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Finishing Ship Yard Work. At nearly all of the ship yards around the lakes something is being done.in the way of small craft, but another month will find empty berths where big freight carriers have occupied the stocks for five years past. The government boats, under way in Cleveland and Toledo, will constitute the only work of importance on the entire chain of lakes, and the cost of all six of these is barley equal to that of one steel ore carrier. H. D. Root, of Lorain, is building a fishing tug for E. R. Edson, of Cleveland. The boat will be 60 feet long, 1314 beam and 6 feet moulded depth, and will have a high pressure engine, 12 X12, built by Clough & Witt, of Cleveland, and a boiler 5 x 9 feet, built by D. Connelly & Co., of Cleveland. The Detroit, Belle Isle‘and Windsor Ferry Company has closed acon- tract with the Detroit Dry Dock Company for a ferry boat to cost $60,000, and Miller Bros., of Chicago, will build an excursion steamer for Capt. Brown, of that port, who anticipates a big excursion business during the World’s Columbian Exposition. Carkin, Stickney & Cram, the dredging contractors, are also said to have made arrangements for a tug 100 feet long, to be built by Wheeler & Co., of West Bay City. Buffalo turned out two steel tugs last week that have been accepted by the owners. One, the Keystone, built by David Bell for the Ashland Lumber Company, is go feet long and an -exceptionally powerful boat. The second boat, named Frank _W. for her owners, Fletcher & Gilchrist, of Alpena, whose given names happen to be the same, was built by the Union Dry Dock Company and cost $19,000. She is said to be the finest steel tug on the lakes The Wolf & Davidson Dry Dock Company, of Milwaukee, has also begun work on a tug. The craft will be 60 feet long over all, with 14 feet beam and 6 feet hold. Her engine, a 14x16, is being built by the Sheriffs Manufacturing Company. The boiler will be 5% feet in diameter by 10 feet long. The Mil- waukee ship yard managers have a strike on hand, the ship- carpenters and caulkers demanding eight hours work and $2.50 aday. ‘‘If you had waited just one week, boys, I would have gone on a strike with you,’’ Mr. Wolf said when the committee from the men informed him of their demands. At the yard of the American Steel Barge Company, West Superior, the whaleback steamer Chas. W. Wetmore, intended for the Pacific coast trade, was launched Saturday. She was built to go down the Welland canal and St. Lawrence river and is 20 feet shorter than the Colgate Hoyt. Bet Spe Inland Lloyd’s Supplement. The Inland Lloyd’s supplement for June contains the names of twelve new vessels of 7,392 net tons and valued at $697,500. Valuations and ratings are advanced on about seventy-five boats - that were reduced to very low figures in the register. The new boats are: Net tonnage. Valuation. CPBSRENE oes scecsechosccsscecscdorsccsecrsssersosssces : 50 $ 7,500 FBP IM, NO. Be cevescesccverscnssnesssesncessceece 1,200 105,000 Fletcher, F. W.........0sssssccese- sevcossesserescere 314 46,000 TORING = oo. aia cos s en guisainsheocgrasreenodsseeresce see ese. 1,700 125,000 LALLY. <covcscccesssnsesconrerovovssorsensacereeccsssserrsss ei 10,000 POPE; E. C v.ccscssecssceresecenssscsoeesevorevcscenens *1,910 210,000 Sauber, W. F.....-...---0-# Wren uamius caasabeeesees 1,700 125,000 KeyStOne ........ssceeccnccaeceeecnsenesseneersereesens 4 22,000 TROW <ssseree es Bn Fea ae PALES a whco s Fqusleo eas 20 5,000 Warren, H. Ji .:.-ccccescvesscsonsconcsarecscosveserer 17 7,000 area os oo cas cep ancccosesauents cones 47 20,000 TComstock, J.-B.......ssciccsrsecssreseeccessceeseees 307 15,000 7392 $697,500 +tSail vessel. *Estimated. Official Numbers and Tonnage. The following numbers were assigned lake vessels by the Bureau of Navigation, W. W. Bates, commissioner, during the week ending May 24: Sail—Caroline, Milwaukee, tonnage, gross 29.51, net 28.04, No. 126,737. Steam—Atlanta, Milwaukee, tonnage, gross 1,129.17, net 958.06, No. 106,- 823; City of Toledo, Toledo, tonnage, gross 1,003 88, net 654.11, No. 126,- 738; Island Belle, Buffalo, tonnage, gross 153 69, net 106.99, No. 100,940% Ferdinand Schlesinger, Miftwaukee, tonnage, gross 2,607.70, net 2081.52, No. 120,841 ; Ideal, Cleveland, tonnage, gross 20.88, net 13.18, No. 100,491 ; Masaba, Cleveland, tonnage, gross 2,431.71, net 1,992.03, No. 92,298; Maxwell A., Port Huron, tonnage, gross 67.46, net 46.88, No. 93,302. MARINE REVIEW. CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, No. 210 So. Water Street, CHICAGO, IIl., May 28. There doesn’t seem to be any use of writing more about grain freights. Rates are down to a cent a bushel on all kinds of grain, some- thing without precedent in the latter day marine. Boats are indifferent whether they take full loads or not. They are quite as likely as not to go 10,000 to 20,000 bushels short of their usual cargoes if they can save the expense of trimming. In fact, there is money saved in going with short loads for many boats. The leading news of the week in a marine way here is the change of harbor master and vessel dispatcher under the new administration. Jack McCarthy retires from the position of harbor master with all colors ’ flying. He has succeeded in keeping traffic in the river moving as well as any man could under an administration that cared nothing for the ma- rine interests. He becomes superintendent of the Independent tug line, but he will have other strings to his bow. 4 P. H. Fleming will soon leave the city on an extended trip for the benefit of his health. ' The remodeled City of Chicago reached here on her first trip, Tues- day. She is certainly improved by the fourteen feet added to her length. It brings her out of water and adds to the appearance of her forward cabin . wonderfully. Sunday, the regular summer time table of the Graham &. Morton line goes into effect. ‘ Commander Nicoll Ludlow is fast acquainting himself with the light- house service on the lakes. He is a pleasant spoken gentleman, with a straightforward way of speaking that shows he means to understand what is going on in the lake marine. ; E Brokers in Cleveland, in their letters to Chicago principals, give no light on the ore freight situation.. They say itis fearfully dull in Cleve-— land, and they don’t know what can be done. Vessel owners here had been asking themselves the same question for several weeks. 5 The war in east-bond merchandise is fairly opened. The line mana- gers will try to restore peace in New York before the week is over. I venture the prediction there will be no permanent peace until package freight rates are reduced. The lines have tried getting full rates on flour when they were carrying wheat at less than cost; they have maintained high rates on provisions while corn was going at acenta bushel. Itis an abnormal condition of affairs, and so long as wheat is carried at 1 cent a bushel, some fellow is going to play a trick and get flour at less than tariff figures. Agreements are well enough in the winter, but when navi- gation opens an agreement becomes a town-meeting affair. But even in the winter it is claimed all rail rates are manipulated. When water com- petition comes freights must go to some point near the supply of boats and demand for tonnage. This season the supply is much larger than the demand, and all rates, agreements or no agreements, must sink to a lower level. The line managers may unanimously resolve to maintain a high tariff, but when gangways yawn for freight and the freight cometh not, high rates cannot be upheld. Shipping Master Guneo opens up his office each morning and closes it every night. The rest of his labors for the vessel owners’ association are not so evident. The sailors’ union was too well organized before he took hold to make much headway this season. Once in a while a sailor or cook drops in, and Capt. Guneo sends him to some out of town port for a berth. The vessel owners are taking no particular part in the fight. They ship such men as they can find, and these now happen to be union men, There is but little of that intense anti-union feeling to be found here as at other ports on the lakes. Vessel owners say the union is now on top, but that it will break its own neck as it always has done before many seasons. No New Contracts. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW, Wes? Bay Cry, Mich., May 28.—F. W. Wheeler returned from a trip to New York, but is very reticent as to the results thereof. On his return from a former eastern trip he brought back a contract for the Nicaragua Canal Company’s steel coaster, but it was not until several days after his return that the new contract was made public, and then it came from sources entirely outside the yard. The work on the various vessels un- dergoing repair at the yards here is nearly completed, and but little more will be done this summer. The schooner building at Davidson’s for the Davidson Transportation Company will be launched this week. With the exceptions of what few repairs are to be made to the Monohansett, this closes up the work at this yard. Lumber shipments during the past week have been livelier than at any time during the season. Rates remain the same and will probably continue at the present figure throughout the summer. ‘The MARINE REvVIEw presents valuable statistics. The MARINE REVIEw presents beautiful supplements. Each number is worth keeping. Send 75 cents to the MARINE RE- view for a binder that will hold 52 numbers. :