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MAvy 2, IgoI. THE MARINE RECORD. —__————————eeee ee ee eee TE ————$— eee DETROIT. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Capt. Eber Ward relates that in the summer of 1837 the ice jam lasted in the rivers until the close of May. _ The ice jam is playing havoc with the fleet of vessels held in its grasp, and hull damage has already occurred in several instances. The steamer John Heer of Perth, Ont., has been sold to parties at Sault Ste. Marie, and will be ase as a ferry- boat between the ‘‘Soos.”’ The new steel steamer David M. Whitney had her trial trip on Saturday, and she reeled off twelve miles an hour ' against the current in the river here. The northern division of the D & C. Line will be opened by the steamer City of Detroit, Capt. McKay, at the earliest possible chance. There is a large quantity of cargo to go forward. The wrecking tug Favorite is in7dry dock undergoing a thorough overhauling, recalking, etc., for her season’s work. It is expected that she will leave here about Thursday to go on her station in the Straits of Mackinac. Members of the Engineers’ Association at Port Huron have induced two firemen and an oiler on the steamer Fedora and three firemen from the Frost, now lying there, to quit their positions in sympathy with the cause of the union engineers. The Port Huron canal from Huronia Beach through to Black River has now been contracted for and undertaken by a Cleveland firm known as the Standard Contracting Co. for $93,400. The city has been bonded in the sum of $100,000 to meet the expenditure. The steel cargo steamer ake Shore, built for J. C. Gil- christ and others, Cleveland, was launched on Wednesday from the Bay City yards of the American Ship Building Co. Her sister ship will be launched in a few days and both will receive their machinery and equipment at this port. Capt. James Dayidson says that he is not hurrying the work. of fitting out.. He cared very little about moving boats with the present freight rates. Capt. Davidson says he has not. been affected by, the engineers’ strike and would not mind in the leastif nayigation did not open fora month yet. ‘The ice jam is being started and a large portion of the fleet passed down, including the Pentland, the first boat through the Straits of Mackinac, where she might as well have remained for a couple of weeks and saved fuel at least, but scores of others whose expenses will eat up the first freight earnings were in it as well as her. .This. has been a week of anxiety regarding the ice jam, and the fleet of vessels held in the rivers. It is hoped that no damage will be done to the craft and that the enforced detention will be the only loss. It was a streak of careless. ness to start boats out before the river was clear of ice and .the owner’s pockets will feel it for a trip or so, though the wages don’t count for much in a large steamer’s earnings after all, still fuel bills, etc., run up rather regularly. The lake engineers are now making terms as best they can with the owners, though quite a number don’t like the idea of their national president not having been recognized by the owners of steamers. In point of fact it was not Geo. Uhler personally that was to be recognized but the union. The engineers score a point in making their wages about 15. percent more, than they first demanded and this will easily amount to an extra month’s pay for the season. The wooden steamer. City of Berlin, Capt. John Buie, led the ice fleet, fueled here on Monday and proceeded on to- Buffalo with 100,000 bushels of wheat, Capt. Buie has bucked ice for several seasons past and this time he left the bunch still ice-bound. The City of Berlin was built at the David- son yards West Bay City, in 1891. and is owned by Henry Wineman, Jr., of Detroit. She measures 2,051 gross tons and is 298 feet long with a 4: foot beam. She is rated Ar. The tug John Johnson was fined $500 at Toledo this week for carrying people other than the crew. The collector of customs also assessed Wm, Rooney one of her owners $500 for interfering with an officer while in the execution of his duty. This i is the new law that was passed in the last session of Congress, On application to the Supervising Inspector of Steamers for the district, which in this ‘case ,is Capt. Jas. Stone, Cleveland, tugs and other craft may be allowed to carry other persons than the crew. — This is the twisted and mixed kind of a rule that the RECORD critiziced at the time it was introduced by Senator McMillan and supposed it had got through because no one knew what it was meant for anyway. DULUTH—SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. The Tyrone loaded the first cargo at the Superior elevators this spring. She loaded 130,000 bushels of wheat. The “80 cent ‘ore’ rate equals’ 2 cents on’ cor and ‘this figure is offered up to May’ to. 2% cents is asked. ' Capt. D. D. Gaillard, Corps of Engineérs, U.S: A., now in charge’ of” this river and” harbor’ tiivteiet;* has Weturhed from Washington.” sepa a Reports of large sales of lumbet come’ in almost daily. New York, Chicago and Tonawanda coldest iaall are’ ‘in evidence this week. Pay The saw mills of Chequamegon Bay, both at Washburn and Ashland, are steamed up, getting in readiness to open their season’s work. A telephone at the life saving station is still being worked for and no doubt one will be installed by the time the season is fairly well opened. Numbers of the whaleback fleet have been towed to Two Harbors this week to store ore in previous to starting down the lake the pockets were getting crowded. More efforts to charter lumber vessels at $2.25 per M feet to Lake Erie ports and a steady holding out for $2.50. A shipper owning vessels made the lesser rate. Freight on anthracite coal from Buffalo here is 4o cents, a reduction of ro cents per ton from what owners and brokers considered a fairly living freight rate. There is some talk of erecting large coal storage docks at Portage Lake, about 500,000 tons is used there yearly and in the event of strikes, etc., coal would run short at the mines. Engineers strike or not, the Northern Line boats are ex- pected to arrive here just when Mr. J. J. Hill gives the word even if he has to tap the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for men to work for him. Capt. W. H. Singer, owner of the White Line Transporta- tion Co. is going to give us lots of facilities for lake travel this season. The Bon Voyage purchased from the Howard Transportation Co. is now in the White Line fleet. The Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Co. will build an immense new lumber mill at Cloquet, Minn. The contract for con- struction has been placed in the hands of W. A. Wilkinson, St. Paul. This will make the above firm the largest manu- facturers of white pine in the country, if not in the world. On account of the more equitable tax on floating property now in force in Wisconsin, Capt. Barker will not register his fleet at Duluth, but will retain his Superior enrollment. This is as it should be and will give each side of the bay an equal showing in sofar as the hailing port for vessels is concerned. There has been some talk here of the lake engineers join- ing the American Federation of Labor, and thus affiliating with the other local trades. From what is learned here each firm is making its own dicker with the engineers re- quired for their boats and there will be no smash-up of the Lake Carriers’ Association after all,or at least not this season. The steamer G. A. Flagg, built for a syndicate headed by D. R. Hanna, of Cleveland, was launched at West Superior, on Tuesday. The Flagg measures 336 feet over all, 42 feet beam, and 26% feet deep. Her sister ship, the Randolph S. Warren, will be launched Saturday. The boats will be used in the copper trade between Kewenaw Peninsula and Lake Erie. All of the harbor tugs are ready for service as soon as there is work for them. A mint of money in the form of wages has been lost to earners this spring through the late engineers’ strike, but whether the capitalists and vessel- owners have saved it or not is perhaps not quite so clear, anyway it has not reached its regular channels. The report comesfrom Chicago that the Diamond Match Company directors, who met there Saturday to consider the purchase of the interests of the Merrill & Ring Lumber Com- pany in this lumber district, which includes the mill in Du_ luth, the Split Rock Lumber Company with its logging rail- road and the large timber interests of the former company, turned down the proposition and that the deal is off. The passenger boats of the Singer Line between Duluth and the copper district will take in Isle Royale, Port Arthur and Fort William on their schedule this season,making semi- weekly runs across to the north shore from Houghton. The steamer Bon Ami will also be given a weekly trip to Mar- quette from Houghton. It is thought the establishing of a regular service will build up a tourist traffic to Isle Royale. The first boat to arrive at Duluth through the Sault canal was the tug Maxwell, from Pentwater, Mich. She was bought by Whitney Bros., of West Superior, last winter, and was brought up by Capt. Coburn. The captain says that he had no difficulty in getting: through the St. Mary’s river. The Carrington and Mabel Bradshaw opened coastwise navi- gation April 16 for north shore ports and Isle Royale,’ after being.closed since February 9, on the arrival of the beet Bon Ani from north shore Ports... BUFFALO. _ Special Correspondence to the Marine Record. Owing to the strike of boiler makers here the Lackawanna was towed to Erie, Pa., to have some repairs made. =). The City of Glasgow, from Cleveland, entered at the Cus- tom House and immediately cleared for Duluth. She was loaded with coal, and the reason for mee coming to this pect was not ascertained. : There has not been much coal charteting here this wéek considering that navigation is now open and that wé are heading into the May month. All April orders wete filled by rail, and shippers will load from their stock ‘piles, but they seem no ways eager for tonnage just at present. Capt. A. B. Wolvin, of Duluth, has not given up hope of getting the contract for constructing elevators. He has tele- graphed the Montreal harbor commissioners asking ‘that final decision on the question be postponed until May ro that he might have an opportunity to confer with the board. State Superintendent of Public Works Partridge. has ordered that the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga « and Seneca canals be opened for Navigation , at 12 o’clock noon on Saturday, May 4, 1901. In theorder he says: ‘A nounce- ment of the opening of the Black iver. canal will, be made at a later date.”’ As explained by a member of the ‘Lake Carriers’ Associa- tion, the lines are at liberty, to hire their men as they see fit, and will do so, at their own convenience. The wages de, manded by the M. E. B. A. are. as follows : On first class steamers; chief engineer, $150 a month; first assistant, » $100; second assistant, $75. Second class steamers: Chief engin-~ eer, $125 a month;. assistant, $90. Third class steamers; Chief engineers, $105 a month, assistant $75. Features of the contract signed by the engineers are an, advance of chief’s pay to $150 a month, and assistants to, g10o. Second engineers are to receive $125 and their. assistants $90. A clause of the agreement provides that the engineer shall not be a party to any sympathetic strike dur-, ing the continuance of the contract. Local lines number. 57 boats, as follows: Western Transit Co., 13; Anchor Line, . 16; Lehigh, 6; Union Transit, 5; Soo Line, 5; Northern Steamship, 6; Drake & Maytham, 6. OO 2 FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. The Marriage Question.—‘‘Jéennie, ma lass, it’s a verta solemn thing to be married.’’ “‘I ken that weel, fayther; but it’s a great deal solemner no to be.” When the fish hear that Mr. Cleveland is going to spend the coming summer inland, there will probably be a day of piscatorial thanksgiving ordered.—Pittsburg Times. “Your medicine has helped me wonderfully,’’ she wrote to the patent medicine house. ‘Three weeks ago I could not spank the baby, and nowIam able to thrash my hus- band. God bless you.’’—The Smart Set. Letter and Answer.—‘‘Dear Mr. Editor,—Please read the enclosed poem and return it to me with your candid criti- cism—as I have other irons in the fire.’’ ‘‘Dear Sir,—Poem returned herewith. Remove the irons and insert the poem.”’ ‘‘Now that you have found the ‘north pole,’ queries the’ faithful comrade, ‘‘what will you do with it ??’ ‘‘Do with it?’ echoed the distinguished explorer, his face aflame with the joy of discovery, ‘‘I shall syndicate it.’”’—Chicago Tribune. Mrs. O’Hoolihan—‘“‘An’ how's all th’ folks after beiri?’’ Mrs. McGonical—‘‘It’s all well they do be, exceptin’’ me owld man. He’s been enjoyin’ poor health for some toime, but this mornin’ he complained av feelin’ better.””—Chicago News. It is figured that by keeping the steamer Darius Cole tied up during the pending litigation this summer the boat will lose an even $15,000 which she might be earning, in addition there is deterioration to the property. © Friends of the Cole estate, in Detroit, and the H. W. Williams Transportation Co., of Chicago, have attempted to arrange ati amicable agreement between the litigants by which the boat might be chartered for Buffalo business during the Pan-American exposition, but the Williams company has absolutely refused to be a party to any such arrangement.