The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

MAvy II, 1899. THE MARINE RECORD 9 LAKE ONTARIO COMPETITION. _ There have been rumors afloat in respect to the proposed competition between the Richelieu & Ontario Navigation Co., and the Thousand Island Steamboat Co. It was re- ported that the Folger Brothers on behalf of the Thousand Island Co., had tried to compromise with the R. & O. Co., offering to take their boats off the Montreal route, pro- viding the R.& O. Co. would not oppose them in the local business. The Kingston News learned that the reports had no foundation, and that the American line steamers would start a daily season on the Montreal route between June 15th and 18th. The exact date will depend on the sum- mer schedule of the New York Central Railway. The out- look for travel on the American boats was never brighter. The steamer Argyle, owned by A. W. Hepburn, Picton, will make three trips a week between Toronto and Alexandria Bay, connecting with the American line boats. She will call at Charlotte and Oswego on her way down, and run in op- position to the steamer Toronto. A large number of ex- cursion parties by this route have been secured. It is said is now reported that an English syndicate has obtained options on a big tract of oil lands in the Cherokee nation, Indian Territory, and proposes to export oil in opposition to the Standard Oil Co., using the Port Arthur route and put- ting on a line of tank steamers. The rate from Port Arthur to European ports is no higher than from New York, and the new route touches a region which now sends a large amount of its products over the Great Lakes. It behooves us, therefore, to keep an eye on the extension of railways connecting with the new ‘Texas port, for it is not improb- able that it may become avery aggressive competitor in territory which is tributary to the head of the lakes. oo oe or EASTERN FREIGHT REPORT. Messrs. Funch, Edye & Co., New York, report the east- ern freight situation as follows: Our merchants have apparently at last succeeded in securing some fresh orders for the shipment of cereals, as may be inferred from the increase in fixtures reported. So far, rates of freight show a limited advance only, in spite of AMERICA’S CHALLENGE TO SHIP BUILDING. The ruling factor, of course, is price, and at present any- one wanting a steamship can buy it cheaper in England or Scotland than in America. How long is that likely to con- tinue? Material, as has been shown, has already been made more cheaply in the United States; labor, on the other hand, is dearer. I have spoken of the advent of labor-saving methods in the American shipyards. It would, of course, be easy to make too much of this, for the trained man will always be needed, and the more highly specialized tools be- come, the higher must be the training and capacity of those who direct their use, not necessarily those who directly use them. It would be wellif British shipbuilders could take the initiative by raising the wages of their best men (before the latter go out of the country) and compensate themselves by reducing the demand for labor through improved mechan- ical devices. One could go into Glasgow or Newcastle any day, and engage a staff of younger men—thoroughly ac- quainted with detail, though they may not have attained to the highest positions— at a cost which would be insignificant WESTERN TRANSIT CO’S, STEEL, GENERAL CARGO STEAMER TROY. This illustration from Beeson’s Marine Directory of 1899. Built in 1898 by the Detroit Dry Dock Co. This photograph was taken by Allan Fanjoy, photographer at Sault Ste. Marie, while the vessel was being locked through the ‘‘Soo” canal, bound down from Duluth, after having come safely through the great blizzard and snow storm in which the steamers Tampa, Orr and Harlem were stranded, involving total loss, but afterwards floated, except the latter, and an expedition is now formed to release her. on good authority, that negotiations are on the way for the purchase of one or two steamers to run from Montreal to Quebec in connection with the American line, thus complet- ing the missing link for that service, The steamer New York has been greatly improved, and her machinery over- hauled so that her speed will be greater this year than last. It is certain, however, that the American line is much more popular than the arbitrary and monopolistic R. & O. Co., which from some standpoints seem to think they own not only the St. Lawrence and its tributaries but Lake On- tario also. — OS THE NEW GULF PORT. Port Arthur, Texas, which has just completed excellent harbor facilities, is indulging in visions of vast water com- merce in the export products of the great region north and west, and is even looking so far away as the wheat fields of Minnesota and Dakota. And this new port certainly has the assurance of a very respectable traffic without cutting into the business of the wheat fields. It will have a great traffic in lumber and live stock, cotton and corn, and it owners’ efforts to secure better flgures by holding their ton- nage out of the market, and without which latter fact, our list of charters would doubtless show a fair numerical in- creasé. Berth freights have experienced a slight turn for the better for later deliveries, although still wretchedly low for prompt shipment. The demand for steamers for deals and for timber from the Gulf ports is by no means urgent, but a steady and rather unusual demand, in view of the season, continues to prevail for general cargo from the Gulf and the tendency of rates thence is towards a further improvement in freights, now already quite out of line with what can be obtained at all other shipping points on this coast. In consequence of the difference in views of shippers and owners respectively, business in sailing vessels has been rather restricted, but, although the tendency of the market seems momentarily to favor the formerin respect to long voyages, we cannot report any serious decline in rates. In other lines we have no news to report, beyond the fact that a fair demand prevails for vessels to suit the South Ameri- can trade, which, being scarce, rates are gradually hardening. compared to the magnitude of the work involved. There are no secrets in shipbuilding and marine engineering.—G. R. Dunnel in The Engineering Magazine for April. oo oO re ADJUSTMENT OF SHIPS’ BAROMETERS. The Weather Bureau official at the ‘‘Soo,’’ Mr. Alexander G. Burns, will be in his office or on the canal locks as much of the time as may be possible, for the purpose of adjusting ships’ barometers. Vessel masters are invited to have their barometers com- pared and adjusted whenever passing the ‘‘Soo.’’ There is a slight rise in pressure (about two-hundredths of an inch) in passing through the locks bound down and a fall of the same amount bound up. In making a trip from Duluth to Buffalo the changes in the barometer, supposing, of course, that normal weather conditions prevail throughout the entire passage, should be as follows: Starting at Duluth in May, the barometer should read about 29.31 inches; at Mar- quette it should read about 29.32; below the locks at the ‘**Soo,’’ about 29.34; at Alpena, 29.34; Port Huron, 29.35; Detroit, 29.37; Cleveland, 29.38, and Buffalo, 29.37. On Lake Michigan the barometer should read about 29.35 under normal conditions. ry