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4) Excavating Work at the Sault. In writing to the Lake Carriers' Association regarding com- plaints from vessel masters about difficulties and delays in con- sequence of the manner in which dredging is being done at St. Mary's Falls canal, Gen. Poe says: "That the difficulty of navigating the canal is increased by our operations in progress for the deepening of the prism is true, but I doubt if any delays arise from that cause. The conditions are such, however, that I do not see how the diffiiculty can be immediately obviated. The present location of the excavating plant resulted from a consultation which I personally had with with Assistant Engineer Wheeler, Superintendent Lynch and the contractor. The fact is, we have deepened the north side of the canal from a point a short distance east of the movable dam down to the basin, so that for half the: width of the canal there is now a clear depth of 20 feet or more. The deepening of the south half is the work now in hand. I do not know of any way of acconiplishing it other than to put the plant upon it. Conse- quently the drills were placed at the most easterly section, and are working to the westward. Each move made relieves the situation to some extent. 'In passing the canal under present conditions vessels must make two crossings. The difficult navigation occurs at the cross- ing nearest the lock, but it only requires the observance of such care as should always be excercised in the canal. No delay can arise from the dredging operations, because vessels bound down are, and for years have been required to come to a full stop against the south pier, 400 feet above the lock. If the lock is clear they then move into it, otherwise they wait until the lock is ready for them. The dredging has nothing to do with this regulation, which has for its object to insure safe ingress to and exit from the lock. At present there is room east of the dredge for vessels for one lockage. As soon as these enter the lock, other vessels take their place at the pier, and so the operation continues. Upward bound vessels move right out as they al- ways have done, and their course is not changed. For the fore- going reasons it is difficult to see how the dredging operations can cause any delay. " One of two things is imperative--either the dredge must be withdrawn and the work of deepening the canal be abandon- ed, or the vessels must be subjected to the temporary inconven- ience, (not delay). I fancy that no one would consent to the former alternative. Some satisfaction should be drawn from the knowledge that every yard of rock removed is a permanent im- provement, and that the work is now at its most annoying stage, therefore, as the dredges advance westward they will be less and less in the way. I wish that representatives of the Lake Car- rier's Association would meet me at the 'Sault' and examine the situation for themselves. I ieel confident that they would con- cur in all that we have done, or propose to do." In answer to this letter of explanation from Gen. Poe, the association decided to thank him for the care he has given the mat- ter and for his prompt action in removing the obstruction which the Owen and the Maytham struck. In regard to the sugges- tion about appointing a committee, it was decided to inform Gen. Poe that the association did not consider such action at all neces- sary or desirable, preferring to leave the matter in his hands. Handling Charges. The flat condition of freights has again caused vessel own- ers to talk of making an effort to reduce the unloading charges on iron ore. 'Twenty cents for trimming and unloading out of a 50- cent freight from Escanaba is certainly a very heavy charge, but it is not probable that the dock companies will make a reduction unless very heavy pressure is brought to bear upon them, as any move in that direction would involve labor questions of importance. MARINE REVIEW. =~ as lron Mining, VALUE OF LEADING STOCKS. Quoted by Chas. H. Potter & Co., No. 104 Superior St. Cleveland, O. Stocks. Par Value. Bid. Asked. Cleveland--Cliffs Iron Company.............. $100 00 Bievtaderet Meet cide, Champion Iron Company............ssseeceeee 25° OOP Hie i, Meta tse peat Chandler Tron -Conipatiyase..:.nesrssny fan. aac 25700 (rad Wes 39 50 Jackson Iron Company.....s..cscccecssneseesres 25 00 ieselladad 75 00 Lake Superior Iron Compan y.........secreese 25 OO! 21 ine. datas Seer ae Minnesota Iron Company.......c..scseseseccees OOOO sea eaemetereacmnate 60 00 Pittsburgh: & Wake Angeline dr on Comey 925 O0n) eee 125 00 Republic Iron Compatty: cee: .eterereeeee P25 SOOM eg concen tear 9 25 MAIS ati ehenscsessenenete cosas tae Coy scone sMameceane 25 OO SP ete ccna gee eaten i" Section Thirty-three. t7fat.ccccey reece een BIS BOO to aetes tyne ere Brotherton....... Lac SUR Recerca ee erence DE OO Wert i oe tenes REPRO TTOMIBel Ree is cteeore oc aendcen senate memteneeae DOM GO gre ceractans 2 50 Auroratts) Hiss host eee eee cero Uaeiees DERCOe atot ume ets mat CO On the 6th inst. shipments of ore from Two Harbors were about equal to the movement from that port on the same date a year ago, the aggregate being 317,669 gross tons, divided as fol- lows: Chandler 159,410 tons, Minnesota 136,547, Canton 12,942, Cincinnati 8,770. I'wo Harbors is, however, the only ore shipping port from which the movement will bear comparison with that of last season. Shipments from Ashland on July 2nd ammount- ed to 431,465 tons, divided as follows: Ashland 26,465 tons, Aurora 72,486, Colby No. 25,129, Tilden 43,397, Iron Belt 5,836, Montreal, south vein 1,347, Montreal, north vein 16,576, Broth- erton 10,236, Comet 5,035, Carey, west 16,710, East Norrie 21,- 621, Eureka 11,837, Newport 28,254, Norrie 87,796, Pabst 61,341, Superior 3,140, Sunday Lake 15,359, Davis 2,032. The Ashland mine is another big Gogebic range property: that has suspended all mining operations. The mine is employ- ing less than fifty men all told in some exploratory work and in caring for shipments from the stock piles on a limited amount of ore that has been sold. 'he Minnesota company has suspended all work at the Canton, the new Missabe mine from which a big - product was expected, About 12,000 tons had been shipped when work was stopped. Although mining work of all kinds has been suspended at Champion mine, the management is urging the completion of machinery for crushing the very large quantity of ore in stock piles. : In General. Findings of the army court of inquiry in the case of Col. William Ludlow have been taken from the treasury department to the war departmeut, where it is expected they will be acted upon shortly. One of the rooms of the press bureau at the World's Colum- bian Exposition has its walls entirely papered with title pages of leading publications from all over the world. These publi- cations include daily papers, religious and trade papers, maga- zines, etc. Every nation and nearly every colony in every part of the world is represented. Shipowners may ignore shipbrokers and now and then save a little commission. But whether this is politic or not is another question. A shipbroker's lot is not a happy one and he gener- ally works hard for what commission he gets. Like every other sensible man in business he studies the interests of those who trust their affairs to him and they are gainers in the end, even though they forego saving a commission by having a broker.-- Maritime Register. The largest check ever sent to a ship building firm in this country for the construction of a naval vessel was made out June 20 in favor of the Cramps for $700,000, in payment of work on the New Vork. It includes the bonus of $200,000 which the com- pany won by exceeding the contract speed by one knot. This premium is the largest yet paid on any naval ship constructed for the government, and was at the rate of $50,000 for each quar- ter knot over the twenty required of the cruiser. In discussing the Camperdown-Victoria collision, Chief Con- structor Hichborn, U. S. N., said: 'The Camperdown has a weight of 10,600 tons and was moving at a rate of ten knots per. hour or 16.88 feet per second. This would give an impact of 46,900 foot-tons delivered by the sharp ram of the Camperdown. That is equivalent to the blow that would be struck by a rail- road train consisting of six large Pullman cars drawn by the heav- iest of locomotives--say one of 120 tons, running at a speed of 50 miles per hour."'