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_ SEPTEMBER 20, 1900. THE MARINE RECORD. a | The recent elevator fires at Buffalo have started up the apusiness of drying grain on a large scale, every drier in the ~ city being worked to its utmost capacity to dry out 630,664 “pushels of wet grain of all sorts, while some of the malt houses, also, being otherwise idle at present, are using their In for drying wet grain. As might have been expected, complaints of ‘‘bad smells,”’ which, we are officially informed py the health department, hang over the city in vast _“masses,’? have been numerous and loud, so that the health department took the matter up for special investigation. A report was published by the department on August 30, which among other things said: ‘‘The action of the stench cannot put be injurious to health. It has caused innumerable com- _ plaints of sickness, diarrhcea,-nausea, loss of appetite among the healthy, while upon the sick, the young, the feeble and the aged it has a pronounced depressing influence, acting injuriously upon their various maladies and lowering their _ yitality. This stench is due to the decomposition of grain induced by heat and moisture, factors which, under the cir- cumstances, are present in a high degree at the elevators. It _ js further intensified and hastened by the general unsanitary conditions at the ruins, where there are poolsof stagnant water, masses of charred wood and decomposed grain inter- mingled with this mass of debris. We have therefore the honor of recommending the enactment of the amendment of the ordinance referred to, so that the future will not present the possibility of offense we have been undergoing in the past and present.’’ Meantime one of the members of the department has hit upon a scheme for rendering the drying process innocuous, which is being tried in various malt houses, It consists of burning sulphur in the kiln fires and sending the fumes of the sulphur through the kilns, where they will mix with the odors of the drying grain and de- stroy them. It is not certain, however, that this can be done with much success in wet weather, it is remarked, because it is thought the fumes will mix with the moisture and form sulphuric acid! ————— 2 DULUTH—SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. The nominal figure on wheat is 2 cents but chartering is so light that there is hardly anything doing. The Duluth Market Record says: The local inspectors have decided to stop the practice that has prevailed here for two or three years, of offering to No Grade wheat the desig- nation indicating what kind of wheat it would be if it was not No Grade. ‘That is, there would be no more No Grade I Northern or No Grade No. 2 Northern. If the wheat is No Grade, it will be called by that name, and will have to sell on its merits, according to whether it is good, poor or indif- ferent. There promises to be a lot of it this fall. The recent storms on Lake Superior did great damage to the government work at the mouth of the ship canal on the contract of Porter Bros. The two end cribs on the eastern breakwater and the end crib adjoining, which was placed at right angles with the balance of the work and parallel with the shore, were loosened by the waves and turned complete- ly over, dumping the rock filling and allowing the timber work to be driven ashore. The last crib on the shore end of the eastern arm of the breakwater has moved bodily with its filling of rock for eighteen feet. While the movement of anthracite coal is not-up to that ofa year ago, the shipment of bituminous coal is far ahead of any season of which a record has been kept. This year can hardly be compared wtth 1899, because last season the lake trade did not supply the demand of the nortlewest, with the result that when navigation opened in the spring allof the coal was off the docks and that commodity was going into that section by rail. Enough coal has already been shipped to insure that no repetition of last season’s shortage will be seen, but the prospects are for even a larger consumption than last year, which means that there is a good-sized lump of business yet to be moved.. Some of the shippers report that to date they have moved as much coal as they had on the upper lake docks at the close of the season _ of navigation a year ago. Even with this they are not shut- ting off the shipment, but rather are sending as much coal as the condition of the docks will permit. A marine engine has just been completed at the machine shop of the shipbuilding company which was constructed entirely by local labor. It is a large, triple-expansion en- gine, designed for one of the boats which is being built in Buffalo for Crosswaithe and intended for Atlantic service. The engine, which stands 20 feet high in the shop where it was put together, will be put on the cars for shipment to Buffalo. The order for this work was a rush order and was placed here so that it might be finished as early as possible, the other yards being full. Since March 15 the men have been working at the shop up to 10:20 at night every night except Saturday and Sunday. The engine is of the vertical, surface-condensing type of marine engines, constructed from the latest designs and on the most improved princi- ples, being similar to the engines placed in the United States steamers Gresham and Algonquin. The horse-power will be 1,800, diameters of cylinders 20, 30, 55, with a piston ms troke of 4o inches. The castings for the frame work were “made at the steel plant and the forgings were done at the _ Ship yards, This. engine is numbered on the plate, which _ also bears the inscription ‘‘Built by the American Ship _ Building Co., West Superior, Wis., 1900.’’ As soon as this is - out of the way, work which has already commenced will be Continued rapidly on the two Babcock-Wilcox boilers of the tubular type, which are for two steamers building in the yards at Lorain. CLEVELAND. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. J. G. Keith, the well known vessel owner of Chi- cago, was in the city Wednesday. The steamer Alexander Nimick was docked at Lorain this week for repairs to her rudder and shoe. The Welland canal steamer building at Lorain for A. B. Wolvin and others will be launched on Saturday, Sept. 29. The Albert Y. Gowen was docked at Lorain this week for repairs to her stern bearings and to have her bows calked. The schooner Commodore, the tug William D., the Kitty Downs and the steamer P. J. Ralph went into dry dock on Wednesday. When coming out of the river bed Monday the steamer Chauncey Hurlbut crashed into the dock at the foot of Front street. The dock was damaged a little, but the boat was not injured. While being towed up the river Wednesday the schooner Connelly Bros., loaded with ore, took a sheer and crashed into the lower Centralway bridge. Her jibboom was car- ried away. Ore cargoes are offered a little more freely and a féw ves- sels of the right size could be placed at 7o cents from the head of Lake Superior, but brokers would have trouble placing large carriers at that figure. The steamer Capt. Thomas Wilson, official number 127,469, 4,719 gross and 3,959 net tons, built at Port Huron, Mich., and hailing from Cleveland, has been registered this week at Washington, D. C., by the Bureau of Navigation, Treas- ury Department. Another wild ore charter was made this week at 65 cents from the head of the lakes, and others are coming. The movement of ore, while it is not heavy by any means, is better than it has been, a few tramp boats being placed now and then. The market, however is dull. The grain situa- tion remains unchanged. Boats are in fair demand and the rate from. Chicago holds at.2 cents. Ore cargoes are offered more freely and vessels could be placed at Ashland at 70 cents. Most of the mines on the Mesaba range that were flooded early last week are in shape to ship again and there are not as many vessels on the mar- ket for wild cargoes. There isa fair demand for lumber carriers, and with the small vessels of that class about going ae aie quarters, there is a better feeling in the freight market. The bodies of Capt. Senghas, chief engineer Willous, first mate Carlson and second mate Tyler, which were picked up at Erie, arrived here. Chief engineer Willous and first mate Carlson will be buried here, and the bodies of Capt. Senghas and second mate Tyler were sent to Ma- rine City for burial. Two members of the crew of the steamer John B. Lyon are still missing. They are watch- man Mike Nestor, of Kipton, and cook G. Loskiel, of St. Paul. A dispatch from Erie said: Two more bodies of Lyon’s wreck victims were found to-day, Michael Smith, at this port, and an unknown at Avonia, twelve miles west of the city. The body found yesterday was identified as that of Louis Carlson, of Cleveland. Te FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. Capt. Walter Wood has entered complaint against the first and second engineers of the tug Castle alleging that they refused to sail with him because he was not a union man. This is denied, it is understood, by the two engi- neers. The matter now rests with the local inspectors who will investigate it. Lighthouse-keeper Knutson is searching for a number of men and boys who have visited the Pintsch light crib on Racine reef, turned the light out twice and committed other depredations. Never since the light was placed has it gone out except in one instance. There is great danger for ves- sels when it is not burning and the penalty for meddling with it is heavy. Wm. Hetherington died recently in Toronto. He was widely known in marine circles in Canada, having been a lake captain sincea youngman. He sailed the blockade runner West Wind, which was at one time the fastest boat on the upper lakes. In his time he had commanded many of the large boats on the upper lakes. He leaves one son, Wm. T. Hetherington of the Great Northern Railway at Montreal, and one daughter. John Hetherington of the Grand Trunk Railway in Toronto is a brother of deceased. The Nightingale, a famous Yankee clipper, sailed 336 knots in 24 hours, while two of Donald McKay’s fine fleet put even this grand performance into the shade. They were boats of 245 feet keel with a beam of 44 feet, 6 inches, and one of them, aptly termed Flying Cloud, covered 427 knots in the day, while the Sovereign of the Seas is credited with averaging no less than 18 knots during a day’s run! But English owners were not long in taking a lesson from the American’s book, for in 1856 the Lord of the Isles, built by Messrs. Scott & Co., of Greenock, sailed a race with two of the Yankee cracks from China to London, and came in-a good winner. But the days of wooden ships were over. Now they are-a mere memory of the past, and with them has closed a romantic chapter in the development of our mercantile fleet. LETTERS AT DETROIT MARINE POST OFFICE. September 19, 1900. 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. Banker, Geo., 2 Maloney, Myles Berents, Oscar, Barge Young Murray, Donald Brennan Thos. McFarlane, Michael, Basney, Elmer, Sch, Troy Onoko Cunningham, W. J. McAleer, Miss Mary Elderkin, Walter McGarry, John, Str. Watt Farman, Mrs. L, D. Ogden, Ben, Str. Checotah Flack, I. M. Pullen, Thos., Str. LaSalle Gilchrist, Mrs. Fannie Poole, Maud Gerlach, Harry, Str. Pawnee Parker, E., 2, Str. Tampico Graham, Henry, Str. J. J. Hill Poole, Albert, Str. Bangor Hogan, Capt., Str. A. A. Pelkey, Fred, Barge Young. Parker Rochelieu, Mrs. Frank, bge. Hineline, Lester Watt .. Harrison, Willian Rexford, Ray Hewitt, Mrs. Anna, Str. Smith, George, Str. C. C. Mingoe Barnes Jefferson, Fowler, 2 Smith, Lewis H. Kitchen, Geo., Barge Young Smith, Albert H., Krause, Chas. F., Str. Baldwin Elfinmere Strohmeir, Geo., Str. Hurlbut LeRoy, H. M.,-Str. Watt Theobald, Wm. H., Str. Wm. Lockwood, John, 2 A. Young : Linsworth D. Waterman, Str. 2, Str. e Cameron D., Mitchell, Henry L., Str. Yacht Uarda Massachussetts Wagstaff, C. B. Morrison, W.A., Str. Pawnee Wenner, W. P. Messmore, Clayton, Str. Wesley, Forrest A. Australia Wade, W. Y. Montgomery, Bert, Str. Waneless Alex Mohegan White, H. M. Muchien, D. F. B. DICKERSON, P. M. SS DO OOS NOTICE TO MARINERS. LIGHT-HOUSE ESTABLISHMENT, OFFICE OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE INSPECTOR, 9TH DISTRICT, CHICAGO, ILL., September I9, 1900. His POINT (INSIDE) Buoy. Notice is hereby given that the Hills Point (inside) black spar buoy No. 5, reported adrift September 15th, 1900, was replaced September 18th, 1900. By order of the Light-House Board. F. M. SyMonps, Commander, U.S. N. Inspector 9th District. . LIGHT-HovusE ESTABLISHMENT, OFFICE OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE INSPECTOR, NINTH DIST., Chicago, Il]., September, 15, 1900. J Hiri Point (INSIDE) Buoy.—Notice is hereby given that the black spar buoy, marking the S. W. point of the shoal ground that extends nearly across Sturgeon Bay from the KE. shore, leaving a narrow channel between it and Hills Point on the W. shore, has gone adrift. The buoy will be replaced as early as practicable. By order of the Light-House Board. F. M. Symonps, Commander, U.S. N., Inspector Ninth Light-House District. ———$< $$ rrr THE board of construction of the Navy has practically de- cided upon the details of the three protected cruisers au- thorized during the last session of Congress. According to the recommendations of the majority of the Board these ves- sels will be in many essentials similar to what has hitherto been classed under the heading of armored cruisers. They are to have a trial displacement of about 9,500 and are to carry in the neighborhood of 7oo tons of armor, The of the Board are followed, will be protected by four inch armor. ‘There isan agreement in the Board as to the bat- teries of the three vessels. They will carry 16-inch rapid fire guns, 14 mounted in broadside and two in center. Rear Admiral Hichborn, Chief Naval Constructor, who made the estimates to Congress for the construction of these protected cruisers, has made a minority report in which he protests against the action of the majority of mak- ing the ships in reality armored cruisers and not protected cruisers as the law provides. The last naval appropriation bill authorized the construction of ‘‘three protected cruisers of about 8,000 tons trial displacement carrying the most powerful ordnance for vessels of their class, and to have the highest speed compatible with good cruising qualities and great radius of action, and to cost, exclusive of armament, not exceeding $2,800,000 each.’’ It is stated that if the rec- ommendations of the majority of the board are followed the vessels will eventually cost over $3,000,000, and it is also claimed that according to the wording of the law here quoted it will be illegal to construct the cruisers with side armor. It was originally intended to have these vessels built after the Olympia type, but the board decided other- wise. What action the Secretary will take it is yet impossi- ble to say, although it seems evident that the recommenda- tions of the majority of the board cannot be adopted. _ sides of the cruisers, if the recommendations of the majority.