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THE MARINE RECORD. AUGUST 23, I900, Kk wkknke CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Mr. Quincy Miller met with a slight accident at his boiler shop this week, and his injured foot will cause him to re- main home for a few days. J. Q. Riddle, Vice President of the Lockwood-Taylor Hardware Co., of Cleveland, O., which does a considerable business in rope and binder twine, wasa visitor in New York last week.—Cordage Trade Journal. The blockade at the Sault caused by the grounding of a large steel tow barge across the channel at Sailors’ Encamp- ment has been raised, and at Lake Erie ore docks many vessels are now waiting their turn for unloading. The chan- nel was cleared on Saturday night, and vessels passed down by the score. There is no change in the ore freight situation, and ship- pers say that there is nothing in sight that indicates any improvement. Cargoes are scarce all around, but there is not much tonnage on the market. No charters have been reported for a number of days, and rates are still quoted at the old figures. Lake freights are unchanged and no chartering is re- ported. An inquiry for head-of-the-lake tonnage for the balance of the year, for a block of 25,000 tons of ore, brought an offer of 65 cents or about half the contract rate. There is any quantity of shipbuilding contracts awaiting the return of a moderate figure on steel. Five more large vessels were contracted for here this week. Two more of the Rockefeller boats have gone into ordi- nary. They are the steamer Trevor and barge 129. These boats unloaded here a couple of days ago, and cleared Tues- day for Erie. They went down light, and will lie in the bay there with the other boats which went away from here a few weeks ago. These boats are tied up now because there is nothing for them to do, at the freight rate required. ° A few charters of vessels to take coal from Ohio ports to the head of Lake Superior are reported at 35 cents, but there are also some at 30 cents, and the rate has evidently been re- duced to the latter figure. The rate to Portage is still held at 35 cents. The only shipper who has any ore to offer from the head of Lake Superior says he can get vessels for two trips at 65 cents, but on the other hand brokers claim they are offered Marquette cargoes at 75 cents. The encampment of the Knights of Pythias at Detroit is to cause an enormous passenger movement on the lakes, the latter part of this week. The Detroit & Cleveland line has been made the official route for Ohio companies to Detroit, and the business promises to be something immense. Rail- roads all through this section of the State are announcing excursions for Saturday to Cleveland and Detroit, and intend to hand their business over here to the D. & C. There is no change in the freight situation and very little chartering is being done. There area number of vessels on the market for Lake Superior cargoes. The demand is light, but no change is noted, as no charters are being made. There is more inquiry for lumber carriers than there has been at any time since the opening of navigation, and some of the vessels that have been carrying ore are going into that trade. A number of vessels were placed to load at the head of the lakes for Lake Erie at $2 this week. Milwaukee coal cargoes are offered freely, and there are not many vessels on the market for that port. Offerings of Lake Superior ton- nage are liberal and the feeling is easy, but rates hold steady at 35 cents to Portage and 30 cents to the head of the lakes. Mr. Herman, passenger agent of the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co., appears to know his business from the ground up. The latest, and one of the best points of advertising evolved by him, is a framed, colored lithograph about 26x32 inches, taken from a photograph at the time of the maiden trip of the large, handsome side-wheel steamer City of Erie. The picture, of which one has been presented to your corres- pondent, is entirely out of the usual glaring steamboat route advertising order, and is worthy of the space on any man’s walls of house. Mr. Herman’s advertising proclivities in a telling and discreet manner is unequaled up to the present, although, passenger agents from Buffalo to Duluth, inclusive of rail and lake, are purty slick codgers, asa rule, and at every stage of the business where it comes into the game of securing patronage. In regard to the libel of the steamer Inter Ocean, which was tied up by the St. Clair Steamship Co., owners of the schooner Fontana, the Detroit Free Press says: The story of the disaster, as related in the libel, is quite interesting; and contains information now made public for the first time. It says that at 11 o’clock on the night of Aug. 3, those nav- igating the Kaliyuga made out the lights of the Appomattox ..and.Santiago. A short distance back of them, to the west, could be seen the lights of the Inter Ocean. When the two tows were still a mile apart the Kaliyuga blew two whistles, indicating her desire to pass to the port, or Canadian, side of the Appomattox and consort, thus taking him out of the way of all three boats going up. The Appomattox prompt- ly answered. Later, to be sure of his position, the Kali- yuga’s master repeated the two blasts, and the Appomattox did likewise. Immediately after the first signal the Kali- yuga began to pull over toward the Canadian side. At the second signal the Kaliyuga checked down until the red light of the Santiago was shut out of view, when her master rang his engineer to go ahead at the usual speed. She had hard- ly time to attain it when she and the Santiago were nearly abreast, and the latter began to sheer toward the Kaliyuga. To avoid the schooner, the Kaliyuga’s wheel was put hard a-starboard, and she was checked down. The Santiago passed the Kaliyuga’s bow by twenty feet, and her star- board bow-grazed the starboard quarter of the steamer, which had meantime swung her wheel hard a-port to avoid the schooner at her stern. When the schooner began her sheer the Kaliyuga’s master blew a danger signal to his con- sort, the Fontana. Just as the latter began to swing to port, in obedience to the signal, she was struck at the bluff of the starboard bow by the Santiago, which it is alleged was trav- eling seven miles an hour, while the Fontana was going at the rate of six. The most interesting point of the whole story relates to the part played by the Inter Ocean. It is charged that she was but a short distance from the Santiago at the time of the collision, and trying to pass the latter; that a current setting partly crosswise ‘‘walled’”’ up the wa- ter between her and the Santiago, and that this current was of such volume and power as to cause the big schooner to sheer, and that once she began to sheer her rudder, had little if any control of her. The usual allegations of poor seaman- ship, negligence of lookouts, etc., are charged against the three by the Fontana. The damages claimed are as follows: Loss on hull of Fontana, $60,000; loss on cargo, $12,446; on charter, which was for the season at $1.10 on ore from Mar- quette and Presque Isle to Lake Erie. ports, $15,000; on freight of the trip, $2,852; on crew’s effects, $400; total, $90, 698. BUFFALO. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. There is a kick coming about the price of fueling steam- boats and the price must and will be reduced as the freight rate drops off. Another of the cribs for thenew breakwater at Fairport left the Donnelly Contracting Co’s. yards this week, in tow of the tugs Willson and Clark of the Maytham fleet. The Celina, the new boat which was built at the Middle- port Dry Dock for the Buffalo & Rochester Transit Co., has been launched. Her dimensions are 93x1I7% feet. She will draw six feet of water when loaded. The Celina was de- signed as a fruit and excursion steamer. Shipments by lake only amounted to 60,0co tons this week, of which Chicago took 22,000 tons and Milwaukee 15,000 tons, the balance reached the minor ports. Freight rates simmered away down to horrible figures, only 30 cents is being paid to the head of the lakes, Chicago and Milwaukee also Gladstone. The side ports range from 25 to 50 cents. With its principal business office in Brooklyn, the Inter- national Navigation Co. was incorporated at Albany, this week, to carry on operations on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and the Niagara river. The capital stock is $200,000 and the directors of the company are William P. Williams, William C. Davidson, Gustave J. Wiederhold, Frank H. Meeker and Milton I. Williams. Buffalo is getting ready to show the western hemisphere how to give a bang-up show. The Pan-American exposition, which will open May 1, 1901, will be an up-to-date combin- ation of the Chicago and Paris world’s fairs, given for the exclusive benefit of this side of the world. The twenty large buildings are in process of construction. Officials in charge claim the buildings will all be ready for occupancy when the exposition opens. and equipment of the grounds will cost nearly $6,000,000. The exposition will cover a tract of 350 acres. Three thou- sand men are at work on the grounds. Shipments of coal to Lake Michigan have fallen of consid- erable the last week, and the tendency is still downward. It is expected that the weakness of the trade will result in another attack on existing rates by the shippers. Duluth experienced a falling off in the fuel shipments about two weeks ago, and no sooner had the rate been lowered than the shippers set themselves for another battle. The Black Diamond says that the same experience is confidently ex- pected in the Lake Michigan trade. Coal has been sent forward in immense quantities since navigation opened, and the present dullness is only the natural reaction following an unusual activity, rs The Union Dry Dock Co., which began its season’s work very late on account of the long strike of the ironworkers now has the two steamers for which it contracted last winter well under way, Both arein frame and about half plated The one for JohnI,. Crosthwaite and others, intended for salt water, will be finished first and ought to be in the water before the end of September. It does not now look as if the Lehigh Valley liner would be ready for business this fall. Capt. Chas. Maytham will not close contracts for his steel tugs right away, according to good information, as he thinks steel will go still lower; and besides, by distributing his contracts well over the lakes, he can make sure to get the work done the coming winter anyhow. + The erection of the buildings . 8 SS —C— ee DULUTH—SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. J. Hogan, of the steamer Mohawk, had St. Luke’s hospital. Wm. Getty, on returning from a western trip, says that — Peter Patterson, of Duluth, 1s in Tacoma engaged in buying . timber for a Duluth firm. Many Minnesota, Wisconsin and — Michigan lumbermen are in the west on similar business, — Mr. Getty reports Tacoma a fine and orderly city; but — thinks Seattle rather a swift town. It has been reported ‘that owing to a demoralization of 4 railway rates, much grain tributary to Duluth has been going to Chicago of late. Northern Elevator Co. has decided to abandon elevating and storage charges at its West Superior houses for a month e. or longer if necessary. On dueinquiry I can’t learn that e the Great Northern makes any rebate on former charges, and therefore the rumor is away off. J. C. Foley, after whom the Foley mine in the Seine river gold district was named, made a recent visit to the mine and found things in a most gratifying condition. and richer vein has been encountered and the mine now has 15,000 tons of ore in sight that will ‘‘go’’ $60 to $75 a ton. Other mines in the Rainy river district are alsoina prosperous and promising condition. The-water in Rainy and Shoal lakes is seven feet lower than ever before known and this will prevent the shipment of needed machinery until a rise shall come or the railroad now in course of con- struction shall be completed. Mr. Foley believes the Rainy ae region will become in time a very large producer of old. The story told about Capt. Maytham making a contract for a round dozen of tugs to be built at West Superior, has after all, a kind of truth. The tugs, however, will not be built at West Superior, nor indeed at any one shipyard, but ten of them will be built at different points on the lakes, At’ least so goes the yarn, but Maytham himself is not talking very much. It is stated that Maytham can obtain plenty of money in New York on easy terms, to cover the venture, The new tugs are to cost about $20,000 each. As to some ‘understanding being reached between the contending lines, it is predicted in some quarters that by next season the two will have spent money enough to satisfy them as a war meas- ure, and may be willing to divide up the business peacefully and resume the old plan of towing in turns, which worked so well here. On the other hand the Great Lakes Towing Co, is well heeled, and can call for any amount of capital to do all of the work required. Interest in the visit of Chief Willis I. Moore, of the Weather Bureau, to the head of the lakes is felt, as he will probably investigate in regard to the placing of one of the new storm signal towers at this point. The present location of the weather, in the Federal building, is not all that could be desired, as far as the display of storm warnings is con- cerned. From many points in Duluth harbor and many more in West Superior and Superior, the signals, whether night or day, are invisible. There are plenty of good sites where the signal tower could be placed and the signals dis- played could be seen to advantage. These towers are con- structed of open steel work and stand about fifty feet high. On top of each of them isa steel flagstaff twenty-five feet high, making the total height of the structure seventy-five feet. They will be stationed at the principal harbors along the lakes. Upon them will be displayed signals giving warning of heavy gales and storms. These signal displays are of inestimable value to the sailors of the Great Lakes. Chief Moore’s work has been principally in this section. He is deeply interested in perfecting the marine service and these signal towers are a step in that direction. a SIR ARE gS Ne ESE ESCANABA. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. : Georg® Robinson, the life-saver who was struck down by lightning last’ spring, at Ludington, is still suffering from the accident which nearly caused his death. He experiences frequent attacks of sick headache and his hearing is some- what affected. Itis doubtful whether he will fully recover Ae the terrible shock received while on duty on the look- out. The wooden steamer Argonaut sprung a leak on Sunday morning, after taking on a cargo of iron ore, and sunk at her dock. One of the steam pipes in the boiler blew up under. the pressure, and A. A. McFarland, a fireman from Port Huron, was severely scalded. He was taken to the marine hospital, and the physicians report his condition as very favorable. The Argonaut was all ready to leave here when the leak was discovered. The water poured into the hold so fast that the pumps could not keep it under, and the steamer sank in a short time alongside of dock No. 3. -__e RO OSS A tortoise is not a particularly lively companion as a d . Os mestic pet, though students of natural history may find much interest in observing him and his ways. His tendency to sleep for months ata spell isin the A BC of natural history, but in one case has been known to lead to excite- ment and fun. A tortoise that was ‘‘used” as a domestic pet i : : pee bere once chose the coal cellar as his place of hibernation, new cook in the meantime wa and she knew not tortoises. ste toise woke up and sallied forth. Screams soon broke th ) : e kitchen’s calm. ‘‘My conscience,’’ yelled the cook in awe, as with unsteady hand she pointed to the tortoise. ‘“‘I,ook at ; the stone that I have broken the coal wi’ a’ winter!?’ his foot crushed _ by a quantity of copper ore that fell on it. He was taken to In order to check the tide the Great 3 A new. 4 After a month or two the tore