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MARINE REVIEW. Entered at Cleveland Post Office as Second-class Mail Matter, Published every Thursday at 418-19 Perry- Payne Bldg., by the Marine Review Pub. Co. VoL. XXIII. CEEVELAND, O., JAN.,94, 1901. Subscription $3.00 a year. Foreign $4 50 a year. No. 4 NATIONAL MARINE ENGINEERS IN SESSION. For the first time in a number of years the National Marine Engi- neers’ Beneficial Association is holding its annual convention in Cleve- land this week. As a rule the conventions of the association are held in Washington, where the members, who are from nearly every state and territory in the union, may meet their representatives in congress and thus have a direct influence upon legislation. There are now 16,000 engineers in the organization and the delegates at the convention number nearly eighty. At the opening session on ‘Monday very little was done other than to appoint committees. The members were addressed by Assistant Corporation Counsel Beacom on behalf of Mayor Farley, and President George Uhler responded. Monday afternoon was given up to a visit to the Otis Steel Works and to the Garfield memorial. The session of Tuesday morning was quite important. Upon motion of National Conductor Roche, the greetings of the national association were ordered sent to the Licensed Tugmen’s Protective Association, now in session in Buffalo, and the same course was ordered for the American Association of (Masters and Pilots, now in session at Washington, upon motion of Representative [MicKee. The following resolution, adopted at the last session of the association, was re-adopted and ordered sent to the appropriate committee in congress: “Whereas, the interest of the whole country, the re-inforcement of our navy, the increased employment of our mechanics and marine engi- neers, and the training of our men to man our ships, would all be pro- moted by the restoration of our merchant marine to its former grand position on the seas of the world; therefore, be it “Resolved, by the National Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, in convention assembled, that in our opinion it is the duty of congress at the earliest possible day to extend such aid by subsidy to mail carriers and freighters, owned by Americans and sailing under the American flag, as will enable them to successfully compete with the subsidized mer- chant ships of foreign countries in the carrying of our imports and ex- ports; provided that such ships shall be fully officered by citizens of the United States, and in addition thereto at least 35 per cent. of the balance of the crews shall be citizens of the United States.” It was decided to increase the salary of the national president to $2,400 per annum and to have a fixed office in (Philadelphia. The office of past national president was restored and the referendum clause in the constitution was expunged. It was also decided to recommend an amend- ment to existing law to make the indicated horse power instead of tonnage the basis for an engineer’s certificate. It is claimed that the present law fixing tonnage as the basis works a hardship to many competent engineers who are excluded from vessels of greater tonnage and who are yet in charge of engines of far greater horse power than those carried upon the vessels from which they are excluded. The members spent Tuesday after- noon in a trip up the river upon the tug Harvey Goulder and visited the ship yards and dry docks. At the session on Wednesday morning the following officers were elected: George Uhler of Philadelphia, national president; Frank A. Jones of San Francisco, national vice president; George A. Grubb of Chi- cago, national secretary; Albert L. Jones of Detroit, national treasurer; William Sheffer of Baltimore, Joseph Brooks of Philadelphia, and John McG. Sterritt of New York, advisory board. During Wednesday after- noon nearly all of the members went to Lorain to inspect the stee! works and the ship yards. The vessel owners and the executive committee of the Lake ‘Carriers’ Association have been invited to attend the convention during the latter part of the week. Following is a list of the delegates present with associations which they represent: John Ranney and William Brown, No. 1, Buffalo; John B. Heyward and James Murray, No. 2, Cleveland; W. P. Tindall, Frank MoDonald and A, L. Jones, No. 8, Detroit; George A. Grubb and Roy L. Peck, No. 4, Chicago; William Sheffer and J. H. Mittendorf, No. 5, Bal- timore; William Cavanaugh and William Bridges, No. 9, Milwaukee, John W. Anderson and Joseph Brooks, No. 13, Philadelphia; N. P. Slater and J: A. Braman. No. 27. Bay ‘City; William F. Yates, William J. Du- Bois, J. McG. Sterritt, Robert Jones, P. J. McDermott, Frank McKee, Lawrence Gratton and Frank Houghton, No. 33, New York; Frank A. Jones and Edward \Murphy, No. 35, San Francisco; William N. Decker and J. A. Page, No. 37, Toledo; George N. Gilson, No. 38, Seattle; James Hunter and Edward Crossley, No. 39, Erie; W. H. Marshall, No. 41, Goble, Ore.; James A. Southgate and W. P. Boynton, No. 43, Port Huron; W. R. Patterson, No. 44, Manistee, Mich.; John Hegemer, No. 48, Sandusky, O.; James Cummings, No. 51, Muskegon, Mich.; William Densemore, No. 53, ‘Marine City, Mich.; John T. Cook and N. N. Frost, No. 59, East Boston; John P. Jorsch, No. 77, ‘Manitowoc, Wis.; James H. Bishop, No. 78, Duluth; William J. MacDonald, No. 87, Detroit; Pat- rick Roche, No. 91, Ashtabula, O., and Joseph R. Hall, No. 92, Saginaw ‘Mich. - FINAL DETAILS REGARDING THE NEW BATTLESHIPS. The navy department has cut out from the specifications for the battleships, for which contracts have just been let, items aggregating in value about’ $80,000. It has also considerably reduced the fund reserved for superintendents, inspection and coppering, thereby making more of the $3,600,000 named by congress as the limit of cost available. There- fore Secretary Long was able to offer to the lowest bidders, the Newport News company and Bath Iron Works, the sum of $3,590,000 each for the construction of one sheathed battleship. Judge Payson, representing the two companies, has accepted the offer, and nothing remains to be done but to prepare and sign the contracts. The navy department has formally accepted the battleship Wisconsin from the Union Iron Works, San Francisco. OUTLOOK FOR ANOTHER SEASON ON THE LAKES. It is, of course, not encouraging to the vessel interests of the great lakes that up to this time absolutely nothing has been done in the way of freight contracts for another year. The delay means that the iron ore interests are satisfied that even on a basis of last year’s costs for steam- boat fuel, labor, etc., with probably a slight reduction in the charge for unloading ore, they will not be called upon, in view of the large number of new ships coming out, to pay more than 85 cents a ton from the head of Lake Superior, and they are very probably expecting that the rate wili be considerably less than 85 cents if later developments result in lower costs; and it would seem that the lower costs must in some way be brought about in the vessel business, as in other lines. It is, therefore probably well for all concerned that little has been said up to this time about ore freights for the coming season. Anything that might possibly be done now would necessarily be to the disadvantage of the ship owner. The representatives of ore mining companies have héld no meetings as yet and have therefore done nothing towards prices of ore, but it is under- stood, of course, that the matter of ore prices doés not now have the effect upon the lake freight market that it did some time ago, as the gréat bulk of the Lake Superior product is controlled by the large steel and iron concerns that produce and consume their own ore; such as the Car- negie company, for instance, with a production approximating 4,000,000 tons. These large producing-consuming interests are just now inclined to talk of liberal freights and a fairly high basis all around in the iron and steel trades, because of their interest in a general high range of costs but the situation will probably be different when it comes to making con- tracts later on. At this time a year ago all the ore carriers of the lakes were under contract on the $1.25 lake freight basis established by repre- sentatives of Mr. Rockefeller. Today the same fleet could be engaged at something less than 85 cents, but as noted above the prospects for another year are not definite enough to warrant the chartering of vessels at aty price. Shippers of soft coal are not in position to talk of freights at all as yet. The large railroad concerns of the northwest are not in the market, and even if they were ready it is not probable that anything would be done. as the meetings of operators and miners for a settlement of wages do not occur until next week. FROM SHIP YARDS OF THE GREAT LAKES. Officials of the American Ship Building Co. are evidently planning upon providing considerable new work for their different yards in times of dullness on the lakes by seeking orders in the east for ships that will not only be suited to Atlantic coast trade and to trade with South American ports, but which will be staunch enough and large enough to go to almost any part of the, world. The two 7,000-ton steamers to be built for interests represented by Chas. E. & W. F. Peck of New York will represent the initial effort of the lake builders in this regard. The term 7,000-ton’ stéamers in this case means that the vessels will be capable of carrying’ 7,000 gross tons (2,240 lbs.), in addition to bunker capacity for about 1,000 tons of fuel. It will be noted from the dimen- sions—450 ft. over all, 43 ft. beam and 35 ft. depth—that the locks of Canadian canals from Lake Erie to the Atlantic seaboard are a serious draw-back in the matter of beam, as the limit of 48 ft. is due to the dimensions of the locks. It would of course be practical to build in two parts, as these vessels are to be built, for passage through the canals a much larger craft but for the restriction in breadth. Messrs. A. B. Wolvin and James C. Wallace of the American Ship Building Co. are now in Canada looking into matters pertaining to the passage of the vessels to Montreal where the parts are to be put together. The ships are to be completed about October next, so that they may be taken to New York before the close of navigation. They willybe classed by the Great Lakes Register of Cleveland. It was at first proposed that in the passage of this kind of vessel to Montreal a temporary wooden bow would be built on the part containing the machinery, and this part would ~ then tow the other half, thus saving tug hire on the long, slow trip through Lake Ontario, the canals and river. It is not probable, how- ever, that this scheme will be tried unless the vessels are completed early next fall and a thorough consideration of the plan warrants such an ex- periment. Mr. W. H. Mayer of Milwaukee, who recently sold his wooden ves- sels to J. C. Gilchrist of Cleveland, and who is negotiating for the con- struction of one or two steel steamers, says he will have a vessel or vessels of about 5,000 gross tons capacity, as he thinks a freighter of that size can be operated to better advantage than a 7,000-ton ship by the owner who has no connection with the iron ore concerns. Mr. Meyer is figur- ing with the Craigs of Toledo and the Jenks company of Port Huron, as well as the American Ship Building Co. He says the latter company will shortly have a berth vacant at Superior which they can give him. ‘Milwaukee ship yards of the American Ship Building Co. have en- gaged on the usual large amount of winter repairs to wooden vessels, but there are no very big jobs. Among wooden vessels on which general repairs have been or are to be made, are the steamers Omaha, Tom Adams, Iosco, Walter Vail, Pueblo, Topeka, Delaware, ‘A. *MeVittie. Clarion, F. & :P. 'M. No. 5, .Thomas W. Palmer, and schooners Olive Jeanette and Baltic. Some repairs to steel vessels are also booked for the Milwaukee docks. a A small steel passenger steamer, intended for service in connection with the Pan-American exposition, may be put down shortly at the Union works of tre American Ship Building Co. at Buffalo, but arrangements with the builders have not as yet been fully made. About 1.500 men are now employed at the two ship yards of the American Ship Building Co. at Buffalo. About a dozen large vessels are undergoing repairs and this work really amounts to more than the operations on new ships.