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

6 MARINE REVIEW. More Than 64 Per Cent. of the Business Out of Chicago. As against the combined work of nine of the leading lines of railway in this country, lake vessels took out of Chicago dur- ing the seven months of navigation last season 63.4 per cent. of all east-bound shipments from Chicago within that period. 'The total shipments of freight of all kinds, east-bound from Chicago, May to November inclusive, according to the weekly reports of the Chicago board of trade, was 4,265,934, tons and of this the lakes carried 2,705,084 tons and the _ railways 1,560,850 tons. The railways engaged in this east-bound traffic were the Grand Trunk, Michigan Central, Lake Shore, Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, Pan Handle, Erie, Baltimore & Ohio, Wa- bash and Nickel Plate. Following is the lake and rail movement by weeks for the season : Week ending Lake ship- _--_-- Rail ship- ments. ments. 81,821 57,506 73,696 48,963 64,541 40,108 75,801 34,480 87,233 42,607 88,616 44,140 72,624 39,086 60,408 44,330 34,669 31,001 84,735 53,900 79,452 43,629 78,598 46,848 85,718 45,107 111,872 46,903 131,243 44,800 113,680 43,663 119,191 52,643 102,126 55,400 137,743 59,300 114,163 56,974 148,175 56,878 139,467 503440 87,438 ° 60,170 82,258 58,181 66,568 58,640 74,596 59,518 76,500 59,207 88,460 68,311 86,988 _ 76,933 56,804 73,178 2,705,084 1,560,850 - The lake movement does not include an aggregate of about 5,000,000 bushels, or 150,000 tons, of grain loaded into vessels during the winter of 1890-91 and taken out by the fleet leaving Chicago with the opening of navigation last spring, which if added would still oe increase the gain in water transporta- tion. It is impossible to secure similar figures regarding the move- ment of grain and other freight eastward from the head of Lake Superior, but it is certain that the comparison in this regard would be even more favorable to cheap rates by water. Contract Freight Matters. |The announcement from Milwaukee this week that the steamers Helena and Veronica and other boats of the Milwaukee Tug Boat line have been chartered to carry 125,000 tons of ore from Escanaba to Ohio port at 95 cents a ton was a surprise to both vessel owners and shippers in Cleveland. 'That the trans- action has been consumated, however, there is no doubt, as the mine, the Pewabic, is controlled in Milwaukee, and the Cleveland sales agents of the company say that freight matters are settled at headquarters. Last year's product of this mine was also carried by the Milwaukee Tug Boat Company. 'his is the first break from the demand of vessel owners for $1 a ton from Escanaba, but it is not likely to cause activity in charters for the present. The condition of the pig iron market is even worse than it has been for some time past, and ore to be delivered next season is not selling, for the reason that prices sufficiently in advance of last year to meet the increased lake freight charges can not be secured. Iron ore dealers still feel that the pig iron market, which has been so long depressed, must improve, and they are accordingly awaiting developments. Sales ofore, all told, for this year will probably foot up 3,750,000 or 4,000,000 tons. Probably 2,500,000 tons of this was disposed of early to the steel makers and covered by the freight of $1.25 from the head of Lake Su- perior. - The balance, which is Bessemer ore going to some of the furnaces, is distributed largely among ore companies con- trolling vessel property. Grain stocks in both Chicago and Duluth have been very slow in increasing, and this has also helped to cause some anxiety -- among vessel owners who had expected to see the elevators taxed to their full capacity by this time. It is noticable also that -- the aggregate of corn in store at Chicago is very small, and eleva- : tor supplies of that cereal have shown a steady decrease. _ Within the past few days indications of a possible revival -- in grain have appeared. Receipts at both Chicago and Duluth show a slight increase, and Duluth has been offering 4 cents for vessels to arrive in the spring. An occasional cargo is offered at Chicago for storage and delivery at Buffalo with the opening. -- Inactivity in corn shipments is attributed to the claim that the weather has not been cold enough in the west to cause corn to | grade rightly for storage. Grain in Store at Chicago and Duluth. Duluth and Chicago elevators are not filling np as rapidly as -- it was expected they would. Following is a statement of stocks -- of wheat: : . Chicago. 'Duluth. 'i UMGStOKE ares. ae sa cermencat unre naien 9,348,725 bu. 8,000,685 bu. - Af Oat 55 overseen wehicessnies datereisans 494,220 bu. 400,703 bu. Increase last week... ri ..t....00 5 05.700, 0E: 446,457 bu. Excess over same time last year...2,771,909 bu. 4,227,918 bu. Stocks of corn in store at Chicago aggregate 1,073,339 bu- shels, against 234,197 bushels on the same date in 1891. Stocks Rs of corn have, however, decreased 29,687 bushels during the - week. There is also 301,109 bushels of corn afloat in Chicago. Stocks of oats in Chicago foot up 779,920 bushels, against 375.- 907 bushels on the same date in 1891. The Wadena is Over the Ocean. Col. Garretson, who has managed the long voyage of the. steam yacht Wadena, built by the Cleveland Ship Building Com- pany, received a letter from the captain noting the arrival of the yacht at St. Vincent, Cape de Verd islands, coast of Africa, add- ing that as they were in communication with Mr. Wade,who has met the yacht at Cadiz, Spain, by this time, they would discon- tinue reporting to Cleveland. It was a remarkable voyage; from Cleveland to the mouth of the St.Lawrence gulf about 1,200 miles, 700 miles to New York, 1,400 miles to the Barbadoes, leaving the port of St. Thomas Jan. 27, and 3,000 miles thence to Cape de; Verde islands where the yacht arrived Feb. 11. 'The distance from St. Vincent to Cadiz is about 500 miles, making the total of this voyage, about 7,000 miles, over a fourth of the circumfer- ence of the earth. A continuous run of 1,900 miles was made between the Barbadoes and St. Vincent, at a speed of about 12 miles an hour and fuel consumption of 8 tons every 24 hours.. Part of this long run was through a heavy sea, in which she be- haved very nicely. Allon board were reported well, when the yacht was leaving St. Vincent. The Globe Iron Works Company of Cleveland and the Uuion Dry Dock Company of Buffalo, have awarded the con- tracts of placing the electric lighting plants on the Anchor line steamers in process of construction at their yards to the Fisher Hlectric Company of Detroit. The plants to embody all the latest improvements of the Fisher company, the dynamo being -- driven by the Rice engine. Automatic signals and head lights will be furnished and the general system of lighting arranged for package freight work.