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MARINE REVIEW. 5 Lake Freight Matters. The time-honored custom of paying vessel freights in cash has, within the past few days, met with reversal. In a fewcases, vessel owners have been compelled to accept on ore charters, part payment in cash and the balance in three-months paper. The number of such cases has been limited, but they serve to show that no branch of business is escaping the pressure for ready money. 'There is absolutely no sign of encouragement in the outlook for freights. A few shippers, who have contracts with vessel owners covering blocks of ore, have asked for and obtained extension in the time of delivery, but it can be said to the credit of the shippers that such cases are also rare. Advices from the head of Lake Superior are to the effect that northwest- ern grain is ripening earlier than for several years past, and will be ready for shipment in advance of the usual time, but this in- formation affords little consolation when it is known that the leading shippers of the grain are at a loss to devise means by which money can be secured for moving it actively. The number of vessels going out of commission increases daily, while those held out for business meet with long delays in port, awaiting coal cargoes, which are necessary, even at the low rates, in order to keep out of debt in bringing down grain at 1% cents from Chi- cago, or ore at 50 cents from Lake Superior, and 40 cents from Escanaba. Insufficient Assets. In connection with the famous interview of July 4 last be- tween Judge Stevenson Burke of Cleveland and Ferdinand Schlesinger, which has resulted in showing up the most disas- trous financial tangle ever heard of in the lake region, a story is being told in iron mining circles that is very amusing, although it would hardly bear repetition but for the fact that the part taken by the Napoleon of mining finances was not at all seri- ous. When Judge Burke had shown Schlesinger how far he had. overstepped the bounds of business rights in misusing advances made by the firm of Corrigan, Ives & Co., he acknowledged his position and exclaimed : "T have no farther desire of living. Will I shoot myself, judge, or will you shoot me?"' 'No, thank you," the judge answered, "I don't think the assets would be sufficient." . Features in the Re-organization of the Chapin. As had been expected for several weeks past, the creditors of the Chapin Mining Company, led by the Fire and Marine Bank, of Milwaukee, which holds as collateral a control of the stock of the company, are now in possession of the Chapin mine, and it is not probable that Ferdinand Schlesinger will ever again be heard of in connection with the management of the property. By the issuance of bonds, the purchase of which had been pro- vided for before hand among the parties interested, the creditors have made arrangements for meeting unpaid labor and freight claims, for royalties, and for keeping the mine clear of water and moving the ore in stock pile as fast as it can be disposed of. The Chapins, who are the owners of the mine in fee simple, are party to the reorganization with other creditors, having agreed to an arrangement whereby a first mortgage, granted to the bank for having made advances to meet the urgent and imme- diate claims, is practically a lien on the mining fee. This action on the part of the fee holders is considered very liberal, and would indicate that when mining is resumed under the reorganization it will be with a reduction of royalty, which seems inevitable if any ore from this big mine is to be marketed in future. Another feature in the affairs of the mine, which will probably demand a great deal of attention before operations are resumed, and to which a large part of the troubles of the com- pany may be attributed, is the contract with the Menominee Transit Company, under which the six steel steamers of that company were built by the Globe Iron Works Company, of Cleve- land, the builders having been paid from the sale of bonds se- cured by a mortgage on the boats, and the transit company hold- ing a contract with the mine, which stipulates that the boats are to pay for themselves in carrying ore at $1.10 a ton from Hscan- aba. 'This contract, made in times of prosperity, has since been a great draw-back to the mining company, but it is, of course, valid, and a modification of it can be expected only in view of the extraordinary conditions that prompt expectations of reduced royalty. 'The plan of reorganization seems to indicate a deter- mination on the part of the creditors now in charge, to secure a modification of the vessel contract, as well as the royalty now paid to the fee owners. Members of the firm of M. A. Hanna & Co., of Cleveland, control the affairs of the Menominee Transit Company, and the importance of the question of reducing the rate of freight in their contract, together with the uncertainty of any marked reduction being made in the royalty by the Chapins, may result in the mine being closed for a longer period than. would be the case if the vessel contract did not exist. Water Tube Boilers for Large Ships. Of the various subjects discussed at the International Engi- neering Congress in Chicago last month, that of water tube boil- ers for large ships was probably of the most direct interest. The leading officers of the engineer corps of the United States navy showed a thorough appreciation of the importance of the Subject, and it was. generally "agteed that the = imam question now in the development of the coil or tubu- lous boiler for big vessels pertains to the life of tubes. French engineers were given due credit for the progress which they have made with the new type of boiler, and in answer to the charge that officers of the United States navy are prejudiced against French boilers, the Belleville for instance, it was said : that tha Belleville isa very heavy type of tubulous generator, and that it is expected that a better boiler will soon be produced. English engineers seem to agree, also, that that the question of durability is most important. At a recent meeting of the British Institution of Naval Architects, Mr. J. T'. Milton, chief engineer surveyor of Lloyd's Registry of Shipping, read a paper on this subject, that was most exhaustive and was highly com- mended by the institute. He, too, held that durability was the most important point to be considered, but spoke highly of the French boilers on this score, and was joined by his associates in admitting, at the outset, that Great Britain is indebted for exper- ience to the French engineers, who successfully used these boil- ers before they were placed in any British vessel. The use of water-tube boilers, instead of those of the ordi- nary types, the author said, has generally arisen from the desire of obtaining some or other of the following advantages. The relative importance of these not always being the same, has no doubt led to the various designs being adopted in different cases: First--The means of obtaining higher working pressures than are practicable with ordinary boilers, owing to the exces- sive thickness of plates which would be necessary both for the shell and also for the heating surfaces. Second--Economy of maintenance due to the comparative ease with which in some designs every part of the boiler, both external and internal, can be examined and cleaned, and if neces- sary renewed, it being with some types possible to entirely re- boiler a vessel without opening deeks, &c. Third--A decrease of space required, and also of weight of boilers and accessories necessary for producing a given power, or an increase of power obtainable with a given weight. Fourth--It is also generally claimed for all classes of water- tube boilers that they are less liable than ordinary boilers to de- rangement or damage through accident or neglect; and also that, even in the case of rupture, the damage which would result would be muc¢h less than with ordinary boilers,