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ss A Powerful Organization. he new Lake Carriers' Association, organized a few weeks ago through a consolidation of the old organization known un- der the same name and the Cleveland Vessel Owners' Associa- tion, now represents through its membership 585 vessels, having an aggregate net registered tonnage of 550,539 tons and valued in the Inland Lloyds Register at $40,055,300. Following is a summary of the tounage: Steam. - + Sail. Total. Number of vessels..........--ss00 ; 303 232 58) Net registered tonnage..... . ..... 408,968 141,571 550,539 Insurance valuation........ «.....-. $84,939,500 $5,115,800 $40,055,300 On the 18th inst. the membership books of the association will be closed for the year, and a statement that will very prob- ably be made at that time by secretary Keep will show an in- crease in the above figures, which do not include 15,000 tons or more in new vessels now about ready for launching. Other vessels from which applications are expected before the 18th will very probably swell the aggregate to about 600,000 tons. Lake Freight Matters. Iron ore dealers have been selling some non-Bessemer ores right along of late, and although sales are in most cases at figures a little below last year's prices, it can be said that the market for raw material in iron has at least improved to the extent that there is a fair volume of business being done. 'This has caused the ore dealers to be of considerable assistance in maintaing lake freight rates. Ore shipments for June, or the present half of it at least, will be heavy in the aggregate. Not- withstanding the suspension of grain shipments, ore rates have held during the week at 65 cents from Escanaba, go cents from Marquette and $1 from Ashland, and at this writing the market is strong at these figures. Coal freights are active and steady at the rates that have ruled for several weeks past. English Connections of the Barge Company. A New York dispatch of recent date makes a great display of the announcement that the American Steel Barge Company has arranged plans for the construction in England of whale- back barges for Atlantic service. It was known here some weeks ago that such was the case, when William Johnston of William Johnston & Co., Limited, of London visited the lakes and spent some time in negotiations with the officers of the barge company, and although there is nothing new in the New York announcement, some additional facts have been gained re- garding plans for the introduction of the barges in Great Britain. Mr. Johnston left here with an understanding pertaining to the formation ofa company for the construction and operation of the barges in the trans-Atlantic trade. Capitalists in the barge company here,chief among whom are John D. Rockefeller, Colgate Hoyt and Joseph H. Colby, will, of course, be interested in the. English company, but as yet the plans have not matured suffi- ciently to warrant very much being said of its success. 'The firm of Wm. Johnston & Co., Limited, has houses in Liverpool, London, and Manchester, Boston and Chicago. The Johnston line has a weekly boat from London to Boston and from both Liverpool and London to Baltimore the service is also weekly. Close business relations with the Baltimore annd Ohio Railway is a feature of the company's success in this country. Its bus- iness is not confined to boats running from Baltimore and Bos- ton but extends to all principal points in Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and to the Black sea. The company is one of the leading shipping concerns in England, and if the barges can be adapted to ocean service the American owners of the pat- ents have undoubtedly formed a sound connection abroad. It is intended to build oil tank barges of the whaleback type for the Black sea trade. Capt. Alex. McDougall is now at Everett, the new barge town on Puget sound where two steamers are under way. It is MARINE REVIEW. very probable that marked changes will be made in the bows of the steamers for the Pacific coast trade, as it has been shown in the case of the Wetmore that the present form of bow is a weak part of the vessel, especially when running light, and additional water ballast space forward will hardly remedy this defect. Late Capt. Thos. G. Crosby. Death has removed another landmark, so to speak, from among Chicago's marine men. 'Thomas G. Crosby, after a heroic siruggle of overa year with cancer in the throat, succumbed to that dread disease Monday morning. Capt. Crosby's hero- ism under that most awful scourge was not less than the cour- ageous fight that Gen. Grant made when afflicted in the same way. It was over a year ago that Capt. Crosby began being troubled with something in his throat. He called it neuralgia, but finally went to a noted specialist in New York city, who told him it was not neuralgia, but a malignant cancer. Most men would have been cast down by this awful announcement, but Capt. Crosby, so far as the people who visited him in his office could see, simply ignored his impending fate. His visi- tors were greeted with the same old genial smile, the same hearty hand shake. 'The subject was a tabooed one in the office, and was never mentioned. About six months ago Capt. Crosby was unable to give any attention to business,and from that time until his death he went hereand there only seeking to alleviate pain. The friends of the dead man, while most sincerely regret- ting his death, say that he had his full share of life's enjoyment. He had been successful in business, and he had not waited until he had accumulated a vast fortune before he had begun to en- joy benefits which wealth brings. In fact he had steadily drawn the dividends of a comfortable, pleasant life. Capt. Crosby had been in lake underwriting for many years. A few old-timers can remember when he came ashore and went to Walker & Eusterphie, then engaged in the insurance busi- ness. Hrom that time on he never left the field, although time had made many changes in his connections. It was about 1876 that the firm of Crosby & Gunning was organized, and after that Capt. Crosby formed a partnership with Zorenzo Dim- mick, then a bright light in marine underwriting in Buffalo. The firm was fairly successful until it was found that Dimmick had been defrauding the insurance companies out of a very large sum of money. Dimmick escaped to Canada, where he died a few months later, and the insurance companies gathered in the Oneida and what other property could be found. Capt. Crosby then entered into partnership with Chas. A Macdonald, who had come to this country from Scotland as an expert marine underwriter. This firm at once took a very prominent place in lake insurance, which it still retains. Capt. Crosby was also associated with Capt. James B. Rardon as local insur- ance and vesssel agents. Few men had more friends among vessel owners of the lakes than Capt. Crosby. He was eminent- ly a "good fellow." He made friends naturally and seldom lost them. The Chicago Board of Marine Underwriters, of which he had been a member since its organization, took very fitting action on his demise Monday. Wednesday the funeral services were held at his residence near the lake shore in Lake View, a large number of marine men being present to pay their last respects. Total Losses. It is more than probable that the steamer Progress, sunk at Mamajuda island, - Detroit river, in' collision with the steamer Briton, will prove a total loss. From Racine the loss of the -- small schooner Persia is reported. She was owned by. So ea Martin of Racine and valued at $1,000. The Canadian steamer Kincardine, with a cargo of salt, was beached in Winfield Basin 20 miles west of Tobermoray,. Ont., Thursday night, and was broken up by the heavy seas running at the time. /'T'he measurement of the Kincardine was ro1 tons, rating Br and val- uation $6,000. She was built in 1 Otc J. H. Crosby of Boston is an American inventor of a device to regulate the speed of marine engines in times when the prop- eller is liable to get out of water. Several inventions of this kind are on the market in England. It is said that Cramps will give Mr. Crosby's device a trial in a vessel which they have under construction.