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THE MARINE RECORD. DETROIT. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. The wreckers Saginaw and Wales released the steamer Olympia from the shoal water of Lake St. Clair, and she proceeded on to her port of discharge. The low, petty, sneak thieves that so regularly infested the river front are not around this season. The city authori- ties detailed two detectives to watch closely the river traffic and we are now comparatively clear of these people in the excursion or passenger business. The tug J. W. Wescott, owned by Alger, Smith & Co., and used by that firm at Black River, has been purchased by W. C. Davidson & Son, of Grand Marais. The new owners have taken possession and the tug has gone into commission at Black river. The tug Pensaukee, formerly used by Davidson & Son, has gone out of commission for the time being. Wreckers working on the sunken steamer C. B. Lock- wood have given up hope of raising the boat until the cargo is removed. The steam pumps have failed to take the _water out of the hold. The wrecker Wales went to Lorain with part of the cargo, and the Saginaw was loaded on Monday. The Lockwood has been sunk here before, and the big beamy boat may possibly be in more trouble than formerly. The tug John Gregory came pretty near having her house and stack carried away by the Main street bridge. She was bound out with a mud scow in tow, and had just passed the steamer Badger State, which was across the channel at Far- asey & Marron’s dock, when the bridge was closed after the schooner Ahira Cobb passed through. The captain of the Gregory tried to check his boat and he remained at the wheel until the house struck the bridge, when he jumped. The engineer on the bridge seeing the danger swung the bridge as fast as possible, and the tug escaped with very lit- tle damage. The year before the government took charge at Sault Ste. Marie the losses from collisions and strandings exceeded $500,000. Thus far this season the losses in the same chan- nel have been exceedingly small. The one point of the St. Clair flats canal with its ten expensive strandings, have a record twice as large as that of the entire ‘‘Soo’’ passage. At the same time, the Lime Kiln Crossing has cost more money than all casualties combined, and, yet, we don’t want too much government supervision, or at a later date, they, the government, will be running our boats and will do as they please regarding them. Experiment at Marquette this week with the gas engine life-boat was a success. These experiences follow those which were made a year ago, but since those were not for the purpose of testing the efficiency of the engine, which was demonstrated in the former tests, the present experi- ments were to determine wherein the model of the boat ought to be changed to better adapt it for carrying the en- gine. There is said to be no question but the gas engine life-boats will shortly be adopted in the service. Officers regard them asthe most valuable improvement that has been made in the service in many years. The movement of lumber is fairly heavy and the feeling is inclined to be stronger. Until a few days ago the owners had been accepting $2 for lumber from the head of the lakes to Ohio ports, but some owners engaged in the movement of lumber assert that this is not the case now. As the mar- ket is getting stronger vessels have not accepted the rate, which was made in secret, but instead, are demanding that the open rate of $2 be paid, which the shippers are doing. This concession on the part of the shippers in paying the open rate, is taken as indicative of a stronger feeling in the market, or as one which is to the interest of the vessel rather than the shipper. The Roberta, a well-known steam yacht owned by C. H. Lawrence, of 50 Pitcher street, was totally destroyed by fire, on Friday, a few miles from Put-in-Bay. She was going to tow some of the yachts that had taken part in the races back to Detfoit. The crew, of which Capt. Jarrett was at the head, escaped with difficulty. The fire probably smoul- dered in the coal bunkers along time before it burst out. The engineer risked his life in going into the engine room and stopping the boat. The crew landed at West Sister Island and were picked up by the Ogontz and taken to Put- in-Bay. They lost everything but what they stood in and were glad enough to escape without bodily injury. _ The Canadian-papers are again agitating the canal pro- ject, by which boats from Lake Superior could reach Mon- treal and thence the ocean, by the way of Georgian Bay. Civil Engineer Geo. Y. Wisner, while admitting that it is practicable from the engineering point of view, and would make a short canal, says it would be a financial failure, because the ore would continue to go to Lake Erie, on account of the fact that it must be taken where there is coal, and because there is not enough wheat to export to make sucha canal pay. Besides, he says, the eastern states will buy more and more of the wheat raised in the northwest, and proportionally less will be sent abroad. It is said that the stockholders of the White Star line are planning to build a new propeller for the Detroit-Port Huron route. The White Star line has long had an ambition to control that branch of the lake traffic, and the Tashmoo is not enough. The Idlewild andthe Arundelare the property of the Darius Cole estate. They are remarkably economical boats and can be run cheaply. The executors of the estate, Messrs Lee and Maxwell, do not care to sell the two boats, although report has it that they have been offered double their real value if they would sell to the White Star line. The boat contemplated would carry about 1,200 people and several hundred tons of freight, at about the same speed as the Tashmoo. Such a boat would add greatly to the accom- modations between Port Huron and Detroit. Grand President Ryan, of the Licensed Tugmen’s Protec- tive Association, spent Saturday and Sunday in the city, or- ganizing the local tugmen intoa union. The organization was effected Sunday afternoon, with 65 charter members, not all of whom are of Detroit. The fee of $8 which was announced long ago, attracted several from other ports, where the fee has been placed at $50. The fee of the De- troit branch is to be held open for the next 10 days at $8 and will then be raised to the usual $50 fee. Capt. Charles W. Jarrait was elected president and Nelson Sayan secretary. The men agreed to stand for the union scale of wages, which is about twice what is now paid by Detroit tug owners, and the men say that the increase will come withou: trouble. It should be remembered, however, that there is very little towing done in or about this port. The schooner J. S. Richards, in tow of the tug Creswell, was run into and sunk by the steamer J. W. Moore, abreast of Walkerville, on Wednesday morning. Two sailors, John Ives, of Sandusky, and Jack Kelly, of Rochester, N. Y., were drowned. ‘The rest of the crew were saved. The Richards was bound down the river with a cargo of pig iron, while the Moore was bound up. The schooner quickly went to the bottom after the crash and now lies in the middle of the channel off Walkerville. The Moore was apparently uninjured, and proceeded on her way. The lost vessel was owned and sailed by Capt, Mayo, of this city. The wreck forms a dangerous obstruction to navigation, and lights must be at once placed upon it to warn passing vessels. The Richards is a schooner, 259 tons, 138 feet long, built in 1869. The John W. Moore is a steel boat, 1,689 tons, 246 feet long, hailing from Cleveland. Two Detroit shipbuilders were elected directors of the American Ship Building Co.—Alex. McVittie, president of the Detroit plant, and W. C. McMillan, who succeeds G. N. McMillan. Also two representatives of the Rockefeller in- terests were elected to the board—lL. M. Bowers, to succeed Colgate Hoyt, and J. A. McGean, to succeed Samuel Mather. The rest of the board remains the same as last year. The report of the treasurer shows an earning for the year of $1,- 352,708 on capital stock, divided as follows: Preferred, $7,- goo,ooo, and common, $7,600,000. The former officers were retained. Twenty-nine steel boats have been built by the company in the past year, and seven new contracts have re- cently been completed. Sixteen more steel ships are still on the ways. Of the boats built, six were constructed at Detroit, seven at Lorain, six at Cleveland, six at Chicago and two each at Bay City and West Superior. The steamers James Watt and Maruba collided at Grassy Island, in the Detroit river, on Friday night. Both ships were badly battered, but were kept afloat. They arrived here, and the Watts went into the upper drydock. The stem is knocked off and her forward compartment is full of water. The anchor of the Watt and several hundred feet of cable are hanging from the port side of the Maruba abreast of the boiler-house, where it was thrown by the force of the collision. ‘The Maruba’s side is jammed in for a considera- ble-distance. .The Watt belongs to the Rockefeller fleet and was bound down with iron ore. The Maruba is the property of the Federal Steel Co., and she was bound up without cargo. Neither ship was insured. About 300 tons of the Watt’s ore cargo was lightered from her forward compart- ment. There the ore will be unloaded and she will go to Cleveland for repairs. The steamer Maruba was taken to Cleveland and dry-docked. ; Mr. Norman B. Conger, marine agent and inspector for the Weather Bureau, has returned froma tour over the up- per portion of the lakes. He wasin Alpena Saturday, hay- ing returned from Thunder Bay and Middle Islands, where he investigated the feasibility of erecting a steel signal tower at each life-saving station. The towers will be erect- ed and will be a great infprovement on the present flag staffs used for that purpose. Hach tower proper will be 65 feet high. A steel staff 15 feet high on top of this will place the light 8ofeet above ground. The base will be 8 feet square. At present the lamp is run to the top of the pole with a rope, and very often the wind will sway the light and extinguish it. In the new towers this defect will be obvia- ted, as the lamp will be stationary. The illumination will be furnished by a 65-candle power kerosene lamp. Red and white will be the colors displayed. The light in use now can be seen about seven or eight miles, but the mariner will be able to distinguish the new one ata distance of at least 20 miles, a vastimprovement over the old light. The towers will be used to disply flags and signals in the day time. Mr. Conger states that the new improvements will be finished this season. AUGUST 2, I900, — , ‘The schooner H.W. Sage was struck by the Western liner _ Chicago, near Harsen’s Island, on Monday and sunk. One ~ sailor, an unknown man who was shipped at Manitowoc, was caught in the forecastle and drowned. Ed. Hines, of — Cadillac, another sailor, had his arm broken and received other injury. The cause of the collision was the parting of a the wheel chains ou the Chicago, which swung around in — the channel and rammed the schooner amidships. The Sage lies with her bow and stern above water, consort of the steamer Queen of the West, and was in charge of John Laughlin, of Buffalo. She went down so quickly that the men were unable to get theirclothing. The follow. — 4 ing story of the accident was related by Captain Murphy, of the Chicago: ‘‘We were going at full speed and had met the tow, bound up. The steamer was passed in safety, and when we were midway between her and the schooner, the — wheel chains parted and the Chicago’s bow swung toward the Sage. I rung the engineer to back, and our speed was considerably reduced when we came together, else we would have cut the vesselin two. As it was, the Chicago’s bow broke a bad hole in the Sage’s side, wellforward. The Sage sank at once in the channel. We laid at anchor there all night. I think the Sage can be raised very easily.” The Chicago’s bow is badly broken above the water line, and carpenters are constructing an apron to keep the sea out. —— i oa oe KINGSTON, ONT. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Word reached here on Tuesday last that the big grain yes- — sel Liverpool, plying between Lake Superior ports and De- troit, had her spars struck with lightining. Several King- stonians were on board. No one was hurt. Three hundred members of the Canadian Electrical Asso- ciation will hold a convention in Kingston, on August 29th, zoth, and 31st. They will hold a banquet, and will be tend- ered a complimentary excursion to Alexandria Bay, by the mayor and city council. John Donnelly and diver William Newman returned Thurs- day morning from Desertonto, where yesterday they suc- ceeded in blowing up with dynamite the barge Puritan, which sank last season in the channel of that harbor, having aboard a cargoof iron ore. Thejob was executed with neat- ness and dispatch. The steamer Kenirving, coal-laden, on her way from Os- wego to Smith’s Falls, called here on Wednesday. The boat is a new steamer recently constructed at Smith’s Falls, by Capt. A. Foster, owner of the steamer John Milne. The Kenirving is nearly the same size and was built for the Ri- deau canal freight trade. The Donnelly Wrecking and Salvage Company is about to undertake the task of raising the propeller Oconto, sank in the St. Lawrence river, opposite the Thousand Island park, in 105 feet of water. Montreal with a general cargo of merchandise, the Oconto struck a dangerous reef opposite the park, stoving a big hole in her hull. She sank almost immediately and has since rested on the river bottom. The scow Uno, owned at Thousand Island park, has been seized by the customs officers at Clayton, for smuggling, and it is probabie that it will be confiscated by the government. Some time ago the scow was working in Canadian waters, and while at Gananoque a stock of provisions was purchased for the use of the crew. When the scow returned to the park the owner thoughtlessly removed the remainder of the provisions tohis home. Nothing was thought of it until one of the crew became angry at the captain and informed the customs officials of his action. ee BAY CITY. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. About 1,0co people witnessed the successful launching of the schooner Pretoria at Davidson’s shipyard last Thursday. The builders state that the Pretoria is the largest wooden ship that has ever been constructed on the lakes. An idea of her capacity may be had when it is known that she will carry 5,000 tons of iron ore, 175,000 ‘bushels of wheat, or 300,000 bushels of oats. The schooner is 350 feet long, 4534 feet beam, and 27 feet deep. She is strongly constructed in every way, has steel keelson plates, steel arches, and is also diagonally strapped with steel. The Pretoria when launch- ed was ready for service and even her sails were bent and running gear all rove off when she want into the water. A large pony boiler is situated forward, and this. furnishes steam to all the steam appliances. The steam windlass is on the main deck; the vessel is supplied with the latest im- proved stockless anchors and is steered by the latest im- proved steam steerer. A large deck hoist and combination pump is placed amidships for use of moving at dock or hoist- ing sails or cargo, as well as for pumping the ship. Another large steam pump and steam syphons are situated forward. The Pretoria has a rating of A1* and also has the highest class in all the insurance registers of New York and London. —Se oo FPS Co. CHARLES Dick will accompany the Riverand Harbor Committee of Congress to Ashtabula on August 7. He will urge that immediate action be taken toward making some necessary improvements at that port. but the decks — amidships are coyered. She has a cargo of coal. The — Chicago, which was bound down with a cargo of merchan- — dise and grain from Chicago, is badly damaged about the © bows, and has returned here for repairs. The Sage was the ~ Ten ‘years ago, while proceeding to ~ ee a