Daily News (Kingston, ON), 14 Sep 1885

p.1 Floating Facts - Weller's Bay, Ont. has been declared a Customs outport.

-The rate on corn to Kingston from Chicago is 3 1/4 cents.

-The schr. Maggie McRae has arrived with a cargo of deals

-The tug Easton and two lumber-laden barges arrived on Saturday from Ottawa.

-The steambarge Indian and consorts are loading lumber at Rathbun's for Oswego.

-The Detroit Sailors' Union has raised the wages of men in sailing craft to $2 a day.

-The schr. Watertown is at the K. & M. Forwarding Company with a load of wheat.

-The schooner Anna M. Foster is discharging 175 tons of coal, from Oswego, at Swift's.

-The prop. Shickluna will go to Montreal in place of the steamer Alexandria this evening.

-The scow Murray, from Trenton, is unloading shingles for Noon & Tyner at Gunn's wharf.

-The schr. Hammond discharged 20,000 bushels of wheat at the K. & M. F. Company today.

-The propeller Persia was not delayed by last Wednesday's storm as stated last week. The Persia is noted for always being on time.

-At Chicago the schr. Merritt and prop. Tilley were chartered to bring 50,000 bushels of wheat to Kingston, and the Armenia 28,000 of corn.

-The schr. Bolivia, 23,650 bushels of wheat, and the schr. Abbie L. Andrews, 21,000 bushels of wheat, arrived at the M.T. Company on Saturday.

-The following boats called at Swift's yesterday: The steamer Corinthian, from Toronto, and Passport, from Montreal; and the propeller Persia from Montreal.

-The tug Bronson arrived from Montreal yesterday, with three light barges. She will return this evening with four barges, containing 70,000 bushels of grain and 100 tons of sandstone.

-The tug Thompson arrived with five light barges from Montreal yesterday morning. She left last evening for Oswego with the barges Maggie, Bella and Cleveland, to load coal. Shortly after their departure a heavy storm sprang up.

-The tug Hiram Easton arrived in port from Ottawa with the barges Portsmouth, Rideau and Cataraqui with lumber for Oswego, and the barge Bertie with lumber for Toronto. The schooner William Elgin will forward the Bertie's load to Toronto.

-The steamer Alexandria broke her shaft near Morrisburg on Friday evening. She was taken in tow of the tug Thompson Saturday afternoon and a start made for Kingston, arriving here yesterday morning about eight o'clock. It is said that the shaft of the steamer Sir Robert Peel, burned near Wells Island in 1837, will replace the broken one. The work of replacing it will be performed at Garden Island.

Port Dalhousie, Sept. 12th - Passed Down: Schr. Maggie McRae, Nehma, Kingston; strs. Nashua, Toledo, Ogdensburg; A. Munro, Duluth, Montreal.

Port Colborne, Sept. 12th - Passed Down: Schr. A.B. Norris, Chicago, Kingston; Erie Stewart, Toledo, Belleville; prop. Nashua, Toledo, Ogdensburg; A.L. Alma Munroe, Duluth, Montreal; Tecumseh and consort, French River, Kingston.

-A Detroit despatch says: The credit for saving the schooner Jane McLeod, of Goderich, seems to belong to the schooner Blazing Star. Her captain states that he fell in with the McLeod off Braddock's Point, in Lake Ontario, September 3rd, the McLeod having been dismantled in a heavy squall, and towed her to the mouth of the Charlotte River, where he turned her over to the tug Gates, which got all the credit.

-The schooners Hammond, 20,000 bushels of grain, the Bolivia, 21,500 bushels, and the Abbie L. Andrews, 21,000 bushels, indulged in a race to Kingston after leaving the Welland Canal. The schooners arrived at the M.T. Co.'s wharf yesterday, the Abbie L. Andrews being first, half an hour in advance of the Hammond, which was one hour ahead of the Bolivia. It took the Andrews two weeks to come from Chicago.

-The storm of last week proved very destructive on the upper lakes. The J.S. Fary is ashore at North Point, near Thunder Bay, and her cargo of 65,000 bushels of wheat is a total loss. She is valued at $48,000. The schr. Cecilia is a total wreck on the reef at Jacksonport, but her cargo of 150 cords of wood is insured. The Sherman, with 600 tons of coal, is on Simmon's reef, a total wreck. The big barge Cyclone, valued at $14,000, is going to pieces at Alabaster, and the schr. Sweepstakes, which has often come to Kingston, went down in Georgian Bay, the crew managing to reach the shore safely.

-"This is the worst summer I ever experienced." The foregoing words were uttered by the captain of a schooner last evening in the presence of a News reporter. On being asked what he meant, the captain said that "his words had a double meaning - firstly, with regard to the weather; and secondly, with regard to the carrying trade." With regard to the weather, "for several days at a time," said the marine man, "our schooner has laid becalmed and unable to move; and, high winds prevailed for weeks at times when not of any use to the schooner. I have been sailing for thirty years, and this has been undoubtedly the most disagreeable summer I have ever seen. Freights in Chicago have not been plentiful, and, if a cargo cannot be secured for the return journey, there is very little money made." The captain then referred to the number of sailors he knew who had gone into some other line of business in Chicago and elsewhere, and finished by saying that sailing was getting played out.