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CHICAGO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. Grain rates are fluctuating from 134 cents on corn to 2% cents as the best ‘figure offered on wheat, and shippers guess- ing on vessels making one or more trips. Grain was slow at 2 cents on Monday for corn and little - improvement in sight, so that the closing days of the sea- son are not any too good from a vessel owner’s standpoint. ' The Light-House Board are taking away the light- ships from the north end of the lake and heavy losses are anticipated, spar buoys are nothing on Gray’s Reef, White Shoals, the Simmons or Lansing. There should be some way of keeping these dangerous spots marked until the close of navigation and the Light-House Board ought to be big enough to know haw to do it. The local inspector of boilers for, the steamboat service has ben elected a member of the society of Naval Archi- tects and Marine Engineers.Mr. Stewart H. Moore is fully entitled to all the honors of this membership of trade. A meeting of the representatives of the dredging companies around the lakes in the interest of the proposed dredging trust was held on Monday at the Auditorinm. Plans for the organization were submitted to the firms, and the offers were taken under advisement. ‘Word comes from Manitowoc that the tow barge Bryn Mawr, owned by the steel trust, was libeled for $20,000 by [anaget Burke, of the People’s Transit Cortpany, for damages done to the passenger steamer Lawrence in the. river, When the Bryn Mawr was turning around in the river, $hé collided with the Lawrence, breaking a hole in the steamer, which was only saved from sinking by the prompt assistance from the tug Arctic. Bonds were fur- nished by the steel trust and the Bryn: Mawr released and proceeded. “Marine underwriters here, at Montreal, and at Toronto have been asked to extend the period of insurance from December 12, which was the limit up to two years ago. The pressure on the underwriters is the greatest from the Canadian’ grain shippers, who are anxious ‘to move as much grain as possible before navigation closes. Unless there is a marked improvement in the weather I learn that it is not likely that the requests will be granted. Ship, Building company, the Great Lakes Towing company, and manager of the steel trust’s. fleet of lake boats, to- gether with Edward Smith, of Buffalo, who is associated with Mr. Wolvin in many projects, have taken up the mat- ter of promotion and led in the discussion. ‘The legal end of the negotiations is taken care ‘of by the lawyer firm of Hoyt, Dustin, & Kelley, of Cleveland, represented in the meeting by Mr. Hoyt... The firm which will agree to sell ofit'to the trust will be required to sign an agreement not to go into the business again for ten years. Some dissatis- faction is expressed at the prices offered hy the promoters, one dredge man remarking that he could make an equal sum.in two years’ work under ordinary’ circumstances. Among’ the firms represented were: James Rooney ‘and G. H. Breymann, of Toledo; Hingston & Wood and Dunbar & Son,-of Buffalo; W. A. Collier, and L. P. & J. A. Smith Company, of Cleveland; Robert Smith, of: Duluth,. and: Eydon & Drews, Fitzsimons & Connell, of Chicago, ‘and. Hausler & Lutz, of South Chicago. Bids for tug service to the waterworks cribs during the coming wititer were opened in the office of the city engi- néet, last, Friday, afternoon, but the contract was ,not awatded.. The specifications called for two tugs, one small: enough to run around the Chicago avenue crib inside’ of the ..breakwater, and the. other a. large-sized. craft, - of strength and power sufficient to break ice eight inches: in‘ thickness, The bids were three in number, and were as follows: Louis Holman, owner of the tugs M. Shields and James Hay, for each of the two boats per month, $968; for all extra work that may be required, $6 per hour. The Great. Lakes Towing and Wrecking Company, for each of two, tugs per month, $1,975; for extra work, $8 per hour. Lydon & Drews, for each of two tugs, $2,500 per month; for extra work, $10 per hour., Some comment. was made among marine men on Holman’s bid, as they were of the opinion that while oné ‘of the tugs might be able to do’ the. work’ at the crib, where it would be protected from run- ning ice, neither is of the size and power required in the specifications for thé heavy boat to break ice in’ bad weather. This makes the bid of the Great’ Lakes Company the lowest remaining’ The winter work begins Jenuary 1 this year, instead of December 1,’as in former seasons, and lasts until April 1. meu It is al- most a forégone conclusion that unless a heavy premium is paid not one day will be granted beyond the policy limit,’ Capt. A.B. Wolvin ,who is connected with the American | _ to retard its handling to any great extent. THE MARINE RECORD. DULUTH-SUPERIOR. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record: The Owen Sound Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company have obtained. their charter from! the Dominion government. The' Cleveland Cliffs ‘Tron Co: has made some changes in its mines captions prepartory to sinking a shaft at its new mine to be opened in the eastern part of Ishpening, Mich. Another important discovery of ore is reported, from the Mesaba. A very large deposit of good quality is'said to haye been found a short distance south of the Cincinnati mine and east of'the town site of Biwabik. Captain D. D. Gaillard, Corps of Engineers, U. S.-A., engineer in charge of the river and harbor improvements of Lake Superior, is now engaged at making a survey of the Duluth-Superior harbor for-the ‘purpose of showing upon the new charts the improvements made in widening and deepening channels during the season just closed. The grain trade this fall seems to be a failure in so far as freights are concerned, it was once thought that 5 cents would be a sure pop, but it seems now that 4 cents will be the best paid on latest cargoes with 334 cents ruling and only 4 cents out of Ft. William. The ore trade is about done, as the commodity is freezing and can’t be loaded. One of the soft coal piles of the Northwestern Fuel Co. at Allouez, near Duluth, is on fire. The burning area comprises a space about 4oo feet square, filled with coal piles 4o feet high. .The vast amount. of coal piled there is a burning mass ,and almost all of it will be a total loss. It is thought that before the fire can be controlled thousands © of tons of coal will have been destroyed. Tower is the pioneer mining town of Minnesota. It was named after Charlemagne Tower, the present ambassador to Russia, at one time president of the Duluth & Iron Range road, and a resident of Duluth. Ore shipping began from there in August, 1884, and since then a total of about 9,- cco,coo tons has been mined and forwarded. Soudan is the mining district of Tower, and it is here that a large num- ber of the miners and their families reside. The mines provide employment to about 600 men. The Canadian Pacific announce that, weather permitting, the last.of their Upper Lake boats to leave Owen Sound will be the Athabasca, which will sail at 1:30 p. m., Thursday, Noy. 28 (Thanksgiving), for Sault Ste. Marie and Fort William, being due at the former place at 8'a. m., Nov. 20, and at the latter point, 7'a. m., Nov. 30. On return trip this steamer will make the last trip for the season, leaving Fort William at 8 a. m., Sunday, Dec. 1, due at Sault Ste. Marie 8 a.m., Dec. 2, and at Owen Sound, 5 a. m., Dec. 3. The railways are doing great work in carrying out the Manitoba wheat crop. From September 1 to November 16 no less than 17,680 cars of grain were loaded and shipped east, carrying in the neighborhood of fifteen to sixteen mil- lion bushels.. The total amount of grain shipped east last year, from Sept. 1, 1900, to Sept. I, 1901, was only a trifle over thriteen million bushels. At present all records for grain shipments have been broken, and it is expected that the total amount exported this fall will reach twenty-two million or twenty-three million bushels. ; The United States Engineer Corps at Duluth is in re- ceipt. of a very fine instrument for registering, the stage of water on Lake Superior. It is a self-registering gauge, and records the fluctuations of the water and the time at which changes take place. There are two. clocks in con- nection with the machinery. of the. device. One makes a record of the time on a.continuous sheet, while the other marks the fluctuations of the stage of water, if any. The pencil which indicates the water stage moves down the center of the sheet. The hours are marked by dashes on the side of the sheet. The distance between the dashes is divided by sixty, and in this manner it is possible to’ ascer- tain to a minute the time that the water may‘rise or fall. The weather has been such during the past week that ore received from the mines and transferred immediately to docks and from there into boats, has not frozen sufficiently There was, how- ever, quite an amount of ore handled that had been in the docks since early in the month, most of which was frozen solid. Boats arriving for such ores were considerably de- layed, but every possible effort was made to give boats prompt dispatch. Shipments from the’docks during the week amounted to about 80,000 tons, which, considering the lateness of the season and the fact that but few mines are now shipping, is a very good showing. Nothing-to speak of will be done from this on as the weather has settled down hard and shipments are practically over. 1 Sr oo H. D. Metcalf, the president of the Montreal Corn Ex- change, says that he has 200,000 bushels of grain to move via the Canadian route, but, cannot find the boats, and that the failure to vacate the coasting laws temporarily. has left him in a bad plight. He says he knows of a consignment of 1,500,000 bushels of grain for which there is no vessel room, He.expects to have to ship via Buffalo or some other port on the United States side of the lakes. In this it is considered that he may. have difficulty, as the elevator space. at Buffalo is already over taxed. It is hardly be- lieved that the present.experience in Montreal will have any serious effects, upon the Canadian route. It may in- crease the ship production of Canadian shipyards. NovVEMBER 28, 190 BUFFALO. Special Correspondence to The Marine Record. ‘Some of the last coal charters I hear of to Chicago are at 8o cents. Over 81,000 tons of coal let here this week by lake at my last week's quotation on freight rates, Chicago, of course taking the greatest lump, say 40,000 tons, and 90 cents paid ae to the South Branch of. the river. ‘haga Chicago and Milwaukee is paying 80 cents this week with light chartering, The railroad car situation is accountable for the lack of bituminous, hence the low rate offered, which now ought to be at least $1.10. ee Coal charters reported on Tuesday were the Minneapolis for Gladstone at 60c and the Egan for Chicago at 8oc. There are lots of vessels, but chartering is made very un- certain by the delay in loading. It is expected that several — cargoes will be sent to Duluth before the close. With the hard cold weather.shipments are drawing to a close and only the best boats are being chartered, yet, not many boats are going into winter quarters at this port. It would seem that the majority of tonnagé will winter at Lake Michigan ports and Cleveland or adjacent points. Capt. Alex Clark, identified. withthe union known as the Shipmasters’ Association, is just out from the effects of a broken leg that has laid him up since last Christmas. The bone did not knit for a long time and his doctors once feared that the leg would have to be taken off. With the closing of the local canal collector’s office on Thursday at noon, it is probable that the routine duties of this branch of Buffalo’s traffic business will be practically concluded for the season. One or two light boats possibly. may clear on Friday for Tonawanda or Lockport, but noth- ing beyond that. The International Seamen’s Union of America went into convention on Tuesday in the Mansion House... Delegates. from all the large sea and lake ports were in attendance. The session will probably last until Saturday, when the election of officers for the ensuing year will be held. The only business transacted at the first, meeting was the ap- pointment of several committees to act at this session. The steamers Iron Age and the Tioga of the Union Steamboat line came together Monday afternoon in the river and the Iron Age had considerable planking of her stern jammed in. The Iron Age was backing out of the Erie basin just as the Tioga was coming in from the lake. The captain of the Iron Age could not get his boat’s stern around in time to prevent the Tioga from crashing into it. The Tioga suffered no damage. It is said the strong cur- rent in the river caused the accident. The amount of lumber forwarded by canal from the Tonawandas so far this season totals 194,623,203 feet, which the oldest shippers and carriers say has never been equaled in the history of the market. The shipments of lumber for last season are exceeded by 40,448,100 feet, those for 1899 by over 20,000,000 feet, and those for 1808 by nearly 10,000,000, The record for 1901 to date would’ have been much better, had the opening of navigation not been delayed until May 5, two weeks later than usual. _ The formation of the opposition tug company is the sub- ject of much comment. It*appears that the new concern has obtained a good start, and is promised more business next season than it has now, not only from-the line steam- ers, but from local owners. This is a part of the policy of © vessel owners generally to keep some sort of opposition to the towing trust in sight. Since the Maytham line went into the trust there has been complaint that the rates were higher and the amount of attention to vessels diminished: Capt. St. Clair will need to hustle at this as well as other ae if he intends the tug combine to hold all of the lake rade. Ries ; The marine fraternity has lost in the death of Adelbert. C. Lanclot this week, one of its best members. For the past eleven years he was an agent of the lake freight de- partment of the Lehigh Valley R. R. Co., and stood high' in the estimation of all with whom he was brought into: contact in the vessel business, which on account of his— aptitude, was conducted with the greatest possible skill. | Mr. Lanclot was born at Churchill, N. Y., in 1858, and: died on Tuesday, November 26, leaving his wife,Mrs. Jennie FE. as the only surviving member of his family. He was a member of Hiram Lodge No. 105, F. & A. M., Buffalo Chapter, No. 71, R. A. Masons, and too worthy to lose,. but we must accept the inevitable. The reports to the effect that the Anchor Line is about to build three steel steamers to replace the India, China - and Japan are still unconfirmed, but if present calculations mature there will be a contract let for one at least. The Philadelphia authorities are moving in the matter, but they will not contract for three steamers now, and they could not have them built in time for next season if they did. The. plan is to build one steamer that will carry about as much as the entire three passenger steamers do now, that 1s 3,000 tons of freight and 300 passengers. The manage- ment wants to continue the old plan as far as possible, as it 1s convinced that nothing else on the lakes has been an Improvement on it. The Anchor Line has always been a favorite one with the passenger service.