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ey hie THE MARINE RECORD. “CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Beginning next Saturday the D. & C. Line will make day as well as night trips to Detroit. Mr. Wm. M. Fitch, of the Cleveland Ship Building Co., is again at his desk, and, although he carries his left arm in -asling, he is steadily improving in strength. Ashtabula, Conneaut and Fairport are to be dredged and made safe ports to enter throughout the season, but the breakwater work will not be entered into until early next spring. Bids were opened on Tuesday for furnishing 12 tons of anthracite coal to the life-saving station. The quality called for is of the highest possible grade and. to be de- livered on or before December Ist. The steamer City of Glasgow is in dry dock at Lorain for repairs, after stranding at Owen Sound, Georgian Bay. About 50 feet of keel, some new frames and outside plank- ing forward will be renewed. The job will occupy only a few days. When telegrams came in from Duluth on Monday, offer- ing 23(cents on wheat, the 70 cent Escanaba ore rate was _ placed at a discount and 5 cents better had to be paid. This _ is another indication of the $1 Lake Superior rate in the fall, and a forerunner for a present increase in coal freights. : It is a pleasure to note that Mr. Luther Allen, secretary _ ‘and treasurer of the Globe Iron Works Co., has entirely re- -_-coyered from his recent severe and prolonged attack of fever, _ Mr. Allen looks, and I learn, feels better than he has done _ for some years past. From a strictly business standpoint Mr, Allen is the peer of any man in the city. Most of the out-of-town shipbuilders visited Cleveland this week. Assistant general manager Fitzgerald, of the American Ship Building Co.; A. McVittie, of the Detroit Ship Building Co.; Frank Wheeler, W. Bay City; John Craig, Toledo; Capt. James Davidson, W. Bay City; and F. A. Kirby, Wyandotte, were all here. The passenger service out of this port is perhaps the best on the lakes. Large, speedy steamers well equipped and especially fitted is the rule, nor is there an old boat in - even the excursion business. Every facility for lake trips is to be found in the schedule of sailings of the several lines, and a cruise can be taken at any time from one hour toa week. ao Coal shippers are hanging to the nominal rate of 35 cents on soft coal, Ohio ports to Duluth. Vessels are just as firm after 40 cent charters, and 80 cents being offered on ore there is no sense in being detained with coal at even 50 - cents. A minimum rate of 50 cents, some of the vessel own- ers think, should be established at once, as down freights have too long borne the burden of coal carrying on the up ‘trip. : Oficial number 136,740 has been assigned by the Bureau of Navigation to the steamer Eureka, 2,122 gross and 1,399 - net tons, recently completed at the Lorain yards of the American Ship Building Co. for traffic through the Welland eanal. Asthis handy-sized steamer may likely reach the coast she might just as well have been awarded signal letters: She ought to have the code on board if placed in the coast trade. Towing companies at all lake ports are expected to con- solidate their interests this week. Will this kill off all com- _ petition? Already two little boats are being figured on to slip in against the two large lines here. Of course they can’t get much except a picking here and there, now and again, but will not this be the practice at other ports also, and to what extent will all of these little pickings affect the onsolidated interest, now, and’in the future? Capt. James Davidson, W. Bay City, is quite in accord ‘with the combination of interests now forming the Great Lakes Towing Co. It is also said that the energetic captain wields quite a power by earrying a large block of stock in the consolidation. It don’t do to reckon Capt. James out of too many of these new departures, as he is quite liable to break through some of the circles and land in the ring on both feet. A 500-foot dry dock anda steel shipbuilding plant is to attract his attention in the near future. The bidding on the work of constructing the new life- - saving station is lively.” There area number of local con- tractors who would like to get a chance at the government work, and they are figuring very closely on this building. They have expressed great surprise at the specifications which show that the structure is far finer than any of them had anticipated. D. C. Wickum, who is con- nected with the engineering department of the government, is here to superintend the construction of the station, and ill also overlook the erection of the dock on which the seis to be placed. It is understood that all the local s were too high, ranging from $9,000 to $12,000, and they e been rejected at Washington. mn the maiden trip of the Wilson liner, Henry W. Oliver, carried 6,664 tons of iron ore. Capt. Morton, ship’s band, who made the trip in her, stepped back a few ears, mentally, and in conversation a day or two ago said ‘seems only a short time since we were doing fairly good in carrying 500 tons of ore and making a dozen trips a m, accordingly the Henry W. Oliver carried more in trip, occupying a few days, than our steady season’s rk amounted to in my best sailing days. The Oliver has c ade another record and delivered 6,954 gross tons of . With the r percent. allowed for moisture the cargo was 4 gross tons, which is equal to a little over 7,700 net tons on a mean draft of 18 feet. This is the largest cargo ever carried from Lake Superior by a steamer. There is likely to be some close bidding on the Toledo straight channel work, which is to be awarded after pro- posals are opened in July. Mr. Wychgel, representing an eastern dredge firm, with a capital of ten millions of dollars, has completed soundings and borings along the straight channel, and for nearly a mile beyond its outer projection for the purpose of bidding on the work. A party from California also went out along the line of the channel, and a man rep- resenting a Chicago firm learned something about the kind of material that is to be dredged. This looks like fair and adequate competition, and will bring local contractors to their senses when submitting proposals for Government work. Competition is the life of business and a majority of the contractors on lake, river and harbor work can stand a lot of it before they get down to hard pan. a COMBINE OF LAKE TOWING COMPANIES. The Great Lakes Towing Co., which will control all the leading tug lines on the lakes, will be incorporated in New Jersey this week. The capital stock of the company will be $5,000,000, of which $2,500,000 will be preferred, and $2,500,000 common stock. It is understood that James H. Hoyt, Esq., of the law firm of Hoyt, Dustin. & Kelly, Cleveland, worked the deal through. He will, in all probability be elected as legal counsel for the consolidated interests when it is placed in working order. Mr. Hoyt also worked upon the combina- tion of the shipbuilding interests of the lakes. The following companies are included in the transaction ; The Dunham Towing & Wrecking Co., Chicago; Barry Bros.’ Towing line, of Chicago; Lutz Towing Co., South Chicago; Parker-Maxon Towing Co., Milwaukee ; Milwau- kee Tug Boat Co., Milwaukee; Escanaba Towing Co., Es- canaba; White Line Towing Co., Duluth; Inman Towing Co., Duluth ; Thompson Towing and Wrecking Co., Port Huron and the ‘‘Soo;’? Toledo Harbor Tug line, Toledo; Nagle Tug line, Toledo; Huron Tug Co., Huron; Hand & Johnson Tug Co., Buffalo; Erie Tug Co., Erie; Maytham Tug Co., Buffalo ; Conneaut Tug Co., Conneaut ; Ashtabula Tug Co., Ashtabula; Fairport Tug Co., Fairport ; Cleve- land Tug Co., Cleveland, and the Vessel Owners’ Towing Co., Cleveland. It has been decided also that each city will have a man- agement selected by the trust, but the general operations, schedule of rates for towing and other matters will be dic- tated from the general offices to be located at Cleveland. oo ANOTHER LARGE DRY DOCK. Capt. James Davidson, West Bay City, Mich., will break ground next week fora wooden dry dock to be 500 feet in length, about 60 feet width at the gates and to carry 13% feet over the miter sill on ‘the best stage of water. All of the preliminary work has been accomplished and work on the new dock will be pushed to completion as fast as is found consistent with thorough_and permanent construction, so that, in addition to the present dock owned and operated by James and James EK. Davidson, and known as the Bay City Dry Dock, they will control the only dock on Lake Huron capable of accommodating modern built tonnage. _ Capt. Davidson’s eldest son, James EK. Davidson, is one of the most talented and progressive men in shipbuilding cir- cles, as well as in the general management of floating prop- erty, and a younger son, who is now nearly through with his academical training, is applying every energy to the ac- quirement of the shipbuilder’s art and cognate interests. Capt. Davidson is a very wealthy and influential man; he is also energetic and progressive, moreover, his sons are “chips of the old block,”’ intend to, and will follow in their respected father’s footsteps in the marine industry. Under these conditions, Capt. Davidson, like a well known Cleve- land shipbuilder, will offer every facility and inducement for his sons, not only to take up his already well established industry, but to augment same by the establishment of a modern equipped yard for the construction of steel vessels, their boilers, engines, etc. It has been said that Capt. Davidson, (who has built more large wooden vessels than any other lake builder, ) is wed- ded to the joining together of wood and iron, or wood with iron. ‘This isso toa certain extent, but, as we have said, Capt. Davidson is very energetic and a good business man withal, and he no, doubt recognizes that a metal vessel is not only a good poor man’s ship but that powerful syndi- cates will float and control nothing else; likewise, it is the present and future material for vessel construction, hence, the logical result, and consequently the establishment of a commodious plant in the near future. — oe Soe ORDERS CHANGED. A Washington special states that Secretary of War Alger * has telegraphed.Congressman Sheldon, at Houghton, Mich., that the order detailing Major Sears, in charge of Govern- ment engineering work in Porto Rico, has been counter- manded. ‘This action was taken in compliance with numer- ous requests made of the Secretary of War while on a recent tour of the lakes, that Major Sears be left in charge of the works in the Lake Superior district, oe oe oe DAMAGES—Action for Collision.—Expense incurred by a libelant in replacing certain papers lost by him in a collision js not recoverable as an element of damages, being too re- mote. Jacobsen et al, vs. Dalles, P. & A. Nav. Co., 93 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 975. FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. Clement Yeskey, fireman on the Walter Vail, was drowned in the river at the shipyard of Burger & Burger, Manitowoc, on Sunday last. The body was recovered next day and relatives notified. He was 24 years of age and his home was at Manistee, The dredge Champion burned at Toledo this week. Capt. William Rooney said she was worth something more than $15,000, and that she was insured for about 35 per cent. of her value. He cannot say whether he will rebuild or not. She is a constructive total loss, Sixty-two vessels are being built at the several shipyards on the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilming- ton, Del. Never before has there been such a great amount of work on hand at the yards, and there are contracts ahead for a year’s labor in shipbuilding. A fresh gale prevailed at Menominee on Wednesday and a raft of 500,000 feet of logs, owned by Donovan & O’Connor, was carried away, and will prove almost a total loss, as it would be quite expensive to collect them. Much damage was done to the docks along the shore. Eastern capitalists have submitted a proposition to the business men of Menominee to build a plant for the manu- facture of structural steel at an estimated cost of $3,750,000, which will furnish employment to 6,000 hands. The build- ings are to consist of a blast furnace plant, an open-hearth steel plant, a Bessemer steel plant and a construction plant, the main rolling mill. : : The White Star Steamship Company, which for many years has been prominent in the trans-Atlantic service, has now decided to compete for the Australian trade and has established a branch to ply between Liverpool and Sydney. For this service five twin-screw steamships have been built for the line by the Harland & Wolff Shipbuilding Com- pany. The first of these steamers, the Afric, of 11,815 tons, was launched last November. The Medic, a vessel of the same type and size, was launched the following month. These are to be followed by the Persic, the Runic and the Suevic, with which fleet it is intended to maintain a month- ly service between Liverpool and Australia. The Medic is scheduled to sail from Liverpool on August 3. In an article on the work of the Weather Bureau in the West Indies, the Cleveland Plain Dealer winds up with the following panegyric of the service: ‘‘The value of the service rendered by the Weather Bureau to the agricultural and mercantile, as well as marine interests is incalculable, and increases with every extension of its limits of observa- tion. No department of the federal service renders a greater proportionate return for the money expended on it, and the public will support Congress in liberal appropriations for developing its powers and extending its sphere of useful- ness.’’ ‘‘ Holy man of the mast!’’ Is the work of the weather sharps on the lakes to be placed on a par with that of the Light-House Board, the Corps of Engineers, U.S. A., or Life-Saving Service, or half a dozen other departments? The Department of Agriculture may furnish valuable infor- mation to agriculturists and the Weather Bureau branch of that department may prognosticate changes that interest fruit merchants, but all hands know that it doesn’t do much, if anything, for the lake marine community. Though for that matter the more liberal the appropriations made by Congress for this or any other department the easier it will be to make some sort of a showing. A majority of the fore- cast officials probably detest marine work anyway. The official at Chicago has just recommended vessels to always seek a lee shore in a hard gale of wind and for such advice- (?) appropriations are asked. | -—$—— $$ aD MARINE LETTERS ADVERTISED AT DETROIT, MICH., POST OFFICE, JUNE 28, 1899. To get any of these letters, addressees or their authorized agents will apply at the general delivery window or write to the postmaster at Detroit, calling for ‘‘advertised’’ matter, giving the date of this list and paying one cent. Advertised matter is previously held one week awaiting delivery. It is held two weeks before it goes to the Dead Letter Office at Washington, D. C. Alguire, N. H. Horner, Jeff., Str. Venice. Bearse, Ed. Johnson, F. M., Str. Cam- Bradley, J. W., Str. Zenith bria. City. Kipp, Milford. 3 Berens, J. C. Manns, Dan., Str. Zenith Bassett, Earnest H. City. Baker, Mrs. C. C., Sch... Moran, W. Armenia, Moran, H. Breen, Jas., Bge. Granada. Morehead, John, Str. Pick- Beaton, Alex., Bge. Athens, ands. Burke, Bert. Mackenzie, J. A., > Str. Bacon, Geo. Mitchell. Binney, David McCauliff, C. Crothers, Jas:- C.,; 3, Str. Shenandoah. Calaway, B. T., 3 Cole, Capt. H. English, David. Evans, Cyrus W. Henderson, Robt. Harry, Capt., Str. Manola. Norris, Wm., Str. Mayriette. Resicoe, Jno., Str. Bielman. Robinson, Ed. Shanahan, Frank Taylor, W. W., Str. Fay. Williams, James. Youngs, Wm. F. B. DICKERSON, P. M.