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6 2 OCP eR RINE Ri VIEW. CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, No. 13 Western Union Building, CHICAGO, IIl., Aug. 4. Within ten days work on the abutment of South Halsted street bridge will have been commenced, and then the marine interests can whistle. If the bridge is really going to be such an obstruction as vesselmen have claimed, it would seem to be worth the while to take steps to stop its construction. Ves- sel men have asserted that it will result in endless jams and expensive waits, that it is nothing but an unreasonable obstruction, and that the secretary of war ought to stop its construction. If it were really so serious a matter, it would seem that marine men would be in earnest in making a fight. As a mat- ter of fact, the opposition so far has been confined to a meeting of the Lake Line Agents' Association, where resolutions were passed that the secretary of war ought to take full charge of Chicago river. A communication to that ef- fect was sent to Secretary Elkins and to the treasury department. There the matter has dropped. It is true that several vessel men have called upon the commissioner of public works protesting against the bridge, but the commis- - sioner is also a candidate for congress from the district most vitally effected by the proposed bridge, and he knows where the yotes are. Consequently he has taken the very action now that a year ago he condemned so severely when taken by the Cregier administration. He is building the bridge before any ~ steps have been taken to condemn land for the widening of the river. If marine men can hold together long enough to make an effective fight, an in- junctien ought to be secured at once against the erection of a bridge until the secretary of war has consented to the plans. A Chicago judge threw out con- demnation proceedings at Fourteenth street some time ago because the city had no right to go on with the construction of a bridge before the war de- partment had passed upon the plans. If that was good law at Fourteenth street, itisgood at South Halsted street. But to get out injunctions costs money, and who is going to pay the lawyers' bill? It would seem to be a very proper thing for the Lake Carriers' Association to do so. It comprises in its membership many Chicago vessel owners. The question is. more important at the present time than the proposed bridge at Duluth. The vessels of perhaps a majority of the members of the association will, during the season, suffer serious delay at this point. The Lake Carriers Association has the money to hire lawyers, and the burden is equally divided among all those who receive the benefit of a successful contest. Whether the lake carri- ers take hold or not, it is quite certain that Chicago marine men will not go down in their pockets to defray the expenses of lawsuits, in which the whole - Jake marine is nearly as much interesied as themselves. This probably means that the bridge will be built, and marine men will kick. After the bridge is. in place kicking will amount to very little.. Reports have it that plans for a big dry-dock on the Calumet have been about completed. It will be under the management of the Chicago Ship Yard Company. . The old whaler Progress is now at anchor off the Lake Front park. The man-of war Michigan is anchored not far away. The two boats are about the same age, and look equally seedy compared with the modern lake vessels which pass them. As the investment on the Progress has not been heavy, it is likely that the syndicate will get its money back from the venture. At the Canadian Capital. Special Correspondence to the MARINE KEVIEW. Orrawa, Ont., Aug. 4.--Your Kingston correspondent is spending a vaca- tion in this city, the capital of the Dominion. 'The announcement that Presi- dent Harrison had appioved of the Curtis retaliation bill caused considerable excitement here and the railways and eanals department was besieged by newspaper men who desired to ascertain what steps the Government intended to take in the matter. Nearly all the ministers are absent, and and those re- maining are very cautious in making statements. The Hon. M. Bowell stated that while Canada possessed the means of next to destroying United States marine on the lakes, the government would do nothing without most mature deliberation. He hardly expected the president to make use of the power vested in him and therefore it would be premature to make a move in any direction. The general opinion in the capital is that Canada will propose ar- bitration as soon as possible. If such proposition is not accepted the best of the situation will have to be made. It now transpires that the new Canadian canal at Sault Ste. Marie will not be ready till the spring of 1896, which would compel the payment of tolls for four years to come, and seriously injure Can- adian traffic. The insurance on the burned steamer Glengarry, owned by the Montreal Transit Co. has not been disposed of as yet. The boat is of no further use to the company, which fact places a heavier responsibility on the underwriters than they care to bear. Immense quantities of lumber are being sawn in this district, and pur- chased at increased prices as soon as being placed on the market. The buyers are middlemen, who claim that there will soon be a big demand for lumber in foreign markets, particularly in the United States. They are buying in anti- elpation of this demand, A moyement is on foot to enlarge Toronto harbor by opening Asbridge's bay into it. A deputation was in Ottawa for two days urging the govern- ment to approve of the scheme. The Hon. Charles Tupper, minister of marine, who was in England for some months has sailed for home. The canal tolls matter hurried his de- parture. Favorable to the District Officers. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Wasurtneton, D. C., Aug. 4.--A sudden change has taken place in the status of the St. Mary's river lighting matter. The following orders were tele- eraphed from the light-house board to the Eleventh light-house district offi- cers: 'Col. Ludlow has appeared before an executive committee of the board. Orders heretofore given which prohibit a. conformity to his latest pro- ject for lighting St. Mary's river are suspended. You are authorized in your discretion to limit thirty-eight lights of those proposed by him. Further or- ders will be given when a full meeting of the board can be held." It is understood here that as'soon as a full meeting of the board can be held the restoration of the late district officers will be asked as an act of jus- tice to them. Features of Col. Ludlow's Report. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. . Wasuineton D. C., August 4.--The Government engineers on the lakes, - have transmitted their annual reports to the chief of engineers in the war de-- pattment. The reports of Col. Ludlow and Gen. Poe, are especially volum- -- inous, each containIng about 200 pages of closely type-written matter. These reports embody the estimates for next year's operations, together with many details concerning the progress of the different works on the lakes. Both the reports of Gen. Poe and Col. Ludlow, contain numerous recommendations re- garding surveys in different channels where obstructions have been found, or referring to work of this kind already performed under their directions. Col. Ludlow states that investigations made in Petoskey harbor show clear- ly that a harbor of refuge for the benefit of general commerce is not needed at that point, but that some protection from the weight of the winds from the northwest quadrant, to yhich the frontage is exposed, is decidedly in the in- terest of the considerable freight and passenger traffic of the locality. Con- cerning Frankfort harbor, Michigan, he says that it is evident that the piers" should be built out to at least 15 feet curve, but the pier development provided for by the present project, namely 300 feet on the north pier, and 100 feet on the south pier, falls 500 feet short of this on the north and 400 feet onthe south pier. For 1894 the recommendations of the previdus annual report, in regard to the improvement of the harbor of refuge at Portage Lake, Michigan are renewed. His recommendations in reference to Manistee harbor, Michigan for 1894 are for seven cribs 350 feet on the north pier and seven cribs 350 feet on the south pier, to complete the present project, $84,000; for repairing 645 linear feet on the north pier, $6,450; for repairing 500 linear feet on the north revet- ment, $3,500, and for two season's dredging in the harbor, $4,000, which with contingencies makes $111,000. His recommendations for 1894 for Muskegon harbor, Michigan, are for 322 linear feet, new superstructure, north pier $3,220; for repairing north pile pier and revetment, $700; for refilling both piers and rip-rapping end of south pier, $1,500; for rebuilding 1,000 linear feet, sheet pile revetment, north side (timber and piles on hand), $2,000; for 2,000 additional sheet pile revetment, (1,000 on each side) $12,000; for ten new cribs on the north pier and ten on the south pier, $120,000, and for dredging with 9 per cent. for contingencies, $156,000 in all. In Saugutuck harbor he recommends that 2,524 feet of the south pier should be rebuilt above the water's surface. . To complete the inner harbor at Michigan City, he says will require the ~ removal of 135,000 cubic yards, at an estimated cost of $15,000. Whaleback Steamship Company. The English Company organized by W. Johnston & Co. of Liverpool to build boats of the McDougall type will be known as the Whaleback Steamship Company, Limited. A prospectus announces that the capital is to be £250,000 of £10 shares and the company is "to acquire or build vessels of the type known as whalebacks, under patents granted in the United Kingdom, America and other foreign countries, to Alexander McDougall and others." The first subscribers are: W. Johnston, E. Johnston, E. Paul, H. 1. Smith, allof Liverpool; C. Hoyt, 36 Wall street, New York; C. 1. Colby, New York; A. McDou- gall, Duluth, and C. W. Wetmore, New York. 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