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CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW No. 18 Western Union Building, CHICAGO, Il., May 19. t ailroad has been conducting some experiments in the way of handling grain by all rail, which may have a very important bearing upon lake business in the end. The road has added to its equipment cars of thirty-three tons capacity especially built for this trial. In the first experi- meat it put forty-four of these cars filled with corn behind a specially large engine, and ran the solid train without breaks to Philadelphia. In the second trial last week a solid train of twenty-five cars was sent through, also without break. Experts accompanied the train to note the cost and amount of power required to move the grain. Ifin the end the Pennsylvania Company de- cides that it can make money in competition with the water route, it is ex- pected that arrrangements will be made to run solid trains between Chicago and the seaboard carrying nothing but grain and flour. The effect upon the lake grain freights of such a movement would be very marked. It would mean that so long as lake freights are very low the water route would get the business, but as soon as rates began to climb up the railroads would step in und stop the boom before vessel men had a chance to make large dividends. It is understood that these experiments will be continued until the Pennsy!1- vania officials know the exact cost of transporting a single bushel of grain from Chicago to the seaboard, the cars and locomotive being especially adapted to the trade. Grain shows no tendency to move more freely out of Chicago, and it is fortunate that just at the time when the bottom was ready to drop out of grain the ore trade took the boats. Otherwise a doleful history of the spring of 1891 would have repeated itself. The grain that is not going forward now, must move later in the season, and that means a big rush of business before many months. There are some people here who would not be surprised at seeing the highest rates in years paid on grain before the season is six months old. In view of the disappearance of Capt. Egan and the treatment accorded poor Ben Smith, who came here from Milwaukee early in the season to estab- lish a shipping office, it must be repeated right now that if the new lake car- riers' shipping office is to be anything more than a farce,half-hearted measures will not do. First of all Capt. Egan must be found if alive, and if dead that fact must be established. It will take both money and energy to accomplish this but the lake carriers owe this to theiremployes. In the next place assaults on shipping masters must not go unpunished, as in the case of poor Smith. Both shipping masters and non-union sailors must both know and feel that they will be protected and that attacks upon them in the inalienable right to earn a living in an honest way will not go unpunished. If the lake carriers are not prepared to do this they had better shut up shop at once. The Review does wisely in defending the river and harbor bill. It is so easy for half informed correspondents at Washington to abuse the bill and everybody connected with it, that it is positively refreshing to read a reason- able defense. What if the bill is larger than ever before? The country never had such great need for cheap transportation as now. <A better way would be to ask if the particular items are wise and if proper returns will be made to the people if the government hasexpended their money. Marine men must sustain congressmen who have yoted needed appropriations, regardless of the howls of a misinformed and partisan press. Tugs succeeded in taking the steamship Susquehanna to the Santa Fe's The Pennsylvania r elevator the other day. She was the largest boat yet taken past the Canal street bridge. It was a tight squeeze with hardly an inch to spare. The Sus- quehanna is 40 feet beam and six inches more beam wonld have stopped her. Friends of Capt. Patterson of the burned steamer W. P. Thew deny with much fervor the report in Chicago papers Monday morning that the fire was caused by drunkeness among the crew. The evidence in denial is so strong that no doubt can be entertained against the Thew's master. Among Canadian Owners. Special Correspondence to the MARINE KEVIEW. Kineston, Ont., May 19.--Some time ago the case of Wright vs. Collier was tried by Judge Rose. The plaintifi's schooner Two Brothers and the de- fendant's steamer Reindeer collided on the Bay of Quinte, and Wright sued for $2,000 damages. The judge secured the consent of both parties to consult two experts, and in his judgment he adopted their conclusions, and gavea ver- dict for the plaintiff. The defendant appealed, claiming that the experts had not heard the evidence and that while he did not consent to accept the conclu- sions of the experts, he was entitled to the independent judgment of the judge. The court has allowed the appeal on the opinion that the manner of proceed- ing in the first place was irregular. There will therefore be a new trial, which will prove most interesting to mariners. O. E. Thorpe of Chicago is trying a novel experiment. He has chartered the steamer Wergeland to bring a full cargo of herrings from Norway to Chi- cago through the canals. 'The vessel is now at Montreal, where a portion of her cargo is being placed on a barge for Kingston, where the Wergeland will reload from the barge and then proceed on to Chicago. If the experiment proves a success a new trade will be opened up. The steamship will get a re- turn cargo at Montreal. ax, Western vessel men are now discussing the proposed action of the United MARINE REVIEW. 7 States government to impose tolls on freight passing through the Sault canal and bound for Canadian ports. They claim that generally the embargo would not affect the Canadian vessel interests. The chief sufferers would be the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, whose vessels do the main trade in bring- ing down the northwest grain. They further think that if the United States government carries out its intention in this respect the Canadian government should interpret the treaty as do the Americans and allow no United States craft to pass through the Welland canal with a load on. This, they claim, is what has been done for some years on the Erie canal, which is solely under the control of the United States. ; John Miller, special inspector of foreign steam vessels in behalf of the United States government, was here last week and inspected the Canadian eraft that will ply in American waters. Canada has no such officer to inspect American vessels that ply in Canadian waters. The Montreal Transportation Company has just laid the keel of a new schooner for a lake tow, which will carry from 60,000 to 70,000 bushels. Names on Bows of Steamers as well as Sail Vessels. Editor MARINE ReEviEw:--I am in receipt of your letter, dated the 6th instant. You state in your newspaper of the 28th ultimo that 'In.the mat- ter of names on bows of steamers the inspection service had sent to local boards a circular declaring that they were not required.'? I would like in- formation showing what circular letters or instructions, written or verbal, of such tenor were given specially to inspectors by any competent authority. The records of the bureau do not show that such instructions were sent to them from this office, and it is observed that the supervising inspector-general of steam vessels in his communication +dated the 28rd ultimo, printed in your paper, states specifically as follows: *'In reply to this I have to inform you that no circular upon the subject referred to has been prepared or issued from this (his) office." ' It is not understood that the officers of the government concerned in the administration of the laws governing the marking of names are in any doubt as to the course to be pursued, or that any further instructions to them regard- ing the matter are necessary at present. The law provides plainly that "the name of every documented vessel of the United States shall be marked upon each bow,' and the solicitor of the treasury has expressed the opininon that this provision covers documented steam vessels of the United States as defined by law. <A copy of the opion is enclosed herewith for your further informa- tion, Thanking you for the interest your paper has displayed in the matter, Iam, EK. C. O' Brien, Commissioner. Treasury Department, Bureau of Navigation, WASHINGTON, May 16, 1891. In view of the foregoing there should be no doubt in the matter of names on bows. 'The commissioner of navigation says very plainly the steam vessels must comply with the law, and this means that all steam craft must have names on both bows, both sides of the pilot house and on the stern with the home port also on the stern. The commissioner asks for information as to a circular letter from the bureau declaring that the names were not required on bows of steam vessels. He will find such a circular issued by the bureau of navigation April 16, 1891, and signed by William W. Bates, commissioner, with the ap- proval of A. B. Nettleton, acting secretary of the treasury. The opinion referred to in the above communication is the one an- swering a question from the collector of customs at Port Town- send, Wash., which has already been printed in the REVIEW. Organization of Average Adjusters. Through invitations sent out by representatives of insurance companies--not general agents--doing business on the lakes, a meeting of average adjusters was held in Detroit Tuesday and an association formed. There was present at the meeting Messrs. Sandrock, Lovering, Robinson and Hitchcock of Buf- falo, Kellogg, C. A. Macdonald and Burton of Chicago, Har- beck, White and McDonald of Detroit, Manning, Bartlett, Foote and Scott of Cleveland and Tuttle of Milwaukee. 'The organi- zation, to be known as the Lake Board of Average Adjusters, was perfected through the election of Capt. Manning of Cleve- land as president and Mr. McDonald of Detroit as secretary, and the appointment of a committee on arbitration, to consist of Messrs. Tuttle of Milwaukee, Robinson of Buffalo and White of Detroit. Although no official announcement has as yet been made of the relations of the underwriters toward this board, it is understood that no adjustment will be accepted unless coming from members of the board named above, and that a set of uni- form rules will govern all future adjustment cases, differences to be referred to the arbitration committee, whose decisions are final.