vt Sige ai a MARINE REVIEW. | 9 Grain Freights and the Money Stringency. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, { No. 701 Phoenix Building, CH1cAGo, Il., Aug. 10. A Buffalo paper stated the other day that there was a good deal of bun- combe about the shortage of money at Chicago in moving grain. The writer attempted to figure out by certain well-known conditions that there was nothing in the stories about the lack of funds. It was quite natural that he should attempt to do so, but the conditions now prevailing in the grain trade can not be argued away nor explained by the usual methods of trade. So far as Chicago is concerned, New York banks have been sus- pended for the past six weeks, as it has been impossible for Chicago banks which had big balances in New York to draw out their funds. Personal messengers, express drafts and all the other means of getting actual cur- rency from one part of the country to the other have received no attention from the New Yorkers, who have laid down and said they could not and would not let the cash go. It seems a pity that with 20,000,000 bushels of wheat in Chicago elevators constantly pressing the price lower and lower, with Europe anxious to buy this wheat, with shippers eager to handle it at a good round profit, and with boats lying idle for lack of cargoes, that a condition of the money market should exist which would stop all this business, yet such is the case. Of course, such an abnormal condition can not continue long. Hard times may be here to stay, but business will adjust itself to the new conditions and will not be paralyzed by the fact that cash is in the banks of one city and not in those of another. I heard the other day of a prominent board of trade man taking $25,000 in curren- cy to a bank and exchanging it for gold, which he lugged over to a safety deposit vault to be dumped into his drawer, He could have made 30 to 35 per cent. for a year on his money without running any risk at all, but he deliberately threw away the chance because he was scared. It is said that every safety deposit drawer in Chicago has been rented in the last two months and they are all overflowing with gold and currency. Why a man should hide his money when it is worth more than it has been for twenty - years and more than it may be again for twenty years more is difficult to explain. It is not as reasonable as the action of the dog carrying away a lot of meat bones for future use. In regard to fast time the steamer City of Toledo proved quite a dis- appointment when she was tested alongside of the Chicora on the run to St. Joe. It was a straight-away race for both boats however much it may be denied. The Toledo madeexcellent time for about an hour, and then her steaim dropped down and she lagged the rest of the way over the course, being easily beaten by 14 minutes. The City of Toledo seems to be a splendid runner for short distances, but when it comes to keeping right at it, hour after hour; does not get there. Thesame thing is true of most passenger boats, Capt. Burns of the Owego, says. On his last trip down the new Canadian steamer City of Collingwood waited two hours to get a chance to match her speed against the Owego. It was an unequal match, for the Union line greyhound was out of sight after five hours' run. Buftalo's Coal and Grain Trade. Special Correspondence to the MARINE RSVIEW. Burrauo, N. Y., Aug. 10.--The record of dullness and vessels laying up may be getting monotonous, but it is still the most current topic of conversa- tion. The difficulty, however, is in other ends of the lake route rather than here. Buffalo was never busier. There have been 100 vessels here in two days, during which time 1,250,000 bushels of wheat have been received and other freight to correspond. Coal shipments are slow, but they are up to last year and will probably keep up. The difficulty is that the dropping off of business in some quarters has revealed to us the immense size of the lake fleet. Begging Detroit's pardon, there are people here who have a sort of nega- tive wish to see that proposed canal built across Canada between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, The announcement made so positively last week is doubtless anything but an assurance that it will be built, but if it is, the cost and utility of such canals will be demonstrated in a way that could never be the case on paper. A canal that merely cuts off a few hours of a vessel's ordinary trip seems anything but necessary, but if it can be made to pay it will show that doubters were mistaken. So long as failure wouldn't be our funeral there is some desire to see the experiment tried. The committee of the Lake Carriers' association, which is looking after the lighting question, has forwarded to the lighthouse board a list of seven of the most needed lights chosen from the larger list authorized by Congress, but for which no appropriation has been made. Following is the list: Light and fog signal on Forty-mile point, Lake Huron; range lights at Death's Door passage, entrance to Green bay ; moving the main Chequamegon light, near Ashland and establishing fog signal ; fog signal at Portage lake ship canal ; light and fog signal on the south-east end of North Manitou island ; light and fog signal at Squaw point, little Bay de Noquette ; light on the south end of South Bass island, Lake Erie. The lighthouse board has acknowledged the receipt of the list and will doubtless adopt it. I was struck by a remark in an item from the Boston Herald lately recording the fact that the ship Great Admiral, the last of the Weld fleet, was twenty-four years old, or double the average life of wooden ships. This may 7 _ ; : e not be exactly true of ocean craft, but it calls attention to the much greater chance a lake vessel] has of continued existence than an ocean vessel. The schooner Richard Mott was built in 1851, the Fulton in 1854, and the Ply- mouth in 1853. All rate A 2, The May Richards, built in 1856, rates A 23. Still we think our lake vessels are subject to a great many accidents. Kingston Harbor Matters. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. Krneston, Ont., Aug. 10.--The shipments of grain out of Montreal for this season up to July 31st amounted to 12,047,004 bushels, against 9,338,947 bushels for the same period last year. The exports are said to be the largest on record. pi The application of electricity in the opening of lock gates has been suc- cessfully tried at Beauharnois canal and has proved highly useful. The gates can be opened and closed with much greater exactness and efficiency than before. There is a scarcity of coal at the south shore points just now. The vessels have done well this year, the rate being 30 cents from Oswego, 5 cents higher than hithe:to, because of the rush. Out of this freight the vessels had to pay tolls. The steamer Algonquin is credited with covering the distance from Kings- ton to Fort William and return in twelve days and this includes loading time. This is good time for a Canadian freight steamer and beats the previous rec- ord by two days. There is a general feeling of satisfaction here, now that President Cleve- land has concluded to put into force the reciprocity in wrecking act as the St. Lawrence river has been the scene of most quarrelling among opposing wrecking interests. Very frequent have been the accidents among river crafts and it was the general thing to have to wait, sometimes days, to secure the 'permission of the respective governments to do rescue work. The abolish- ment of this practice will give despatch to necessary work. Campania and Great Eastern. The following comparative statement of particulars of the Great Eastern and Campania is taken from Dr. Elgar's paper on "Fast Ocean Steamships,"' read at a recent meeting of naval architects of Great Britain at Cardiff. Particulars. Great Eastern. Campania. Ft. In. Ft. In, Length Over all........0.scessnssnescnerenvesaesnesnesecscee 692 0 622 0 Length between perpendiculars...................++ 680 0 600 0 Breadth moulded...........scsecseacesecceessssceeercesees S2r ad 65 0 Depth moulded to upper deck..............+.2+-020++ 08 0 41 6 Tons. Tons. d - ) Gross...... Fasnsdes sea nemenaceaces 18,915 - 12,950 Register tonnage ¢ Tnder deck... .sssesesseeseeee 18,837 10,267 Ft. In: Ft. In. Load draught............-. senate Wag Rie caeeteedanst sts sce 30 0 Qi) ) Isth@lansecceceneesencencaces 800 600 Passenger accommodation ; 2nd class...........----- = 2,000 300 3rd class......... Sahdeeo sete 1,200 700 Indicated horse power of engines........ .. about 8,000 about 30,000 Speed at sea in knots at full power.......s...+-. 14 to 143 22 to 23 The Great Eastern had two separate sets of propelling machinery, one driving a screw propeller and the other a pair of paddle wheels. The screw engines were the most powerful, and would indicate up to 4,500 horse power at sea. The paddle engines indicated 3,500, so that the maximum indicated horse power was about 8,000. This power gave a speed of 14 to 14} knots at sea, with a coal consumption of about 400 tons per day. There were four cyl- inders to each set of engines, those of the screw engines being 7 feet in diame- ter with a stroke of four feet, and those of the paddle engines 6 feet 2 inches in diameter with a stroke of 14 feet. The screw was four-bladed and had a diameter of 24 feet with 44 feet pitch. The paddle wheels were 56 feet in diameter. The working steam pressure appears to have been about 20 pounds, and steam was cut off in the cylinders at one-third of the stroke. The boilers were tubular and of the square-box type, and they were double-ended. There were ten boilers in all, 18 feet long, 17 feet 6 inches wide, and15 feet high, with 112 furnaces. The Campania has also two separate sets of propelling machinery, but in her case they drive twin-screws. The propelling power is fully three and a half times that of the Great Eastern, and the speed more than 50 per cent, greater. This increase in power and speed is obtained with a daily coal con- sumption that is but little in excess of the Great Eastern's. There are five cyl- inders to each set of the Campania's engines, and they work three cranks, There are two high-pressure and two low-pressure cylinders, and the high- pressure cylinders are placed upon the low-pressure. The cylinders are 37 inches, 79 inches, and 98 iuches in diameter respectively, with 69 inches stroke. The screw propellers are smaller than that of the Great Eastern. The boilers are thirteen in number, twelve of them being double-ended and one single- ended, with 100 furnaces, or 12 furnaces less than in the Great Eastern,