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THE MARINE RECORD. NOVEMBER 8, Io ESTABLISHED 1878. Published Every Thursday by THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Incorporated. C. E. RUSKIN, - - eueeey Manager. CAPT, JOHN SWAINSON, - - - Editor. CLEVELAND, CHICAGO, Western Reserve Building. Royal Insurance Building. SUBSCRIPTION. One Copy, one year, postage paid, - ~ $2.00 One Copy, one year, to foreign countries, - > $3.00 Invariably in advance. ADVERTISING. Rates given on application. All communications should be addressed to the Cleveland office, THE MARINE RECORD PUBLISHING CO., Western Reserve Building, Cleveland, O. Entered at Cleveland Postoffice as second-class mail matter. No attention is paid to anonymous communications, but the wishes of contributors as to the use of their names will be scrupulously regarded. CLEVELAND, O., NOVEMBER 8, 1900. oo EA iby ye ei se Sie tC LAKE COrFMERCE. The great water transportation route which stretches from Buffalo to Chicago and Duluth is sharing in the prosperity and activity which characterizes every branch of business in the United States to-day. The monthly statement of lake commerce prepared by the Bureau of Statistics shows that during September, 5,957 vessels entered 37 principal ports on the Great Lakes from the opening of the navigation sea- son up to Oct. 1, the vessel entrances aggregated 28,039. Chicago leads the list of ports, 1,028 vessels having entered her harbor during September and 5,761 during the season. The ports of Buffalo, Cleveland and Milwaukee each, how- ever, show a record in excess of 2,000 vessels for the season» and at the ports of Detroit, Duluth and Toledo the arrivals have ranged from 1,000 to I,500. A considerable portion of the general public seems to have gaiaed the impression that the traffic of the Great Lakes is confined to the transportation of a few commodities, such as iron’ ore, coal, bread-stuffs and lumber. That this is far from being the case could not be more conclusively proven than by citing the’ fact that in September, 395,767 tons of unclassified freight were moved, and the total movement for the season thus far aggregates 2,386,838 tons.. Every prom- inent port on the lakes is represented in this total. ‘That the strike in the anthracite coal region has had ‘its effect upon lake shipments would seem to be proven by a comparison of the figures for August and September. Dur- ing August there were transported via the inland water-way, 516,763 tons of anthracite coal, whereas in September the shipments fell off to:257,787 tons. In soft coal there is a falling off from 661,864 tonsin August to 467,457 tons in September. For the season to October 1, the total move- ‘ment was 1,813,979 tons of hard coaland 2,965,328 tons of soft coal. ; ¥ : “The recent organization in the Great Lake district of a new transportation company which has placed orders for new boats designed especially to carry the products of the Cal- umet and Hecla copper mines seems to call attention to the volume of this traffic already taking the water route. Dur- ing September there wére shipped by boat 17,029 tons of copper, and for the season to October 1, the total movement is 113,695 tons. Of the latter amount, 81,889 tons, or more _ than two-thirds of the total, was received at Buffalo, where- as the heaviest shipping record is that of West Superior, which during the season has sent out 56,939 tons. _ The movement of breadstuffs is not, of course, so interest- _-ing.as it will prove when compared with the movement by rail, for which figures will be available at the end of the cal- eridar year; nevertheless the statement of this phase of the ' water-borne commerce is significant in many ways. The receipts of breadstuffs at the. principal ports have been as follows: Season 1900 Opening of naviga- tion to October I. September 1900 Articles Bushels Bushels WHORE occ sca tats eee 8,752,364 33,331,173 Flour, tons 287) 29500. 2. 1787434 672,036 @orm ov oF. tadiciies 6,625,502 . 47,862,192 Qateanshe Eiiante aeeoin 5,195,052 25,776,512 Bartee’. oe Ss. ees 1,224,977 3,886,350 Rye ae 162,970 1,148,846 The Bureau of Statistics compiiation discloses many unique characteristics of the commerce of the Great Lakes. For instance, in the case of Conneaut, O., which Andrew Carnegie has declared will one day be the greatest ore-un- loading port in the world, the 353 vessels which have en- tered the harbor this season, have brought 1,748,255 tons of iron ore, or a greater quantity than was discharged at any other port, with two exceptions. One of these exceptions is the port of Ashtabula, alsoon Lake Erie. Ashtabula will this season rank as the greatest ore-receiving port in America, having received up to Oct. 1 a total of 2,933,647 tons. The lake lumber trade, in which there was such demoralli- zation last year, appears to be making a very favorable show- ing this season. For the month of September the aggregate cargoes transported amounted to 436,926,000 feet, and for the season up to October 1, 1,427,000,000 feet. Duluth ranks as the greatest lumber-shipping port, having sent out 277,071,000 feet during the season. Chicago heads the list of receiving ports, 378,546,000 feet having been un- loaded at her wharves. Cleveland is a pretty close second with a record of 339,704,000 feet for the season. —$ i ec oa spGOVERNMENT REPAIR SHIP. Admiral’ Melville, in his annual report, among other things, says: ‘‘A properly equipped repair ship would have been of the greatest sérvice during the past year in Asiatic waters. I respectfully repeat my former recommendation that a repair ship be built especially for the purpose, with high between decks, and with such moderate protection and armament as may be deemed advisable, and to be equipped under this bureau with a complete repair plant, improving upon that installed upon the Vulcan. This repair ship should be at least 5,000 tons displacement, and the esti- mated cost of the entire vessel and tool equipment would be in the neighborhood of $1,000,000.’’ He also says there has been great delay in extending and improving the shops of the department at different stations, owing to the high prices of materials during the year. oe oO own A LARGE RUSSIAN ORDER. A special from New York Herald says that Russia is to place orders with American shipbuilders for five new battle- ships during the next year. Secrecy seems to be the order with those ina position to give :information, but the bare fact that in prosecuting her naval construction program Rus- sia will favor American building comes from an authentic source, according to Joseph Spencer Kennard, one of the commissioners fromthis country to the Paris exposition, who has arrived here on the steamship Touraine. Contracts for five battleships will involve more than $20,- 000,000, and the fact that Russia contemplates placing these orders here is regarded as a recognition of the merits of the American-built cruiser Variag, which, designed to make a speed of twenty-three knots, showed herself capable, in her speed trials, of maintaining a speed of 24.6 knots. Now be- ing pushed to completion by the Cramps, who built the Variag, is the battleship Retvizan, ‘the first battleship built here for a foreign country. She was launched October 23 Beyond the information that the order was to be placed here Mr. Kennard said that he could say nothing and that he could not, with propriety, make known the name of his informant. Waldimer Teplow; the Russian consul-general, also re- turned on’the Touraine, after an absence of four months in Russia. He left St. Petersburg October 20, Mr. Teplow said he could not confirm the report of the prospective plac- ing of orders for battleships in this country, but he said that there was such enthusiasm in Russia over the Variag and Retvizan that it is likely that the next warships built for Russia will be laid in American shipyards. ’ ‘‘All Russians,’’ he said, ‘‘are perfectly satisfied with the Variag and the Retvizan. They are fine ships. . We think American builders are among the best in the world, Some builders show a sample ship and obtain an order for one like it, but the finished product likely does not correspond with the sample. But this is not so with American builders. They make us a ship just like the model.” A LARGE NEW CARGO STEAMER. Largest of her type, first to enter her owner’s service, representing a departure in American shipbuilding,. steamship America, from the yards of her builders at € ter, Pa., loaded at the Independence pier, Forty-secong street, South Brooklyn, N. Y., last week for San Francisco and Honolulu. Lie i One of the first two vessels built for the, American-H waiian Steamship Company, she is the first of the fleet building for service between the two oceans. Her sister ship, the California, launched at the Union Iron Works at San Francisco in July was at once chartered by the govern- ment for the army transport service across the Pacific, «,; The American may be said to be a vast improvement on : the British tramp steamship type. She is designed solely. for cargo, and is not fast. She has a single screw and triple expansion engines. Her shafting is made of compressed steel, as are those of the American naval vessels. She made ~ twelve knots coming up the coast, but on regular service will be run at ten knots, making the thirteen thousand mile steaming course to San Francisco in sixty days, withastop at Coronel, Chili, for cecal. ose In appearance the American is unlike any vessel ever built in an American yard She has the amidship superstructure with poop and forecastle. and with intervening wells where the sides are cut away. fe The American’s two masts are merely derrick poles, not much higher than the smokestack, so the absence of rake in — the funnel is not marked. 4 pear vins Something of asheer is preserved in construction, and this with shapely bow and stern, make even this craft very sightly as compared with most vessels of her type. 9) 7 5 She is lighted throughout with electricity, and electric’ clusters can be carried into the holds for night loading, She carries forty-men all told, and is commanded by Capt. — George McDonald, formerly of the Hogan line. Sheis 435 feet long, 58 feet beam and 33.6 feet depth, drawing twenty- six feet loaded and ten feet light. She registers 5;600:tons, - and her capacity is 8,250 tons dead weight. She:costi$450,-; 000. ig hahaa Two more sister ships of the American are building ‘at Chester, to be called the Hawaiian and the Oregonian. The~ former will be launched a week from Saturday and will: make her first trip in January.. The other steamers “are: under construction at the Union Iron Works. They are to’ be known as the Alaskan and the Arizonian. They: will’be twin screws, and have a capacity of 11,000 tons dead weight; They will cost, because of their twin screws and additional size, which will-be 7,500 tons gross register, $700,000,. {| )*° Two more are building at the new shipyards ot the New’ York Ship Building Company, at Camden, N. J., one: to be* a sister ship of the last two mentioned, and the other smaller, or of about 5,000 tons register. Sheis to be used locally between San Francisco and Honolulu. [ch yiae Ol coh: Riga REE FOR WINTER STORAGE. aby More than the usual number of vessels will ‘take on cares goes for winter storage this year. In fact, the immense: quantity of room available for this service will be a factor in. the storage capacity of nearly every grain center on the | lakes. During the last year there have been a large num- ber of ore carriers of immense storage capacity added to the list of lake vessels, and if these elect to enter the business of storing grain for the winter they will become an import- ant factorin the situation. Just what position these. big vessels will take in regard to grain storage is not known, but itis the popular belief?that they will go out for wha, there is in sight. All of the boats that have been built for the Carnegie, the Bessemer, the American Steamship Co., or the Minuesota Steamship Co., are in themselves floating. elevators and their combined capacity is not to be despised. One advantage which the big steel boats have over the~ wooden vessels is that they do not suffer as greatly from being loaded deeply during the winter months. It is more. than likely that Chicago will be the point which will attract, the greater part of this immense vessel capacity, but Mil-_ waukee and other Lake Michigan ports will get their share, - and Duluth may also come in for a good total. , Just at present the vessels loading coal at eastern markets are try- ing to get Lake Michigan cargoes so as to be able to secure, return cargoes of grain. Very little grain is to be had at Duluth, and vessels therefore avoid that port with west- bound cargoes if it is possible to goelsewhere. At Duluth) mio f however, there is more demand for coal than at the Lake Michigan ports, and it is not improbable that quite a num- ee of vessels will eventually be caught there at the season’S end. % ; a ada