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THE MARINE RECORD. aKnaKKne be wr CLEVELAND«. sive: Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. The lumber rate from the head of the lakes is now quoted at $3 per M. feet with fairly brisk chartering. Coal cargoes are now easier to obtain than a few days ago, and chartering is rather brisk except to Lake Superior. Capt. Chapman, superintendent of the tenth district of the United States life-saving service, inspected the new station on Monday, The Coralia and Corsica dry docked this week. It is stated that the latter boat will be placed in winter quarters after repairs are made. The winter fleet is already accumlating at Lorain, and it ‘is likely that a large number of craft will seek that good and safe port for winter moorings. The stéamer John J. Albright, building for the Etna Steamship Co., of which Capt. John Mitchell is manager, will be launched Saturday morning. The16-ton rudder for.the battleship Maine, now in course of ‘constriction at Cramps’ yards, Philadelphia, was sent away from here this week on a canal barge. That $3 rate on lumber is not very firmly established. Vessels.ask. that: figure to charter, shippers offer $2.50, and a compromise of $2.75 is being accepted from the head of the lakes. , Quite.anumber of boats will lay up for the winter this week. Insurance rates are higher in November and freights are away down’so that there is nothing to be made any way that-an,owner of floating property can figure. The indépendent or Maytham tugs are hustling for work with the’ three powerful tugs at this port. A contract for several new steel tugs is on the tapis, and next season will see some, close competition in the towing business at all lake ports. .,, Pita oe Extensive improvements are being planned for the steam- ers State? of "Ohio ‘and State New York. Speed as well as passenger accommodations will be increased for next sea- son, The City of the Straits will be placed on the Cleve- land-Buffalo route. “' The steamer Ishpeming ran into the abutment of the Su- perior street viaduct on Tuesday and did some damage. The casualty wasidue-to the bridge-tenders, and the city will no doubt have to: foot the bill of expenses. She will be dry docked for:repairs. A “meéting over the different locals:in the International Longshoremen’s Association will be held here Friday for the purpose’ of organizing a district council. There are thirteen locals in, Cleveland and the locals at’ Lorain, Fairport and Ashtabula, will, be taken in. The coal’ handlers’ strike on three docks operated by the Pittsburg Coal Co. was settled on Tuesday afternoon and the men returned to work. A meeting of the officials of the longshoremen’s union was held at the. office of dock man- ager John, A. Donaldson and a settlement was reached with- out much trouble. : The new ‘steelX steamer Eureka, owned by the Hawgood firm of this‘city, reached New York all well on Wednesday after a passage of nine days. The steamer Tampico will also reachthere in'a few days. Charters already fixed seem to offer fairwearnings for the winter months. The Messrs. Hawgoodsdeserve gteat credit for their pioneer work in this directioms! / 1. ee ae The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. makes the announce- ment that the annual autumn excursion will be run to Buf- falo and Niagara Falls on Saturday night. The company has been offering low rates for two or three weeks past. Now:they have dropped’ a third of that price for the trip to Buffalo’ for mext week} holding the same rate to Niagara Falls.’ The'prospects are for a big business. A visit made by President Brown, of Chicago, to the Cleveland headquarters of the American Ship Building Co., a few days ago, was the cause of a report that more vessels were to be built for coast service, but it was learned that Mr. Brown’s trip to Cleveland was for the puprose cf attend- ing a meeting of the Executive Board of the company at which no bus ness of public importance was transacted. .. Mri@harles Maytham, the Buffalo tug owner, who has -beenin*the city this’ week thas secured offices at the corner ‘of the déck and Front street, where the office of the Cleve- land: Tug.Oo. was formerly located. Louis Lautenslager of Buffalo, who is to look after the interests of the Maythams at this port, takes charge, He said that for the present the tugs Frank W. and Delta will be operated by the independ- ae al the tug A, Maxwell will probably be. located Gt horas at TION. 4 The attorneys for Capt. Holmes, who is charged with manslaughter in the United States Circuit Court ask per- mission to withdraw his plea of not guilty. They propose to file a demurrer to the indictment, claiming the law under which the indictment is drawn applies only to steam vessels. Capt. Holmes was. the captain of the yacht Idler, which sank during a squall. on.Lake Erie in july, drowning six members of the Corrigan family.. Should the demurrer be sustained, the charge against the captain would be thrown out of court. The coal situation has’ not changed. The market is still flooded with tonnage, consequently the rates are weak. Hard coal has commenced to move slowly from Buffalo, the reserve being shipped, but the large movements are not ex- pected until the first of next week, or later. There will hardly be enough of this to change the rates, although it ' may make the market stronger and prolong the season and keep a number of boats out of winter quarters. The-ore movement has about ended for the year, saving only that amount of material that is to be brought down by the‘con- ; traet tonnage from Lake Michigan. The grain trade is not living up to expectations and promises to be lighter after the first of November than had been looked for. It will cost, according to an estimate made by Col. Jared A. Smith, the United States engineer in charge of rivers and harbors on Lake Erie, $353,000 to complete the present pro- jected extension and improvement of the Cleveland break- water. On July 1, 1900, the beginning of the present fiscal year, there was an unexpected balance of $515,463.93 in the Treasury in favor of Cleveland; $23,556.02 represented the outstanding liabilities, and $569,678.65 was the amount cov- ered by uncompleted contracts on that date. In addition to the balance which remained unexpended on July 1, Colonel Smith estimates that $100,000 can be expended profitably on the breakwater and harbor improvements during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, 1901; ingother words, he has recommended to the War Department that the latter sum be appropriated by Congress at its coming session. To com- plete the work of dredging the harbor at Cleveland to a depth of 21 feet it will cost, the engineer estimates, $160,- 300, and he recommends that this sum, too, be made avail- able for expenditure. a Oe CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. There is quitea talk about laying up for the winter as freights are very low and chartering slack. The week opened with rates strong on 1 cents on corn and brisk chartering was done at that figure. A Chicago steel firm is filling an order for 2,000 tons of 45-lb. steel rails, which isto be delivered at Genoa, Italy, for an Italian railway. Supervising Inspector General of Steamboats James A. Du- mont, and Supervising Inspector Westcott, are now making a tour of the lakes, looking over the steamboat inspection service. Frank Ranson, aged thirty-five, steward on the steamer Seneca, fell into the river at Milwaukee on Thursday night last, and was drowned. He lived at Buffalo and leaves a family. The Barry Bros. are nothing if not aggressive. They now figure on keeping an open route to Muskegon all winter, if Chicago and Muskegon will pull together so as to pay the expenses. This port and Milwaukee will have their full share of coal this winter but it is a different question regarding the head of the lakes. Vessels don’t want totake coal up there just as ballast and then get neither iron ore nor grain back and that is the outlook at present. The steamer F. H. Spinner, recently sunk by collision in the St. Mary’s river, arrived safely at Manitowoc, on Tues- day, under her own power. She is badly damaged, and will be docked on Friday for survey and repairs. The bow must be built in, and much other work done. The schooner May Richards, which was recently on the rocks at Manistique, has reached Manitowoc in tow of the Rube Richards, and was docked for repairs. She will need anew keel, forty feet of garbord, planking and much re- calking. The total bill will be nearly $1,200. Vessels in the grain trade were in brisk demand for load- ing this month. Rates were strong at 1% cents on corn, and a good business is being done. Huw the November rates will turn out is still a question, but it is generally pre- dicted that they will improve on present figures, President Graham, of the Graham and Morton line, an- nounced that the contract for a passenger steamer for the line would be let next March. The boat is. to be for day service only, with a capacity of 4,000 persons. She will be ee speed of twenty miles an hour and will be 260 feet in length. Three divers and two diving outfits were sent to Détroit, - on Monday, by the Dunham Towing and Wrecking Co., on telegraphic orders from General Manager Collier, for rais- ing the Martha. Capt. Thomas Johnson went to Detroit Saturday night, and is now in charge of the work.of wreck- ing the big boat. nine nas ‘ H. J. McCarthey, late chief;steward of the Goodrich i is now with the Santa Fe Railroad. His associates arena need him with a beautiful gold locket and guard as a mark of their esteem, and they wish him every success in his new trustees, and holds that the sanitary board has jurisdiction Court, and in that event vesselmen may hope for an earlier ~ completion of the improvements so necessary in the river, ‘ appropriation for bridges was cut down so that there will not © NOVEMBER I, f sphere. Mr. C. B. Hamilton leaves the steamer Georgia seeie the duties of chief steward. He has had amplee perience to qualify him for the post. ae To close October shipments there was some heavy cha ing this week. On Wednesday 1,795,173 bushels of ¢ in were shipped, of which 902,253 bushels was corn and 596,529 oats. There were unusually big cargoes in the list. new steamer Capt. Thomas Wilson, was down for 250, bushels of corn, and the Rockefeller steamer General took 79,000 bushels of wheat and 299,0c0 bushels of oats The Ann Arbor boats will make Menominee all wint Capt. Boynton, of Sault Ste. Marie, has entered into a co tract with the Ann Arbor railroad to keep the channel op through the ice between that port and Sturgeon Bay, with the ice crusher Algomah. In case of failure to keep the channel open, he is to receive nothing for the service. Car ferry No. 3 will be used. The Algomah is now being refitted for the service. eae Collector of Customs William Penn Nixon has appointed Edwin P. Mann and Roscoe Wilcox, inspectors on duty a the barge office, as deputy collectors for the purpose of en tering and clearing vessels. Deputy Collector James M, Nash will remain in charge of the office. Hereafter vessel captains will, report and clear at the main office in the Man- hattan building, between 9 and 4 p. m., and during the rest — of the day at the barge office. ‘ Marine men felt deep regret at the accidental death of Frank Carpenter, the member of the Nye-Jenks Co , who at- tended to its shipping on the floor of the Board of Trade. In the handling of the firm’s shipping business Mr. Carpenter often went out of his way to supply cargoes in dull times, and his death will be a serious loss to the vessel interests Mr. Carpenter was also well-liked socially, and itis said that he always tried to do the best he could for his fellowman. The canal boat First National was struck by the steamer Andaste in the river on Tuesday night, and 1,000 bushels of — her wheat cargo were wet and probably ruined. ‘The efforts of tugs with siphons were all that saved the canaler from sinking. The First National was lying at the Norton mills, at Madison street bridge, loading grain, and the Andaste was bound toward the lake. She sagged against the canal _ boat and squeezed the craft so hard that a leak was started. The Canada-Atlantic ‘Transit Co. is now in position to make shipments of grain and package freight to Europe via Quebec. The Great Northern railway, connecting Quebec with Parry Sound on Georgian Bay, has been completed. The first train from Quebec to Depot Harbor was sent over the line this week, and the first grain shipment from Depot Harbor will, in all probability, reach Quebec in time for ocean shipment on Wednesday. Montreal is expected to experience a curtailment of business following the opening of the Quebec route. The contract for raising the sunken barge Martha, in the - channel in Lake St. Clair, has been given the Great Lakes Towing Co. Oscar Anderson, watchman on the Martha, says the Wilbur was racing with the steamer Troy at the time of the collision, As the Troy was to port, the Wilbur could not go over and avoid the collision. Capt. Kerr, it is said, agrees with this explanation. Thecost of docking and © repairing the Wilbur is now given at $10,000. It will take 10 days to do the work. The cargo of merchandise is being — .transferred to the Tuscarora, of the same line, which will © take it to Chicago. : A Duluth owner of lake lumber boat tonnage says that - shipers representing about 20,00v,coo feet of boards at Du- ~ luth and Ashland, are in the market for boats at $2.50: The boards represent about twenty-five cargoes, and the vessel- _ man says the shippers are not readily getting tonnage, though he thinks they may be able to cover it at the rate. There is other lumber besides these particular blocks which — will be in the market for boats, and the vesselmen consider that the outlook for the balance of the season is favorable for advancing rates. The rail rate of 10 cents a hundred in- « vites shippers of lumber to Chicago, however, when the rate - goes above $2.50. A decision important to vesselmen at all lake ports has — been made by Judge Chetlain in the Circuit Court. Heup- — holds the $2,500,000 bond issue of the drainage canal over the Chicago river as part of the drainage canal. The — decision is of great importance as it will, if sustained by the - Supfeme Court, enable the drainage trustees to unite with — the city in river improvement. There is little fear that the ~ judge’s ruling will meet with the approval of the Supreme — than expected, The case will be taken to Springfield, an appeal from the decision having been prayed. A final © decision is expected to follow soon after in the case, and the drainage trustees will in all likelihood find themselves ~ invested with additional powers.. Marine men will be inter- ~ ested in the outcome of the case, as a favorable result will ~ be followed with a clear field for work in imporving the ~ river. A current will be given with a certain speed atall ~ points, and everything possible done to make the interests ‘of the city and the vesselmen harmonize. One of the first ~ “important moves will probably be the removal of the center ~ piers and the substitution of bascule bridges. Many of such © structures were planned afew months ago, but for various reasons the number was reduced to two or three. The city’s be much more than enough to pay the repair bills during — the coming year. ee le ae asa