Maritime History of the Great Lakes

Marine Record (Cleveland, OH), February 8, 1900, p. 6

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

Ka KKK HK: CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to Fhe Marine Record. The Chicago South Side Lumber Co. have purchased the steamer Philetus Sawyer. The steamer City of Paris was chartered for corn to Buffalo at 3 cents for storage and delivery. Capt. P. Myers et al. have recently purchased the schooner Bertha Barnes from the Stephenson Lumber Co. Johnson & Knudson have given the steamer Gordon Campbell some new outside plank and new floors. Capt. Thos. Higgins, formerly of the steamer Albert Soper, has been appointed master of the steamer W. P. Ketcham. The steamer Vale is in the Chicago Ship Building Co.’s drydock, receiving some new plates and a new stern bearing. Capt. John Prindiville chartered the steamers Jesse Spald- ing and John Rugee for corn to Port Huron at 2% cents for storage and delivery. James Mowatt, dock superintendent of the Chicago Ship Building Co., left here Tuesday for a month’s vacation at Funiak Springs, Florida. Stewart Moore, U. S. Boiler Inspector at this port, is away South enjoying a well-earned month’s vacation, the first he has had since his appointment to office here nearly twenty years ago. Capt. David M. Cochrane has been appointed superintend- ent of the Goodrich Transp. Co. The officials and em- ployees of the company are well pleased with his appoint- ment, and they and his numerous friends wish him health and strength to enable him to hold the position for many years. Capt. A. C. Majo, managing owner of the ferry steamers Belle, Hattie Lloyd, Swansea and N. H Bruno, between Duluth and Superior, was in this city last Saturday. He is on a business and pleasure trip and intends visiting Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and Cape Vincent, N. Y., his old home, before returning to Duluth, The grain traffic of the Canada-Atlantic Railway Company has increased to such proportions that the present elevator at Depot Harbor has been found to be inadequate, and the company has decided to erect a second one. The new elevator will have a capacity of a million anda half bushels, and will cost between $250,000 and -$300, 000. W. H. Wolf, of Milwaukee, has closed a deal with Capt. James Davidson, of West Bay City, for the purchase of the towbarge Armenia, which he intends putting behind the - steamer Fred. Pabst. The Armenia has a length of 288 feet, 44 feet beam and 1g feet hold, 2,040 gross tons, built in 1896. She came out in 1896, grades A1, and has an insurance valu- ation of about $70,000. : At Miller Brothers’ ship yard the schooner Cora A. is in dock having her topsides calked and a general overhauling, in addition to having her bottom calked, as mentioned last week; she has also received new fore and main masts. The steamer Geo. G. Hadley is receiving extensive repairs, com- prising some new frames, about one-half new outside plank- ing, the three ports on each side having been closed up, new plank shear, stringers and rail, new stern and deck aft and calking. & Drake & Maytham, of Buffalo, owners of the steel steamer W. H..Gratwick, which has been chartered for the season by the Canada-Atlantic Line, will get $75,000 for the vessel and the insurance paid, which amounts to about $8,000, The Gratwick will be fitted out and laid up by the company that has chartered her, so that the charter is worth about $85,000 to the owners of the vessel. Drake & Maytham bought the Gratwick from Capt. John Mitchell and others last fall. They paid $212,000 for her, which was exactly what she cost. _ The new vessel which the Canada-Atlantic people have under charter, and which has not been named yet, is said to be the steel steamer that is buildiug at Toronto. They are figuring on getting the steamer Penobscot, of the Eddy fleet, but that vessel will not be chartered or sold until the new boats building for the Eddys, at Detroit are completed. They will not come out until July. ——— i oO oe Lehigh Valley Transportation Co. will commence with . five boats next season. The Wilkes-Barre, is being built at the Union Drydock, to be delivered on September Ist. The steamers Clyde and Oceanica were sold recently to F. P. Baird, president of the Union Iron Works. The steamers H. HE. Packer and Fred Mercur were sold last September to H. J. Pierce and F. P. Baird, who have since sold them to Rogers, Brown & Co., of Tonawanda. Last May the steamer R. A. Packer was sold to Miles Barry of Chicago. The in- ‘tention is to replace these five boats with three large new steel steamers. The company is now figuring on building two steamers larger than the Wilkes-Barre, and have invited bids on'them. PORT HURON. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. Capt. John Burns and wife have returned from their wed- ding trip and are at the Harrington. The total collection at the Customs House for Jauuary were $10,000, as against $3,000 in the same morth last year. The steambarge City of Concord isin the Dunford & Alver- son dry dock receiving a general overhauling, also steel anches, recalked, etc. At Grand Haven the Government tug Williams is being converted into a dispatch boat to take the place of the Gen. Gillmore. The changes neccessary involve an expenditure of $3,000. The boilers are being placed in the steel boats at the Jenks Ship Building Companys’ yard. The plates are carted from the boiler works at the foot of Wall street and put together in the boats. As soon as the ice is sufficiently thick, a corps of U. S. Engineers, of Detroit, will make a survey and take sound- ing at Harbor Beach, to be used in making a chart for dredg- ing the entire harbor, which will begin early in the spring. At Sturgeon Bay, Rieboldt & Wolter are building two large scows one for Termansen & Jensen, local quarrymen, the other for the George Pankratz Lumber Company. The scows will carry about 200 cords of stone each. Their combined cost will be $13,000. An interesting service of gospel song for the sailors is an- nounced by the pastor of Ross Memorial church to be given on the evening of Feb. 11, The service will be called “From Port to Port’? The various incidents in the voyage will be illustrated by songs from gospel hymns. Neat invi- tations are being sent out to captains and mates in Port Huron. ! There isa movement on foot among light-house keepers to induce Congress to do something for them in regard to an increase in salary. It has been a great many years since there has been anything done in this matter. The present salary of the light-house keeper averages about $600 a year. which considering the watchfulness, care and responsibility is the poorest paid branch of the Government service. There are 18steamers and 36 tow barges laid up at Marine City. Seventeen vessels are undergoing extensive repairs with many more stillto be overhauled. The shipyard is employing 150 men in constructing two wooden ships which are well under way on the stocks and but for the bad weather, which makes the handling of timber slow and te- dious, a greater force would be employed. Along with the wintering boats, Marine City gets a goodly winter population, about 400 sailors, mostly captains, mates and engineers. — on. ee" DETROIT. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Charles Stoeber will be chief engineer of the steamer Vol- unteer this year. He was in the C. B. Lockwood last year. The naval shipping office will be closed here and the offi- cers detailed to St. Louis about the end of this month. Quite a large number of hands shipped in various capacities at this port.and all of the best kind of material. Capt. A. J. McKay, who was elected president of the Grand Lodge of the Ship Masters’ Association at Buffalo last week, is one of the most popular masters on the lakes. He has been president of the Detroit Lodge for the past five years. Capt McKay sails the D. & C. passenger steamer City of Detroit and has been in the employ of the D. & C. company for many years. This is one of the seasons when the vessel. register ought to be puzzled to put a valuation on lake tonnage, old barges and small tanks that would have been disposed of for a song a season or two ago are now at a premium, and the fill of the captain’s shaving box with gold dust wouldn’t buy them; as the owner of a nearly-played-out old schooner remarked a day or two ago, ‘‘ There are a few sandwiches left in the use of the old hull yet,’’ and probably there are—for this season, at least. Almost everything that can carry coal or lumber is about picked up, and the next idea will be to build large scows, solely for season use, to transport lumber. The custom-house marine clerk has compiled the following statistics of the number of vessels and their tonnage that entered and cleared coastwise and from Canadian to Amer- ican ports and vice versa during the season of 1899: Number of vessels entered coastwise, Detroit from other American ports, 2,704; total tonnage, 1,073,028. Number cleared coast- wise, to other American ports, 2,798; total tonnage, I,105,391. Number entered from Canadian ports, 1,593; total tonnage, 236,278. Number cleared to Cadada, 1,522; total tonnage, 218,382. Total number of vessels entered this district, 4,297; total tonnage, 1,309,562. Total number cleared from this district, 4,420; total tonnage, 1,323,773. Arrangements have been made with the Detroit Ship Building Co. to have all material ready to begin work on the new fire boat as quickly as the estimated amount is al- lowed by ‘the board of estimates. Mr. Kirby, consulting engineer and constructor, has promised that the new boat will be ready within 90 days. This would put her in service by July 15. The fire boat Detroiter will be placed in the ship yard at once to be rebuilt. The fire commissioners are satisfied that the experiment of a wooden hull is a failure. When the two boats are in the water the districts will be di- vided, the new boat being given the upper half of the city, covering the rapidly growing factory district between Or leans street and the Bell Isle bridge. ae The Wolverine, National and American Steamship Com- — panies held there -nnual meetings this week, at Utica, re- electing the old officers. ‘On Tuesday, the annual meetings ~ of the Pridgeon Transit Co., the Parker Transportation Co., ~ the Buffalo & Duluth Transportation Co., Swain Wrecking ~ Co., White Star Line, Peninsular Transit Co., and the State Transit Co., will be held in Hamtramck. The officers will - likely remain the same. Other meetings to be held are the. 3 Ashley & Dustin Co., Alger, Smith & Co., Crescent Trans- — portation Co., Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Co., Northwestern & Roby Transportation Co., and others. Itis not thought that any important changes will be made among — the managers and former boards of directors, although Capt James Millen drops out of a good deal of his vessel interests, and he was a very active member. i Insurance Commissioner Stevens has completed a state- ment showing the Michigan business of stock, fire and in- land marine insurance companies for the last calendar year, ~ and from it the following statistics are taken: Risks written’ ~ —Fire, $361,745,579; inland marine, $17,800,085; total, $379,- = 545,664. Premiums received — Fire, $4, 376,248; inland a marine, $168,188; total, $4,544,436. Losses paid, including some left over from the previous year—Fire, $2,222,631; in land marine, $421,565; total, $2,644,196. Losses incurred— Fires, $2,436,831; inland marine, $389,447; total, $2,826,278 Taxes paid the state, $127,058.88. The showing of the thre Michigan companies is as follows: Risks written—Fire, — $29,251,343; inland marine, $2,802,576; total, $32,055,919. Premiums received—Fire, $295,847; inland marine, $31,690 total $327,537. Losses paid—Fire, $154,751; inland marine, $46,453; total, $201,203. Losses incurred—Fire, _ $162,866; inland marine, $12,762, total, $175,628. The Michigan com- panies pay no specific tax in this state. ——_—$—$——_—$_—$_$_$_$_$_$_ $a a COLLINGWOOD, ONT. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. is At the annual meeting of the Northern Navigation Co. — which was held here last week the directors presented their — financial statement for the past year. The statement was highly satisfactory, and after some discussion, was adopted. — The election of officers followed, and resulted in the re-elec tion of the old board. They are: Jas. Scott, president; J.J. — Long, vice president; Thos. Long, secretary; C. E. Stephens, ~ treasurer. Messrs. J. J. Long, C. EK. Stephens, C. Cameron ~ and M. Burton were appointed managing committee. The event of the past week has been the annual dinner of ~ the Board of Trade. Before the toast list was opened the secretary read letters of regret from Hon. J. I. Tarte, Minis- ter of Public Works, and several other gentlemen. Mr. J. J a Long, vice president of the Northern Navigation Co., speak- — ing from a marine standpoint, reviewed the early navigation out of this port and stated that Collingwood was the only — port sending vessels to Lake Superior from 1854 to 1874. He also announced that it had been the intention of the ~ a Northern Navigation Co. to put a third steamer on the Lake ~ : Superior route this season had the conditions been favor- able. Many years ago we contributed towards the break- water a large amount; later we gave $25,000 towards the © construction of a dry dock, the builder of which said he put 4 $35,000 im. He Jater abandoned it. The dock, however, ~ has been taken over by another company, which has spent a — considerable amount and made it what itis now. Thisdry dock was built by the people, not by the government, asin a number of cases, after the government had made thisa harbor of refuge. It is the only dock west of the Welland ~ canal, and it is capable of docking the large steamers of the ~ Canadian Pacific, which are largest we have on the upper lakes. We later voted another $15,000. Again the town showed their spirit by recently. voting the large sum of $50,- — ooo to aid a steel shipbuilding concern. I can say that with- | — in a few months we will have a plant which will be in a ~ position to build vessels of 500 feet in length, the largest re- quired on the Great Lakes. It is proposed that we shall — have as good a shipbuilding yard as it is possiblé'to obtain up to the present. a Hon. W. Mulock, Dominion Postmaster-General, thanked the Board for the magnificent reception tendered him. Con- ~ tinuing, he said in part: ‘‘I have had the pleasure of wit- _ nessing the energ'y of the Collingwood people. Ihave seen — proofs in the harbor and in your enterprises of the confidence that you have in your town. I have seen in your townen- terprises assisted by corporate money and those built by private capital, all of which are to assist in increasing the growing commerce of the country. You touched on the — completion of the St. Lawrence canals. This work we felt Fe a aN mouth of the St. Lawrence to the head waters of Lake ~ Superior, a distance of two thousand miles, and then will only be at the threshhold of Canada. This gives some idea of the area of Canada, its resources and its enormous possibil- — ities. With the development of all the ports, and the canal 4 and railway systems, there will be plenty of trade for all to ~ remove the enormous wealth which is to come out of Canada. What I fear is that there will not be sufficient facilities at ~~ Montreal to handle the volume of trade which will come to ~ that port. I conclude that we may favorably receive any — ic application which may come from Collingwood without — injustice to any sister port.’’

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy