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12 MARINE REVIEW. Admiralty Cases at Buffalo. Spectal Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Burraxo, N. Y., Jan. 19.--A peculiar marine libel suit went to pieces here the other day. Last fall the captain of the barge Levi Rawson refused to pay the 124 cents loading charges attached to his bill of lading and libeled the cargo for the freight. The amount in one case was only $3 and in the other--there being two consignees--$57. He agreed not to libel the lumber but broke his promise, and when the defense was set up that he had never de- manded his freight he gave it up and paid his own costs. It is reported that there are lumber freights on the point of being made, though none can be obtained as yet. This is a remarkably early movement and will greatly encourage carriers. There is also a salvage case of rather unusual interest. One night last fall the canal boat Hubbell & Hill, loaded with lumber, broke loose from her moorings at Tonawanda and started for Niagara Falls. Her captain discov-' ered that she was gone after a while and hiring two tugs gave chase. They went to within a mile or two of the falls and then tied up, sending row boats for the lost boat, which was found on the opposite side of the river, and safely taken back to Tonawanda. The tugs now want $3,000 for services, claiming that they run great risk of being lost and that they saved the canal boat and her cargo from certain loss. The defense puts in that there was no danger to the tugs and that they did not even find the boat. It's too bad that Buffalo must lose Capt. Daniel McLeod. Since he came down from Chicago to manage the Lloyds Register he has become deservedly popular with everybody. He has not only attended to business but personally he stands very high among vessel men. Buffalo is sorry to lose the Lloyds office, which has been held here so long, but no one complains, as the change does not appear to be aimed at us in particular, but only to centralize matters. There can be no doubt that the underwriters who have always been dead against the admission of vessel men to the Lloyds management, took a long breath when the vessel owners at Detroit agreed to take part in the inspection work, for this rather commits vessel owners to home insurance. It was gratifying at the Merchants' Exchange annual meeting to hear every report of handling commodities show an increase over any previous year. Nothing at this port fell off but iron ore, and Buffalo is not to blame for that. If eastern furnaces can buy foreign ore cheaper than Lake Superior ore they are going to do it. The exact amount paid by John Craig when he came down from Toledo to get the steamer J. B. Ketcham out of limbo was $3,272.58. On this last trip she damaged her lumber $2,750 worth in her accident at Tonawanda and her survey was $6,954. This gives a total of $12,926.58. There is nothing like bad luck when you once get started, Another St. Mary's Falls Canal Contract--Detroit Matters. ." Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Detroit, Mich., Jan. 19.--Gen. Poe has forwarded to the Washington office of the war department proposalson another important part of the work of constructing the 800-foot lock at St. Mary's Falls canal. The bids are for the construction of floor, culverts, breast-walls and miter sills of the lock and the material and work are approximately as follows: Portland cement, 4,000 barrels; natural cement, 6,000 barrels; white pine timber to be laid, 3,421,572 feet, broad measure; white oak timber to be laid, 15,400 feet, broad measure; iron, 1,143,272 pounds; material to be excavated, 5,000 cubic yards; concrete to be laid, 10,000 cubie yards; holes to be drilled, 67,500 linear feet. The bids were as follows: EitiaWesenGs ace bamcraaSymACUse, Np \o..26h-o.ccse sss). 8. ueoss $208,192.46 Campbell & McDonald, Duluth, Minm..............-...06.-00656 214,211.73 Aime TNA Ws) erAINs ITE tIbh,= MIMS, ...5tesoeeesk as ese se. ceksese 236,294.34 Carkin, Stickney & Cram, HE. Saginaw, Mich.................. 336,474.34 ee Ora, Deproitn Che tsastectnstc<s: uenyes forth oso 468 3803.78 Hughes Bros. & Bangs, the successful bidders, are the contractors en- gaged on the construction of the lock, and as the specifications on this job of putting in floors, etc., provided that work prior to Novy. 16, 1893, must not interfere with the present operations, the Syracuse contractors were somewhat at an advantage over their competitors. They can arrange work on both con- tracts so as to reduce cost of labor as well as material. In about two weeks the Detroit Dry Dock Company will launch the big wooden car ferry, building at the Orleans street yard, and the first of the two new Detroit & Cleveland line passenger steamers, which are to be completed in June, will go into the water shottly afterwards. The wrecked steamer Progress, which was raised from the Detroit river, is in dock and the work of repair will be pushed rapidly. Fast Torpedo Boats. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Wasurneton, D. C., Jan. 19.--The naval bureaus of engineering and of construction and repair are preparing plans for four torpedo boats authorized at the last session of congress and intended for use on the battle ships Maine and Texas, which are now well under way to completion. These little crafts are to be 60 feet long, 9 feet beam and 15 tons displacement, They are to have quadruple expansion engines, fitted with coil boilers cerrying 250 pounds steam, and will also be provided with a force draught system. They are ex- pected to develop 200-horse power and should move through the water at an 18-knot gait. Their coal capacity will be about five tons, and the consump- tion of coal will be 600 pounds an hour. Representative Herbert, chairman of the committee on naval affairs, said recently that the present number of engineer officers in the 'navy was abso- lutely necessary and that any further reduction would be dangorous. If the reduction were allowed to continue the number of such officers would be but 170, and this would be totally inadequate. If the pending bill on this ques- tion were enacted into law the number would remain at 191. Mr. Holman of Indiana is opposed to the bill. The act of 1882, providing that the number of engineer officers should be reduced to 170 was, he holds, carefully considered, and nothing has occurred since that time to induce congress to change the policy then entered upon. Seventeen Yachts ina Single Yard. Seventeen steam yachts under construction in the same yard at the same time is the sight that greets a visitor at the shipyard of C. P. Willard & Co. . on the Chicago river. Twelve of the boats are for service at the world's fair and the remaining five will be for charter to clubs during fair season. The whole seventeen have triple expansion engines exactly alike and Roberts tubular boilers. The twelve fair boats are 50 feet loug and 103 feet wide, while the five building for charter are of the same beam but 74 feet in length. There is trouble in the aristrocratic Argo club over the steam yacht Argo, brought here from Detroit last summer. The Argo was bought by a few of the club members on their individual account for some $8,000. Some time ago the Argo went into Miller's dry dock for repairs. It was found she would ~ have to be rebuilt. The survey placed the cost at $7,500, but it is more likely to be $10,000. The owners have offered to turn the boat over to the club if it will pay the repair bill. Yacht builders here have offered to duplicate the Argo at the cost of repairs, and the club may build, letting the owners of the Argo whistle. Vessels Meeting in Narrow Channels. Immediately following the conclusion of matters relative to insurance at the metting of lake vessel owners in Cleveland Thursday, Capt. William Mack submitted the following, which was adopted : "Your commiitte, to which was referred the question of meeting and pass- sing of steam vessels in channels less than 500 feet wide, beg to submit that in such channels no ship should pass another going in the same direction; that when steam vessels going in opposite directions are about to meet in any such channel, both shall be slowed down to a speed in no case to exceed five miles an hour; that the descending vessel shall have the right of way, but shall indicate her decision by proper signals given in due season; that the board of supervising inspectors at their meeting now being held in Washington be requested to' pass a rule carrying into effect these recommendations."' Electric Lighting Plant of the World's Fair Steamer. The Fisher Electric Company has closed a contract with the American Steel Barge Company, represented by Mr. William Mahon, for placing a complete incandescent lighting plant on the whaleback passenger steamer Christopher Columbus, which will carry passengers from Chicago to the world's fair. 'The plant will consist of about 800incandescent lamps ; and two direct- connected, twin, compound engines and dynamos, each machine of 400 lights capacity. Oxydized silver fixtures will be used throughout the boat. All the cooking will be done by electric heaters, 'The Fisher Electric Company's automatic alarm signal will be employed on port, starboard and masthead lights, and a powerful search light of the Mangin type will also beused. The use of compound, direct-connected engines will be rather a nov- elty on the lakes, and from an economical standpoint the plant. will operate with a minimum amount of expense, and yet the highest degree of efficiency throughout the entire system will be attained. _The Fisher company recently removed the plant of the United States company from the steamer Tuscarora, and re- placed it with the Fisher automatic dynamos and other applian- ces, similar to the plants in the other steamers of this fleet. _ In order to make all parts of their steam pressure regulators interchangeable, as in fire arms, sewing machines, etc., the Fos- ter Engineering Company, of Newark, N. J., has just entered a large order with the Gisholt Machine Company, of Madison, Wis., for a line of their turret lathes, with all accompanying special tools, to build the different sizes and styles of their regt- lators and pump governors. mend a cents in stamps to the Revigw for statement of Take Superior ore shipments during the past thirty-seven years.