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OcTOBER. 24, Igor. THE MARINE RECORD. ue ‘CAPE RACE DISASTERS THIS SEASON. Recently there was a paragraph in the New York papers containing ‘the statement that a captain of a vessel just arrived from sea reported that in passing Cape Race he had witnessed the remarkable spectacle of no less than five ocean © steamers lying stranded and wrecked within sight of each othet. A Canadian contemporary in treating this subject says that as a matter of fact, eight ocean steamers have been wrecked in the ‘neighborhood of Cape Race during the past eight months, representing a loss of at least two million dollars, and it is doubtful whether in any other part of the world such a record of marine disaster can be shown. The locality is even more dangerous to shipping than that naval cemetary, Sable Island, and according to the official returns just compiled and published in Newfoundland, there have been eighty-two ships wrecked, of which sixty-seven were steamships, during the past thirty years ona stretch of coast around Cape Race, not forty miles long, and, in several in-> stances within a stone’s throw of each other. The result of the last eight months’ disasters has been to strengthen the prejudice against the St. Lawrence route which has existed previously, and now two of the leading in- surance companies are cancelling policies and declining to issue any new ones over the route. ‘Under such dangers and commercial conditions,’’ says the Ottawa Evening Journal, commenting on the subject, “‘the St. Lawrence traffic must decrease, no. matter what pains are taken to improve harbors, and deepen the St. Lawrence river.’’ This is un- doubtedly too. true, and the first step to obviate the threat- ened contingency.is to show that the prejudice against the St. Lawrence route, so far as it is founded on the Cape Race disasters at any rate, is as unfounded as it is unjust. In discussing some time ago the merits and demerits of the St. Lawrence route, properly so called, that is to say, of the gulf and river itself, we expressed the opinion that the main cause of the disasters that occured along it was the recklessness of those using the route. A very little examina- tion of the details we have given above will serve to show that the same thing may be predicted of the Cape Race ma- rinetragedies. Over eighty-one per cent. of the total during thirty years befell steamers; the number of sailing vessels was barely. one every other year, and though it may be urged these latter have been to a great measure superseded by the former. class, yet this is only of, late years, and the force of the plea is nullified by the long period for which account is taken. The obvious deduction is that the superior speed of the steamships has been. the means of, obtaining them this bad pre-eminence, and the reckless use of itina region of fogs.and strong currents has brought about the majority of the wrecks. .To attribute them, to any unavoidable defects in the St. Lawrence:route is therefore unreasonable, It is.also unjust. . Cape Race has nothing whatever to do with the St. Lawrence ronte in the sense it is assigned to it. | This become apparent when we look closely into the list of the eight casualties this year, which is as follows: Jan. 2nd, steamer Ivydene, Hamburgh to Wilmington, salt cargo... .... 5 Feb..4, steamer Lucerne, Ardrossan to St. John’s, coal. May 25, steamer Crewe, Sydney to Belle Island, ballast. June 6, steamer Assyrian, Antwerp to Montreal, general cargo, Gtk ‘ June 25, steamer Lusitania, Liverpool to Quebec, 450 passengers and general cargo. July 6, steamer Delmar, Dundee to Mobile, ballast. Aug. 2, steamer Vera, London to Montreal, ballast. Aug. 3, steamer, Aois, Galveston to Hamburgh, cotton and grain. Here then we have one steamer running from Hamburgh to Wilmington, and another from Scotland to a New Bruns- wick port, a third from Dundee to Mobile, anda fourth from Galveston to Hamburg; half of the total amount had no more to do with the St. Lawrence route than they had to do with the man in the moon, three-quarters of them, in fact sailing from European ports to ports in southern United States. These should be reckoned to the debit side of the account of'the general ocean route, and when this is done, the very worst that can be urged against the St. Lawrence route is that it is not less dangerous than the other one. The two new American line steamships Finland and Krooriland, at Cramps’ shipyard, will be ready for launch- ing ina few weeks. Each vessel is 580 feet long, 70 feet beami; 30 feet depth of hold, with a gross register of 12,000 tons. “They are intended for the New York, Southampton and Antwerp service. FOREIGN COAL FREIGHTS, We ‘take the following from the Black Diamond, New York, as reported by Messrs. W. W. Battie & Co., ship and steamship brokers, Produce Exchange, New York. ' During the past week there has been little change in the freight rates on coal to foreign ports, a number of steamers having been chartered to Mexican, Cuban and Mediterran- ean ports at same rates as previously quoted. A number of steamers also have been chartered to take coke to Mexico at’ $2.50 per ton, and the steamer Peter Jabeson, 2,274 tons register, was chartered to take coke from Philadelphia to’ Tampico at $2 40, but this charter does not give an idea of the market, as the vessel accepted Io cents a ton less than a number of coke parties were offering on similar business, During the week a number of. sailing vessels have beet chartered to take coal to Cuban ports at last rates quoted. Also to go to ports in Martinique and Guadaloupe at $2 25, and to ports in’ Porto Rico at $2 oo, charterers paying foreign port charges. The owners of large sailing vessels now wish to send them south for the winter, and consequently there are a number of large vessels offering for this class of busi- ness, and these rates are bound to decline. _ We would quote freight rates by steamer as follows: $1.40 to $1.45 to Havana or Matanzas, $1.50 to $1.55 to Cien- fuegos, $2.00 to Cardenas or Sagua, $1 75 to St. Lucia or St. Thomas, $1.60 to $1.70 to Kingston, $1.70 to $1.75 to Port Spain, Trinidad; $1.85 to Bermuda, $2.25 to Demerara, $1.50 to $1.60 to Tampico or Vera Cruz, 14s to 148 3d to Rio, 9s 3d to gs 6d to a direct port in the Mediterranean, not east of the west coast of Italy, Spain excluded; 8s 6d to 9s to Bor- deaux, St. Nazairre or Havre, $5.75 to $6.00 to Manila, Yokohama or Nagasaki. : —— eS ANOTHER INDIANA HARBOR. Contracts have been let for the building of a new harbor eight miles east of the piers at South Chicago, to be known as ‘‘Indiana harbor.’? The location of the new harbor is di- rectly lakeward from the town of Hast Chicago. The chan- nel will be 300 feet wide and 20 feet deep and the first con- tracts call for its construction 1,200 feet inland, the ultimate intention being, however, to continue the channel to Hast Chicago. A large numberof people are interested in the enterprise, but the contracts will be made in the name of the Lake Michigan LandCo, They call for the construction of a twenty foot channel and its completion ready for busi- ness by Nov. I, 1902. The aggregate cost, will be $200,000. It is the aim of the projectors to build up another manufac- turing center around the site of the new harbor. Good ccn- nections can be easily secured to the belt lines of street and steam railroads. _——_————$$ ———— DD Sa ROLLING LiFT BRIDGE. The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Co. several days ago placed into service their new double- track Scherzer rolling lift bridge across the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland, Ohio. This bridge was designed by The Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Co., Chicago, and replaced ‘a double-track swing bridge which was obstructive to navigation, and also very frequently placed the very heavy passenger traffic crossing it at’a serious disadvantage. The bridge is used by the main lines of the C.,C.,C. & St. L., L. S. & M. S., Erie and other railroads and is the principal railroad bridge crossing the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland. The first Scherzer rolling lift bridge constructed several years ago for the C., C., C. & St. L. Ry. across the Cuyahoga river at Cleveland proved’ so satisfactory in every respect that the progressive management of the railroad company determined to remove the obstructive swing bridge at this much more important crossing and substitute a Scherzer rolling lift bridge. Railroad traffic was constantly maintained upon the swing bridge during the construction and erection of the Scherzer rolling lift bridge. Vessel traffic in the river was also main- tained, as the new bridge was erected in the upright position, on the’piers which support the bridge when completed, the trains being operated through the new bridge during erection. Upon the completion of the new bridge, the center of the old bridge was removed ; the new bridge was immediately closed into service, and within fifteen minutes, five passenger trains crossed the river on the new Scherzer rolling lift bridge. The new bridge has since been in successful operation, and the railroad service has been greatly im: proved. - The entire work of preparing the designs and plans and the construction of the bridge, together with the removal of . the old swing bridge, was under the immediate charge and supervision of Mr. George W. Kittredge, chief engineer 0 the C., C.. C. & St. L, Ry. The Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Co. furnished the:plans and specifications and checked the shop plans for the superstructure of the new bridge and al furnished a consulting supervision over the erection of the bridge until completion. The plans for the substructure were prepared by the railroad company. —_—_——— OOO Se CAPITAL VERSUS LABOR. ; . “I have: received the following circular letter from the business agent of the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Associa- — tion, Cleveland, O.: pti: 2 In reviewing the history of the trusts during the past few months, and their treatment of their employes who dare to assert themselves or ask for any privileges, we believe that | it behooves us to combine as a Labor Trust, in order to be able to compete with the Money Trust. Then, and then only, they wiil treat us in a’ business way and recognize our demands as a business proposition. It is our only hope and the only recourse left. Itis proposed to combine the five railroad organizations on the railroads that run from the mines to the upper lake ports and also from the lower lake ports, to the marine and dock organizations, whose principal business is the trans- portation of freight towed and controlled by the trnsts, and thus form a Labor Trust, on the same lines as the Money Trust, and also adopting the same plan as the railroad asso- tions, which are so successful at the present time. We believe that it is the intention of the trusts to absorb all the railroad manufacturing industries in which there is a profit or is in competition withthem. The position they : assumed in the late steel strike shows what individual labor organizations may expect when they come in contact with the trusts. : As the organizations at the present time are not united and each is fighting its own battles to the best of its ability, and at different times, it is plain to prophesy the ‘inevitable result. 5 Should the trusts decide to attack the workers on any particular railroad line they would ship their freight over some other line controlled by the trusts until the men were — forced to submit. Now, if all the men were combined from mines to mills” and from mills to distributing points it would be easy to adjust matters, for then it would be made a business proposi-... tion on equal ground—trust against trust. If the marine men were forced to go out all the railroad ‘ and dock men at the upper lake ports would be compelled’ to lay idle, while the mills would besupplied from stock piles at the lower lake ports. 5 It is not the intent or purpose to form a new labor organ- ization or to create a salaried position forany ambitious labor leader, but to combine all organizations now in existence for’ mutual protection. We, therefore, deem it imperative that all organizations engaged in the transportation business should be combined for mutual protection so that we will not be compelled to accept that which the trust dictates, unless we so desire. . We hope you will take this question up in your lodges and act favorably on it, and be prepared to send your delegates to Cleveland in the near future to organize a Federal Board to handle this combination. ‘You will be notified when and where to meet after the season.closes. : It may be impossible for us to get the addresses of. all the... organizations interested, so it is hoped you will talk it up at _ every opportunity, as we are doing. Please study this circu- lar carefully and you will recognize the benefits to be derived from such’a combination for all interested. i oe It is reported that the estate of the late Hugh Ramsay will operate the shipyard located at Perth Amboy, N. J., which has been closed for some years. The plant is well located and almost completely equipped for building all classes of steel vessels. The new shipyard is to be known asthe Standard Shipbuilding Co., and has been incorporat- ed with $125,000’capital stock, by Sarah J. L. Ramsay, Amy EB. Crowell, William E. Ramsay, Allen L. Ramsay, Hugh V. Ramsay, and Isabella L. Ramsay. The yard will be managed by the sons of the late Hugh Ramsay, who have grown up in the shipbuilding business, and should make a practical success of the new yard.—The Nautical Gazette. Henry Peters, of New Orleans, is having built the largest? floating derrick ever constructed in the South. It is to be used for wrecking purposes and for loading vessels with heavy timber, and measures 110 feet long over all, 50 feet beam and 9 feet depth of hold. The hull is built of yellow pine, fastened with galvanized spikes. The entire upper’ works, the derrick, crane, etc., will be of steel. The steel boom and shears will be purchased from the American Bridge Co., New York; the boilers, engines, winches, etc., all of which will be adequately powerful, from the Lidger- wood Mfg. Co., New York, and the blocks and hoisting gear from the American Hoist and Derrick Co., of St. Paul.