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Kaa KkKS BUFFALO. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. Supt. Waterson, of the American Ship Building Co.’s Lorain yards will become general manager of the company’s interests at Buffalo. Supt. Jeffrey of the Bay City yards will succeed him at Lorain. Instead of being diverted to other ports the grain trade of the lakes is coming to Buffalo heavier than ever. During the past twelve days the eighteen working elevators in this harbor have handled 12,000,000 bushels of grain. Instead of being diverted to other ports, the grain trade of the lakes is coming to Buffalo heavier than ever. During the past twelve days the eighteen working elevators in this harbor have handled 12,000,000 bushels of grain, an average of 1,000,000 bushels per day. Since the opening of naviga- tion the amount received exceeds that for the same time last year by 4,000,000 bushels. This, too, in a year when the Duluth wheat shipments are far below the average. It is announced that Capt. Louis Lautenslager had resigned his position as manager at this port of the Great Lakes Tow- ing & Wrecking Co., totake effect this week. Capt. Wm. H. Hill, inspector for the company, is here to take charge until another manager is appointed. Capt. Louis Lauten- slager has been in the tug business here for twenty-two years and has made for himself a reputation for giving the vessel trade at this port quick and effective service. He in- tends to take a short holiday. A grain blockade is threatened again. All the elevators are pretty well filled up except the Bennett and Wilkeson, which are dependent on the Lackawanna for connection. Some of the larger grain cargoes have been here two days and will be here two days more before they can be unloaded. There is no saying how long this will last, for it all is a matter of cars. The fact that there is less elevator capacity than there was last fall has something to do with the diffi- culty, but not much. Any elevator soon fills up after the cars give out. The Erie cars gave out first. We are practically out of the market for tonnage at Buffalo. ‘The coal situation is apparently at its worst. There has been a temporary opening of the Lackawanna trestle. Coxe Bros: still get coal in considerable quantity, but all the others are doitig comparatively nothing and will not show any improvement until the mines openagain. There is some local coal business still, but it is growing less every day. The increased demand for soft coal has created such a general shortage that practically none can be spared for water shipment, and only about one cargo has gone forward since the strike. Erie has shipped considerable coal of late, and is now showing the shortage that exists here. Brown & Co., Buffalo vessel agents, have received inquiries from many of their patrons, inquiring about the Atlantic coast trade, and particularly about the Canadian regulations governing the sailing of vessels of foreign register through the canals and waterways of the St. Lawrence route to the ocean. Charges on vessels going through tke canals are reasonable. It costs about $71 in pilotage and canal fees to take through a vessel of 2,000 measured tons. The rate is 2% cents a measured ton, and a pilotage fee of $1.50 a foot draught. Owners are holding for $2.25 from the head of Take Superior and they are confident that the advance will be paid before the close of the week. Charters have been made from Lake Huron ports at $1.75. Vesselmen and grain receivers have asked the common council to take some action to remedy the shoals, which deep laden boats are striking opposite the Watson elevator. Much trouble has been experienced from numerous pepndinge in Buffalo harbor, abreast the Watson elevator. he Mariposo of the Minnesota Steamiship Company’s fleet, the steamer Sir Henry Bessemer of the Rockefeller fleet and numerous other vessels within the past two weeks have been seriously damaged and delayed. On Friday last at a meeting of the Harbor and Canal Commitee of the Buffalo Merchants’ Exchange the matter was also taken under con- sideration and resolutions adopted calling upon the Mayor and Common Council to take action looking to the remedy- ing of the trouble. Capt. J.J. H. Brown and EH. T. Evans were appointed a special committee to present the action of the Merchants’ Exchange committee to the municipal au- thorities. In the resolution it was stated as the belief of the - Canal and Harbor Committee that the work should be be- gun as promply as possible and sufficient improvment made to make the depth of water at the Watson elevator that in the remainder of the channel. No doubt was held by the committee that. unless such steps were taken promptly Buf- falo will suffer material loss of iron ore business which would otherwise come here and also some loss of its grain trade. THE MARINE RECORD. OCTOBER 11, 1900 DULUTH-—SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. During September the shipments from Ashland included 440,396 tons of iron ore and 14,830,000 feet of lumber. The shaft houses at the Duluth mine on the Mesaba range were wrecked Saturday by the wind, and that mine will not be able to send forward any more ore this season. A num- ber of vessels that would be supplied with contract ore dur- ing the next week will now be forced on the market for wild cargoes. Capt. Joseph Kidd, the vessel surveyor, has gone to Blanchard Island, near Black Bay, about 100 miles northeast of Port Arthur, to investigate the wreck of the Canadian steamer St. Andrew. The St. Andrew was owned by the firm of Playfair & Co., of Midland, and was reported wrecked about September zo. It is said that a part of the wreck is visible, and Capt. Kidd will investigate and report for the underwriters. Capt. Jos. Kidd has returned from Port Arthur. He went to Gull Island, opposite Blanchard Island, about 15 miles east of Port Arthur, to investigate the wreck of the Canadian steamer St. Andrews. Hesays the boat appears to be a total loss. She lies in ten fathoms of water and her upper works are gone. The point at which the vessel went down is ex- posed and Capt. Kidd says it would not bea favorable place for wrecking operations. The passenger steamer City of Parry Sound was totally destroyed by fire on Tuesday at Collingwood. The steamer had arrived from Sault Ste. Marie, and most of her cargo had been removed. The fire started in the boiler room and was soon beyond control. When it was seen the vessel could not be saved, the burning hulk was towed out into the bay, where the fire completed its work. The steamer was valued at $30,000, and was insured for $15,000. The report of the business transacted at the Port of Super- ior in September, has been prepared. The number of arri- vals and clearances is considerably less than in August, as would be expected. The amount of anthracite coal received was several hundred tons ahead of last month, but bitumin- ous coal fell off, this month’s receipts being 164,227; those of last month were 216,621. The shipments of lumber in September exceeded those of August by about 3,000,000 feet. In August 241,000 tons of ore were shipped as against 188,706 tons in September. The U.S. S. Picket of the United States Engineer fleet at Duluth, with J. H. Darling, Assistant Engineer, and M. W. Lewis, of Maj. C. B. Sears’ corps, as surveyors, returned Wednesday morning, October 3d, from a trip to Stannard’s Rock light-house, Lake Superior, where they located a small shoal about 3{ mile about west-southwest of the light- house. On the way back to Duluth, the party extended soundings to deep water on the shoal to the northeast of Rocky Island of the Apostle group. Some rough weather was experienced. The steamer was in command of Capt. Clell. D. Hibbard, of Duluth. The receipts and shipments of the Duluth harbor, as taken from the records of the customs office, show an increase in the total tonnage shipped compared with the same month last year, although there isa heavy falling off in most of the items. Wheat shipments, for instance, fell nearly 1,- 700,000 bushels for the month; in flax and flour there was an increase. ‘There were 382,955 barrels of flour shipped in September this year, compared with 264,015 barrels a year ago; the increase in flax was about 50,000 bushels. The dif- ference in the quantity of lumber shipped was about 3,500,- ooo feet in favor of September, 1899. In iron ore, however, the shipments largely exceeded that of September last year, as, in fact, has every month of the year, notwithstanding the tie-up of the big Rockefeller fleet. The figures are 449,- 364 tons this year, compared with 355,953 tons last Septem- ber. The total tonnage for the month was 602,668 tons, compared with 572,701 tons for the corresponding period in ’99. The only feature of the receipts was the falling off from September of last year of about 5,500 tons of coal. There was also a general decrease in other receipts, making the total deficit for the month over 11,000 tons. Oe DETROIT. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. The steamer Waccamaw, which is bound for the coast, passed Port Colborne on Tuesday. She was built at Craig’s yard at Toledo. : Secretary Barter, of the International Longshoremen, has been called to Erie to settle differences over the change in the ore handling schedule. It is reported that the Jenks Ship Building Co., of Port Huron, has decided upon the construction of two more steel vessels in addition to the one now under way, the keel for which was laida week ago. Work on the other twois to begin early next spring. Work in removing the wreck of the schooner Fontana from the channel by government contract began on Monday and will be pushed as fast as possible... The tug Columbia and dredge Gladiator arrived at the scene of the wreck and are now working on her. - ' It is quite possible it was the Rockefeller steamer Siemens that collided with the steamer Swallow near Marine City, Friday morning. It is now believed that the Swallow, which sank as the result of the collision, will be a total loss. The deck load of shingles and cedar posts is being taken off the wreck. Assuming that the lake iron ore shipments during October are no bigger than in September—and it is said they pro’ ably will be more—the total on Noy. 1 will be about 18 500,000 tons, leaving only 1,500,000 tons to be shipped in_ the last month of the season to make the lake movement, 20,000,000 tons, independent of rail shipments. sofa Capt. Miles Barry says that the sale of the steames. ogy, Bradshaw to W. H. Singer, of Duluth, has not yet een for, summated, owing to a difference in regard to the price. expects to have the matter settled within a day or * v0. = way or the other. His price for the steamer is $i ors the offer made for the craft is somewhat under that ~~ The schooner Mineral State, an old but a stanch craft which holds to the old-fashioned way of traveling with can- vass, is being overhauled in the Detroit drydock. The schooner carries scrap iron for the Calumet & Hecla Co, between Lake Linden and Detroit, and is equipped witha — complete outfit for handling cargo with ail the despatch of larger craft. A handsome mahoghany steam launch was unloaded from a flat-car in the Detroit drydock slip and was turned over to Col. B. Lothrop, her new owner. The launch is the Palos, built in Bristol, R. I., six years ago, for Robert E. Todd, of New Vork. It is said that she will easily make 15 miles an hour, and will show her heels to many of Detroit’s more pretentious launches. The Eureka, one of the Hawgood boats, which is to go to salt water this fall, is at Hodges Iron Works this week hav- ing her cylinder rebored and reduced. The Eureka and Tampica have both about completed their ore contracts and will go through the canals as soon as the last pound of ore is unloaded. Both were built for salt water service with completely protected machinery, surface condensers, etc. — Capt. Fred Ahlstrom and Chief Engineer Oldman will both go with the Eureka to the coast, and Capt. Ahlstrom is busy studying salt water charts ready for his new duty. a CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Freights are by no means what they ought to be, on Tues- day the quoted rate was 15 cents on corn to Lake Erie. The sale of the steamer Ravenscraig by the Wilson Tran- sit Co., to R. J. Dunham and others, of Chicago, was an- nounced as consummated on Monday. The price is given at $145,000. She will be turned over to her new owners on January Ist. The steamer S. J. Murphy left on Tuesday from the Mc- Reynolds elevator at South Chicago, with 270,000 bushels of corn, the largest cargo ever shipped from Chicago. It was equal to 7,560 net tons. The next largest cargo was taken last season by the steamer Superior City, of the American Steel & Wire Co.’s fleet, and was 7,463 tons. A Chicago firm of bituminous coal mine owners has closed a contract for 500,000 tons of bituminous coal from this _ country for usein England. The British consumers have undertaken to conduct its transportation from this country in their own vessels. It is stated that the coal is intended for use on British railways and in British steamships. The movement of lumber is about as it has been, the shippers taking all of the boats that are offered, but the rates not changing to any degree. The competition between the lake and the all-rail lines is still strong. The movement of © grain from the head of the lakes is light, but the rates out of Chicago have not changed, no further effort being made to break them. Capt. S. R. Chamberlain, owner of the steamer H. L. Worthington and consorts, and former member of the firm of Higgie & Chamberlain, No. 4 Rialto building, which dis- solved, and G. C. Blair, successor of the firm of H. W. Cook & Co., have formed a co-partnership to conduct a vessel and insurance agency under the firm name of S. R. Cham- berlain & Co., located at Room 13, 6 Sherman street. The Wisconsin Central Railroad bridge in the south branch of the river was, last Monday, the scene of another bad vessel blockade. The schooner Amazon, bound up the south branch without cargo for a load of grain, was caught between the railroad bridge and the pier of the structure at Taylor street, and could not be moved by tugs in either way. - Finally a hawser was taken to the Western liner Chicago, which was moored near, two tugs were at the bow, which pointed to the north, and another hawser was taken to the dock and applied to the vessel’s steam winch. After half an hour of pulling by the combined forces the Amazon was forced back into the channel, and the railroad men closed their bridge, thankful to have escaped with half an hour’s blockade instead of nearly.a day, as was the case when the steamer S. S. Curry was jammed inthe same place. The vesselmen found that the cause of the jam was the cofferdam built at the abutment of the new railroad bridge by the drainage board enginers. When the Curry was struck a corner was taken off this cofferdam, but it had been partly built in again, and the Amazon did not have room to pass, even without a cargo. She has been towed past the same place several times in the past. Dredges were sent for and at once began tearing out the piles. It was thought the Amazon would be towed to her elevator before morning. The whaleback steamer Frank Rockefeller, of the Bessemer line, came in after the Amazon’s jam, and was stopped near the mouth of the river by her agents until the channel should be cleared.