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6 MARINE REVIEW. Ontario Ship-Railway. Mr. E. L. Corthell, civil engineer of Chicago, is one of the promoters of the proposed Georgian bay and Lake Ontario ship- railway, which is attracting a great deal of attention in Toronto and other parts of the dominion. Ina letter answering an in- quiry recently made by the REviEw Mr. Corthell says: "T am quite positive that as soon as the Chignecto ship railway is completed, which I understand is now in good shape to go forward to completion, there will be no difficulty in rais- the $15,000,000 required for building the Ontario ship railway and by it discharging into Lake Ontario and to the ten railroad terminals on that lake from Buffalo to Ogdensburg the immense business which now has to be stopped at Niagara falls. I am not referring at all to the local business of Lake Erie, or to the through business which must go either by way of the St. Law- rence to Montreal or by way of New York to the Atlantic sea- board and thence to Europe. I have given over twelve years of © study and work on ship railway projects and plans, and I have been for many years convinced of their practicability, not only physically but commercially. I am happy to inform you, too, that the work that I was engaged on so long in connection with Capt. Eads on the American isthmus is likely to be constructed in the near future. Weare proposing to open up an inter- oceanic route there, which with its great advantages over either Panama or Nicaragua will soon call for a better method than an ordinary railroad can furnish." Additional Private Light Expense. It is more than probable that toward the latter part of this week a small light-ship will be stationed on Eleven-foot shoal at the entrance to Green bay. The plan is to have the cost of equipping and maintaining the light-ship collected from boats in the Escanaba ore trade. The vessel will have a whistle for thick weather and also a bell, if the latter can be secured with- out too much expense. 'The importance of a light at this point is fully understood by every master trading to Escanaba. <A bill now before Congress, the sundry light-house measure, pro- vides that $60,000 already appropriated for a light-house at Eleven-Foot shoal be applied to the construction of one or more light-ships for lake service, but the urgent need of a light of some kind at this point has forced the vessel owners to assume additional private expense. "The movement has been started by captains trading to Escanaba and there is little doubt of money being secured for the light. A Big Fleet in a Few Years.: J. C. Gilchrist of Cleveland is now managing owner of eighteen vessels, having an aggregate net registered tonnage of a little less than 20,000. 'The Bradley fleet, controlled by M. A. Bradley of Cleveland, the largest individual owner on the lakes, numbers twenty-four vessels aggregating 22,539 net reg- istered tons. Mr. Gilchrist, with whom R. EB. Schuck and W. H. Gilcher of Sandusky are largely interested, was not a man- aging owner of any vessel property until 1880. The price paid for the steamers A. P. Wright and John B. Lyon, purchased by Mr. Gilchrist from Capt. Frank Perew of Buffalo, last week was $175,000. Grain at Chicago and Duluth. Stocks of grain at Chicago and Duluth on Monday, June 13, were as follows: Chicago. Duluth. Wheat, bu. Corn, bu. All wheat, bu. MR SHON Cy: <auaseaasecn: smote teenie sa. 6,505,557 1,427,311 4,270,399 Mecrease last week... fscuert er ee toeats 187 ,422 13,588 Increase last weels..:.0..cs:hess..cscose. GoRBC SMe caeeeeces settorat asses Excess oyer same time last year...4,370,982 330,689 192,828 In addition to the above there is 1,053,336 bushels of oats, 176,703 bushels of rye and 17,539 bushels of barley in store in Chicago. Against the Transfer Elevators. - Buffalo vessel owners, members of the Lake Carriers' Association, have taken a stand against the floating elevator Cyclone, declaring by resolutions that it is an obstruction to navigation and demanding its removal. As shown by the resolu- tions printed below, they have also begun a movement against all transfer elevators, calling upon members of the association in different parts of the lakes to refuse to have their vessels un- loaded at elevators other than those having storage facilities. Clevaland managers of the association held a meeting on Monday but it was not given out that any action had been taken in this regard. 'The resolutions adopted as the sense of the feeling among Buffalo owners with regard to these elevators are as follows: WHEREAS, Vessels carrying grain cargoes are frequently long delayed in unloading by being required to discharge their grain cargoes at transfer. towers, which can only unload the vessel as fast as canal boats can be obtained to take the cargoes away from the tower; and WuereEas, Many owners of vessels on the lakes have during the present season of navigation suffered heavy loss from the delays caused their vessels in this way; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That the Lake Carriers' Association is in favor of inserting in all bills of lading for the transportation of grain on the lakes, a provision -- expressly stating that the vessel shall in no event be required to discharge its grain cargo except at an elevator having storage capacity. - ResotveD, also, That the secretary of the association send to each mem- ber of the association for signature an agreement not to carry grain ynless the bill of lading contains the provision aforesaid, such agreements not to be binding unless signed by more than...... per cent. of the tonnage of the asso- ciation. : RESOLVED, also, That the board of managers of the association earnestly urges all members of the association to sign such agreement. It was announced at the meeting of the finance committe in Cleveland Monday that the membership of the association at the -- close of last week represented 565,000 net tons of floating prop- erty. The membership books of the association will close for the year on Saturday of this week. Mr. Harvey D. Goulder was authorized to call on Gen. Poe at Detroit immediately and consult him regarding matters pertaining to the draft of water at the St. Mary's Falls canal. Owners whose steamers have been compelled to pay tug hire in navigating the canal within the bay between Duluth and Superior complain that this expense could be avoided if the channel was properly buoyed, and the light-house board will be appealed to in the matter. Stage of Water in the Detroit River. Stanley B. Smith & Co., operating coal docks on the De- troit river, will render deep laden vessels a valuable service this season, by.keeping and displaying at their coal dock a record of the water level. The aim will be to assist masters who are un- certain as to whether it will be safe in time of low water to run down over the Lime-Kilns crossing. Drawings in next week's issue of the REVIEW willexplain the method to be followed. A dispatch from Detroit Wednesday said that the water gauge at the company's dock showed 1.2 foot' above zero, equal to 21 feet at the Lime-Kilns. Wants a Re-survey. Epiror Marine REyinw: It seems about time that a re-suryey should be made of the north shore from the Straits of Mackinac to Escanaba, a locality in which a large amount of shipping in lumber of all kinds, especially cedar, has been built up of late years. There are many shoals and rocks along this' coast that are not noted on the charts. How they were overlooked is not ex- plained but the low stage of water prevailing of late has developed their ex- istence. A re-survey would show all of these places and would assist naviga- tion. Many masters and owners will, I feel, bear me out in this suggestion, and they should begin a movement toward the improyement. A few light- houses at Pointe Epoufette and Naubinway, for instance, would also make this shore a safe route or would at least help navigation. . ae EK. A. BoucHarp, Master, tug Duncan City. \ Cheboygan, Mich., June 9. Official Numbers and Tonnage. . . % . . . . x . The bureau of navigation, E. C. O'Brien, commissioner, assigned official numbers to the following lake vessels during the week ending June 11:. Steam--Bonito, Port Huron, 73.58 tons gross, 49.24 net, No. 3,554: James L. Allison, Port Huron, 54.08 tons gross, 29.83 net, No. 77,034: Peter D. Hershey, . Buffalo, 14.96 tons gross, 7.48 net, No. 150,588. Sail--Eddie, Detroit, 30.34 tons gross, 28.83 net, No. 136,294; Irene, Chicago, 21.22 tons gross, 20.16 net, 529. Rate = » OC 1 No. 100,532; Druid, Chicago, 16.38 tons gross, 15.51 net, No. 157,346, Fie Naa A et