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Van. XVII. Lake Freight Outlook. The outlook in the iron trade will prompt a movement of vessels early in April this year, if the weather is at all favorable to the opening of navigation at that time. The ore cempanies that have vessel interests will pay no attention to the policy of delay in opening navigation that has been advocated in the past, but will prepare for an early start this year, more so than in any of the past two or three seasons, as they have reason to expect a demand for large supplies of ore. They will probably be selling ore within the coming week, as it is understood that some of the furnace mien are ready to make purchases as soon as the arrangement of the price schedule, now under way, is completed. A knowledge of these conditions has caused some anxiety among vessel owners in different parts ot the lakes, and Cleveland agents have numerous inquiries regarding the prob- abie lake freight on season contracts. An answer to these inquiries may be made by quoting a vessel owner who is in close touch with both sides of the situation: "Ore sales may be made," he says, "within a few days now, but the vessel owner who has no connection with ore interests may as well make up his mind that he will have to wait for anything that he may get until such vessels as those of the Bessemer Steamship Co., the Minnesota Iron Co., Republic and Lake Superior iron companies, Mutual and Menominee transportation companies and others of their kind are filled up. Just now, more than in any other season for a long time past, the individual vessel owners are at a great loss in not having a leader who could induce them to stand together for a 70-cent season freight, which they would certainly get before May 1 if the sales of ore develop to the extent that is» expected. The vessel man would havé everything to gain by insisting upon such a rate and nothing to lose, as there is certainly no money for the best of ships at 60 cents and little to be made by most of them at 65 cents. If 70 cents could be considered in any way untair to the ore interests this argument might be questioned, but not more than 5 to 7 cents of the 15-cent advance in ore is involved in extra wages at the mines, and the ore producers are therefore better off. by about 10 cents a ton than they were a year ago, as costs are not increased in any: line other - than labor." If the owners of lumber vessels succeed in perfecting their organiza--- tion for the maintenance of freights they may laugh at their more wealthy brethren in the ore and grain trades. Mr. A. M. Carpenter of Port Huron, secretary of the Lumber Carriers' Association, has prepared in pamphlet form the full scheme of the association as adopted at the Detroit meeting. These pamphlets, with membership application blanks, are being distrib-. uted, and as the complete plan of organization becomes understood it is: meeting with favor. Officers of the organization confidently expect that the required tonnage will be secured within the next few weeks, and that at ~ another meeting, to be held as soon as possible, the doubtful owners will be most enthusiastic when they realize the full force of the association. . The New Canadian Lake and Rail Line. _ Agents of the Canadian lake and rail line that is to be established during the coming season via Parry Sound on Ge@rgian bay, have been figuring with different vessel owners around the lakes for steamers suited to the package freight and grain trades, and are said to have chartered three Cleveland boats, as well as the Chicago steamers Arthur Orr and W. R. Linn, the latter now building at South Chicago. In a report to the Western Joint Traffic Bureau, a railway association, the freight agent oi the new line says: ae Sena: 5 een "Tt is our intention on the opening of navigation to put on three boats from Chicago to Parry Sound, the capacity of which will be in the neigh- lhorhood of 3,000 tons each, which will call at Milwaukee; also two boats it1om Duluth, with about the same capacity. At Chicago we have leased a dock between the dock of the Ogdensburg Transit Co. and the Lehigh Valley Transportation Co.'s dock, en which there is being erected a ware- 'house about 425 feet long, with an average width of 110 feet. At Parry Sound we have an elevator now ready for the handling of grain, with a capacity of about 1,250,000 bushels, and will have a warehouse 600 feet long by 80 feet wide, as well as a flour house 600 feet long by 80 feet wide, and 2,500 feet dockage accommodation, ona 22-foot water line. We are also building at Coteau Landing on the St. Lawrence river, at the mouth of the Soulanges canal, a transfer elevator of 500,000 bushels capacity, which will handle 240 carloads a day, and also a warehouse and docks of sufficient dimensions for the handling of flour and package freight, our idea being to float our grain and package freight to Montreal and deliver alongside of the ocean vessels in Montreal harbor." It is expected that the enlarged dock of the Union Dry Dock Co.=at Buffalo will be completed about the middle of next week. The Hawgood steamer S. S. Curry will be the first vessel to go into the dock. The Union company has a very large amount of repair work to complete be- fore the opening of navigation. A job just begun on the Lackawanna line steamer Russia will involve an expenditure of about $20,000. The large steel tug building at this yard for the Maytham line is entirely plated. The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co.'s side-wheel steamer City of Erie "will be launched at the Wyandotte ship yard of the Detroit Dry Dock Co..at 2:30 p. m. Saturday, the 26th. No ceremony has been arranged ior the launch. It will be witnessed by Gen. Manager T. F. Newman and a few of the directors of the Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co., together with -- officials of the dry dock company. Chief Engineer Wm. P. Anderson of the Canadian department of marine and fisheries contributes an article on "Shipping of the Lakes" to the February number of the Nautical Magazine (English), ARINE CLEVELAND, O., FEBRUARY«24, 1868 REVIEW General Activity in Ship Building. _ Eastern ship builders, notably the Harlan & Hollingsworth Co. of. Wilmington, Del., and the Roach yard at Chester, Pa., have secured several lmportant orders within the past tew weeks, and the condition of the ship, building industry throughout the United States is now more active than: it has been at any time for a number of years past. The construction 'of: river boats for the Yukon trade, and the rebuilding of a large number of sea-going ships that are to be engaged in Alaskan trade on the Pacific, has furnished a 'large amount of work, not only to Pacific coast builders but also to ship yards in the east. One concern in Seattle, the Moran. Bros. Co., has a line of Yukon boat work under way that aggregates about $1,250,000 in value and skilled ship yard workmen are so scarce at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco and at other points on the Pacific that the Alaskan Commercial Co., which is about to build several river bargés, found it necessary to engage more than one hundred men in the east and send them by special train to the Pacific coast. In New York the American Mail Steamship Co., just organized with a capital of $1,000,000, is preparing to place orders for four steamers for foreign trade. This company is made up of well known shipping men and there is nO question of their ability to carry out the plans upon which the company has been organized. At Roach's ship yard, the Delaware River Iron Ship Building & Engine Works, Chester, Pa., there are now six vessels, representing a value of over a million and a quarter of dollars under way, and a seventh, a New York ferry steamer for the Grand street line, is in the water ready to leave. The latest contraet secured by this company is trom the Penn- sylvania Co.,-for a ferry steamer to goon the route between the Jersey City terminal station of the Pennsylvania 'Co. and the Twenty-third street station in New York. This steamer will be constructed of steel and the hull will be 206 feet long, having a molded beam of 46 feet, and a beam over all of 65 feet, with a depth of hoid of 17 feet. The upper works will be very substantially built of the best joiner work and the two great cabins | 'will afford room for carrying a large number of passengers. The general arrangement -and appearance of the cabins will be similar to the other 'three vessels in the same service, but the boat will contain many improve- ments over their designs, the result of the.experience-of Mr. H. S. Hay- ward, who designed the vessel. ° The cabins wilt be finished in ivory paint- ing with panels of staff in embossed designs and mahogany railings and columns. «Phe floors.on both decks will be covered with interlocking rubber. tiles... There will be two propellers on each end of the steamer, the wheels being 7 feet 10 inches in diameter and cast from open hearth "steel. The power will be furnished by- two compound engines of the three-cylinder type, with two high pressure cylinders of 20 inches in diam- eter and low pressure cylinder 32 inches in diameter, with a stroke of 24 inches. Steam will be generated by four Thornycroft. water tube boilers, each with 60. sqitare feet of grate surface and 2,295 feet of heating surface given by 420 tubes. There will be two smoke-stacks. The boat will niake about 17 miles an hour, a high speed being necessary on account of the long ruin up the North river and the necessity of prompt connections. H. M. Bean of Camden, Me., has contracted with Capt. Crowell of Tom's River, N. J., to build-a five-masted wooden schooner of 260 feet keel, 44 feet beam and 21 feet hold. 'A Washington dispatch says that Detroit is certain of getting the Algonquin, first of the two revenue cutters now nearing completion at the Globe Iron Works, Cleveland. This vessels will replace the Fessen- den, which will be sold. The station of the second new vessel, the Onon- daga, is still a matter of doubt. Some of the treasury officials do not like the idea of having her stationed one year at Buffalo and the next year at Cieveland. In general dimensions the new vessels are the same as the Gresham, built by the same company and now stationed at Milwaukee, but they will be about 56 tons lighter than the Gresham and will still have more boiler power. With these points in view, the revenue cutter officials are expecting a slight increase of speed in the new vessels. _ The Gresham has a record of 1814 knots, or about 21 statute miles, which makes her, with possibly two or three exceptions, the fastest steamer on the lakes. If this speed is exceeded by the new vessels, Algonquin and Onondaga, © they will be able to beat the Northern line passenger ships, City of Buffalo, Christopher Columbus or any of the flyers that have been placed in the 21-mile class. {t would seem that production in the iron trade has been brought to its present height through the general agreement that 1898 will be a year of large business,.and early preparation has been made by producers to meet a demand not yet realized. Yet the inquiry in many lines gives in- dication of the large business just ahead and much of which within a month or two is likely to be found on the order books of the mills. Here and there prices of finished material have yielded a trifle under the wait of the past three weeks. In general, the evenness of the market since Dee. 1, under-the enormous consumption going on in all lines 1s practically without a parallel'in the history of the trade. A further meeting of Southern pig iron producers is being held this week. It is believed some betterment in prices on Southern irons will come out of it, but there are still some objections to overcome.--Iron Trade Review. There is much comment because, thirty-five years after the war, we are paying out nearly $150,000,000 a year as pensions to veteran Union sor diers, and suggestions are made by which to reduce these payments. ut foreign ship owners are given a sum each year about twice as large as we pay our veterans. This fact receives but indifferent attention, and there is almost no suggestion of a positive intention to cut off foreign ship . owners who are sapping our commercial life Commercial America.