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3. : MARINE REVIEW. MARINE REVIEW. DEVOTED TO THE LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. : # JOHN M. MULROONEY, F. M. BARTON, Published every Thursday at No. 510 Perry-Payne Building, Cleveland, O. SUBSCRIPTION—$2.00 per year in advance. Advertising rates on applica- tion. eh \ PRopRinrors. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter. SECRETARY WINDOM, in the speech made by him on the last day of his life, quoted figures prepared by the MARINE RE- - viEw and kept standing at the head of its editorial page, show- 4 ing that the tonnage which passed through the Detroit river during the 234 days of navigation in 1889 exceeded by 2,468,127 tons the entire British and foreign tonnage which entered and F cleared at London and Liverpool that year in the foreign and 3 coastwise trade ; and that the freight which passed through the St. Mary’s Falls canal in 1890 exceeded by 2,256,876 tons the entire tonnage of all nations which passed through the Suez canal in 1889. It will always be one of the great aims of the REVIEW to present data that will fuliy repesent the extent of lake commerce, as there is no better means of securing through con- gress the improvements demanded in these important waterways. THE sinking of the big passenger steamer City of Detroit in the Detroit river is an indication of what may be expected if the big grain and ore fleet goes into commission without provision having been made for private lights. It is more than probable that the big steamer wonld have found the Lime-Kiln’s channel if Duff & Gratfields ranges below the cut had been lighted. They were not lighted, however, and the big boat got in to the eastward striking McDougall’s rock with great force. She now lies on the bottom at the Texas dock. “ Important Letter From Gen. Poe. _ “The recent break in the dam at Sault Ste. Marie caused some comment among Cleveland Vessel owners which the MARINE -EVIEW set forth in a letter to Gen. Poe, requesting an answer. answer printed below, is self-explanatory: _ MARINE Review, Gentlemen:—I have to acknowledge re- -ceipt of yours of the 28th inst., requesting me to give certain in- formation and express an opinion about the cofferdam at St. Mary’s Falls Canal, which has recently been the subject of great solicitude, growing out of avery serious leak underneath it. During my recent visit to Sault Ste. Marie, caused by the leak referred to, I exposed myself to such extent that I have been quite ill since, and now get out of a sick bed to reply to your communication. I say this toexplain why my statement is necessarily made as short as possible, as I have not the physical strength at this time to go into details. When the construction of the new lock was first proposed one of the earliest questions was as to its location, whether it should be located in the position of the old state lock, taking water from the same prism as the present lock, or whether it would be better to construct an entirely new canal. he first case involved the construction of a cofferdam under very diffi- cult conditions, in such a way as to enable us to drain the pit below it and, at the same time, not interfere with the navigation of the canal. The site of the cofferdam was necessarily of rock, and that of not a good character at the top. The construction of a second canal involved a very greatly increased expenditure, but did not dispense with the cofferdam; which we must have added to it, not necessarily in the prism, but connected with it by a rock formation which, at the best, is very uncertain. ‘There was no assurance that in making the new canal we might not have trouble from leakage from the present canal into it to quite as great an extent as through our present cofferdam. We were led to consider this possibility through the experience gained in the original construction of _ Nickel Plate, or B. F. Hoin the canal, when a serious break occurred, and the leakage of the canal into the river from the present prism was not entirely stopped until after the completion of our cofferdam, which cut off the source of this leak. The construction of a second canal would have been very much more expensive and would have taken a longer time. The moment we get the new lock done our double system will be available: but in case of a new canal we would have to wait the excavation of a canal prism, which is not the case with ° the lock located as it is. : . From the day when the cofferdam was designed until the present, there has not been an hour, day or night, except dur- ing sleep, and sometimes not then, that I have not thought of the possibility of damageto our cofferdam. It has been the source of constant and intense anxiety, and that willnotcease until we get at least the upper end of the new lock completed. I am in com- plete sympathy with the vessel men, and recognize, as perfectly legitimate, every criticism concerning the location of the coffer- dam and the design under which the work is now being prose- cuted. ‘The only point I wish to make is that the subject of an entirely new canal was considered, and, after discussion, the present plan was adopted as being, all things considered, the more advantageous to the government and to the vessel men. We believe that we can maintain our cofferdam in its pres- ent position without any serious interference with navigation ; but the difficulties and dangers surrounding the case are grave, and it would be foolish to ignore them. We hope that nothing ‘ serious will occur during the season of navigation, and that a suspension of navigation will not be rendered necessary. We feel all the more assured. now that we have gotten rid of another crevice in the rock. All former leaks had their origin in similar crevices, though not so large, and they were effectually stopped. It is believed that the position of this outbreak is the last-of them, and we have now the leak reduced to such an amount as to be unimportant. If nothing happens, (and of this no man living can speek with absolute confidence), we will have the new lock-pit pumped out within a week from this time. We consider our cofferdam better now than ever before. Trusting that this information will be satisfactory, and as- suring you that, so far from ojecting to criticism in this case, I court it. I have as yet seen nothing to lead me to think that it would have been preferable to construct another canal entirely independent of the old one, but I have no pride of opinion, and, in case the result should show that my jndgement was errone- ous, I will then candidly admit it. Very respectfully, ey O. Me Pox; Col. Corps of Engineers, Bvt. Brig. Gen., U. S. A.’ The Cincinnati Underwriters. A mistake was made last week in saying that P. H. Fleming & Co., of Chicago, will act as general agents of the Cincinnati Underwriters. J.C. Burton & Son, of Detroit, are the general agents of that company. The Detroit firm is also a correspondent of P. H. Fleming & Co., but the affairs of the Cincinnati com- pany are all handled through Detroit. es The Cleveland and Lake Superior mining companies, old in. the history of the Lake Superior iron region, go back many years. in the selection of names for their big steel steamships. The: name Griffin, to be given to the fourth of the Lake Superior boats, which will soon be launched from the yard of the Cleve- — land Ship Building Company, was first given to a dug-out used by La Salle in his explorations. ‘Then there are the steamers. es Pontiac and Frontenac, named respectively for the chief of - Ottowa Indians and the French governor of Canada; Joliet, the — French explorer of the Mississippi; La Salle, the : French priest se explorer and Wawatam another Indian chief. i ee THROUGH SLEEPERS AND CHAIR CARS. No ExtTRA FOR SEATS IN CHAIR Cars. On April 21, the Nickel Plate through cars to the Pacific coast, to accommodate th siring to go to points in Minnesota, Iowa, Misso Nebraska, the Dakotas, New Mexico, Colorad Montona, Utah, !daho, Nevada, California, Oreg ington. For information call on or address" A