The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

1901.] MARINE REVIEW. 4 LAKE SHIP YARDS FILLING UP FOR ANOTHER YEAR. It is now more than probable that before the close of navigation the ship yards of the great lakes will all have secured orders enough to keep them fully employed throughout next winter. It is even expected that the close of the present month will find all berths engaged in the several works of the American Ship Building Co. Options have been taken on some berths for which contracts will be announced shortly, Negotiations for new vessels are under way with about a dozen owners, It is all due to a more prosperous season of navigation than was looked for last spring and to the general belief that numerous new enterprises . all over the country, some of them involving two or three years in their completion, will be carried out, and that in iron and steel lines especially the future is very promising as regards foreign business. With an order for five steel freight steamers, placed a few days ago by J. C. Gilchrist of Cleveland, the American Ship Building Co. already has under con- tract ten large freighters for next year, in addition to three very large side-wheel passenger steamers that are to be built at the Detroit works. The Gilchrist order alone involves about $1,250,000 worth. of work. Within less than a year Mr. Gilchrist has ordered thirteen steel freight steamers from the American company. Including the five steamers just ordered the Gilchrist fleet numbers sixty-four vessels, and may, of course, be largely increased before another season comes around, as it is being added to by purchase right along. The new steamers are to be considerably larger than any now in the fleet.' They will be dupli- cates and of about 5,600 gross tons capacity. Dimensions are: Length over all, 400 ft.; length of keel, 380 ft.; beam, 50 ft.; depth, 28 ft. _ Engines will be of triple expansion type with cylinders of 22, 35 and 58 in. diam- eter and 42 in. stroke. Two Scotch boilers in each vessel of 13 ft. diameter and 12 ft. length will be fitted with the Howden system of hot draft. At the works of the Craig Ship Building Co., Toledo, the passenger steamer Iroquois, which is being built for the Arnold Transportation Co. of Mackinaw Island, Mich., and a smaller passenger vessel, the Lake Side, for the Sandusky & Island Transportation Co. of Sandusky, are so near completion that they will be delivered to their owners shortly, The Iroquois is expected to be even faster than the Chippewa, built some time ago for the Arnold company, and which is in service between Mackinaw and Sault Ste. Marie. On a recent trip from Macki- naw to the Sault, the Chippewa made the run from Mackinaw to Detour, 38% miles, in 1 hour and 40 minutes. The Chippewa and Iroquois, as well as the Lake Side, and another fast passenger. vessel, the Puritan, now operated on Lake Michigan by the Graham & Morton Transporta- tion Co., are fitted with Roberts water tube boilers. Two steamers of Canadian canal dimensions, building at the Craig yard for the United Fruit Co. of New York, and which are to engage in salt water trade, will keep: the Toledo works employed for some time yet, but negotia- tions for new work for next year are, of course, under way. Mr. John Craig says that his plans for more work are along the lines on which the company has been engaged for some time past and are such that it will probably not be necessary to seek orders for the kind of freighters that furnish most work to the consolidated lake yards. The Williams Transportation Co. of Chicago, operating passenger and freight vessels on Lake Michigan, is negotiating for the construc- tion of a large side-wheel steel passenger steamer--excursion type--for Chicago-South Haven service. The plans contemplate a vessel of about 325 ft. length, 20 miles speed and to cost in the neighborhood of $300,- 000. Such a vessel would make two trips a day between Chicago and South Haven. It was expected that both of the steamers of 700 ft. length building at the Globe works of the American Ship Building Co. in Cleveland for transatlantic service (to be taken to the coast in two parts) would be finished in time to pass down the Canadian canals to the seaboard before the close of navigation, but work on the ships has been so delayed that probably only one of them will go down this fall. H. J. Pauly and others of Milwaukee are among lake owners who are figuring on new ships. If price and delivery are made satisfactory they will build two freight steamers of about 350 ft. length each, to engage in grain and coal trades. LIGHT-SHIP ON SOUTHEAST SHOAL, LAKE ERIE. Capt. George P. McKay, chairman of the committee on aids to navi- gation of the Lake Carriers' Association, placed a light-ship on the southeast shoal of the Point au Pelee passage, Lake Erie, Sunday. The vessel selected for this purpose is the old schooner Smith & Post, which has been refitted with a small boiler for signaling and also with the necessary lamps. The vessel is painted the familiar red of the government light-ships, and in the day time, at least, is a decidedly con- spicuous object. The vessel will carry lights upon each mast--red above white and 10 ft. apart. The lights were displayed for the first time on Sunday night. Vessels which have passed since then report that the lights are dim and cannot be distinguished at a greater distance than about two miles. This is probably due to some fault inherent in the lamp, and Capt. McKay will appreciate it as a favor if passing vessels will report to him their opinion of the light. If the present lamps are inadequate new ones will be substituted. The vessel is equipped with two 8-in. whistles for signaling during foggy weather. New drums are being placed upon the boiler in order to furnish sufficient steam to give a blast of twenty seconds duration every two minutes during foggy weather. For the present the blast is of briefer duration. _. Capt. McKay has written to Chief Engineer W. P. Anderson of the department of marine and fisheries, Ottawa, requesting the transfer of the gas buoy at present on the middle ground to Grubb's reef and the transfer of the gas buoy now on the southeast shoal to the middle ground, until such time as the crib at the latter point is completed. It is proposed when the crib on the middle ~round is completed to place the gas buoy on Little's point. One fare for the round trip to the Pan-American exposition at Buf- falo via the Nickel Plate road beginning June 1 and continuing the entire summer; good returning within ten davs from date of sale. Write, wire, *phone or call on nearest agent, or E. A. Akers, C. P. & T. A., Cleveland, Ohio. 84, Aug. 1. AROUND THE GREAT LAKES. A cargo of copper ore and manufactured copper, valued at about $1,200,000, was delivered in Buffalo a few days ago from the Lake Supe- rior copper region by the steamer Geo, A, Flagg, owned by D. R. Hanna and others of Cleveland. _ It is reported from Chicago that Barry Bros. of that place who con- templated ptirchasing from M, A. Bradley and others of Cleveland the wooden freight and passenger steamers Empire State and Badger State for service on Lake Michigan in connection with other Barry vessels, have given up the scheme. It is estimated that hard coal shipments from Buffalo and Erie by lake to July 1 are about 200,000 tons short of what they were on July 1 a year ago. The movement during June from Buffalo aggregated only 212,518 tons, against 261,313 tons in June last year. In May last year 288,233 tons of hard coal. were shipped from Buffalo; this year May shipments were very light on account of the late opening of navigation. Following are names, valuations and tonnage of new vessels ap- pearing in the July 1 supplement of the Inland Lloyds Register: Gil- christ, $210,000, 3,871 gross tons, owned by J. C. Gilchrist and others, Cleveland; Lake Shore, $210,000, 3,871 tons, owned by J. C. Gilchrist and others, Cleveland; Charles S. Neff, $90,000, 1,008 tons, owned by Samuel Neff & Sons, Milwaukee; Frank H. Peavey, $275,000, 5,002 tons, owned by Peavey Steamship Co., Duluth; Geo. W. Peavey, $275,000, 5,002 tons, owned by Peavy Steamship Co., Duluth. Two barges for pulp wood trade, built by James Davidson of West Bay City and owned by Frank Perry of Sault Ste. Marie, are rated B 1. Af Major Dan C. Kingman of the United States engineer corps, in charge of Toledo harbor improvements, has issued the following notice: "A row of stakes or other marks has been, or will be, placed near each side of the straight channel, Toledo harbor, and will be maintained during the periods required for dredging. Interference with such marks is pro- hibited by law. Special attention is invited to the outer stakes, beyond the can buoys, where the natural depths are from 12 to 21 ft. A light will be shown on the outer stake of each line (or row) from sunset to sunrise. Masters and pilots are requested to avoid the risk of injuring or displacing the marks by keeping in the straight channel throughout its entire length. A penalty for interfering with these stakes is provided by law, and will be enforced, if necessary to protect them." One of the two 5,000-ton ore steamers building at the works of the Detroit Ship Building Co. in the name of Frank E. Kirby, will be ready for service about Sept. 1. The company owning this vessel will be known as the Yosemite Steamship Co. Officers are: Truman H. Newberry, presi- dent; Cyrus Lothrop, vice-president; Henry P. Joy, treasurer; Philip H. McMillan, secretary, and M. E. Farr, manager. The steamer Hugamo, being built at Detroit for the Hugamo Steamship Co., for coastwise ocean service, will be launched in about six weeks. The owners of the Hugamo are H. F. Morley and others. As soon as the Hugamo is off the stocks the Detroit Ship Building Co. will lay the keels for the three new side- wheelers, one for the White Star line and two for the Detroit & Buffalo Transit Co. The three new passenger steamers will be ready for service about the opening of navigation next year. te! " Reports from ore shipping ports are not all at hand, so that a full statement of the shipments during June can not be made, but it is more than probable that the estimate of 4,000,000 tons moved in June is very wide of the mark. Ports at the head of Lake Superior have not in fact shipped as much ore as they did in June, 1900. This information, of course, tends to strength in the lake freight market from the vessel owners' standpoint. From Duluth the following report is made for the ~ month just passed: Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, 870,000 tons; Duluth, Mesabi & Northern, 629,579 tons; Eastern Minnesota, 339,083 tons; total, 1,839,362. For the corresponding month last year the record was as follows: Duluth & Iron Range, 624,000 tons; Duluth, Mesabi & North- ern, 709,073 tons; Eastern Minnesota, 282,946 tons; total, 1,916,019 tons. For the corresponding month in 1899 the shipments were as follows: Duluth & Iron Range, 600,000 tons; Duluth, Mesabi & Northern, 428,563 tons; Eastern Minnescta, 112,396 tons; total, 1,040,959 tons. STEEL SHIP BUILDING IN CANADA. The question of steel ship building in Canada has been brought before the dominion in various ways during the last few months and is being made an issue in the proposition to vote a subsidy to a fast line to Great Britain. A statement on the subject made by the minister of Je in the house of commons recently, is of considerable importance. e said: "While no formal negotiations have taken place, which can be sub- mitted to parliament, I have taken pains to see that great ship building companies in the old country have been communicated with on the subject. Intimation has been given them that if any one of them would approach this government with a proposal they would find the govern- ment ready to give every possible consideration to it. I have had some conversations with gentlemen connected with very great enterprises of the kind in the old country, and, while willing to consider the idea, they rather estimate difficulty in the way more serious than my friends at home will admit. People speak of the building of a steel steamer as if the great consideration was the making of the steel plates, whereas the steel plates are only a very moderate proportion of the total cost. The real difficulty is in the assembling of the material, construction, the machinery and also in the importation of skilled labor. The difficulties of that character are much greater than those connected with the pro-. duction of steel plates. The latter we will overcome in a very short time. I am only too pleased to find. some of the honorable members taking the view they do of this matter. If we are to give this contract to any company and that company is disposed at a small advance. to undertake to build the (fast Atlantic) ships in Canada, we would be disposed to give such a proposition every consideration. And I may repeat that while we have had no formal negotiations, the matter has not been overlooked and a proposition of some kind may yet be sub- mitted." A new chart, in colors, of Erie harbor and Presque Isle, has just been issued and may be had from the Marine Review. A new chaft o Buffalo harbor and Niagara river to the falls is also in print.