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PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE IN 1901. The production of iron ores in the United States during the year 1901, as given by Mr. John Birkinbine in Mineral Resources of the United States, 1901, United States Geo- logical Survey, David T. Day, Chief of Division, amounted to 28,887,479 long tons, as compared with 27,553,161 long tons in 1900, a gain of 1,334,318 long tons, or 5 per cent. ; the gain of 1901 over 1898 was 9,453,763 tons, or 49 per cent., a phenomenal growth. ‘The total value at the mines of the ere mined in 1901, as reported to this office, was $40,256,245, or a mean value of $1.71 per ton, an apparent decrease of 71 cents, or 29 per cent., from the 1900 figures of $2.42 per ton, The value of the iron ores mined in 1900 was $66,500,504. The largest amounts of iron ores officially reported to date, from any other countries, are 18,667,050 long tons. mined in Germany and Luxemburg in 1900, and 18,031,957 long tons mined in Great Britain in 1882. : ‘T'wenty-five states and one territory mined iron ore in the year 1901, the number of producing states remaining the same as in 1900, Utah dropping out and South Car- olina taking its place. As in the year 1900, Minnesota con- tributed the greater portion of the increase for 1901, and advanced to first place as a producer, Michigan, which has uninterruptedly occupied this position since the year 1881, now being second. New exploitations for standard ores in the Lake Supe- rior district are being actively carried: on, and in addition, some siliceous and lower grades of ores, of: which large quantities exist, are liberally exploited. In the central west, valuable deposits of ore in Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico are being worked extensively to supply the Colorado furnaces. On the Pacific coast, the Irondale furnace in Washington has resumed operations, but its principal reliance so far has been on the magnetite depos- its of Texada Island, in British Columbia. In 1901 the red. hematite mines: contributed 24,006,025 Jong tons, or 83.10 per cent. of the total for the United States, an increase of 6 per cent. over the 1900 total. Min- nesota was the largest producer of this class of ore, fol- lowed by Michigan and Alabama. ‘The total. brown hema- tite mined was 3,016,715 long tons, or 10.44 per cent. of the output of the country, a decrease of 7 per cent. from the _ 1900 record, Virginia and West Virginia, combined, lead as a brown hematite producer, followed by Alabama and Tennessee. Of magnetic ores, 1,813,076 long tons, or 6.28 per cent. of the United States total, were mined in the year I901, an increase of 18 per cent. over-the total for 1900. Pennsylvania was the principal contributor fol- lowed by New Jersey and New York. Only 51,663 long tons of carbonate iron, ore was mined in 1001, being 0.18 per cent. of the total iron ore output for the year. Prac- tically all of this came from Ohio, although Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania contributed small amounts. In the 13 years since the year 1889, when the United States Geological Survey began collecting the statistics of the amounts of the different classes, of iron ore mined, the red hematites have contributed 180,551,009 long tons, or 76.85 per cent. of the total; the brown hematite mines, 30,045,504 long tons, or 13.17 per cent; the magnetic de- posits, 21,524,693 long tons, or 9.16 per cent.; and the car- bonate ores, only 1,926,668 long tons, or 0.82 per cent. of the total. ‘ ‘ ' The greater part of the iron ore in the United States continues to be supplied by the Lake Superior ' region, which produced its maximum’ output of 21,445,903 long tons in 1901, being 74 per cent. of the total quantity re- ported and an increase of 4 per cent. over the total for 1900. The Marquette range, in the state of Michigan, from which ore was first taken in 1856, has contributed, up to date, 62,847,473 long tons. Most ‘of this ore is shipped from the ports of Marquette and Escanaba. ‘The Me- nominee in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, was the second range to be opened in 1877, and it has con- tributed to date, 37,621,428 long tons, the greater portion being shipped from Escanaba and a small amount from Gladstone. .The Gogebic range, in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, and the Vermillion range in Minnesota, began shipping in 1884, the Gogebic range having shipped to date 34,154,790 long tons from the ports of Ashland and Escanaba, and the Vermillion range having shipped to date 16,977,243 tons from the port of T'wo Harbors. ‘The 'Mesabi range in Minnesota began shipping in the year 1804, and has shipped thus far a total of 40,404,967 long tons, and has now apparently greater resources of ore than any of the old ranges. In 1901 this range produced 9,- 303,541 tons, or 32 per cent. of the total for. the United States. A sixth range was opened in Canada in the year 1900, the ore being shipped principally to the United States from the port of Michipicoten in the Province of Ontario, and the total output to the close of 1901 amounted to 284,679 tons. From the above it appears that in the year 1901 the Mesabi range ranked first, producing its maximum output of 9,303,541 long tons, a total that has never been reached by any other iron ore region in the world, the Billboa district in Spain being its closest competitor. _ Taking the states in the order of their production we find that Minnesota contributed 11,109,537 long tons, or 38 ner cent. of the total for the United States, and is easily entitled to first place. In fact, with the exception of _ the German Empire and Great Britain, no country in the world has reached so great a total in any year as the state of Minnesota in 1901, and this phenomenal product ex- ceeded by 3,989,175 long tons the production of iron ore THE MARINE RECORD. of all the mines combined, as reported by the tenth census of the United States in 1880. Michigan ranks next with a total of 9,654,067 long tons of iron ore, a decréase of 3 per cent. from the total for rg00. Alabama ranks third, with a production in rgo1 of 2,801,732 long tons, with nearly 10 per cent. of the total. Pennsylvania regained fourth place, contributing 1,040,684 tons, an increase of 19 per cent. over the state total for 1900, Virginia and West Virginia combined ranked fifth, mining 925,394 tons, an increase of nearly 4 per cent. over their total for 1900. Tennessee increased her output 33 per cent. over the total of 1900, and ranked sixth with 780,494 tons. Wisconsin came seventh, with 738,868 tons. New York was eighth, with 420,218 tons, a decrease of 5 per cent. over the state total of 1900. Colorado ranked ninth, with a total of 404,037 tons, a decrease of nearly 1 per cent. from the state production of 1900. Some of the Colorado ores carry enough silver to make them valuable on that account, and therefore they are not included in this report. New Jersey came tenth, with 401,989 tons, an advance of 17 per cent. upon the 1900 output. Georgia and the two Carolinas together contributed 215,599 long tons of iron ore; and none of the remaining states, except Wyoming, produced over 100,000 tons of iron ore. ————$ ers ae—_ — EASTERN FREIGHTS. Messrs. Funck, Edye & Co., New York, report the con- dition of the eastern freight market as follows: Chartering business during the week has been on a limited scale, and what few fixtures have been effected show ia most cases a decline in rates. Tonnage has had to depend principally on deals and timber from the British Provinces and the Gulf respectively, but in both cases own- er’s have had to make concessions in order to secure charters. The coal strike still prohibits any active move- ment in the export of coal from this coast to the Mediter- ranean and Continental ports. Cotton charterers both from the Gulf and Atlantic ports are inclined to wait for further developments regarding the cotton crop before chartering. One or two steamers are reported as having been closed for the next season, in addition to the two referred to in our last issue, but the particulars are not yet forthcoming. Inquiry for sail tonnage has been exceedingly limited and although offerings are of a meagre order, the situation ap- pears largely nominal in the absence of business of con- sequence. The payment of 10 cents on case oil to Cal- cutta is scarcely a criterion of the market, since the vessel is obliged to proceed to that destination. or AIRSHIPS AND FLYING MACHINES. A feature of unique interest in the June number of the North American Review is the article by Santos-Dumont on “Airships and Flying Machines.” It is the first arti- cle written by the celebrated aeronaut, and contains a lucid description of the principles on which his’ machines have been constructed. It is by a union of aerostation (whose principle requires a combination of materials lighter than the air it displaces) and aviation or the method of a bird’s movement (which involves a combination heavier than the air) that Santos-Dumont has gained such success as has crowned his efforts. air, but by using hydrogen gas in the balloon whith is at- tached to it, and aluminum in parts of the mechanism which do not require the resistant qualities of steel, and by’ such devices, he has endeavored to keep down at a minimum the surplus weight which has to be supported by the dynamic action of the propeller. He expects that as the results of experiments which he has begun this year by increasing the extent of the inclined planes symmetrically disposed on both ° sides of the ship he can gradually diminish the role of the hydrogen until_he has entirely eliminated it, and thus pro- duce a veritable flying machine. In spite of the doubts ex- pressed by such men as Lord Kelvin and Admiral Melville as to the practicability of aerial navigation on a useful scale, Santos-Dumont speaks with the utmost confidence of the outcome of his work. He says: “For myself, ardently devoted as. I am to the captivating study of aviation, I am persuaded that the airship, thanks to the hydrogen, will always have an advantage over the aeroplane in being able to carry a great quantity of com- bustible material for long journeys, a number of travel- ers and a considerable weight of merchandise—an advantage which will give it a practical utility unquestionably superior in commerce or in war. On the other hand, the flying machine will, without doubt attain for short distances an incomparable speed, the advantages of which will be in certain cases very appreciable—for instances, in crossing a strait like the Strait of Dover, in the journeys of the wealthy or in the transmission of despatches at a high rate. “But when I think that an airship of the length of the trans-Atlantic steamer Deutschland, constructed with the proportions of my ‘No. 6, would transport a thousand voyagers of my own weight, with a sufficiently powerful motor and the necessary amount of petroleum, from New York to Havre in two days, I cannot help finding the diri- gible balloon more interesting than the aeroplane from the economic point of view, which is the dominant one in the world of to-day. “This is not the conception of a romancer. It is’an affirmation which I can easily make good by figures; and, what is better, it will, I am firmly convinced, within a few years have become an accomplished fact.” His airship is heavier than the ' JULY 3, Igo2 CIRCULATION IN BOILER TUBES. In a paper recently read before the Societe de I’Industrie Minerale, M. Brull describes some experiments made to determine the circulation in the tubes of boilers of the in- clined water-tube type used. A modified form of the well known “Pitt” gauge was used to indicate the nature of the: flow in the tubes. ‘This gauge corisisted of a couple of tubes arranged concentrically. The inner tube was open at the ends, but the annular space between the two tubes was closed at the ends, though a couple of small holes were drilled through the outer hole into this space an inch or so from one end. ‘This gauge was thrust through a hole in a specially prepared hand hole cover into the tube to be tested. The rush of water impinging on the open end of the inner tube of the gauge caused a rise of pressure there which would be greater, the greater the velocity of flow. The holes into the annular space of the inner tube being at right angles to this flow, the pressure in this annular space was only that due to the static head at the point of insertion. By connecting the inner tube and this annulus to opposite ends of a U-gauge which may be conveniently filled with oil, the intensity of the flow is indicated by the difference of level in the two arms of the U. In the boiler tested by M. Brull; the inclined tubes opened at each end into a water leg. It was found that with lower tiers of tubes the circulation was in the proper direction, but that the rate of flow was greatly affected by the operation of firing. Adding coal to the fire caused the difference of level in the U-gauge to fall from 4.5 in. to 3.75 in., but two minutes afterwards it had increased again to 6 in., and thence fell steadily down to little over 1 in. In the middle rangé of tubes the flow was always opposite to that in- tended by the designer, and its intensity was affected by the operations of the stoker, just as was the cause with the lowermost tubes. With the uppermost tubes the flow was also'in the inverse direction, but was much more active than in the case of the middle tubes, and was, moreover, but little affected by the-state of the fire.. As the whole of the downward flow of-the water was intended by the designer to take place down the back water-leg, it would seem that the abnormal flow in the upper and lower tubes must, by the cross-current introduced, considerably inter- fere with the proper circulation of the water. or THE LAKE LUMBER INDUSTRY. The Census Bureau has completed the report based on the statistics collected in the last census year in Michi- gan and other. states of the country. Facts in the report showing the condition of the lumber interests in Michi- gan are these. The capital invested in 1900 was $67,379,968. In 1890 it was $120,467,072; in 1880, $39,260,428; in 1870, $26,990.45. Of the three greatest lumber states bordering on the lakes—Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota—Michigan still contains the largest number of mills and Minnesota the smallest. In product, Wisconsin is the foremost, fol- lowed by Michigan and Minnesota in the order named. The lumber industry commenced in this lake region in the state of Michigan and has moved westward, so that Min- nesota represents the latest stage in the lumber movement in this region. ‘he mills are smallest in Michigan and ‘far the biggest in Minnesota. Of the prominent lumber states the highest wages are paid in Washington—$542 annually. In Michigan the an- nual rate is $425. In the southern yellow pine states the average annual wages is $283. The upper peninsula and the northern half of the lower peninsula were originally covered with heavy forests of conifers, consisting mainly of white pine. Southward, in the lower peninsula, hard woods were intermingled in in- creasing proportion, while the southern part was largely prairie. The result of a half century of lumbering is to reduce the white pine to a small fraction of its former stand, to make a good beginning on the other conifers. Much of the southern part of the lower peninsula has been cleared for cultivation. : The wood land of the state, including stump lands, is estimated to have an area of 38,000 square miles, or 67 per cent. of the estimated area. The stand of white pine was estimated by Sargent in 1880 at 35,000,000,000 feet, which, judging from the amount subsequently. cut and that now supposed to be standing, was probably not far from correct. In 1896 Prof. Fernow estimated the coniferus - stand at 18,000.000,000 feet, of which 6,000,000,000 was white pine. The last item is somewhat small, as the cut, plus the amount reported as owned, two items which We know auite definitely, foot up more than 6,000,000,000 eet. With a relatively small production in 1850 and 1860, Michigan leaped in 1870 into the leading position as a lumber state and maintained that position until 1900, when, owing to the partial exhaustion of her resources, she fell slightly behind Wisconsin, but still remains the second state in the production of lumber. rr oo or Wharves—Injury to Vessel—Kvidence Considered.— Evidence considered and held not to sustain the claim that an injury to the bottom of a libelant’s barge was received through the defective condition of the bottom of the river: at defendant’s wharf, but to show that it was due to a pre- vious grounding of the barge on some rocks. Fahy vs. Society for Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, IId4 Fed. Rep. (U. S.) 760.