The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

THE MARINE RECORD. d that shipbuilders can construct s tonnage for the same price as a vessel , for say three years, on her first letter. A pread feeling has been engendered to t iron and steel shipbuilders have persistent- 0 wide a margin of profit and that the per ton for a completed hull were only d Be this as it may, keen competition d any disposition (if any ever existed) to ures, that the bottom prices have certainly hed, and any more shading of prices must cer- -tend towards a material saving in the constructive detriment of the ship and owner. A hull § orily completed, but the question re- ‘js she all there,” after years of service. The remembers in 1868-9, the Atlantic liners, City id Russia, owned respectively by the Inman d Lines, they were then perfect types of mod- uction, but a dozen years later the upper works hip was in a wave, a sinuous, undulating, serpen- ¢arve as it were, and weeping considerably, while oth=r was apparently as good and straight as the day 23 launched, with never a sign of punishment. The to be drawn from this illustration is, that not | should hulls look well while new, but they also mit earry their looks after proving their construction by performing that for which they were called into requi- veteyiee lll a ‘Tux Buffalo merchants have no idea of relinquishing _ former plans creating a large and commodious outer har- bor for a less extensive mode of construction recently ‘suggested and embodied in a report of the district engi- _ neer, The merchant’s exchange at least realize that lake tonnage has lengthened out a hundred feet, with a cor- responding beam, during the past few years, and if the ; former harbor plans. were thought advisable when the original area for an outer harbor was fixed, as, of course, they were, then there is one hundred feet more of reasons for keeping the extension of breakwaters out to the origi- nalsurvey. Attention ought not to be directed to the commerce of, or the port facilities of to-day, where exten- sive improvements are being carried out, or the cry of inadequacy will be raised almost before their completion, rather should permanent works of national constraction be planned with a view to meet the ever-increasing volume of lake commerce, and kept not up to, but fully a decade in advance of all present requirements, and this too, with a due appreciation of what must eventually follow in the wake of a dense population in the west and north- west. The St. Mary’s Falls Canal and other important national work in that vicinity should be allowed to speak their full volume of commercial progression in the delib- erations over river ‘and harbor improvements on the _ Great Lakes, and even then, we are liable to err on the side of minimizing rather than on a liberal comprehen- sion of the future growth of this already enormous com- ‘merce, : ‘ a rr a THE LAKE FREIGHT SITUATION. This week marks a still further improvement in the lakefreight situation. The Escanaba ore rate remains _ at 75 cents, but Ashland has risen to $1,15 and Mar- quette to $1, both rates being firm. While 3% cents is all that is being paid at Duluth on grain loading this week, it is probable that the boats placed to load next week will receive 3% cents. The Chicago rate is still 2% cents on wheat to Buffalo, and it ismore than prob- _ able that this rate will be improved before our next is- sue. This year’s shipments from most of the iron ore ports are already in excess of last year’s total, and the _ shippers give this as grounds for the statement that all _ except contract shipments are likely to soon be cut off altogether. but yesselmen prophesy that in spite of this _ talk some good figures willyet be paid on ore shipments this Season. Grain receipts promise to be unprecedent- ed int volume, and Milwaukee, as well as the new port of ; Gladstone, will be heavy grain shipping ports. The anthracite coal rate to Lake Superior has been _ testored from 25 cents to 35 cents, but as coal is some- what scz ree and the upper docks crowded, soft coal rates Show no signs of improvement. The tates paid for lumber carriage are steadily im- Proving and very remunerative charters are daily being made. Judging from present indications it looks as if vessel owners would pull up during the balance of the Season for the detention and low freights experienced earlier in the year. a CHANGE OF FIRM. ta recent meeting of the stockholders of the Detroit Dock Co. and Dry Dock Engine Works a change sonnel of the firm was consummated. Mr. illan retired in favor of Mr. Hugh McMillen nt, Mr. Alexander McVittie taking Mr. Hugh a ition as vice president, also his former s treasurer. Mr. Frank KE. Kirby retains his and constructing engineer, and Mr. ¢Millan as secretary of the company. With n of the retirement of the former president, ntlemen remain to the fore as the active their several: departments. MORE NEW PASSENGER STEAMERS. | Leopold & Austrian, of Chicago, the Lake Michigan ‘and Lake Superior Transportation company managers are intent upon supplying their line with a more modern class of passenger and freight steamers, and expect to be able to place the first one in commission by June 1 next. Their idea is to construct two or three steel steam- ‘ers that will cost complete $250,000 each. ‘These will be built to carry both freight and passengers, and the pas- senger accommodations are to be of the verybest. Fig- ures have been obtained from the Chicago Shipbuilding Co. and the Detroit Dry Dock Co. The latter company was represented at Chicago on Thursday last by vice- president McVittie and constructing engineer Frank E. Kirby, by whom figures were submitted for the con- sideration of the line managers, though no further par- ticulars have yet been given out for publication. It is rumored on good authority that the Chicago Ship Build- ing Co. have already secured the contract for one of these boats. The proposed steamers will be about the length of the Union Line steamer Tioga, viz., 285 feet on the water line aud 303 feet over all. Her beam is to be 42 feet, with 4 corresponding depth of‘hold, in order to secure a double tier of state rooms, so as to furnish accommodations for 300 first-class passengers. LATER.—The Chicago Ship Building Co. have secured the contract for one steel passenger steamer to cost about $300,000. Her dimensions are to be 295 feet over all, 275 feet keel, 42 feet beam, and 24.6 depth of hold, 32 feet depth to upper deck. Engine triple expansion, Cylinders 23, 38 and 62 by 36inch stroke. Two Scotch type boilers 11 feet 6 inches by 20 feet, with double ends. She is to have a water bottom. Water-tight bulkheads and every modern equipment for handling ship and cargo. Commencing June 1, 1893, she is to enter the Chicago-Sault Ste. Marie route, making two trips weekly. ero ec OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE ST. LAWRENCE CANALS. CHICAGO, ILL, Sept., 21, 1892. To The Marine Record. What is the total distance between Lake Onta- rio and Montreal, at the head of navigation in the gulf of St. Lawrence? I would also thank you to furnish me, through the columns of THE RECORD, with the dates of the opening and closing of the several ca- nals connecting the above waterways. AN OLD SUBSCRIBER. From Prescott, Ont., or Ogdensburg, N. Y., the dis- tance via. the St. Lawrence river canals to Montreal is 119 miles. ‘The total canal navigation is 4354 miles, and on the river 7534 miles. The Williamsburgh canals, un- der which term are included the Galops canal, Rapide Plat canal and Farren’s Point canal, were closed to navigation in 1890, on the 4th of December, and reopen- ed on the 21st of April, 1891. The next in order from the lakes is the Cornwall canal. This was also closed on the same date as the foregoing, but did not open un- til May 4th, 1891. The Beauharnois canal was closed on the 30th of Novemeber, 1890, and was reopened for traffic on the 24th of April, 1891. The Lachine canal 8% miles long and the last of the chain leading to Mon- treal was the first to freeze up, being closed on the 29th of November, 1890, and reopened for navigation April 28th, 1891. 0-9 Ges CAUSUALTIES OF THE WEEK. The successful work done on the wooden steamer Neshoto ashore at Union Bay, near Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior, was effected after a jettison of about 1,000 tons of coal and she arrived at Duluth three hours ahead of the tug sent to her assistance. A survey has been held on her in the new drydock at West Superior. The only wreck of importance during the week just passed was the total loss through collision of the Orient Line steamer Vienna between White Fish Point and Parisian Island on Lake Superior, a detailed account of which is given in another column of this issue, The squally weather experienced during the week occasioned a number of minor casualties. The barge Aunt Ruth waterlogged off Point au Barques, Lake Huron, the schooners Sunrise, Heather Bell, Fitzhugh and Wertz each lost considerable canvas, the Queen of the Lakes and May each lost their deckloads, the Magee suffered damage through a collision with the barge Roberts in tow of the Tempest. ‘The small steamer, A. B. Taylor, stranded near Saugatuck, Mich., and leaked badly after her release. ‘The William Chisholm broke her piston and blew out her high-pressure cylinder head on Lake Michigan, she was towed to Cleveland by the steamer Roumania. The A. A. Parker broke her shaft on Lake Huron on Sunday and was towed to Cleveland, The steamer Nipigon is receiving repairs at Detroit after her collision with the Vienna. The schooner Fannie Campbell lost her deckload and waterlogged, with the loss of sails and rigging on Lake Huron, she was towed to Port Huron for repairs, DISCUSSION ON A SIDE ISSUE. Burraro, N. Y., Sept. 20. To The Marine Record, In the last issue of THe Recorp Capt. McFarlane, as a loyal captain should, takes exception to some remarks of mine regarding the whaleback steamer Washburn, poking alittle fun at me as aside issue. Permit mea few words upholding the position I took, Capt. McFar- lane says the Washburn used all four of her ports while in Buffalo on her last trip. If she did it must have been largely for purposes of ventilation, as a great part of her cargo was unloaded by a crane through her top hatches while her ports were closed, and I can prove it, notwithstanding, the gangways might have been open. The record for unloading 2,400 tons of package freight at this portis 6hr., 15m. ‘The Washburn has not un- loaded a similar cargo in anything like that time, and Capt. McFarlane knows it. If the Captain still thinks Iam mistaken, and will furnish me the exact time it took to discharge his last cargo, I will insure its publi- cation in a well known Buffalo daily paper. Capt. Mc- Farlane can ascertain my identity through THe MARINE RECORD. BUFFALO CORRESPONDENT. —EED ee FLOTSAM, JETSAM AND LAGAN. Thomas P. Davidson of Milwaukee represents the insurance companies in the Neshoto survey at W. Supe- rior. Capt. John Stevenson has been appointed master of the steamer Dean Richmond, vice Capt. Stewart, resign- ed on account of sickness. Bids for dredging Duluth harbor from Williams, Dougherty and Upham at $65,000 was the lowest and has been forwarded to Washington. Three captains have now reported seeing masts stick- ing out of water near Long Point, Lake Erie. The last one to sight the wreckage is the captain of the little steam- barge Wyoming, which arrived at Buffalo on Snnday. He says he saw a large piece of deck work also. The following bids for dredging Thunder Bay River, Mich., were opened by Gen. Poe at Detroit, Saturday: James Rooney, Toledo, Ohio, 47 cents per eubic yard; C. ER. Mitchell & Co., Ludington, Mich., 39% cents per cubic yard; Bay City Dredging Co., Bay City, Mich., 48 cents per cubic yard; H. W. Hubbell and Co., Sagi- naw, Mich., 29 cents per cubic yard. The great lake sea serpent has leisurely wended its way from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan, being last sighted by a party of tourists off Petoskey. Harry Bissell of St. Clair, Mich., and Fred Lansing of Port Huron, Mich., are the irrepressible culprits this time and they still stick to sighting his snakeship, all in one piece, 75 feet long, 4 feet in diam- eter, and eyes like dinner plates. There are lots more vacation seekers to hear from ! The master of the steamer Owego, the “greyhound” of the lakes, says he left Detroit 20 minutes behind the Pioneer and arrived in Buffalo 40 minutes ahead of her, thus beating her by exactly an hour. The Pioneer was loaded with ore and when she made her fast trip on the way up she was light. Capt. White of the Pioneer says the record of his trip up was correctly reported at 15 hours 10 minutes, or a trifle under 17 miles per hour. The United States Marshal at Detroit seized the freight barge Enterprise early on Monday morning. ‘The barge was on her way to Tonawanda, and was cap- tured off Grosse Pointe. An attachment had been ley- ied against her in behalf of the Mitchell Transportation Co., whose boat, Mary B. Mitchell, had been injured in a collision with the Enterprise, off Dunkirk, on No- vember 17, 1891. The damages asked amount to $3,950. ~ ‘The Enterprise is a Canadian boat, but was running in — American waters at the time she was seized. OO ‘The MARINE RECORD trips up the Safety Valve, a paper published in this city, for talking about matters it knows nothing about, to wit: The fast run of the Teu- tonic. THE MARINE RECORD Says? “The foregoing terribly hard untruths are propounded by an individual who, we surmise, has but a scant knowl edge of the causes inyolyed in the careful navigation of a transatlantic passenger steamer, ‘The half digested _ notions which our contemporary appears to have adroit- ; ly concealed under the (to him) vague terms of the “ geographical degrees due to the spherodicity of the earth’s surface and other causes” are simply so much gush, and proclaim an entire misapprehension | of th duties of ship’s officers, besides, giving the lie pre- sumptive to the engine room, the bridge and chai room. Our eminent contemporary should not stoop — to vilify a worthy and skillful class of men for no cause: hence our protest at this time,”’ This is a just rebuke to impertinence.— 2 New York. rr The Marine ReEcorD, Cleveland, O., now ship rigged having added four more pages to weekly edition, THE RecorD records marine summer and winter.— Ze Cleveland Pele