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THE MARINE RECORD. APRIT, 19, 1900. DULUTH-—SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. Maytham has purchased the tug Thomas Wilson from the George Hall Co.,,Ogdensburg, N. Y., and she will be brought here this week. ‘During the first five years that Capt. Inman was engaged in the tug business at Duluth he went ‘‘below’’ every spring to bring a tug up to the head of the lakes. He says that for those five years he was the first to bring a boat through the Sault river. The impression seems to prevail among Duluth vesselmen that navigation will open about the 25th instant, The ice _ in the lake opposite Duluth is not wasting very rapidly at _ present, owing to the fact that it is held firmly in place by a cold northeast wind. A warm rain would no doubt hasten the disappearance of the ice. t - Charles Stone, of St. Paul, was the lowest bidder at the reopening of bids for placing the footing blocks of the north ier of the Duluth ship canal and constructing the monolith- ic superstructure. His bid was $41,796.40. The Butler-Ryan Co. bid $44,508 and P. McDonnell, of Duluth, bid $41,974. The Butler-Ryan Co. was the lowest bidder at the original opening of proposals. Their bid on that occasion was $47,- BOQ: 12. The Inland Ocean, published at West Superior has chang- ed hands, Scott & Ward haying disposed of the paper to - ‘Messers Chandler & Dunn, The Inland Ocean under the ~~ old management established an enviable reputation in the newspaper circles of the Northwest and the new manage- ment will maintain the same reputation. From their saluta- tory we may expect even a better journal than was publish- ed formerly. ‘ A fire broke out in the blacksmith shop and furnace room of the shipyards last week. The large building, 80 x 200 - feet anid’ one story high, was completely destroyed. The logs on the building, stock and machinery is estimated at about $20,000, mostly covered by insurance. The company -willrebuild at once. The fire will not greatly cripple the general work of the company. Damage to the bending table is most the serious, and there will be some delay in completing the barge now under construction, Folders have been issued by the White Line Trans- . portation Co., which will run the steamer Bon Ami on the Isle Royal route this year, sending her out of Duluth every "Monday for Hancock and Houghton and every Friday for Grand Marais on the north shore. Theround trip fare be- tween Houghton and Duluth will be $8 first class and $3 sec- ‘ond. Return tickets between the two points will be good on all the steamers of the lL. M. & L. S. T. Co., with which - connections will be made at both Duluthand Hancock. The _ new line will furnish a direct and easy method of reaching _ Isle Royal for camping and fishing parties, the island having heretofore been accessible only to private parties, who could _ goto the expense of chartering a tug to take them over and will _ undoubtedly attract large numbers of tourists and sportsmen to that largest and most beautiful island on all Lake Supe- rior. W. H. Singer, the new vice president of the L. M. & LS. T. Co., is the general manager of the transportation ~ company while Capt. Flynn will again command the Bon Ami, which has splendid cabin accommodations. i oO ee ees BUFFALO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Erie canal is to be opened April 25th. _ Steamers W. H. Stevens and Avon have been moved to - Tonawanda, Goy. Roosevelt has signed Senator Davis’ bill, which per- tits use of a balance of $12,635 of a former appropriation to deepen the Erie Basin at this port. _ Six steamers and twelve barges will be at Toledo to load grain for Canadian ports as soon as the Welland canal opens. They will have a capacity of 840,000 bushels of corn. The charter rate on anthracite coal out of Buffalo has been fixed at the following figures for first cargoes: Duluth, 50 cents; Portage, 60 cents}; Chicago, 75 cents; Milwaukee, Manitowoc, et ce and Green Bay ports, 70 cents; Wau- kegan, Kenosha and Racine, 80 cents. é The Pittsburg Coal Co. has fixed the price of Pittsburg oal for steamboat fuel at Ohio ports and Erie at $2.75 a ton d $3 at Buffalo. The price at Detroit and St. Clair river orts is $3; $3.50in the ‘‘Soo” River and $3.75 at Chicago. Hocking Valley coal prices are as follows: At Toledo for shipment north and west, $1.85 on board; fuel coal for boat, -35 at Ohio ports, $2.75 at Detroit, $3.25 at the ‘‘Soo,”’ and 50 at Chicago. gs £ CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. The steamer Onoko, light, arrived here Sunday afternoon from Milwaukee to load grain. Higgie & Chamberlain chartered the schooner Grace G. Gribbe for corn to Depot Harbor, Canada, at 2 cents. The steel steamer Senator finished loading a cargo of oats consisting of 328,000 bushels, at South Chicago, on Tuesday.’ The steamers Uganda and Nicaragua and barge Paisley, light, arrived at South Chicago from Milwaukee on Friday, to load grain. I have to thank Mr. C. F. Cauright, agent for the Good- rich Transportation Co., for courtesies extended to the RECORD this week. The steel steamer Jesse Spalding left here early Tuesday morning for Detroit with corn, the first of the grain carry- ing fleet to get away this season. The steatuer Gordon Campbell received a new smoke stack at the Youghiogheny & Lehigh Coal Co.’s dock Tuesday, and left for Sarnia with 95,000 bushels of oats. The passenger steamer I. M. Weston arrived from Mon- tague, Mich., Sunday morning. She will be used in the excursion business on the drainage canal this summer. John Muzzey, an old marine engineer, died at Milwaukee Sunday. He wasa resident of Manistee and was formerly for several years engineer with the Canfield tug line, He will be buried at Manistee. A number of the grain laden fleet here will leave for the Straits tonight. The steamer Hendrick Holden arrived here this morning from Milwaukee, and will load wheat at the Northern Grain Co. elevator B. The schooner Grace G. Gribbe, Capt. Wm. Kaupman, and schooner Geo. Jy. Wrenn, Capt, Shomer, arrived here Sun- day noon from Ludington with lumber, the first schooner to arrive with lumber this season. Capt. Jimmie Ferguson is with Tom Sullivan, the well- known vessel’ supply man again this season. No man on the lakes is better known, more respected, or a better hustler for marine trade than Capt. Ferguson. The steamer Gogebic and barges Biwabik and S. H. Foster grain laden, are ready to start for Port Huron, and the steamers Ira H. Owen, Parks Foster, Chas. Stewart Parnell, Wm. B. Morley and several others are ready to start for Buf- falo, a large fleet will leave during the present week, Lumber freights from Manistee to Chicago have opened up this season at $1.50 per thousand feet, which is higher than-at the opening a year ago, althought it is not any too high, when the price of coal for fueling purposes, which has been raised $1.10 per ton here is taken into consideration. The Gordon Campbell followed the Spalding bound for the lower lakes on Tuesday, and now they are all breaking away. No less than ten steamers will clear and sail from this port on Wednesday, and then it will.be, as always, a case of follow the leader. I counted today fifty-nine boats having taken out their clearance papers. Charley Gulbranson, for many years with the late Richard Chester, of fog horn fame, and until recently with Wm. In- gram & Co., marine lamp manufacturers and general marine workers, is now connected with Johnson & Co,’s brass and iron works, at 213 East Randolph street, and is making a specialty of all kinds of marine work in his line of business. The steamer Edward Buckley, Capt. Chas. Greenwich, arrived here the first time this season on Saturday morning with salt from Manistee, and on Tuesday with lumber from the same port. She had made one trip to South Chicago with salt before coming here on Saturday. The Buckley is well kept up and looks as good as new. She has loads ahead which will keep her busy all the season. The steamer George G. Hadley was in drydock for bottom searching. She has undergone extensive repairs during the winter mhonths under the superintendence of Capt. M. Fitz- gerald. The iron side-wheel steamer Ivanhoe was put in dock and torn up for scrapiron. The schooner James G. Blaine had her mainmast, fore and mizen topmasts and jib- boom taken out and has been converted into a barge, to be towed with the Annie M. Peterson, by the steamer Neko. Capt. Arnold Green will be master of the Blaine. At a meeting of the Board of Aldermen, of this city, held on Monday last, the Mayor recommended economy in ex- penditures for évery purpose except the dredging of our river; the Board of Public Works were instructed to adver- tise immediately, for bids for dredging, to the upper end of the Wisconsin coal dock, to a depth of 20 feet; the City En- gineer was instructed to ascertain the amount of dredging required to make a 14-foot channel to the Wisconsin Central swing bridge, and which it is proposed to-do this summer; this will give almost a mile more of dock frontage availiable ’ for boats to lie at next winter. The Licensed Tug Men’s Protective Association of the Great Lakes No. 2, of Chicago, have adopted a scale of wages for captains and engineers at this port and South Chicago, and have sent a copy of their resolution to the towing companies and dredging companies. of the Vessel Towing Company’s tugs ask for $150 per month of 30 days and board, the same wages as they re- ceived last year. ‘The engineers ask for.a raise of $10 per month, from $95 to $105 and board, The deck hands and firemen also ask fora raise of $10 per month, from $50 to $60 and board. . There is also a stipulation in the resolution as to hours. The men require two nights off in nine days and two nights off with every blow-off. The wages asked for The captains ° from the dredging companies for their largest tugs is $135 per month and board for captains, $95 per month and Hones for engineers, and for their smaller tugs $125 per month an board for captains, and $90 per month and board for en- ineers. Where nocooks are carried, captains and engineers to be allowed $15 each for board each month. Owners and managers to hire captains and engineers; captains to hire cooks and deck hands, and engineers to hire firemen. Capt. Richard A. Davis died of heart failure Saturday morning, at his home, 430 Irving avenue, Chicago. He was born on Woolf Island, Canada, on November 23rd, 1829, and came to Chicago from Oswego, N. Y., in 1872. He was one of the oldest captains on the lakes and had master’s papers dating back for 40 years. The first vessel he was master of was the schooner Seminole. He has for many years been engaged in the steamboat excursion business on the lake front. He commenced with the small steamer Barney, and afterward built and ran the steamer Josie Davidson, which he disposed of and then purchased the steamer Lena Knob- loch, which he owned at the time of his decease. No man was better known or more highly esteemed than Uncle Dick Davis, as he was familiarly called by his many friends and patrons. He was married in 1852 to Miss Susan Sinclair, who survives him, he also leaves one son, James Henry Davis, living in Woodlawn, and one daughter, Mrs. Mar- garet McGregor, wife of Capt. Frank McGregor, of Chicago. He was a member of Piolades Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and Chicago Harbor lodge of the Masters’ and Pilots’ Associa- tion. The funeral took place at Rose Hill cemetery, Tues- day afternoon, and was conducted by the Masons and the Masters and Pilots’ Association. ‘There was a large attend- ance of marine men and other friends of the deceased. $< quero a ——__ DETROIT. Special Correspondence to The Marv.e Record. Navigation is now open from here to Lake Erie ports and cargo steamers are leaving since Tuesday. The steamer Sawyer and barges’cleared for Cleveland, They are the first departures of the winter fleet. The river is now clear of ice. The tug D. N. Runnels was brought here from Marine City on Wednesday to be turned over to Maytham & Co., of Buffalo, who recently bought her for $7,000 from J. C. Miller, of Marine City. The tug will be used in opposition to the trust. The Nipigon Transit Co. has been organized to purchase and operate the steamer J. C. Ford and other steamers. The capital of the company is £50,000, of which 80 per cent. 1s paidin. Paul Weidner and Alfred K. Kiefer, of Detroit, and Otto I,. E. Weber, of Port Huron, hold one share each, and Kiefer holds 797 as trustees. The home office of the company is at Grosse Pointe. There will be a considerable development of the marine postoffice service this year, in that money orders and registered letters can be sent directly from the deck of the passenger steamer. The system is said to be so simple that practically all the sailor has to do, who wants to send:money to his family, is to lower it to the mail boat over the side of the steamer, and Uncle Sam will do the rest. The marine postoffice will open for business as soon as the first freight steamer heaves in sight passing Detroit. . The Pere Marquette Railroad Co. have bought 2,000 feet of dockage at Toledo and will commence immediately the construction of a suitable wharf for the transfer of coal and miscellaneous freight from cars to vessels and vice versa. With the excellent car ferries operated by this system from Muskegon and Ludington to Milwaukee and Manatowoc, the new docks at Toledo will enable them to control a large part of the lake coal trade for the west. and northwest from the Hocking Valley and other Ohio fields. The steamer Jesse Spalding with grain from Chicago and the passenger steamer State of Michigan from this port for Chicago share the distinction of the first passage through the Straits this year. The State of Michigan reached Macki- nac on Wednesday, and the Spalding continued on her way, so to her is due the credit of the first finished trip through the Straits in 1900. The captains of both boats report no trouble with the ice. The master of the Michigan says he went through a heavy field of iceextending from Ft. Gratiot to Harbor Beach. Last week there was sold at Fairport at public auction the hull of the burned freight’ boat Goderich, which was for- merly owned by the Hannas. It brought out a number of bidders, and was bid in at $1,200 by the Michigan & Ontario Navigation Co., which is considered a liberal price by vessel men. There is great demand for tonnage by the coal and ore shippers and dealers, and any kind of an old tub that will float and carry a load isin demand. Activity is such in the lake trade that several new boat building companies have been organized since April Ist. ~ The Michigan & Ontario Navigation Co. has been in- corporated in Ontario and has leased the coal and ore barges formerly owned by the Miller Brothers, of Escanaba and | Sault Ste. Marie, which they will place in the coal trade be- tween Toledo and Duluth, and on the south-bound trips will load with ore from Escanaba for Fairport. They are also negotiating with Canadian shipbuilders for the immedi- ate construction of two large grain floats, which they will putin the Chicagoand Montreal grain trade when completed. This line will be operated and managed in harmony with the Carnegie interests. Mr. B. F, Miller, of Chicago, has been appointed agent of the new company at Duluth, and Mr. L. S. Stewart, recently of the C. &O. R. R., has been appointed contracting agent at Detroit.