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Marcu 6, 1go2. LN purchase price of a dredge. Major Kingman, however, believes that the projects he has advocated so far are im: portant enough to demand the summer to insure that they be carried out, which he oricinally suggested. It is hinted, therefore, that he will oppose any measure which will seek to divert some of the present appropriation into a fund for building a dredge. The main objection to this plan is that it would leave no ready money for work this year, or little at best; and it will take at least a year to build such a dredging plant as Major Kingman wants. It is expected that the coming season will be one of the _ best passenger traffic seasons on the chain of lakes that many of the old companies have ever seen. One of the evidences of the increased activity is the preparations which are being made by the D. & C. line, to look out for new business. By some, this is ascribed to the fear of competition from the Barry lines, but another explanation is equally patent. The Detroit & Buffalo line ‘will take away from the D. & C. line much of the business it has hitherto carried from the Michigan territory for the East. This necessitates that the D. & C. offset this lost busi- ness with increased traffic between Ohio and Michigan. The same thing applies to.the C. & B. line. Then the route must be fed, and with the three rushing for business some lively times. are expected. This is especially true if the routes are to be increased by the arrival of the Barry brothers as a factor. Se Ore is going forward from the docks to the furnaces more freely, and all the shippers report that they have fair shipping orders. The car supply is better now than it has been at any time since the close of navigation, but the ore carrying roads are still short of motive power. ‘The move- ment to the furnaces during the winter would have-been much heavier with a fair supply of cars, but the indications are that the dock will be in a little better shape at the open- ing of navigation than they were a year ago. Coal men are not in shape to talk lake freights, and will not until the latter part of the month, when prices for lake coal will be fixed. Vesselmen have not given the matter much atten- tion, and what little talk has been doing has been on the basis of 4o cents to the head of Lake Superior and 50 cents to Milwaukee: on season ‘contracts. The general Opinion is that it will be a good season in the coal trade, and that coal. carriers will be wanted from the start, as most of the docks at. the upper lake ports will be swept pretty clean. The leading dealers say that the prices for fuel for steamers, will be about the same as they were last season. There may be two changes in the rules for the govern- ment of the bridges over the Cuyahoga river, when Major Kingman submits them to the department at Washington to be promulgated as an order of the Secretary of War. At. present the rules make no provision. whatever for “bridge hours’ on many of the railroad bridges. Those who work in “the flats’ use these bridges both night and morning, anda delay of ten or fifteen minutes is oftentimes serious. It has been urged by scme that. the bridge hour extend to these structures as well. The. objection is that they are not. public thoroughfares in any way, and the de- cision to close them during certain hours of the day might be 'taken‘as conceding that. the privacy of the bridges: has been disturbed,'and the public in general has. a right to travel over them almost at will. This is aedinst the con- tention ef the railroads owing the bridges: However, it is possible that the bridgé hour will be made general, even in the face of this seeming invasion of the private right of the company to the bridges in question. ‘The vessel men have fought the provision of the bill which gives’a rail- road the right to hold a bridgé closed when an express train is known to be within five minutes running time of the bridge. The vessel men have frequently contended that the State law provides that all trains must stop at these bridges, which statement the railroad men refute by showing the qualifying statute which makes provisions for the existence of certain signals announcing the bridge to be closed and locked. Whether this clause will be al- lowed to remain in force or be changed has not been de- termined. ————$—$—— OS Towage—Loss of Tow—Liability of Tug.—The obliga- tion of-a tug is to use ordinary care and diligence -with respect to all matters connected with the service she has engaged to perform, and a mere error of judgment on the part of the master will not render her liable for the loss of the tow, unless the error was so gross that it would not have been made by a master of ordinary prudence and judgment. The Czarina, 112 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 541. —$—$—$—— ee Marine Insurance—Notice to Brokers as Affecting Un- derwriter.—Insurance brokers, who undertake to procure insurance for a shipping agent or a shipowner, and do so, placing it with different companies, while they are agents for one of the companies issuing a policy for the collection of the premiums, are not its agents in respect to matters connected. with the issuance of the policy, but the agents of the assured, and notice to them that the application, though in the name of the agent, was made on behalf of the shipowner, does not bind the company, which, in the ab- sence of actual knowledge of such fact, is justified in issu- ing the policy in the name of the applicant, and in treating him as the insured. Mannheim Ins. Co., vs. Hollander, - 12 Fed Rep. (U. 8S.) 549. THE MARINE RECORD. » CHICAGO. — tee Special Correspondence to The ‘Marine. Record: a ea . At the, beginning of the week, Chicago public and private elevators contained; 21;733,000, bushels’ of grain as, ol OWS: Wheat, 11,094,000, bushel; corn, 7,034,009 bushels; oats, 2,157,000 bushels; rye, 1,156,000 bushels; barley, 292,000 bushels. The amount of grain afloat in vessels ré¢mains oe viz: 417,000 bushels of wheat and 77,000! bushels of rye. pitas CO) The railroads have doubtless won in their contest with lake steamboat lines over the payment of commissions of ticket sellers ofthe railroads by the steamboat companies. General passenger agents of the Chicago lines admitted as much this week, and while some plans to get around the decision of the railroads are under consideration, it does not seem likely that anything further can be done.. ‘The report from Washington that the $345,000 estimate for enlarging and deepening Waukegan’s harbor has been put in the new harbor bill gives bright prospects for securing the money, as the bill is expected to pass this time. The item was in the bill that failed of passage a year ago. ‘The appropriation of the sum would greatly add to Waukegan’s prestige as a port. The Elgin, Joilet & Eastern Railroad has a big slip and dock improvements here planned, dependent on the passage of the. bill. The first boat to reach Chicago from the east shore this spring was the Edward Buckley, which arrived from Man- istee. She has.a cargo of 1,c00 tons of salt. It is said the early opening of navigation is due to the efforts of the salt trust in getting its product to the market with as little delay as possible. It is expected that several others of the steam barge fleet will shortly enter the salt trade on Lake Michigan, but the big fellows, whose business takes them.to the lower lakes, will have to wait for some weeks before the southerly winds open up a passage for them through the Straits of Mackinac. The Buckley reported but little trouble in getting through the ice floes on the way. over. : The railroads are to take tip, at a meeting at Chicago next week, the question of giving cheap ratés to the sail- ors going to their boats from their home towns, and fe- turning when navigation has been suspended. For years the railroads in the lake region have given the sailors a half rate, but last season they came to the con- clusion that the privilege had ‘been abused, and determined, if this decision should be borne out, that they would grant no further concessions. ‘he committee appointed for the purpose has been investigating the question for.the last month, and will report at a meeting of the Central Pas- senger Association next week at Chicago. It is expected that the concession will be withdrawn. ar my ‘Lhe unloading committee of the Lumber Carriers’ Asso- ciation will meet in Chicago this week, to fix the scale for that port. The Detroit members of the committee’ met the Buffalo delegation, and with them proceeded to .Chi- cago, where a lumber dealers’ convention is in progress. The lumber. dealers of Detroit have arrived at an agree- ment with the International Longshoremen’s Association as to the unloading scale to be in force at this port during the coming season. It will be the same as the scale granted Messrs. Kotcher and Wiltom over a week ago, and through a misunderstanding. was supposed to cover the en- tire port. The docking charges were ‘not agreed upon, this being left to the individual owners to arrange with the local unions. : . The right of. cities and towns to construct waterworks cribs in navigable waters and their liability in case ves- sels run into the cribs will be the basis of an important decision by Judge Kohlsaat in the United States district court this week. The decision will come in the Conestoga case, where the Anchor line is endeavoring to collect some $70,000 from the city of Chicago on account of a collision three years ago by the Conestoga with the waterworks crib off Chicago avenue. The case has been sharply con- tested throughout. The attorneys for the city feel con- fident that the Anchor ‘line will not be able to recover. Capt. Peter Barry of the Barry Bros.’ Transportation Co., Chicago, is making a trip to various ports on Lake Michi- gan with a view to acquiring dock property: for the accom- modation of the company’s vessels. ‘‘The work of erecting suitable freight and passenger stations with wharves will, it is said, be started very.soon at Manitowoc, Wis., and it is believed an. attempt will also be made to secure dock- age at Menominee and Marinette in order that the Barry line may get in on the bay traffic, now handled exclusively by the Goodrich line. The steamers Badger State and Empire State will go into commision April 1. They are now undergoing. repairs at Manitowoc. The question of the current in the river was up in the U. S. District court here last week, in the case of Wallace vs. steamer Worthington. During the season of 1900 the Worthington} in passing up the south branch of the river with the current, came into collision with some canal boats moored to the south bank near Halsted street, doing con- siderable damage. A libel. was filed against the Worthing- ton and the case was on the admiralty calendar a year ago. Ray G. MacDonald, Esq. proctor for the steamer, filed a petition under admiralty rule 59 making the Sanitary Dis- trict a party to the suit, and the case was continued until the ois alee r. F The Worthin, thatthe curfént atthe time,and pl in xcoat f ther ee mel oie be a orizing’ the construction of a drainage can sr starboarded slightly ‘to avoid. a ile dri north bank of the rivér, that urrent cau stermiso’ that she failed to her helm, and tt she was carried by the current down onto the canal boat: Witnesses-on~behalf of the steamer testified that the cur rent was in excess of,three miles per hour, while th perts of the Sanitary District attempted to demons mathematically from ‘the readings: of their guages ‘at ‘Lo port, cross sections of the river, and other considerations ase that it. was less than one and. one-half mil will probably go to the Court of Appeals. 3, of Chicago, and the result will be the establishment,of one of the largest drydock and shipyard plants.on the ‘Jakes at that point. In order to hasten the consummati f the deal and enable the Shipowners’ Drydock Ceo. realize its .plans, the Wisconsin’ Central and ‘Chicago & - Western railway companies have each ddnated tothe ¢ore poration four acres of land adjoining the Burger ‘property. This will give the Chicago people a tract of fifteen acres)in all and insures the establishment of a,plant on.Lake Michi- — gan second only to that of the American Ship Building Go., at South Chicago A~drydock capable of receiving: the — largest vessels on, the lakes and the erection of a plant for the construction and repair of steel vessels will be, en ‘ope * tered upon early in the season so: as to be ready for tion by another winter. This move of the Chicago. Ship- _ owners’ Co. means active competition with the American — Ship’ Building Co., not only for construction’ but repair work. Manitowoc has for years ‘been inactive ‘and suc=: cessful. competition with Milwaukee in the latter. line; and under the new regime this competition will no doubt prove more active and successful than eyer. It is intimated that ae eres) 5 EIS TAS RETNA er eae HERE RSTER ae _ FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. . The steamer’ Germanic is the first vessel-of the Mil-+ waukee winter fleet to receive a cargo of grain for. spring delivery at Buffalo. It consists of 75,000 bushels of barley — and the freight rate is 2 cents. Be of Nant aiagg 3 ett ‘ OO ean penis The crew of the Milwaukee life saving station, under Capt. Ingar Olson will be the same as last year, viz;. Jul. ius Meyer, Richard. Wachsmuth, Joseph Humphrey, Chris Michaelson and Edward Garwick of Milwaukee ;,Cornelius. Nissen, Sister Bay; Henry Sporland, Sturgeon, Bay, :and, Samiiel’ Post; "Bailey's: Harbor 24; eRe eo ey Several changes of masters in the Pauley fleet are an- nounced. Capt. Herman Oertling will succeed Capt. Smith in commanl of the steamer Walter Vail. Capt. Alexander Clegnorn will not be! reappointed to the command of the steamer ‘Thomas, Davidson, it is. said. The name of ‘his successor .remains ‘to’ be learned. . ne aes There were at the beginning of last year, 2,091 vessels of a tonnage of 2,328,474 belonging to Liverpool, while 3,516 vessels of 6,050,526 tons’ entered the port during ’1900°, Owing to the increase of steam, and shorter sea voyages; — many men have their homes in Lancashire and Cheshire but a great number are to be found staying on board ships” in port for a few days, or boarding ashore for a still longer period; 6,635 men boarded at the Sailor’s Home*during — IQOI. : Oh ERE eee te Sandusky is to have'a new waterworks pumping’ station. That was decided upon at a meeting of the trustees last week. ‘The new engine will cost $35,000: The plan -of*purs chase is as follows: ‘The pump is to be leased. to ‘the: city by the Holly Manufacturing’ Co., of Lockport, N. Yi;: for a period of six months, the cost for that time being $2,500. This is repeated for seven years,:at which time the:pump . becomes the property of the city. The new pump will be of 10-million capacity and thoroughly modern in every pars ticular. aare EE AOS ee Say ae na At a meeting at Washineton on Fridav the old dispute over the “Soo” power canal being built by the Clergue, in- terests will be revived. The Lake Carriers’ Association has sent representatives to fight the measure, Mr. Clergue will defend. his interests.. The lake carriers ,will: argue that the movement will lower the levels of lake Superior, and Mr. Clergue will give. the assurance that nayieation will be in no wise interfered with by his power canal. ‘It will be virtually the, rehashing.of the old matter that Has been up for the last two years, or since the power .canal was first proposed. It is intimated that. the Lake Carriers are in reality not openly antagonistic, but_ wish to.safe-guard the vessel. owners’ -interests by .seeming, to. oppose, the measure so that precautionary clauses and BONE ETING phrases may be inserted. Then, if at any time the cana does prove to be a detriment, there mav be a way out of the difficulty. an BETO NG OE