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DECEMBER 7, 1899. ‘“SOO”’ RIVER NAVIGATION. - United States engineers in charge of the Government work on St. Mary’s river have predicted that sooner or later here would be a wreck which would block the entire com- merce of Lake Superior. The deep water channel is so nar- w and crooked that such an accident was almost certain : jiemens and the Holley lately grounded; the Sailors’ En- -campment, twenty miles further down, where the Douglass Honghton sank Sept.5, and half way between these two, he Middle Neebish. At the Little Rapids the Federal Government has made a leep cut through from the old steamer channel to Hay Lake, hortening considerably the route from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The cut is narrow and the current is rapid, so that great care is necessary in navigating it. On the other and, it has the advantage of being straight and nearly in a ine with the course down Hay Lake, and in that respect it is afer than either of the other two danger points. _At Sailors’ Encampment the channel makes a sharp turn round a point, on the end of which the Government has reated a signal station for the purpose of warning vessels ‘coming up the river when others are going down. By this “means the chances of collision are somewhat lessened, but _ the feud at the Encampment is still a very dangerous place. ‘The wreck of the Hougton was due to the breaking of her Steering gear, which allowed her to swing across the chan- * even if this accident had not brought on the blockade it s altogether probable that a collision would have occurred ooner or later, for the channel is only 300 feet in width, and the cnrrent is quite rapid, though less so than at the Mid- “dle Neebish. The West Neebish is at present too shallow and swift to e navigable, but the engineers propose to deepen it and thus make two parallel waterways, the new and the old, one f which can be used by vessels bound up and the other by vessels bound down. The danger of collision would be practically eliminated as far as this part of the river is con- cerned, and in case one channel was blockaded by the strand- ing of asteamer the other could be temporarily used by taft bound both ways, with no greater risk than at present. This would not, of conrse, help matters at the Little Rap- ids, and the only practicable improvement of that portion of _the stream would seem to be the widening of the channel to such an extent that a complete blockade would not be pos- ‘sible, even by the sinking of the longest vessel on the lakes. With these improvements, the widening of the Hay Lake ut and the opening of the West Neebish, St. Mary’s river vould be practically free from danger of blockades. The _ €xpense would be heavy, for a great deal of dredging and _ €xcavating would be necessary at both places, but the mar- _velous growth of the commerce of Lake Superior in the last : €w years, and especially during the last season, would fully ustify the outlay. | moe ————— DO EASTERN FREIGHTS. essrs. Funch, Edye & Co., New York, in their weekly reight report to the RECORD state as follows: The usual small list of fixtures during this week will show he very unsatisfactory state into which business from this Coast has fallen, unfortunately too, with no visible prospects prompt turn for the better. The list of steamers taken me in respect to rates. There is no enquiry for cotton _ boats from the Atlantic ports, and for general trades the en- ry is distinctly limited. Some probability exists of fur- rt fixtures for timber from the Gulf ports, but here, too, € enquiry is not brisk, and advanced rates unlikely to be generally signed, to the effect that all down-bound ges in the Soo River be compelled to take tugs in the hgerous parts of the river. Great losses incurred from the ‘inking of the Douglass Houghton and the stranding of * Siemens has led to this appeal to the War Department rotect the channel to Lake Superior. The losses from THE MARINE RECORD the detention of 140 vessels in the Soo passage at the critical time when last trips count for so much led to the resolution among vesselmen to secure protection against similar acci- dents in future. The rules of the roadin the navigation of the Soo River have tended largely to decrease the danger from detentions but they do not meet fully the requirements. This has led to the demand for fuller Congressional enact- ments, It is stated that energetic action will be asked to prevent a recurrence of these disastrous blockades of the channel. One plan is to have tugs at the end of every barge tow. Another plan is to provide heavy penalties for attempting to pass in the narrowchannels. It is admitted that something must be done for the interests of navigation. The losses from the two blockades this season will greatly exceed $1, 500,000. A GRAIN SHIPMENTS FROM DULUTH. The grain shipments from Duluth during the season of navigation to December 1, this year, were 63,384,992 bush- els, as compared with 65,154,255 bushels for the same period in 1898. The shipments in December last year raised the grand total for the season of navigation to 72,459,275 bush- els. Nearly 7,000,000 bushels of wheat and 1,214,425 bush- els of coarse grain were shipped in December last year. The shipments of wheat to December 1, this year, have been 40,367,988 bushels, as compared with 45,959,815 bush- els on the same date last year. Corn shows a big increase. The shipments this year were 8,264,053 bushels, as compared with 3,375,321 bushels last year. Oats show a decrease, 2,811,475 bushels this year, as compared with 5,187,356 bush- els last year. Rye shows a decrease, 801,636 bushels, as compared with 1,716,811 bushels last year. Barley ship- ments this year were 3,008,728 bushels, as compared with 3,425,283 bushels last year. The shipments of flax go a great way toward making up the decrease in other grains. The shipments were 8,131,112 bushels to December 1, as compared with 5,489,669 bushels last year on the same date. ro or oo TRAFFIC THROUGH THE ST. MARY’S FALLS CANALS. STATISTICAL REPORT OF LAKE COMMERCE THROUGH CANALS AT SAULT STE. MARIE, MICHIGAN AND ONTARIO, FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEEBER, 1899. EAST BOUND. ITEMS. Cael | Canal |. Total Copper, Net tons. 23.05. v5 os sees es 16,478 350 16,828 Grain, bushels 25 tsi eee ees 4,472,023 10,000 4,482,023 Building SEONG) REL TONS ers uans oe ASOTT aloha sain mart 4.611 Flour, barrels os ; 929,548 60,935 990, 483, Iron ore, net tons... 1,601,612 166,047 1,767,659 Iron, pig, net tons.. of BOO. niet a aets 2,799 Ember Mitt. BoM soc iownne can 121,342 488 121,830 Sriver ore, “net-tonsiis sis ce NS PES te Cag 487 Wheat, bushels; .cc38 oe 9,426,098 1,864,436 II, 290,534 Unelassified freight, net tons....... 9,693 2,421 12,114 Passengers, number................ 415 518 933 WEST BOUND nO; di ITEMS. See) sa ee ie Total. Coal eae net tons........ AP esa 116,204 16,200 132,404 Coal (soft), net tons. a 71,398 366,491 PLOUT DATES LS hiss ka Sareea te eles a nmeattch [ir aie cere enel samen nas nd Grain; bushels... chs. s seeks seas 4,000 4,000 Manufactured iron, net tons 363 30, 700 Saltjcbartelsiocs tits. oe sncwiacts, cae 25,092 10,080 35,172 Unclassified freight, net tons...... 71,202 9,309 80,511 Passengers, number................ 193 454 647 Hastihbound:freisht;-net tons: 354s cyt rca cao ee eee 2,576,421 Westbound freight tet tones. owas Oo age cee cic neee ae 615,373 Totalee oN eres Rennes Mire helene he We Meni pene tat es 3,191,799 Total craft through United States canal.................. 1,863 Total craft through Canadian canal................s0e0005 389 2,252 Total registered tonnage through U. S. canal......... 2,349,302 Total registered tonnage through Canadian eanal.... 325,809 —— 2,675,111 oo DS A story is told of the editor of a go-ahead evening news- paper, who, in the eternal rushing to press to get ahead of his rivals, was continually impressing upon his reporters the necessity of condensing all news. On one occasion a terrible boiler explosion had taken place on board a big ship lying at Portsmouth. ‘‘Get down there as fast as you can,’’ he said to one of hismen; ‘if you catch the 11.40 you will be there soon after 2, and you can just wire something for the extra special—but boil it down.’’ Soon after 3 o’clock that afternoon they got this telegram from him: ‘‘Terrible ex. plosion. Melpomene. Boiler empty. Engineer full. Funeral to-morrow. No Flowers.’’ STARTING AND STOPPING STEAMERS. An interesting experiment in ascertaining the time it takes to start and stop a steamer was carried out this week. The Merida, a steamship of 2,609 tons, 260 feet in length, 45 feet beam and with a depth of 21 feet, obtained the maximum speed of 14 miles per hour. The full power of the screw was exerted in stopping the vessel by backing, and from the time it was at full speed until the Merida lay motionless in the water was exactly two minutes. An order was then given to get under full headway as soon as possible.. From the time the propeller started until the Merida was again moving through the water at a speed of 14 miles per hour, as shown by the log, was exactly three minutes. ‘‘I was somewhat surprised at the result of the experiment,’’ says Capt. Ivers. ‘I had always supposed that it would take longer to stop than it would to start, but my experience shows just the contrary.” Of course the form of the hull, power of engines, weather conditions, depth of water, and many other features would have to be considered in forming an average table, but the experiment for this type of cargo steamers when steaming in still water is interesting and valuable. LETTERS AT DETROIT MARINE POST OFFICE. DECEMBER 6th, 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. Leslie, D. T., D. D. Calvin. Morgan, C. J., Castalia. MacDermott, Harry. Nelson, J. M. Owen, Ernest. Parks, Miss S. M., Saturn. Potter, Miss Anna. Purcele, Billy, Baltic. Parrott, Mrs. Joseph. Rowland, W. A., Burlington. Regal, Charley, G. Stephenson. Rabadue, Capt. Ricry, E. G., Rees. Smith, Thos. H., Eureka. Slocum, Wm. Solon, John F, Signor, Leon. Simmons, James. Stone, John. Soden, John, Roman. Tanner, Chas. F. Turcott, Willie. Tullock, William. Vernor, C. E. Anderson, Andrew, Buckout. Ackley, John P., Marshall. Boyle, H. A., Havana. Burnett, James, C. A. Eddy. Bentley, Frank. Baxter, W. F., Cumberland. Beckers, Mrs. M. E., Eda Connor. Cochrane, Capt. J., Marion. Carlson, G. A., Thompson. Culey, Geo. B., Bradley. Collins, John. Clark, W. G. Franklin, John. Frank, Charlie, Gettysburg. Freese, C. A., Nyanza. George, C. R. Grant, C. C., M. T. Downing. Hornbeck, F.L., 2, Montana. Hall, John B., Roumania. Halborn, G. Cumberland. Jones, Elmer J., J. F. Eddy. Johnson, John, A. H. Green. Keith, G. A., H. E. Packer. Kannes, W. H. Kilday, Hugh, Cumberland. Webb, Edward. Likins, Fred. White, Will, I. J. Boyce. i oo oo The administration of the Bureau Veritas has published the list of maritime disasters reported during the month of September, 1899, concerning all flags, as foilows: Sailing vessels reported lost—16 American, 1 Austrian, 21 British, 2 Chillian, 2 Danish, 1 Dutch, 2German, 2 Greek, 4 Italian, 19 Norwegian, 3 Russian, 1 Sweedish, total, 74. In this number are included four vessels reported missing. Steam- ers reported lost—r American. 1 Austrian, 1 Belgian, 16 British, 1 French, 2 German, 1 Japanese, 1 Mexican, 2 Nor- wegian, 4 Russian, total, 30. In this number are included three steamers reported missing. Causes of losses: Sailing vessels—stranding 32, collision 4, fire 1, foundered 7, abandoned 8, condemned 18, missing 4, total, 74. Steamers —stranding 9, collision 3, foundered 4, abandoned 1, con- demned 10, missing 3, total, 30. — $e Secretary Long has settled the long pending controversy over the awards of the six 3,200-ton unprotected cruisers for which bids were opened at the Navy Department on Noy. I. The delay in making the contracts was mainly due to the question whether a New York firm was competent to under- take the work, the next lowest being Neafie & Levy, of Philadelphia. It was shown the firm had the necessary plant, but in the awards it failed to securea vessel. The fol- lowing firms will each build one of the vessels on the De- partment’s plans: Trigg & Co., of Richmond; the Bath Co., Lewis Nixon, the Union Iron Works, the Fore River Co., of Massachusetts, and Neafie & Levy, of Philadelphia. Thirty months is the period allowed for the completion of the vessels. a!