and Lake Erie ports. Another launch to take place within a few days is the large steel tow barge for the Bessemer Line, now nearing completion at West Bay City, under the superintendence of Mr. Robert Logan, of Cleveland. W. C. Richardson and others, commenced eleven different ‘suits this week in the Common Pleas Court against marine iusurance companies for the collection of alleged unpaid policies on the large schooner H. A. Barr, and the steamer J. H. Outhwaite, which were recently abandoned to the underwriters. The following companies are made defend- ants in the different petitions: ‘The Indemnity Mutual Assurance Co., of London, in two suits, for the total sum of $60,000; the National Standard Insurance Co., of New York, on two suits, for the sum of $12,000; the World Marine Insurance Co., of London, on two suits, for the sum of $12,000; the Insurance Company of North America, of Phil- adelphia, for $7,500; the St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., in two suits, for the sum of $6,000, and F. W. Martin and others, in two suits, for the sum of $12,000, making a total of $109,500. In the petitions, it is averred that requests which has been chartered by Transit Co., left for - fad been made upon these companies for the payment of - the policies, but that payment had been refused. The court is asked to render judgments for the different amounts named. Goulder & Holding appear as attorneys for the | ~ owners in all the cases and will of course argue that the two vessels were constructive total losses when stranded, and abandoned by the owners. : oo oo CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. At the Chicago floating dry dock the tug James Quinn was in for a new wheel and rudder, the tug H. E. Rice for a new wheel. Grain freights havea slightly upward tendency this week, 1% cents on corn and 1% cents on wheat having been paid by shippers. ‘William Schaffer, aged 57 years, of Chicago, mate on the schooner Escanaba, fell down a hatchway into the hold of the steamer at Toledo and was seriously injured. The steamer Norwalk was in at the Chicago Ship Building —Co.’s dock for repairs to stern bearing and fastening loose wheel, the steamer Manitou is receiving repairs to her machinery. ; J. W. Hanson, shipping-master for the Lake Carriers’ Association, reports that there is a scarcity of sailors at this port, and he experiences considerable difficulty to find men to fill the usual vacancies. _ The steamer State of Ohio left here unexpectedly on the night of the 4th instant, having cleared for Detroit instead of St. Joseph. The patrons of the O’Connor Transportation Co. felt much disappointed at her sudden departure, J. J. Rardon & Co. chartered the steamers Shenandoah, Rappahannock, Thos. Davidson and Brazil, and barges Algeria, Armenia and F. D. Ewen forcorn to Buffalo at a the steamer City of London for corn to Erie at 1 cent. On the 5th instant, the largest transaction in the grain business, since early in the spring, was done at this port. The clearance report at the custom house for that day showed that the totals aggregated 890,000 bushels. ‘The grain was loaded on board 13 vessels. At Miller Bros. shipyard the schooner Capt. G. W. Naughtin was in for repairs to damage occasioned by run- ning on to the wreckage of the steamer City of Duluth, at St. Joseph, Mich., and the schooners Mary Collins and H, A. Richmond were in to have leaks stopped. There was great activity at the docks between 12th and 16th streets on Monday. The steamers Sachem, Germania and Huron City, barges A. D. Hayward and Bay City, and schooners Herschel and Annie O’ Hansen were unloading rail- road ties, the steamer Olympia and schooner John Kelder- house loading grain, and the steamers Saranac and Rochester, merchandise. H. W. Cook & Co. chartered the steamer W. H. Wolf for clipped oats, South Chicago to Buffalo at 1 cent, steamers Venezuela and Fred Pabst for oats, Chicago to Buffalo at I cent, the barge Paisley for corn to Buffalo at 17 cents, steamers Panther and Germania for oats to Sarnia at I cent, barge A. D. Hayward for corn to Sarnia at 1 cent, steamer New Orleans for corn to Port Huron at 1 cent, steamer Sanilac for lumber, Menominee to Chicago at $1.00, schooners J. H. Mead, C. J. Magill, John Mee and George Steel for lumber, Manistique to Chicago at $1.00, schooner Iver Lawson for posts, Bark river to Chicago at 3% cents, steamer Westover for lumber, Vans Harbor to Chicago, barge Parana for lumber, Garth to Chicago, barge Bliss for lumber, Nahma to Chicago, steamer Simon J. Murphy and Katahdin for corn to Lake Ontario. The stocks of grain in Chicago elevators last Saturday evening were 806,000 bushels of wheat, 6,822,000 bushels of corn, 791,000 bushels of oats, 106,000 bushels of rye, and no barley ; total, 8,525,000 bushels of all kinds of grain, against 14,198,000 bushels a year ago. For the same date the secre- tary of the Chicago Board of Trade states the visible supply of grain for the United States and Canada as 8,254,000 bushels of wheat, 17,920,000 bushels of corn, 3,352,000 bnshels of oats, 437,000 bushels of rye, and 298,000 bushels of barley. These figures are smaller than the corresponding ones of a week ago by 839,000 bushels of wheat, larger by 345,000 bushels of corn, smaller by 88,000 bushels of oats, larger by 132,000 bushels of rye, and smaller by 45,000 bushels of barley. The visible supply of wheat for the corresponding week of a year ago decreased 164,000 bushels. The L. M. & lL. S. Transportation Co’s steel passenger steamer Manitou, arrived here Sunday, in tow of the Canadian steamer Algonquin, which had picked her up in a disabled condition, off Manistee, Mich. The Manitou had just passed Point Betsey, headed for Chicago, on Saturday, when chief engineer Peck, who was on duty, heard the jib in the crosshead of the low pressure piston drop to the floor of the crank pit. He immediately sprang for the throttle, but before he could reach the levers the engine was crashing to pieces. The loss of the jib had caused the bolts in the crosshead to break and release the connecting rod. The cylinder-head was broken, the levers of the throttle were bent and twisted, two columns of the engine frame were broken off short as the cylinder crashed, and the bed-plate of the engine was also. broken. The steamer was towed to South Chicago later in the day to undergo repairs to her machinery. Chief engineer Peck, and oiler Arthur Sherman stuck to their posts like heroes. OS FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. Capt. Daniel Murphy qualified Saturday as master of the passenger steamer Empire State. The tug Mary Hall was launched at Ogdensburg Satur- day. She was built for the George Hall Coal Co. The time for the submission of proposals for the construc- tion of torpedo-boat destroyers and torpedo-boats has been extended by the Navy Department from the 9th to the 16th inst. The Bay City Tribune rises to remark that now that Ella Wheeler Wilcox has analyzed the kiss which Miss Emma Arnold gave Hobson, it would be as well, perhaps, to let the incident close automatically. In reprinting articles from this Journal our contempor- aries will oblige us if they will give credit as follows: The MARINE RECORD, Cleveland, instead of the Cleveland Ma- RINE RECORD. This is especially for the New York American Shipbuilder. A catalogue of various pneumatic tools, such as_riveters, caulking tools, etc., is just issued by the Ridgey & Johnson Tool Co., Springfield, Ill. The various tools are well illus- trated, showing them in use for ship work, etc., making the catalogue a yery useful one. The steamer Scandia, of the Hamburg American Line, has been formally transferred to the United States government. The Scandia is a vessel of 4,243 tons, 370.7 ft. long, 44.3 ft. beam, with 26.5 ft. depth of hold. She was built in 1889 by the Vulcan Iron Works, of Stettin. At the office of the International Navigation Co., New York, it is stated that official announcement had been re- ceived that the government is soon to return the steamers St. Paul and St. Louis, which have been under charter to the Navy Department, and which have rendered efficient service. The collector of customs at Detroit received the following customs decisions from the Treasury Department. <A fee of $2 must not be charged for granting a permit for a Canadian vessel to proceed from one American port to another, the vessel leaving light or having on board part of a foreign cargo. A ten cent stamp only should be charged. Capt. Edward H. Maytham, Buffalo, purchased the yacht W. F. Halstead of Gratten & Latimer, freight contractors, and also the tug T. M. Moore of Harmon & McNally, of Toledo. The Halstead is to take the place of the Portia, re- cently chartered to the government by Maytham, and the Moore will be used for general harbor work. ‘The terms of the purchases are kept private. The longest lake sailing yacht race on record, a distance of 332 miles, was finished this week with the Vanenna th winner. The course was from Chicago to Mackinac, an was covered in about 53 hours. The yacht Siren was only 30 minutes behind the Vanenna. The victor takes a prize of $250 from the Chicago Yacht Club, and the Siren gets” $150. The race began Saturday morning at 9 o’clock. The five wooden steamers of the Lehigh line, Tacoma, ~ Capt. J. Byrnes; Oceanica, Capt. J. Todd; Clyde, Capt. C. Fuller; Fred. Mercur, Capt. H. McDermott; H. E. Packer, Capt. J. A. Whiteside, are now all at work and will carry coal and grain the rest of the season. It will be seen that the captains are a good deal changed about since last season The R, A. Packer will not be fitted out this season unless freights go up more than is now looked for. The Hershoffs, of Bristol, R. I., the most famous builders of small, fast steamers in the world, have been givenan order for a steamer to run up the river from Marine City asa part of the line of Detroit & River St. Clair Electric Railway. She will be about 175 feet long, of very narrow beam and light draft, and guaranteed good for twenty miles an hour, Her average speed, it is said, will be about eighteen. The reason why ships are not struck by lightning is at- tributed by German authorities to the general use which is” now made of wire rope for rigging purposes, as well as to” the fact that the hulls of ships are usually constructed of iron or steel. ‘Thus the whole ship forms an excellent and continuous conductor, by means of which the electricity is — led away into the ocean before it has time to do any serious damage. _ os The big steamer Yale, which was launched in 1895, will be docked for the first time next week. ‘This is her fourth season, and there is probably not another steel steamer on the lakes that has been in commission that long without be- ing placed in dry dock. Capt. John Caulter brought the Yale out and he is still in command of her. She-will be docked at the Lorain yards of the Cleveland Ship Build- ing Co. ( The Western Transit line has made a general change of engineers on their vessels. Frank. Miller, engineer of the steamer Boston, has been transfered to the steamer Harlem. He will succeed Henry Hess, who has been transferred to the new ship Troy, which was launched at Wyandotte a short time ago. Patrick Welch, engineer of the Arabia, has been removed to'the Boston. It has not yet been definitely announced who would fill the place which Engineer Welch | has been removed from. ~ is A steam engine, one of the oldest in the world, built by Benton & Watt, in 1777 for the Birmingham Canal Navig- ation, which had been working regularly for the last I20 years at Smethweck, in the pumping works, has just been put aside for a more powerful engine built for the same company by the same firm. ‘The old engine willbe set upagain at an- ~ other station as a memorial of what can be done with good machinery by careful management. This story has gone around can anyone contradict it? It is thought that another steamer line will be established between Waukegan, Kenosha and Chicago to compete with the Burke Transit Co., which has a monopoly since it ab- sorbed the Robertson line. Recently, Capt. Mooney was succeeded in the command of the steamer Faxton, of the Burke line, by Capt. Thompson. Capt. Mooney is now soliciting patronage fora new line, which he expects to start soon. It is thought that there is hardly business enough for competitors. An editor has been inspired, after looking over his list of delinquent subscribers, to compose the following: ‘‘How dear to our heart is the silver dollar, when some kind sub- scriber presents it to view; the liberty head without necktie or collar, and all the strange things which tousseemso new; | the wide spreading eagle, the arrows below it, the stars and the words with the strange things that tell; the coin of our fathers, we’re glad that we know it, for some time or other *twill come in right well; the spread-eagle dollar, the star spangled dollar, the old silver dollar we love so well.’’—Life and Health. During June English shipbuilders put into the water twenty-three steamers, a battleship, a pontoon and a trawler, aggegating about 93,383 tons, against twenty-nine vessels, of about 71,610 tons, in the previous month, and thirty- three vessels, of about 61,091 tons gross, in June last year. For the six months English builders have launched 161 ves- sels, of about 500,879 tons gross, against about 322,420 tons in the corresponding period last year. Two steamers of 13,- 500 tons gross were launched at Belfast. The total launches for the United Kingdom during the first six months of this year have been 368 vessels, of about 686,137 tons gross, as compared with 344 vessels, of about 521,969 tons gross, for the first six months of 1897.—The Steamship. LL. Some couple of years ago an official paper of England, in describing the merits of a r10-ton gun, said that it could fire two $1,500 shots a minute, and that such guns would not do in the United States, for the reason that after an hour’s fighting the gunners would have to sit down and wait for another appropriation from Congress. If landsfolk were told — that to-day the cost of shot and powder for one hour’s firing of the main batteries alone of, say, sixteen of our best ships would reach the sum of nearly $1,000,000, some of them would certainly doubt the accuracy of the statement. A dis- tinguished naval officer, whose knowledge of ordnance is next in importance to that of the eommander-in-chief of the squadron’ now off Santiago, was shown the figures from which this result was derived, and he declared it to be alto- gether too small.