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: = a <i exe a ae MARINE REVIEW. 5 From Norway to the Lakes. The above engraving shows the steamer Wergeland, which recently arrived at Chicago from Norway, by way of the St. Lawrence and Welland canals, bringing a cargo of fish and oils. Details of the trip, which was unprofitable on account of the necessity of breaking cargo in the St. Lawrence canals, have been given in previous issues of the REVIEW. Water in the Detroit River. In February last the water in the Detroit river at Detroit was at times as much as 4 feet 7 inches below what is taken as the zero point, and all through April the level was full 3 feet below the same point. On Tuesday the level was but 1 foot 6 inches below zero. 'The water is, accordingly, 3 feet 1 inch higher than it was Feb. 1 and 1 foot 6 inches higher than it was April 11, when the steamer Sitka passed down' drawing 15 feet 4inches. This data is obtained from J. W. Westcott at Detroit. Launch of the Maritana. At South Chicago, Wednesday, the first of a half a dozen steel steamers now building on the lakes and designed. to carry more than 4,000 tons on the proposed deep draft was launched. The boat is the Maritana, built by the Chicago Ship Building Company for the Minnesota Steamship Company. The Mariposa, a duplicate steamer, will be launched by the Globe Iron Works Company in Cleveland within a week or ten days. The Chicago launch was attended by several thousand people. The dimensions of these boats are as follows: Length of keel, 330 feet; length over all, 350 feet; breadth of beam, 45 feet; depth of hold, 24% feet. The engines are triple expansion, 24, 39 and 63 inches, with 48 inches stroke, steam being furnished from three steel boilers 12 feet in diameter by 12% feet long. In General. Congressman Weadock of Michigan on Tuesday secured the passage of a bill in the House appropriating PI 5,000 for the es- tablishment of weather bureau stations on Middle and Thunder bay islands, Lake Huron. -- The Senate has passed the bill giving the supervising in- spectors of steam vessels power to fill vacancies in local boards in all cases where the board of designators, made up of the dis- trict judge, supervising inspector and collector of customs, fails during ten days after having held a meeting to make an ap- pointment. ; When asked to mention a reliable firm of attorneys in Washington who can be depended upon to give attention to a question before one of the departments of the general govern- ment without any hesitancy we take pleasure in recom- mending Messrs. Conger & Conger of Washington. The firm is thoroughly acquainted with the lake business and is 1n every way fitted to secure the best possible results in all matters before Congress or the departments. No where in this or any other country is package freight handled more rapidly than on the docks of the Northern Steam- ship Company at Buffalo and Superior. People in the shipping business elsewhere can hardly be made to believe that cargoes on these boats are carried in the hold as well as between decks, when statements are made regarding dispatch in port. At Supe- rior early last week 22,400 barrels of flour were put on the steamer Northern Wave in 8 hours and 42 minutes. A few days later 2,252 tons of flour and copper matte was put onto the North Star in 7 hours and 15 minutes. The John Doty Engine Company, Limited, of Toronto has failed. 'The firm represents one of the best known marine in- dustries of Canada. Notwithstanding that the yards have been kept fairly busy throughout the winter months with the new steamers from the St. Cathrines route and other important con- tracts, the business seems to have been caught in the general depression and finds itself under temporary financial pressure, but with every prospect of ultimate settlement of all claims at roo cents on the dollar. The liabilities will probably amount to $200,000, and the estate will show a nominal surplus. The steam barge J. C. Pringle of the Hollister 'Transporta- - tion Company, during last year lost about a week with her three consorts owing to a defective air pump. 'This season she was fitted with the Worthington condenser and on her first trip took 2,500 tons of coal to Racine and brought down 2,650,000 feet of lumber at a speed of seven miles an hour. The new steamer C. F. Bielman, built by F. W. Wheeler of West Bay City this season for Capt. Stewart and others of Detroit, has also been fitted with a Worthington condenser. In this connection it may be mentioned that the Worthington condenser was the first to be adopted on large lake steamers, the Lehigh fleet being the first to be equipped with this excellent auxiliary to triple expansion engines. Practical Benefit of a Nautical Dictionary. The chief engineer of one of the largest fleets of steel steamers in Cleveland says that masters and engineers should have a copy of Patterson's Nautical Dictionary, so that in case of accidents to hull or machinery the correct name of part or plate, which is shown by numerous illustrations and described in the text of that work, can be telegraphed to the owner. 'This suggestion becomes more valuable when it is considered that most of the owners of lage fleets in Cleveland, and also at other ports, have purchased copies of the dictionary from the REvIEw. It is val- uable to mates looking for papers. Detroit River Matters. vere Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Derroit, Mich., June 9--The opinion prevails in usually well informed insurance circles here that the abandonment of the Progress will be accepted by the underwriters, but that the insurers will not undertake the recovery of the boat unless the work can be done on a percentage of whatever sum she can afterward be sold for. The expert insurance adjusters and wrecking mas- ters have been to the wreck and have doubtless agreed upon a report, but they made no sign during their brief stay. In the shape of a special dispatch some of the papers of Tuesday published a rediculous and incorrect report on the condition of the Progress. There was no authority whatever for saying that the "outlook for saving the steamer is bad.'? The damage to the boat is, of course, very great, but the difficulty and expense of raising her will not be anything approaching that which attended the recovery of the Kasota. The continued weakening tendency in the lake freight markets is making vesselmen feel pretty blue. They are looking forward with feelings of mingled hope and apprehension. As yet the weakness has had but little effect on rates for carrying lumber, stone and cedar. There is an immense quantity of cedar ties, paving-wood, etc., to be moved from northern Michigan and On- tario, a great deal of it from out of the way places which give employment to a large number of craft, and the trade in these commodities is apparently . increasing yearly. The shipment of cedar ties alone has within a very few years assumed great magnitude, and with the disappearance of our supply of white oak timber, must continue to increase for many years to come. There is always something turning up to take the place of that which is disappearing. Official Numbers and Tonnage. The bureau of navigation, E. C. O'Brien, commissioner,assigned official numbers to the following lake vessels during the two weeks ending May 28: Steam--Riyerside, Buffalo, 124.50 tons gross, 90.11 net, No. 110,974; Colum- bia, Grand Haven, 139.87 tons gross, 90.78 net, No. 126,961; Deer, Grand Haven, 47.57 tons gross, 24.57 net, No. 157,344; Mocking Bird, Port Huron, 71.74 tons gross, 35.98 net, No. 92,430; Vonito, Port Huron, 73.58 tons gross, 49.24 net, No. 161,686; Pillsbury, Marquette, 2,234.49 tons gross, 1,571,75 net, No. 150,587; Washburn, Marquette, 2,254.49 tons gross, 1,571.75 net, No. 81,373. Sail--John C. Fitzpatrick, Cleveland, 1,270.95 tons gross, 1,207.41 net, No. 77,028.