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ee ee ill III HT A EORGE A. MARR, secretary, Lake Carriers’ association, took meas- ures well ahead of the day for general registration, to insure that all men employed on the lakes who were between 21 and 31 years old registered on June 5. He asked that all captains and chief engineers notify the members of the crew that they should register — the first time they reached a port in order that their registration certificates would be in the hands of the authorities on the stipulated date. . * 2 *k Grain tonnages for early June loading was marked up as high as 7 cents late in May. Some of the boats receiving this figure may not be able to figure in the market again until late in the sea- son as ore contracts will keep them busy for most of the year. . 2K * * Coal receipts at Milwaukee from the opening of navigation to June 1 showed a considerable decrease compared with the same period of last year. This year’s receipts were 85,257 tons of hard coal and 466,872 tors of soft coal against receipts last year of 128,551 tons of hard coal and 712,038 tons of soft coal. * * * A Welland canal boat bearing the yard No. 645 and being built for Nor- wegian parties, was launched at the Cleveland yard of the American Ship Building Co. on May 26. She will leave for salt water within a few days. ok * * Some discussion is being heard in Chicago of a plan to erect a shipbuild- ing plant near Gary, Ind., where the United States Steel Corp. operates both a plate mill and a fabricating shop. uae ace 3 The steamer Horace S. WILKINSON, built by the Toledo Ship Building Co., Toledo, for the Great Lakes Steamship Co., Cleveland, left Toledo on May 29 for her maiden voyage. The WILKIN- son is 600 feet long, her dimensions be- ing the same as the other vessels of the standard 600-foot size which have been built generally by lake interests during the past few years. we oe Considerable interest is manifested around the lakes in the opening of the ‘New York state barge canal. <A _ part of the canal is now in service and the entire route between Buffalo and New York will be opened by July 1. Rep- resentatives of the council of national defense have considered the availability of the canal for handling large tonnages of grain between Buffalo and seaboard and thus lighten the burden upon the railroads. It seems certain that the NN What's Doing and Who's Doing It canal will figure ‘prominently in the government’s plan for relieving traffic congestion. Through service from Buf- falo, Cleveland and Detroit will be fur- nished by the Detroit & Cleveland Navi- gation Co. and the Shippers’ Navigation Co. k * x On June 2 the recommended draught for the Canadian lock at the Soo was marked up 2 inches for upbound . boats and 1 inch for downbound boats, giv- ing .-the former a draught of 19 feet 8 inches and the latter a draught of 20 feet. * * * The steamer TouLouse, built at Su- perior for French interests, has left for the coast after bringing a cargo of grain from Port Arthur to Buffalo. *k Ok Ox The 600-foot bulk freighter Ponttac, just built for the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Cleveland, started on her maiden trip from Toledo .on May 26 with a cargo of 13,500 tons of soft coal. * * * Some old contracts for carrying coal have been rewritten. Some coal car- riers who have long-term contracts at 30 cents have received an advance of 10 cents a ton, it is understood. The change was made on account of the advance in the price of fuel and gen- erally higher operating costs. The coal situation is rather unsettled as some contracts have not been ‘fixed, although cargoes have been delivered. Fifty cents was paid on one contract during June _on coal delivered in the previous month. *k *k ** Coal shipments out of Conneaut showed an increase in May compared with the same month last year, but the ore receipts fell off. Coal shipments were 344100 tons and ore receipts 846,845 tons. : SS wk The. new self-unloading steamer Car. D. Braptey, built at the Lorain yard of | the American Ship Building Co., has cleared on her. maiden trip. She is a sister ship of the W. F. Wuire, which was described in THr Martine REvIEw of October, 1915, but carries several additional improvements which better adapt her for the stone-carrying trade. * 2 x The American Ship Building Co., Cleveland, has taken .orders for two tugs to be built at the Buffalo yard for the government. These boats will be 156 feet long, 40 feet beam, and 17% feet deep. The American company has signed contracts for 36 vessels since the beginning of the year, 34 of these boats 258 = juz ! I eee eee eee News of Lakes as Season Gets Under By C. M. Krauss being scheduled for delivery in 1918. With the exception of one tanker, these boats are all for salt water service. * ** 7K The first ore cargo to reach Conneaut was brought in the steamer MATAAFA on May 7, the latest date at which the season has been opened for several years. , eo he The first vessel to make a round trip from Buffalo to the head of Lake Su- perior and return was the steamer T.. H. Wicxwire of Boland & Cornelius, Capt. James T. Herbert, master. She left Buffalo on April 24 and delivered a cargo of coal at Ft. William. She reached Buffalo on May 8 with a cargo of 348,312 bushels of grain. The steamer J. S. DuNHAM, commanded by Captain Frank C. Pratt, which left Buffalo on the same day, took only a few hour longer to make the round trip. , *K ok * A contract has been awarded to the Stevens Construction Co., Chicago, for building a new unloading tower on the Anchor line property near the structure which was damaged by fire late in April. The unloader will cost about $100,000. * Ox The old wooden freighter Joun PLANKINTON collided with the Grand Trunk railway carferry Detroit, in-the Detroit river on May 9 and sank almost immediately. The bows of the PLANKIN- TON were crushed in. The freighter was built in West Bay City in 1889 and is 267 feet long, 40.9 feet beam and 21 feet deep. The steamer WissAHICKON of the Great Lakes Transit Corp. ran on to the sunken wreck on May 21. After lightering about 30,000 bushels of grain, the WISSAHICKON was released May 24. She was only slightly dam- aged, and resumed her trip to Buffalo. * 2k * A steamer was chartered for the opening trip from Buffalo to Duluth to carry grain at 6% cents. This rate marked a record for opening shipments since the coming of the lake steel freighter. es fe Superior shipyards have contracts for constructing 18 steamers according to advices from that city. Ten of these boats will be 263 feet long, 43 feet beam and 20 feet draught with a ca- pacity of about 2100 tons. The other eight boats will be trawlers. The Amer- ican Ship Building Co. is the parent company which controls the Superior Ship Building Co. at Superior, while the McDougal-Duluth Ship Building Co.