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6 MARINE REVIEW. SF PA RR AR PES ER SS Sa PI TT LT TE ST ET TE OTE a TIRE ST. OR “TO CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, No. 210 So. Water Street, CHICAGO, IIl., Aug, 27. The receipts of grain Monday and Tuesday were simply astounding after several weeks in which nominal receipts of corn had been the rule. Will the receipts hold out? Shippers had varied opinions, dictated much by their personal inclinations on the markets. One estimate said 15,- 000,000 bushels of corn would arrive in Chicago during September. Another said that this corn was rushed in as the result of the talk about a corner in September corn, and that they would soon fall back to the old figures. Vesselmen believed that the corn was to keep right on coming until every bin in the west had been scraped dry. That is what made vesselmen feel rather good on Monday and Tuesday. Mark this predic- tion. From Sept, 1 the shipments of grain from Chicago will be the heaviest in the city’s record. Vesselmen can depend on good rates, which will not break every time one or two extra boats put their noses in the river. For wheat 234 cents will be about the bottom figure. Even with the lessened shipments last week vesselmen held tenaciously to 234 cents and were only beaten back by a hard effort, the rate returning at the first chance. John Gordon, general manager of the Northern Steamship Company, who was in town Monday on his way home from St. Paul, took a most cheerful view of the freight situation on Lake Superior for the rest of the season. His idea was that vesselmen were to be choosers not beggars, from now until December, and that freight would come faster than the boats could handle it. As Mr. Gordon had come direct from a conference with President Hill of the Great Northern Railroad, he had good reason for the faith that was in him. Mr. Gordon when in Chicago goes on ‘Change as the most natural spot for him in the whole city. He was talk- ing to Mr. McMillan, Monday, when he exclaimed “I.am surprised to see that Old Hutch is back.” ‘Where is he?” Mr. McMillan asked excitedly. “Here he comes now” Mr. Gordon replied, pointing to Mr. Morford, and then the three line agents who worked together and against each other, had a lemonade at Mr. Morford’s expense. The Chief Justice Waite was caught at Michigan City with 4oo or 500 excursionists Sunday morning by the northeaster. She was six hours running to Chicago, and when she came in the harbor she had a bad list, indicating that there was water in her. Saturday night the John A. Dix in going to Milwaukee with 600excursionists was caught off Racine by the northeaster, and her experience between Racine and. the Cream City was the theme of some sensational newspaper articles Sunday morning. One reporter who has as little sense as a man can have in the newspaper busi- ness, wrote a learned article in which he proved to his satisfaction that the Dix was unseaworthy and ought to he condemned. Asa matter of fact, the Dix is a good sea boat and has been kept in fine repair. Marine men on the river who are good judges say she is in splendid condition through- out. As much cannot be said of the Chief Justice Waite. She is too low in the water for asea boat, and ought never to have been taken off the river. She has a suspicious drop forward and aft, which does not speak well for the staunchness of her timbers. There is no comparison between the two boats. Both are to be blamed, however, for going out at all with the northeaster predicted, That no lives were lost is due more to good luck . than anything else. Local marine men who have had anything to do with ocean navigation rather discredit the story of the inhuman treatment on board the Dutch steamer Ohdam. They say that the firemen on the Atlantic steamers are virtually the bosses of the ranch, and that vessel captains have to be very careful as to the way they treat them, or else there will be no firemen on the next trip. The firemen maintain a sort of tyranny over the entire ship and do about as they wish. Damage to the Grain Crop Considered, Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW, DuLuTH, Miun., Aug. 27.—The reports from the west are not so favorable as they have been for some time past. Saturday night there was a frost over all the country north of the Northern Pacific line and un- doubtedly considerable damage has been done to the wheat. How much has been destroyed it is as yet impossible to estimate. One report says it is so great as in 1888, others think it will be inconsiderable. It hardly seems probable that the worst reports can be true and that the amount of wheat to come to Duluth will be greatly reduced. I still think this mar- ket will receive at least 30,000,000 bushels of the crop. Last week wheat shipments by lake were 347,900 bushels, taken out by the T. W. Palmer, Tacoma, J. M. Nicol, John Owen and G. G. Hadley. Rates are now easy at 34 cents, at which two boats, to load this week, were chartered on Satur- day. Stocks here Monday were down to 96,500 bushels, the lowest on record here for a number of years. There were 256 cars on track, how- ever, mostly of Minneapolis wheat sold for export. A few cars of new wheat have been received and the movement will be general in a week or ten days, after which there will be plenty for the vessels. In 1888, during Ootober and November about 11,000,000 bushels of wheat were shipped i from Duluth, and the record will probably be surpassed this year, if the demand abroad keeps up. Ore shipments from Two Harbors last week were 53,000 tons, a record breaking amount. Up to date the season’s shipments have been 519,000 tons, against 555,000 tons for the same time last week. The E. C. Pope took out 3,013 tons last Monday. She arri ved at Two Harbors Sunday night and was out with her cargo at 5 o’clock Monday morning. She went to South Chicago. Harbormaster Miller is after vesselmen who dump ashes and garbage in the harbor and slips and some of them will suffer if the practice is not stopped. The city ordinance on the subject provides for a fine $100 or imprisonment for sixty days. ; William Berman, a deck hand on the Nicol, lost his left foot here Fri- day. He was looking through a port hole watching the line as the vessel was being made fast to elevator D, and did not notice that his foot was in aloop. The loop closed with a sudden jerk, striking his foot against the timber head and cutting it off as neatly as if an ax had been used. Members of congress and newspaper correspondents continue to arrive on the trips provided for them by the Vessel Owners Association. Your correspondent has talked with a large number of them and all ex- press themselves as surprised at the magnitude of the commerce of the lakes and were impressed with the importance of fostering it by govern- ment improvement of channels and harbors as they never were before. These visits will do a vast amount of good. They areremoving, as nothing else could do,the long-standing and to lake men and shippers unexplained ignorance, on the part of leading public men of the magnitude of the lake interests. Kingston Harbor Matters—Freight Regulations. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. KINGSTON, Ont., Aug. 27.—Range lights have not yet been placed in the Kingston harbor, notwithstanding its great importance 1m the Cana- dian grain trade. The government, however, has men still at work re- moving the shoals, but the speed at which the stones ars being removed makes it beyond conjecture when the work will be finished. It is hoped that when it is completed the range light will be the next improvement: The dry dock is now about completed. It has been filled through a siphon’ from the lake, to facilitate the removal of the dam. ‘The latter work is being proceeded with. The steadiness with which grain h3s poured in from the west this season has been a check on the coal carrying trade. Hitherto the for- warding companies had carried large quantities of coal to Montreal beforé this. The result will be that the boats will have to work to the latest possible moment. The K. & M. F. Co., however, has carried consider- able coal, preferring that freight with money in it to grain with a mere es- cape attached to it. The new bill introduced in parliament by the Hon. Mr. Tupper, minister of marine, provided for the carrying of cattle to the old country, has received its first reading and the probabilities are it will be passed as it stands. It will shut out of the trade all vessels which have not the proper accommodation. It provides that cattle can be carried on three decks only; that each fat beast must have 8x2 feet 8 inches, and stockers 8x2feet 6 inches. A few cents per head wi'l be placed on the cattle to pay for the inpection of pens, etc. It is expected that the bill will secure better accommodation for the cattle, prevent serious loss by bad ventila- tion, and thus enable shippers to better compete in the English markets. Twelve years ago Canada shipped only 100 head to England, last year the number was 123,000. This increase shows the necessity of the bill. The United States revenue cutter Bibb is lying at the dock at Ogdens- burg, and has not turned a wheel this season. ‘The hull‘ is ina very. bad condition, caused by dry rot and the machinery is as bad if’ not worse than the boat. There is a report that the government will auction her off and place a new boat on the lake. Work Begun on Davidson’s Big Boat. Special Correspondence to.the MARINE REVIEW. West Bay City, Mich., August 27.—AlthoughCapt. Davidson stated a few days ago that he was “having plans made for the big 300-feet-keel steamer just to kill time,” it is now certain that the boat will be built, as the keel is being laid Capt. Davidson is still engaged in preparing a strong objection to his assessment by the local authorities, which, when compared with that of his competitors is found, he claims, to be entirely out of proportion, and he threatens to move out of the city unless it is re- duced. The assessor placed the “Big Four” on the list of personal prop- erty belonging to Capt. Davidson and put his personal assessment at $200,000. He went before the board of review and swore that the “Big Four” were built under contract for someone else and that they did not belong to him, and on that showing had his personal assessment reduced to about $25,000. He has timber to the value of $30,000 to $40,000 sunk in the slips around his yard besides a large amount of “other personal property, but it is not the rate so much as it is the fact that diserimina- tion is shown in his case that makes the captain object. = S ee