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4 MARINE REVIEW. : eee Freight Situation—The Big Grain Crop. All interest regarding lake freight is now centered in the movement of wheat from the head of Lake Superior, which will begin with the first few days of the coming month. High: rates are expected, and there is no doubt that the shipments will sur- pass all records of previous years. Most vessel owners refuse to charter in advance at any price and the few who accepted 4 cents a short time ago on cargoes to be carried in October do not feel that they have any advantage in the.market. Still, the grain shippers are not bidding for tonnage in advance. This is what one of the leading brokerage firms in Duluth sends us regard- ing the prospects. “We look for shipments of at least 200 cargoes of wheat from here this fall, and in addition to this every elevator, grain bin and warehouse will be full to overflowing in ample time for the spring trade of 1892. Harvest operations throughout this section have become general, and our most conservative crop experts place the yield at 140,000,000 to 150,000,000 bushels. Of this amount the territory directly tributary to Duluth will send 40,000,000 bushels of the crop of 1891 to Duluth. The danger line is passed and there is now no doubt but what the entire crop will be safely gathered. Owing to the urgent export demand for wheat, we feel confident that every bushel forwarded from the interior be- tween Sept. 1 and the close of navigation will be promptly ship- ped by lake from Duluth. While it is true that this movement will not become general until Sept. 20 or Oct. 1, yet shipments from the earlier districts will begin to arrive about Sept. 1 to Sept. 5. A few vessels will be wanted for this trade by the first of the month, and the demand for tonnage will continue to increase as the season advances.”’ The foregoing is certainly a very bullish summary of the situation. Two hundred cargoes of wheat of 1,600 tons average adds 320,000 tons to the Lake Superior movement of freight during the two closing months of navigation. It means five car- goes a day for fifty days in October and November, without tak- ing into account the additional heavy shipments of flour. The ore freight market has been settled during the past few days at $1.15 from Ashland, $1.10 from Marquette and go cents from Escanaba. Rates on soft coal from Ohio ports are based on 50 cents to Milwaukee and Chicago as wellas ports at the head of Lake Superior. Protection has Helped the Lake Trade. The American Economist commenting on the low prices at which lake shipbuilders have taken contracts from the govern- ment for steel vessels of late, says: ‘On one contract for four light-ships that are to go to the coast the government saved over $70,000 by the presence of a shipbuilding industry on the lakes, and the average of the bids of all the lake builders was be- tween $9,000 and $10,000 below the average bids of builders on the Atlantic. The lake builders have been building for a pro- tected trade—the coasting trade—and it has been a good trade. If our builders on the sea coast had had during the past five or six years as large a proportional demand for steel ships as the lake builders have had,the whole country would probably be get- ting its ships 15 or 20 per cent. cheaper than now,and a great many more men would have had employment in iron making.” ‘There is no denying this argument. Protection given to the iron ore industry of Lake Superior has had most to do with the erection of shipbuilding plants that are the largest in the country. Combined Capacity of the Whalebacks. Eighteen vessels now comprising the fleet of the American Steel Barge Company on the lakes and the coast have a combined carrying capacity of 35,500 gross tons. ‘This includes barge No. 116, which will be launched shortly at West Superior. Five of these boats, the steamers Colby and Wetmore and barges 110, 201 and 202, are on the coast and have a capacity of 7,300 gross tons, while the barges on the lakes have a capacity of 28,200 gross tons. When it is’ considered that all of these vessels have been built within three years, there can be no doubt of the ability of the projectors of the barge enterprise to carry out the Puget sound ship-yard deal and other big schemes which they have under way. ‘There is certainly no doubt of the success of the ~ barges on the lakes, as they have run without serious accident of any kind, and their influence on the general treight carrying trade must also be admitted. Still, there is every reason to look for the building of a number of regular freight carriers in other ship yards during the coming winter, and although the builders of the barges express a willingness to take contracts from out- siders, the ownership of the whalebacks is still confined to the American Steel Barge Company. Coal Statistics of Little Value. If Ohio statistics on the general production of minerals are no more reliable than the figures on lake coal shipments recently presented by Hon. R. M. Hazeltine, chief inspector of Ohio mines and mining, in his sixteenth annual report to the governor, little reliance can be placed in them. The chief inspector says: “The demand for coal at lake ports to supply the trade in the northwest during portions of the year exceeded the carrying capacity of the railroads to such a degree as to greatly injure the trade in the mining regions, which depend on local markets for their trade. The total amount of coal shipped from the various lake ports from Buffalo to Toledo inclusive was 5,000,749 tons. Of this amount 1,808,749 tons was Ohio coal and 3,191,700 tons came from the Pennsylvania mines, leaving 2,281,886 tons, the princpal amount of which was forwarded by rail from Toledo. It is well known to lake coal shippers that the total movement of soft coal (Ohio produces no hard coal) from all Lake Erie ports during 1890 was but 3,107,826 tons, and this represents a — very big trade. Of this coal 1,760,250 tons was from the Hocking valley and 1,347,566 tons the Pittsburgh district. These figures are from reports furnished the Pittsburgh Association of Lake Coal Shippers by the railway companies and are reliable. No good can come from any attempt to magnify a business of this kind. Ratio of Heating Surface to Indicated Horse-Power. The LondonTimes in its criticisms of what is termed a specu- lative tendency in the new American warships said that “the area of heating surface allowed in the designer’s estimate for each unit of indicated horse-power is considerably smaller in the American calculations than the area adopted by the British Ad- miralty as the result of practical experience.” Secretary ‘Tracy in a magazine article recently answered this and other criticisms by the Times. He showed conclusively that, with the single ex- ception of the Baltimore every one of the latest American designs has a higher ratio of heating surface to indicate horse-power than appears in any of the British ships. Mr. Tracy adds that the Baltimore being of English design, might properly go into the British column English writers on the subject are now suggesting that it would probably be well for the Admiralty to follow the American example and give a more liberal allowance of heating surface for each indicated horse power, as the high ratio of heating surface means less work per square foot, and consequently greater endurance and longer life for the boilers. Engravings in the MARINE REVIEW last week showing plans of the steel light-ships being constructed at the yard of F. W. Wheeler & Co., West Bay City, for service on the coast, were from the Railroad and Engineering Journal of New York. Fail- ure to credit them at the time was due to an oversight. The journal has given a great deal of attention of late to the advance- ; - ment of inland commerce, especially on the lakes. — :