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DEVOTED TO LAKE MARINE AND KINDRED INTERESTS. Published every Thursday at No. 409 Feroy Hayne building, Cleveland, Ohlo, by John M. Mulrooney and F. M. Barton. SUBSORIPTION--$2.00 per year inadvance. Single copies 10 centseach. Convenient binders sent, post paid, $1.00. Advertising rates on application. Entered at Cleveland Past Office as Second class Mail Matter. The books of the United States treasury department on June 30, 1897, cor tained the names of 3,230 vessels, of 1,410,102.60 gross tons register in the lake trade. The number of steam vessels of 1,000 gross tons, and over that amount, on che lakes on June 30, 1897, was 399, and their aggregate gross tonnage 769,366.68; the number of vessels of this class owned in all other parts of the country on the same date was 314, and their tonnage 685.709.07, so that more than half of the best steamships in all the United-States are owned on the lakes. The classification of the entire lake fleet on June 30, 189/, was as follows. Gross Number. Tonnage. SteambeviesSelsie <crsousateis cise Sevteils elcid 0 Selelotole «0.0 ciel da/eleisye alaie's 1,775 Uses Saillinowvessels andes aArgesis..aasiesieiel> ciaislcisteicisiesjs isis asere o[eie 1,094 594,888. Gra EBDODES a oss ineeiee cee ek ciritccts ctineidies eckeleisattle cele sles stele of L 37,978.28 LTE GER Li ersee esr vera ate claret Far clave eis arcleteve ave Eve crcravetate e's w Ghaterereheral 3,230 1,410,102.60 The gross registered tonnage of the vessels built on tne lakes during the past five years, according to the reports of the United States commissione) 'of navigation, is as follows: di June 30, 1893 175 99,271.24 Year on ans ' 1894 106 41,984.61 ee arty SPACE 1895 93 36,352.70 "6 '"s " 1896 117 108 182.38 3 os se "se 1897 120 116,936.98 PRO Tht Seti Sik, OS RE HE WOE Sr bes, "611 403,327.91 ST. MARY'S FALLS AND SUKZ CANAL TRAFIC. (rom Official Reports of Canal Officers.) St. Mary's Falls Canals. Suez Canal. 1897 1896 1895 1897 ° 1896 1895 Number of vessel passages | 17,171 18,615 17,956 2,986 8,409 8,434 _net registered.....|| 17,619,988 | 17,249,418) 16,806,781 Tonnage, net register | ey a niet 7,809,374 | 8,560,284) 8,448,388 Days of navigation............ 865 365 365 ' Under the head of increase in the navy, the naval appropriation bill now nearing final action in the senate, contains, in addition to the three battleships provided for in the bill as it came from the house, a provision for the construction of four harbor defense monitors .to cost $1,250,000 each. The number of torpedo boat destroyers is increased from twelve to sixteen, their displacement increased from 350 to 400 tons each, and total cost, together with twelve torpedo boats, is increased from $4,680,000 to $6,900,000. The appropriation for armor for the vessels authorized is increased from $5,662,800 to $7,162,800, and for equipment from $175,000 to $375,000. To the paragraph authorizing the construction of four timber dry docks at Portsmouth, N. H., Boston, League island and Mare island, a provision is added giving the secretary of the navy discretion to build either or all of them of granite, in which case the limit of cost for each is increased by $200,000. / There is still a lively interest in the progress made toward bringing drv dock No. 3, sometimes called the Walsh dry dock, at the Brooklyn navy yard, into condition to receive a battleship. The Army and Navy Journal learns that leaks have been developed through the altars near the abutments on the easterly side of the dock, which are probably due to an unusually high tide. Strenuous efforts are being made to overcome this difficulty by building a concrete wall to shut out the tide water. The caisson is now in the outer still, but does not fit; it is wedged in every possible way to prevent the passage of water around it into the dock and the inner sill is being prepared to receive the caisson. Whether the cais- son will fit properly in the inner sill or not remains to be seen. The naval constructor in charge of this work, it has been said, hopes to have the dock reaay to receive a battleship by May 1, but it is evident that enough work remains to be done to make it certain that the dock cannot be util- ized before the middle of June, if then. It is understood that Mr. Charles H. Keep, secretary of the Lake Carriers' Association, who was recently appointed secretary of the Mer- chants' Exchange at Buffalo, did not take the place inco consideration until he had satisfied himself, by consultation with leading members and officers of the exchange, that the performance of his duties to that body would not conflict with his work as secretary of the Lake Carriers' Asso- ciation. Indeed, it was the opinion of the officers of the Buffalo organi- zation, as well as officials of the Lake Carriers' Association, that the nature of the duties pertaining to both positions was such that they could be advantageously performed by the same person, and that one position would rather help than hinder a satisfactory performance of the work connected with the other. Another plan is suggested for supplying coast cities, especially New Orleans and Gulf points, with torpedo boats from the lakes. The main objection to the building of small.war vessels on the lakes has been that I:ngland would not permit the passage of these vessels through the canals of the St. Lawrence to the seaboard. Now it is suggested that vessels like the Mackenzie and Cushing--100 feet long, 13 feet wide and 9 feet deep--might be built, say in Cleveland, and transported by rail to the Ohio river at Cincinnati, from which point their passage to the gulf would not be a difficult matter. The manager of one of the railways running into Cleveland says there is no reason why boats of the dimensions noted could not be transported to Cincinnati by rail, MARINE REVIEW. A Duluth correspondent, referring to improvements in iron mines and railways of the Minnesota mining region, says: _ The Duluth & Iron Range road is using its new 19-mile line. The line increases the distance slightly, but lessens grades so that the locomotive load is increased more than 50 per cent. The new dock at Two Harbors is not yet ready, byt will be in June. Dock extension for the Duluth, Mesabi & Northern road is about ready for use. Some 260 30-ton steel ore cars have been delivered by the Pullman company. The road has received a 90-ton Bu- cyrus steam shovel which is at work on the line. Considerable improve- ments are being made to the road's shops and yards near Duluth, and matters are in excellent shape for an enormous ore traffic under the charge of Manager Olcott." If there is any truth in the semi-ouicial announcement from the nayy department that orders for two war vessels are to come to this country from Russia, it would seem that Mr. Charles H. Cramp's latest search for contracts away from home has proven fruitful. The Washington dispatch says: "The contract with the Cramps is practically closed. The vessels are to be battleships of more than 12,000 tons displacement, 16 knots speed, and mounting the heaviest battery carried on vessels of their displacement afloat. Plans of the proposed ships have been received here and those who have seen them:say they provide for vessels that will prove to be the equal and probably the superior of the Iowa, the best fighting ship now in the American navy, and of nearly 1,000 tons less tonnage than the Russian vessels."' Reports from Duluth regarding grain shipments from the head of the lakes this season are not encouraging to vessel owners. One correspond- ent says: "There is so far chartered out of Duluth vessel room for only about 2,000,000 bushels of grain, and wheat here is unusually scarce. It is estimated that receipts of grain here before September will be less than 2,500,000 bushels. Indeed, a good many western farmers are already scnding to the elevators in Duluth and Minneapolis for seed with which to sow their farms, and it is estimated that 5,000,000 bushels of wheat will be shipped back-from these cities to the farms this spring. Considering this, it is scarcely likely that the farmers have much wheat for sale." The Sweuish merchant navy, not including vessels under 20 tons, num- bered at the end of 1896, for which year official statistics are only now available, 2,013 sailing vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 299,855 tons, and 756 steamers, with an aggregate tonnage of 205,964 tons, making a total of 2,769 vessels, with 496,819 tons; this shows an increase in tonnage of 13,816 tons, as compared with the previous year, although there is a marked decrease in both number and tonnage of sailing vessels. Nearly the whole of the increase in steamer tonnage has been brought about by purchase from abroad. One of the four wooden ships building at the works of James David- son, West Bay City, will probably be launched Saturday and the others will follow rapidly. They are all nearing completion, and as usual with Davidson vessels, they will be practically ready for service when launched. There are two steamers, each 315 by 44 by 26 feet, and two schooners, each 312 by 451% by 26 feet. The steamers have triple expansion engines with cylinders of 16, 28 and 42 inches diameter b-~ 36-inch stroke, built py S. F. Hodge & Co. of Detroit, and Scotch boilers (two each) of 12 feet 3 inches by 12 feet. A Sault river collision case that is of long standing in the courts was argued before the United States circuit court of appeals at Cincinnati last week. The collision occurred in 1891 and the vessels involved are the steamers Ohio, Mather and Siberia. In the lower court damages were divided, one-third to each. A: decision from the court of appeals is ex~ pected shortly. The Ohio is represented by John C. Shaw and C. E. Kremer; the Mather by James H. Hoyt and W. C. Wisner, and the Si- beria by Harvey D. Goulder and F. H. Canfield. : One of the new torpedo boats, the Morris, built by the Herreshofts of Bristol, R. I., is said to have attained a speed of 24.02 knots on official trial in Narragansett bay on Tuesday last. The steam pressure was 190 pounds and the revolutions 440. Only 211%4 knots was required in the contract for this vessel. The boilers of this vessel are capable of 250 pounds pressure, and her builders say that under more favorable condi- tions she will make 25 knots. Investigation thus far made by the canal board appointed by the governor of New York to make inquiry regarding the recent expenditure of $9,000,000 on the state canals thas resulted in eliciting the probable fact that the contemplated improvements on the Erie and Champlain canals will cost altogether more nearly thirty millions of dollars than the mere nine millions first asked for. More names for auxiliary cruisers are announced by the navy de- partment. The steamship New York will be the Harvard, the Paris will be the Yale, the Venezuela the Panther and the Yumuri the Badger. The Yorktown and St. Louis will retain their present names. An allotment of $75,000 has been made from the national defense ap- propriation to the light-house service of the treasury department, whic will be expended in carrying out the scheme of joint coast defense signal service formulated by Lieut. J. H. Gibbons, U. S. N. Every navy yard in the country has been directed to work to its full capacity in preparing ships under repair for service, and those where only the usual hours have been observed have been ordered to begin night work with all the men that can be used to advantage. The reported consolidation of the Cleveland-Cliffs and Lake Superior von companies is an old story. Cleveland officials of these companies say there is nothing in the rumor. A board of naval officers has been appointed to inspect the submarine torpedo boat Holland, with a view to her purchase by the government.