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

26 | MARINE REVIEW AND MARINE RECORD. [Aug. 21, NEWS OF THE GREAT LAKES. Secretary Barter of the International Longshoremen, Marine & Transport Workers' association sent a check for $1,000 to the striking coal miners last week. Capt. Truman Moore of Lorain has given up command of the steamer Louisiana for the season, and Capt. Folsom of Marine City has been appointed to succeed him. Fred W. and George A. Wieland of Duluth were the lowest bidders for the sunken steamer 'Thomas Wilson which sank at Duluth a few weeks ago. 'The boat lies in 72 ft. of water. The Buffalo Dredging Co. is the lowest bidder for dredging and for the construction of a concrete pier at Erie. Its bid was $100,375 for dredging and $47,350 for construction work. At the Bartlett-Frazier elevator, South Chicago, this week the steamer Vanderbilt received a cargo of 107,000 bushels of corn in 3 hours and 10 minutes. This is so far the record for loading grain. oe Major W. H. Bixby, United States engineer at Detroit, is said to favor a bridge across the Detroit river, and the old pro- ject, brought up so often and as often killed by the Lake Carriers' Association, is again being agitated. It is predicted that the Mahoning mine on the Mesabi range will ship this year 1,000,000 tons of ore. Minnesota will have five mines in the million class this year. They are the Fayal, Mountain Iron, Stevenson and Mahoning. One of the oldest crafts on the lakes is the Witch of the West, now owned by Mosher & Green of Bay City, Mich. The engine in the Witch was built by Nevy & Leafie of Philadelphia and is still in good condition, having worn out three boilers. Capt. Sanford, dredge expert of the engineering department of the government, will be in Cleveland during the present week to confer with Maj. Dan C. Kingman regarding the construction of the dredge for Lake Erie ports authorized in the late river and harbor bill. A Houghton dispatch says that Whitney Bros. of Duluth have been given an order to raise the wreck of the passenger steamer Bon Voyage, which sank several miles off the ship-canal two years ago. The hull lies in 12 ft. of water and the machinery is reported to be in good condition. Maj. Kingman, United States engineer of the Cleveland dis- trict, has recommended that bids for the construction of piers at Fairport be rejected as they exceed the money available for the purpose. The lowest bid was that of the L. P. & J. A. Smith Co. of Cleveland, $143,428.33. ; . Information from Detroit is to the effect that the project to bridge the Detroit river is again being advanced with Maj. W. H. Bixby, United States engineer in the Detroit district, in sup- port of it. Maj. Bixby says that the bridge will come sooner or later. He holds that a congressional enactment is not necessary but that the secretary of war can grant permission for its con- struction. Chicago vessel men appear to be of opinion that considerable grain will find its way to the sea via the St. Lawrence river this fall. Montreal is said to furnish a total of forty-three steamers a month to European ports and the Canadian railways are en- devoring to bestow upon the shippers of grain the benefit of a low through rate. The route is much shorter than the one to New York via Buffalo and the Erie canal, but it has the dis- advantage of being more hazardous. Operations are now beginning upon the removal of the old detached breakwater at Michigan City (Ind.) harbor. Capt. Charles Keller of Grand Haven, engineer in charge, announces that work will start at the northeast end, and for that reason the light formerly maintained there will be discontinued. A small lantern will, however, be shown at night upon a pile driven near the former northeast end of this old work. As soon as the breakwater is entirely removed this light will be discon- tinued and, if possible. transferred to the new detached break- water, a portion of which is now in place. © : 'The steamer Seguin, which ran down the City of Venice off Rondeau, Lake Erie, on Aug. 5, was released by the United States marshal of Cleveland a few days ago. When the boat was libeled the bond was fixed at $228,000, which was twice the value of the City of Venice. The maritime law states, however, that a boat cannot be held for more than its own value. The owners of the Seguin consequently asked that appraisers be appointed and an estimate of the value of the boat be taken. This was done and the appraisers placed the value of the Seguin at $51,200. A new bond was fixed and the boat was released by Judge Wing. _ One of Duluth's historic and most famous tugs, the. old Siskiwit is in the harbor for the first time in many years having gone there from Port Arthur for repairs. The old residents of Duluth all remember her and many of them recall her perilous trip to Duluth in the fall of 1881 when it was thought that the tug and all hands were lost. 'The Siskiwit was in command of the late Capt. William Burns. F. B. Burrows now on the Pacific coast, was her chief engineer, and Andrew McGilvray, now chief engineer of the steamer W. H. Gilbert, was fireman on the Siskiwit. The sea threw the tug on to the north pier, she fell into the trough of the sea and disappeared. No one expected to see her again but in a moment she righted herself and with fires out and half full of water she drifted into the harbor. The Sis- kiwit is now owned by the Canadian Pacific railway. It is interesting to note that the Republic mine which has just been sold by the Republic Iron Co. to the Cambria Steel Co, began its shipments of ore in 1872 and up to December 1, last, had shipped 5,104,885 tons of ore. The iron company was organ- ized in 1870 with a capital stock of $500,000, divided into 20,000 shares of $25 each. Only $12.50 per share was ever paid in. The ore of the mine was always the highest in the market, fetching at one time $15 per ton. Deducting the amount paid in orig- inally, $250,000, from the full selling price, $1,500,000, leaves $1,250,000, which, added to the dividends for the whole period, gives $10,300,000 as net profits. ; Capt. D. D. Gaillard, United States engineer in charge of harborworks on Lake Superior, is advertising for bids for the closing of a gap in the breakwater at Presque isle, Marquette harbor. The gap is near the shore and was left there at the earnest solicitation of citizens of Marquette, who wanted it to afford a place where small boats.may go in and out without having to go clear around the end. It has been found that the gap gives the sea'a chance to injure the shore at Presque Isle park, and the erosion is already very marked. Marquette people are now as anxious to have the gap closed as they were originally to have it left open, and the work will be done this season. The present river and harbor bill contains a provision direct- 'ing the government engineer to ascertain whether further harbor of refuge facilities are needed at Marquette. Capt. D. D. Gaill-: ard, in charge of the district, has written to Hon. J. M. Longyear of Marquette to the effect that he has no complaints from vessel- men that any further facilities are needed. Mr. Longyear has written to President Livingstone of the Lake Carriers' Associa- tion asking him to take immediate steps to get such expressions in writing from vessel owners and masters as will exhibit to Capt. Gaillard the strong demand existing for further harbor of reftige facilities at Marquette. President Livingstone would like to hear at once from vesselmen upon the subject. Capt. Lansing H. Beach, lighthouse engineer, is of the opinion that if a plant for the manufacture of Pintsch gas is to be established to care for Lake Superior and St. Mary's river service. it should be located on Sugar island in the St. Mary's river. A government light and buoy station with sheds and keepers' dwelling is now on Sugar island and Capt. Beach thinks there is no necessity for placing another at the Sault, the present station, enlarged. being the most available and in a more central location. The island is about midway between the Sault and Detour in St. Mary's river and easily accessible to the lighthouse tenders. 'lhe Lake Carriers' association has been anxious to secure more buoys in St. Mary's river and have asked that several isolated stations on Lake Superior be provided with tanks for the storage of Pintsch gas so that the lights may be kept burning later in the fall than is now possible with the oil burners on account of the keepers having to be taken away before the lakes and rivers are frozen over. At the present time the nearest gas plant for the supply of Pintsch gas is at Detroit ' and it must be carried by the tenders to the Lake Superior region. The Detroit plant now has about all it can take care of and the government officials have aroued that additional buoys would be of ie ee unless another. plant for the manufacture of gas is installed. JUSTICE TO GEN. ALGER. Gen. Russell A. Alger is mentioned as a possible successor to the late Senator McMillan in the United States senate. We are pleased to see that the suggestion is received kindly through- out the country, because a grave injustice was done by the nation to Gen. Alger in 1899. 'Those who were close to the movement of things knew that the war with Spain was admirably conduc- ted. In the short space of four months an army was recruited, drilled, disciplined, fought and disbanded. The great work was performed without any suffering, comparatively speaking, and with little loss of life. The courtry, however, was thoroughly inflamed over the reports in sensational newspapers regarding the character of beef fed to the troops and Alger was made a scape- goat without cause. So intense became the senseless feeling against him that he was compelled to leave the president's cabi- net. Ags soon as this was accomplished the people sat back com- placently. Alger had acted as a lightning rod for the adminis- tration, Nearly everyone since has regretted this gross and pal- pable injustice. The country has come to its senses. It perceives that Alger did a great work in a great way and acted with great nobility of character throughout the subsequent ordeal. Whether he will be senator is another matter; but it is gratifying that the suggestion is received without hostility. The Michigan senator- ship is of vital interest to vessel men, made so by the personal attention which the late Senator McMillan gave to lake naviga- tion. It is to be hoped that if Alger succeeds to the senate that he, too, will make the great lakes a personal issue. He would be a great power in any cause.