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the M anine Revond. eno Nein Shadi dice git es bce Aaa 5 Ue DETROIT. Special to the Marine Record. May 4.—The Chicago steam and sail fleet which was the first to take their departure from Lake Michigan, with the exception of two slight diaasters in the Straits, made the entire distance in safety, notwithstanding the sailing class had much iée to encounter in Lake Huron. The tugs, however, were on the alert to pick them up at distances far remote from the rivers, so that they were not long in reaching Lake Erie. It is worthy of note that the Detroit tugs were never in any previous season excelled in the rapidity of their movements. The tug Champion passed down at the close of the day with four vessels of large size and at an early hour the next day she passed with four more, all of which was performed in side of twenty-four hours. The tug John Owen, which went to Chicago for her con- sorts, the fine schooners Michigan and E A. Nicholson, had two others of large: size, making good time, as is her custom, the en- tire distance. Other tugs are by no means to be omitted, the Swain and Crusader, the latter having four vessels, all laden with _ flaxseed, an incident never before recorded. J. C. Goss is making a complete set of sails for the barge Michigan which was formerly the railway steamer. She is of ponderous dimensions, and will carry a large cargo. Mr, Goss hus other work on hand to keep his entire force actively employed: T. W. Noble has also strengthened his forces, baving much work on hand. Captain Morley, at Marine City, is at present laying the keel for a 2,000-ton steam- ship, which it is iutended, will be second to none afloat in point of strength and other- wise. She will be well advanced toward completion ere the fall season arrives. Captain Charles Ford, the representative owner of the barges Vanatta and Star of Hope, which met with disaster early in the season at Point au Pellee, the former prov- ing a total loss, has commenced suit againet the owner of the steambarge Burlington for damages. He bases his claim on the fact that it was expressly understood that they were to be towed to Cleveland by way of. the south passage, and had this course been pursued, the accident would not have hap- pened. : The.Lake Superior Transit steamers are taking their deparcure from here on regular time, with good dispatch and well freighted. Messre, Whiting & Son are snugly settled in their new offices, and they will soon have everything in tip top order. The new schooner D. R. Shaw, which was built at Bay City, passed here on Thursday, her maiden trip, in tow of thesteamer Anna Smith. She is a fine looking craft in every respect. The propeller Atlantic returned as far as here on her first round trip to Mackinaw, and had a large freight, and it, was owing to this fact that she did not goon to Cleve- land. She returned again on Saturday even- ing, freighted to her utmost capacity. The steamer City of Alpena has also made two round trips to Mackinac, having freight and passengers. The tug River Queen is being rebuilt at this port, and will not be ready tor business until the latter part of the month. Grain freights are gradually on the de cline at all points. The schooner Golden Fleece discharged 32,000 bushels of wheat at the Sarnia ele- vator and the City of Cheboygan alike cargo, both from Chicago. The buoys and stakes in all the riyers are again in position. The three masted scow, Grace Amelia, which has been moored at Windsor during « the winter, took fire on Thursday night or early Friday morning, and was damaged to the extent of $50C or thereabout, Friday at noon the fire got started again, but was sup- pressed with slight additionaldamage. She isowned by Captain McBride, of St. Thomas, Ont., and insured for $2,000. The tug Folger, of Kingston, Ont., it iS stated, will be stationed at Windsor this sea- son to attend to wrecking jobs in Canadian waters. : During the month of April there were thirty-five casualties on the lakes from the following causes: Ashore, nine, damages $6,300; fire, three, $31,300; sprung aleak, six, $3,500; stranded, seven, $3,200; heavy weather, three, $300; collisions, seven, $2,- 600; total, $47,200. During the same time fifteen vessels changed owners, the aggre- gate sales amounting to $154,500. There were also eight deaths, three from natural causes, three accidental, and two suicides. The schooner Sarah, of Port Burwell,-ar rived here on Friday, leaking badly, and was with difficulty kept from water logging pefore getting into port. She was freighted with cord wood from the Sand hills. The steamer H. J. Jewett, on her recent trip up, made the distance fiom Buffalo to Detroit in eighteen and one-ha!f hours, a remarkably quick passage. The steamer Darius Cole, with invited guests on board, made a trial trip Sunday to the St. Clair flats canal. A gentleman who was on board took the following notes of the trip: Left Detroit at 10:09 o’clock, passed Wind Mill Point at 10:40, the lightship at 10:56, arriving at the canal at 11:55; left canal at 4:09 o’clock, passe’ the lightship at 5:05, Wind Mill Point at 5:19, Belle Isle light 5:26, arriving at Woodward avenue at 5 4216. The time made from: the canal to | BAY CITY. Special to the Marine Record. The steamers Arundel] and Metropolis, of the Shore line, are doing an immense freight business at present. The remodeling of the tug Laketon into a schooner is well under way at Sprague’s doek. She will carry three short spara, and it is expected will have a capacity for fifty cord of. stone, into which trade she will be put. The Laketon is 108 feet long and 18 feet beam. Her machinery has been placed in the new propeller that was built during the winter by F. W. Wheeler, for the Alpena Detroit was 1 hour 821¢ minutes. She now , & Black River route. performs regular trips to Port Huron. The steamer, Saginaw, Captain Smith, made her first trip from Toledo on Satur- ‘day, with the prospect of a good business in store for her. Wore was received here on Saturday that the steamer V. Swain, coal laden, had stranded,on Round. Island reef, above the Sault. ‘ Aga result of the recent ship carpenters’ strike the contract. for building the steam ship by the Detroit Drydock Company for the Inter Ocean Company, has been sus- pended. Since midwintec she has been in frame, but the suspension of work for so long a time rendered it imp»ssible for the company to complete her as contracted for, and they accoraingly asked for an extension of tine which the Inter Ovean Company would not consent to, and this was followed by a canceling of the contract and the suspension of the work. Jvubhn Blades, of the lighthouse steamer Dahlia, was drowned at the St. Clair flats on Sunday, while lowering away one of the boats,.and the body has not yet been re- covered. : _As a result of advertising, our wide awake coal dealer, O. W. Shipman, has already this season furnished a supply of coal to the fol- lowing steamers: Steamships 8. J. Mercy, Chauncey Hurlbut, Schooleraft, Folsom, Nipigon, S. E. Sheldon; propellers City of Concord, City of New Baltimore, Hercules, Winslow, Wells, Oneida, Mineral Rock, Atlantic, Ida and Sanilac. It may be stated, also, that there are several lines of steamers that get their supplies exclusively from his dock. ‘ The steambarge Alpena had her machin- ery somewhat damaged in Lake Erie on Fri- day, but managed to reach Malden where repairs were made. . The schooner Typo arrived here with coal from Oswego, and is discharging. Captain Henry Johnson has received the appointment of master of the beautiful yacht Waubun, recently purchased by R. D. Perry. Tug Sweepstake arrived at Buffalo with the schooner Sweetheart, which had been ashore in the Straits. The vessel was not leaking much on the way down. A new tug made her appearance here on Monday and isa substantial looking craft of that class. She was built at Wallaceburgh, Ont., and owned by O’Leary & Downs, of Pert Lambton, on the river St, Clair. She is commanded by Captain John Shepol- Hat. : DULUTH. Special to the Marine Record. A serious error was made in quoting charters from here at 33gc in last week’s paper. One agent has taken about 400,000 bushels at 33c for first trip, and I don’t think any has been contracted for at less. Mr. James T, Rose, a well informed agent at this port, says there are now 7,500,000 bushels of wheat in store here, and we hope to get a couple millions more on this crop. We are having most extensive dock im- provement made, and when completed dur- ing this season, we will have more avail- able dock frontage than any lake.port ex- cepting, probably, Chicago. One new slip will have a frontage of three thousand feet on one side of it. Our port will be pre- pared to take care of all the business that can possibly offer. Village Attorney Edson has received a reply to his letter to the lighthouse board, asking for buoys in the channel], The epis- tle is of the usual unsatisfactory tenor of letters from the department, and says that the lighthouse board has nothing to do with the placing of buoys but that the matter rests entirely with the government engi- neer. Mr. Fairchild, the acting secretary of the treasury, has sent a communication to the house reconimending an appropriation of $10,000 for the erection of a lighthouse at Two Harbors. The steamer Onoko and propeller Cuba and consort Donaldson have been chartered from Duluth to Buffalo. The Cuba left Buffalo Friday for this port and the Onoko will endeavor to get here about the time the Cuba clears with her cargo. The steamer Metropolis ran into the stern of the tag O. W. Cheeny, on her lasttrip in, and left an indentation to the extent of a foot in the tug’s fender strake. The picturesque, but useless mountain of j ive at Pencoming which was formed there by the big blow, has disappeared. he sur- face of the bay Is no Jonger a sheet of ice. Numerous small sail vessels are making short trips, and in fact the season of navi- gation and business has fairly opened. Raft- ing operations commenced on Wednesday last and will soon be in full blast. A handsome new schooner, H. A. Haw- good, built for H, A. Hawgood, of this city, und Waldo Avery, of East Saginaw, was successfully launched at Wheeler’s shipyard on Wednesday afternoon. The new craft is 248 teet over all, 233 teet keel, 40 feet beam, and 17 feet depth of hold, She is built of white oak, with diagonal iron braces, the top strap being 3g by 8 inches, and the diagonal straps 14 by 414 inches, She has seven hatches,four spars, improved wire rig- ging, two anchors of 2,600 and 3,000 pounds, respectively, both furnished with 15¢ chain. She has also an extra steam pump for wash- ing decks, and two extra steam pumps to be used in case of emergency. She will be a consort of the steamship Waldo A. Avery, in the grain trake, and her maiden trip will be to Duluth. : : Dockwollopers’ wages at East Tawas have been-set at forty cents per hour. The tug Reid, with steam pumps, has been busy all the week on the Oconto. Her efforts were finally crowned with success. The Oconto has been taken to Port Huron for repairs. es Captain Jack Rafferty is now in command of the tug Hubbard, and isengaged in bring- ing Bay View ice to Bay City for Young Brothers, ice merchants, There were quite a number of vessels ar- rived in the river Monday from the lower lake ports, among which might be men- tioned the barge A. CO. Keating, Captain George Ryan’s new purchase; the propeller P, Chamberlain, with barges Mary Birck- head, G. D. Norris, and H. W. Hoag, also, the steambarge P. H. Birckhead, with barges Dayton, ‘roy, Brainard, and Young, Every day seems to make the prospects for a good season for the lumber carriers more dubious, and vessel owners are wear- ing decidedly long faces. SHAW. _ CLAYTON, Special to the Marine Record, James Barton, of Rome, N. Y., will bring a 43-foot steam yacht to the St. Lawrence this spring. The St. Lawrence river will boom with steamers this summer, The steamer Siesta has been painted and was launched last week. She will soon go to Rochester. The repairs on the schooner yacht Vision are completed, and she will be launched and fitted out soon. Mr. Bogart, mate of the steambarge Mont- eagle, left his boat atthe canal and arrived down on the steamer Walter Frost, on Wednesday, to attend his mother’s funeral, The river traffic'is booming this spring. The steamer Anna Laura is being fitted out. What route she is going on we have not learned. B. FLORENCE. Iron ore is being rushed torward to the various ports of shipment, and the first ves- sel of the season, the steamer Leland, loaded with Champion ore last Monday at St, Ignace. The ore was cousigned to the Elk Rapids Iron Company, Elk Rapids, Mich. The ice is out of Ashland harbor, and the Gogebic mines commenced sending ore for- ward last Monday. Navigation is open, and considerable ore is now on its way to Cleve- land. GODERICH. The tug Jessie succeeded in releasing the schooner A. C, Maxwell, after lightering about 200 tons of ere, and brought her into the harbor Thursday evening. Diver James Quinn examined her and found her in good condition, with the exception of a few butts started and the oakum worked out of a few seams. ‘Lhey expect to reload her iron ore and leave for Cleveland. —— EAST SAGINAW. Special to Marine Record Things in the Saginaw Valley are not as serene as they might be. ‘'he present labor troubles throughout the country are exert- ing a depressing influence on the lumber trade of the Saginaw Valley, in common with other points. There are at present but few vessels and barges in the lumber trade that have secured loads, as purchasers are not buying in large quantities, and those who have already bought would rather have shipments delayed, owing to the disturbed condition of affairs. An eastern buyer yes- terday stated that, aside from labor disturb- ances, prospects for business were generally good, but this one elerent of uncertainty had the effect of making purchasers very cautious. He expected to purchase a large ameunt of lumber this spring, but was con- tent at present to do very little in that direc- tion; buying less than a quarter the amount he had expected to a month ago, _AIl this will be bad for the Inmber carriers, and a vessel owner said today that the lack of cargoes and the presence in the river, in a few days, of a large number ot vessels seck- ing charters, would have a tendency to lower rates from those fixed at the opening of navigation. Freghts at this writing are the same as quoted lust week, Captain Charles Moiles is now in com- mand of the steamer David Sutton. The recent trouble between the longshore- men and the stevedores has at last been set- tled. The longshoremen finding that they were losing ground each day, concluded that they were only cutting off their own noses by quitting work because of the steve- dores loading some of the line boats. Wages are forty cents per hour, and vessel men have the privilege of hiring whoever they choose, In other words the arrangements are the same as last season. : : The steamer Saginaw Valley took a large iis of freight out of the river on her last trip. oe The Boom Company has begun operations — for the season. The tugs I. P. Logie, Little Giant and Robert Weideman comprise the fleet fcr this season. ; The steamers Lucille and W, R. Burt, of the River line, have some lively times now and then. The steamer Lucille leaves just ahead of the Burt, and it is “‘nip and tuck” for the landings from here to Bay City, but the boats are about evenly matched. The tug office of Messrs. Cornell & Staf- ford, for so many years located on Washing- ton avenue, has been removed to 115, Gen- esee avenue, epposite the Bancroft House, where vessel men, visiting the Saginaws, can always find a brother mariner and learn all the points of the day as to loading, trans- fers, etc. The tug Roy, of the T. & S. T. Company, has arrived in the river for the season from Marine City. Captain Stratton pulls the bells. On Saturday three barges at Bay City cut the rate and took loads, as follows: Sagi- naw to Buffalo, $1.6214; Bay City to Buf- falo, $1.50; Saginaw to Ohio, $1.371¢; Bay City to Ohio, $1.25; Bay City to Detroit, $1.124¢. The Canadian propeller L. Chickluna is now loading 38-inch plank or deals for Que- bec. The deals are for England, and will be placed on beard an ocean steamship at Quebec. Saw, KINGSTON. The opposition to the Richelieu company which was threatened on the part of the Utica and Black River railway and the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg to run a line of steamers from Clayton to Montreal, through the Thousand islands, appears to have been successfully headed oft by Mr. L. A. Seneca], the president of the Richelieu and Ontario navigation company. That gentleman -has just returned froin New York, and has suc- ceeded in making arrangements by which not only no opposition will take place, but on the contrary, the Americans who pro- posed starting it will become interested in the Richelieu company. It is even stated that Mr. Senecal has succeeded in enlisting the Vanderbilt system in his behalf, CHEBOYGAN, The buoys marking the channel in the Soo River are allin place, and boats can move up and down the river with safety, SANDUSKY, The schooner Kitchen, which has been fast on the inner bar here for some days, was released Tuesday afternoon, They had to dredge a channel out to her, ALPENA, The propeller Lycoming from Chicago for Buftalo was disabled, off Thunder Bay island Wednesday night by breaking her cylinder head and cross frames. She was picked up by the propeller Columbia, and left during the night forjPort Huron.