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4 MARINE REVIEW. Lake Freight Situation. After another period of advancing rates on grain, caused by a heavy movement of corn out of Chicago, the general freight market has again taken on a more steady tone, with ore freights a little lower than they had ruled during the early part of the week. In a few cases $1.20a ton was paid on Marquette ore Tuesday, and Escanaba tonnage was taken freely at $1. The Marquette rate has since gone back to $1.15, however, with shippers offering. only 95 cents from Escanaba. Ashland did not share in the ad- vanced rates brought on by the grain movement, and the nomi- nal rate from that part is still $1.15. There has been, of course, no tonnage secured from the head of the lakes for a week past at the rate quoted, as Duluth shippers of wheat have been taking all available vessels at 3% cents, spot, or 334 cents for anything arriving early next week. Ashland has not paid the advance, for the reason that the mining companies shippihg from that port have kept the movement of ore well up to contract require- ments, their sales being far below those of 1890 and present market conditions not warranting shipments of unsold ore. The same is true to a certain extent of shippers moving ore from other upper fake ports. If it were not for the grain, lake freights would be down to a much lower level, as the ‘ore dealers seem satisfied in taking no risks on present indications in the iron market, although many of them might have sold double their present season’s output at the prices that have ruled since spring. Furnacemen offer no inducements over the prices of the past several months, and it is evident now that if any bene- fit is to be derived by ore producers from the short season in ore and the limited shipments, it must come in next season’s business. Still, the grain movement is more than meeting expectations, and the ruling’rates out of Chicago and Duluth, together with the prospects of a steady advance on the northwestern wheat, gives assurance of very fair profits for the vessels. i In coal shipments the situation has changed wonderfully, and although an unusual number of boats have gone up the lakes light within the past few weeks, there is now little hope of high fall rates. For nearly amonth past shipments have been restricted, on account of docks at upper lake ports being over- crowded, and still the movement of both hard and soft coal to Lake Superior, according to the St. Mary’s Falls canal report, was on Sept. 1 more than 281,000 tons in excess of shipments on the corresponding date in 1890. Now the cars ooming in with grain from the northwest are relieving the receiving docks to some extent but there is delay in getting soft coal from the mines. Asa result, soft coal is scarce and the 50-cent rate to Lake Superior could probably be reduced if an effort was made in that direction. Some of the big shippers have vessel contracts at 50 cents running through the season, however, and they are not desirous of helping their competitors to get cheap coal on account of a reduced lake freight. Lake Michigan shipments of soft coal, especially to Chicago, are probably not as well ad- vanced, but freights in that direction are still dull at 50 cents to Chicago, Milwaukee, Manitowoc and Green Bay and 45 cents to Escanaba and Gladstone. Our Chicago correspondent says of the grain situation: ‘The corn clique, by its bad tactics in moving its grain, dona- ted a large sum of money to the marine interests. When the leaders of the clique—whoever they may be—decided to start the corn towards the rising sun, they gave the handling of it to four big shipping houses. The people who were all working for the same master fell over each other to get boats. ‘They bid the rate to 3 cents for corn with hardly a stop. If the grain had been placed with one house, some advance would have been ob- tained by vesselmen, of course, but they would not have have had things their own way. What a boom it was! I have never seen anpthing like it in the vesselmen’s aisle on ’change. One agent took 850,000 bushels of wheat and corn for boats to ar- rive in two days. You could not talk with an agent three min- utes without being interrupted by shippers asking for boats. It was felt Monday that the market could not stand the fleet headed this way, but T‘uesday’s grain receipts were large, and vesselmen were more confident. It is likely that the week will show the heaviest grain shipments in the history of the city. Any depression can now be but transitory. The west is filled with grain headed for Chicago. Railroad tracks are kept warm by the moving trains.” Work for the Ship Builders. In addition to acontractjust secured front Mr. McBrier of Erie and Capt. John Mitchell of Cleveland for a wooden steamer, it is probable that F. W. Wheeler & Co., of West Bay City, will close negotiations now pending with the owners of the steel steamer Emily P. Weed of Buftalo for a duplicate of that boat. This with a passenger propeller for the Graham & Morton Company of Chicago, which now seéms assured, and four government light- ships already under way, will give the Whst Bay City yards emyloyment during the coming winter, Capt. James Davidson having also begun work there on a big wooden steamboat. Mr. M. A. Bradley says that the Cleveland Ship Building Company has ' given him a fair price on the steel tow barge which he proposes to build, and he will order work begun on the boat shortly, if the ship building company, in which he is largely interested as a stockholder, does not secure other contracts. The wooden boat which F. W. Wheeler & Co. will build for Mr. McBrier, and Capt. Mitchell will be a duplicate of the steamers Tampa, Iosco and Sauber, built at the same yard within the past few years, and one of which, the Sauber, is controlled by Capt. Mitchell. The dimensions of these boats are 291 feet keel, 312 feet over all, 41 feet beam and 24 feet hold. They have triple expansion engines and their general equipment is equal to the best wooden boats afloat. The owners of the Emily P. Weed are very well pleased with their boat, which was also built by Wheeler & Co., and it is mainly on this account that they now contemplate dupli- cating her. It can well be said of the Weed that, although not quite as large a carrier as some other boats of her size, she is as well built as any steel boat ever turned out of a lake ship yard. New Trouble at the Canal. The accident to the steel steamship Wawatam of the Lake Su- perior Iron Company’s fleet, through whichshe sustained a hole in her bottom, presents a new difficulty at the Sault canal. Ina report forwarded to Gen. Poe, Capt. Mooney says: ‘When about half way down the canal, above the lock, coming in on ‘Tues- day morning the rst. inst., and while making a landing with a stern line out to make fast until our turn came to lock through, we grounded heavily on the bottom of the canal, punching a hole in the boat amidship on the starboard side and filling the mid- ship compartment on that side. The cause of the accident was the drawing off of the water to fill the lower lock, which resulted in the water in the canal dropping about a foot. I think a good plan would be to have the canal officials hoist a signal at the canal office notifying vessels coming down under such circum- stances. Vessels coming down and drawing water to fill the lock are subjected to damage from this source, unless they are made fast, as the drawing off of the water makes quite a current running down towards the lock. The plant used on the Manchester ship-canal, England, con- sists of ninty-eight steam excavotors, eight steam dredges, 173 locomotives, 6,300 trucks and cars, 228 miles of single track railway, costing about $3,150 per mile, 124 steam cranes, 192 portable and other steam engines, and 212 steam pumps of all sizes. The maximum laboring force was 17,000 men and boys and 200 horses. The coal consumed amounted to 10,000 tons per : month. The total excavation was about 46,500,000 cubic yards, including 10,000,000 cubic yards of sandstone rock, ss—~™