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6 MARINE REVIEW. — ee ee CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, l No. 210 So. Water Street, CHICAGO, IIL. Oct. 22, ( What November will bring in the way of grain freights is generally considered an enigma by vesselmen here. As no one foresaw the crash, so it is said no one can foretell business for next month. Some think that the great wheat crop must begin to move in larger volume, and that in this way plenty of traffic is to be had. Conservative shippers state, however, that little can be expected of wheat. There may be lots of it this fall, but the chances are against it. Corn is the back bone. If the new crop begins to go forward, it will give boats their cargoes. Noone can at this stage say much about the new corn. Of flaxseed, rye and bar- ley considerable quantity is being shipped, but these grains are only sweeteners, It depends mainly on new corn, with wheat an uncertain factor in the background. All this may be too indefinite to suit vessel- owners, but it seems just about the present outlook, judging from many talks with both shippers and vesselmen. There is a feeling of strong resentment among marine men about the course of the Fort Wayne Railroad Company in demanding the prosecu- tion of Capt. Valentine Jones of the steamer Hudson, on the charge that he delayed the United States mails by his boat being held for several hours in the Fort Wayne railroad bridge. It hasbeen on the vague pro- gram of the river interest that as soon as the Canal street bridge question had gone into the courts that formal complaint would be filed with the secretary of war against this railroad bridge as an unreasonable obstruc- tion to navigation. It was believed that a good case could be made out and a modification of the bridge forced. ‘The railroad company is at fault for every delay its trains experience at this bridge. It has sold the land on each side for coal docks, and when boats are unloading at them and one is at the elevator on the other side navigation is doubly blocked. The bridge is in the bend of the river which makes it still worse. Of course, the railroad officials were but bluffiing in asking the United States district attorney to begin criminal action against Capt. Jones. It was only a sample of railway bulldozing. In the end the result will be to hasten the day when these same railway officials must come before the United States engineer, not to seek to send a lake captain to the penitentiary, . but to defend their bridge, the cause of all the trouble. Complaint is cer- tain to be lodged with the war department within afew days, but in what shape has not yet been determined. The REviEw has taken the right stand in advocating some regula-. tion of the movexient of boats on the Soo river. It has got to come. _ In Chicago river there are many canal boats carrying stone from. the canal to docks along the river. They are mostly old and tender. ‘The or- dinary rubbing of boats in that crooked and narrow channel will send an old canal boat to the bottom. Then the lake vessels are called upon to becomes almost as good as new without expense to their owners. They go up and down the river in tows at full speed, looking for all the world as they twist around like links of bologna. When the river is crowded, a basket of eggs at a prize fight is as safe as they are. Let it be recorded with joy that the two canal boats that collided in trying to get around the , steamer Clyde while going at full tilt had to divide the damage, and for once Judge Blodgett did not make the lake steamer pay the bill. He was not lenient with the steamer Snook, whose owners were assessed some $5,000 for sinking a canal boat three years ago. If the United States dis- trict judge had watched canal boats on Chicago river for several years and seen the recklessness with which they are run, he might give the lake boats a better show when these collision cases come before him. It does seem that admiralty ought to be warped a little, in some instances. No one who has not been in the marine business or associated with it, can comprehend the almost human affection entertained for old boats. No other property is like them in this respect, unless it is an engineer’s love for his iron horse. I remember once when an old-time mariner said tome: “For God’s sake don’t say the old boat went to pieces because she was rotton. I know she was, but it would hurt my feelings to see it in print.” When the news comes that some old time vessel has been lost, although all hands may have been saved, it is a great deal more than the destruction of so much property. ‘To those who have known, dealt with, and perhaps sailed the departed craft, it is a personal affair, very like the burning of the old homestead. This the oldtimers felt when they heard that the schooner Lottie Wolf had gone to pieces on Hope island, in Georgian Bay. There has been some discussion here with many articles in the news- papers about low water. It grew out of the publication of a plan for raising the level of the lakes by obstructing the outflow in Niagara river by apartial dam. One good result has come iu calling public attention to the necessity for more water on the lakes, and thereby paved the way for the deep waterways convention. Capt. J. S. Dunham was considerably. put out by the premature publication of the plan, before he was certain of his ground. Since then he has quietly pursued his investigations that the winds haye more to do with the stage of water than generally conceded pay the loss. Ifa canal boat is lucky and gets rubbed often enough, she. SAAS SASS eee —that is the prevalence of winds in one direction: for the arse ; ee gineers who state that the lake level is dependent solely on the. rainfa i important factors. TE TD aces dootatad passenger steamboat schemes are on foot, but they have not yet matured. One is of large dimensions and includes a summer hotel and two medium sized passenger steamers. Some .ambi-: tious people at St. Joe are figuring on an opposition line ” Graham & Morton’s, but they do not yet know what they want beyond “opposition. Then there are others which have got no further than a general agree- ment that they would be good things. Out of the scheming some good passenger boats will come. Shipbuilders looking for contracts will do well to keep their eye on Chicago. ETHEL Will Buffalo papers never learn that some marine underwriting is done in Chicago? Their oracular utterances when insurance questions come up causes one to think that they believe the temple of lake insurance is located in Buffalo, and that the other fellows are not of the anointed. The palatial residences, Chicago vessel agents were looking over dur- ing the late lamented boom in grain freights are still for sale. Modest homes on the more quiet streets are now greatly in favor. Lake Superior Grain Trade. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. DuLutH, Minn., Oct. 22.—The wheat traffic of Duluth last week was smaller than for any week since the first of September. Receipts were cut down by the long period of wet weather in the northwest and which did a great deal of damage to unthreshed grain. The wet weather has now, it is hoped, appeased and receipts are coming in at a greater rate. - On Monday there were 1,169 cars on track, the largest number by sixty- four this year and in the record of the Duluth grain trade. This means that the elevators will take in about 700,000 bushels and that the receipts for the week will go above 2,000,000 bushels. The record of receipts and shipments last week was as follows: ; Receipts. Shipments. Mon day sc secisescsvctecteces sense nee 446,391 163,890 UUESGAY. ssicvccsctesccuecne-ccetes » 288,107 337,183 Wednesday. i... sc, aeererers 214,475 2533457 DBUESAAY iernss hh spe ve chs eedte sco 226,419 273,472 EPIOAY iorccsscedecieteracsetenetacwen 199,117 17,469 Sattirday icicecsilstl sgl bi ees. ce 213,145 11,358 Rotale. 2.svct eeerreseras 1,587,663 ' 1,056,829 Same week last year........... 720,864 427,277 . Wheat in store Monday was 1,825,000 bushels, an increase for the week of 450,000 bushels. With a scarcity of tonnage this week and in- creased receipts there ought to be quite a large increase for the week. A Scheme of Some Merit. EDITOR MARINE REVIEW: In an article in the REVmw recently you seem to think that there is no danger of destruction to lake navigation on account of the lowering of the water in the lakes. After living at Mackinac island and St. Ignace, near the Straits of Mackinac, for thirty- six years my observation is, however, that there is great danger of de- struction to navigation on this account. Up to about ten years ago the water of the lakes lowered and raised again to its normal height about every six or seven years, but for the ten years just past it has been lower- ing steadily and has not raised at all. It is now about.3 feet lower than it was ten years ago at St. Ignace. During my residence near the Straits of Mackinac I have been a sailor, a fisherman and a light-house keeper, in all of which callings I have had to take notice of the rise and fall of the waters of the lake. The only remedy and the one the government will have to adopt sooner or lateris this: The St. Clair river at its head where Lake Huron enters into it is 800 feet wide and 60 feet deep, and an immense volume of water is continually leaving Lake Huron at this point. Now let the gov- ernment construct at this point a cut-stone sill of very heavy stones and build it up from the bottom of the river to within 25 feet of the surface: The depth of water over the sill will still be great enough to float the larg- est lake vessels, while the decrease in the outflow from Lakes Huron and Michigan will be fully one-half. The same method adopted where Lake Superior enters the Sault river and where Lake Erie enters the Niagara river, will raise the waters of these lakes also. ; | Capt. J. S. Dunham of Chicago’ recommends the fi river near Tonawanda with large stones. water in Lake Erie but it would not raise it or Superior. St. Ignace, Mich. lling up of Niagara Such a plan might raise the in Lakes Huron, ‘Michigan P. McCann. During Se beet of September there were 55,580 14,112,000 shingles and 2,450,000 pieces of lath shipped : : ina river. This isa considerable increase over the chime, oo period for the two previous years.. A lively time is expected for the bal- ance of the season as the docks are now well filled with lumber and east- ern markets will be filling up with stock for the winter’s trade. Another rise in freights is anticipated within a few dayelo) 1 eiiial ys jy Gan oohee 000 feet of lumber, $¥ $4