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6 MARINE REVIEW. CHICAGO LAKE INTERESTS. WESTERN OFFICE, MARINE REVIEW, { No. 210 So. Water Street, CHICAGO, IIL, Dee. 10. The winter fleet can store away over 7,000,000 bushels of grain before the opening of navigation next spring. ‘The fleet is about half as big as estimated a month ago and considerably larger than seemed probable Nov. 30. It looked strange Monday, with a foot of snow on the ground, to.see steamers going out into the lake. It appeared like winter naviga- tion insearnest. If the boats get through all right they have gained half a trip, as they are not likely to get more than present rates where they load during the winter. The Fort Wayne bridge case begins its career with a victory for the * marine interests. Capt. Marshall, the United States engineer,has reported to the secretary of war against the bridge as an unreasonable obstruction to navigation, and his report has been adopted By the war department. In Chicago river there are many docks adjacent to the draws of bridges. When boats are at these docks they completely shut off the channel through the draw. When the docks on both sides of the bridge have boats at them at the same time, navigation is totally blocked. Then the river is, of course, unreasonably obstructed, but what is the obstruction— the center abutment or the boats at the docks? The city of Chicago has held that the obstruction was the boats at the dock. Capt. Marshall rules the other way. In his report on the Fort Wayne bridge, he holds that to deprive an owner of the use of his dock property for the purpose of navi- gation is confiscation. The right of boats to lie at their docks until loaded or unloaded can not be denied. It follows, most naturally, that he decides the center abutment is the obstruction, and as such must be re- moved. Capt. Marshall was loath to take up this great question, but when he did take hold of it, he handled it in a masterly manner. The marine interests have reason to thank him for his admirable report. The keynote of the war against outrageous bridges is struck in the report by the state- ment that bridges must conform to the changing needs of commerce. It is to be hoped that the Lake Carriers will not continue to pump cold water on the deep waterways convention. A wiser course would be to step in and try to prevent the convention getting lost if, as itis claimed by some, they are chasing a wild scheme. What if the Lake Carriers did not approve the plan for a convention at first while others were in favor of it. The convention has been called, and any attempt of the Lake Carriers to impair its usefulness will not be for the best of the lake marine. The delegates to the waterways convention will be appointed by the _ board of trade and the governor this week. Good delegations will be selected and from the present feeling among marine men the delegates named will all accept. From what one hears there are several people here in Chicago who want to buy boats. It is said that there is sale here for some good-sized _Ar schooners and barges. Nearly all the schemes for building passenger steamers for the Chi- cago trade have fallen through. It seems certain that the Graham & _ Morton line will build a wooden boat, fit for both excursion and winter traffic. It is likely that the contract will go to Wheeler. _ Capt. John Perew of the steamer A. P. Wright had great luck on his last trip for the season. He got through in quick order at Erie and came back smiling with a load of coal, beating the record of all the late fellows. . History of the Leviathan, Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. MILWAUKEE, Wis. Dec. 10.--Among the disasters recorded last week per- haps the most notable was the destruction by fire at Cheboygan, Mich., of the old wrecking tug Leviathan. Although familiar to all lake-faring men, she was perhaps better known to the people of Milwaukee as a com- munity than to the residents of any other lake port, having spent numer- ous winters here since her advent in 1856. The Leviathan was built at Buffalo under the supervision of Capt. H. C. Hart, her first commander for the Lake Navigation Company, a corporation organized with the object of monopolizing the general carrying trade between Chicago, Milwaukee and Lake Erie ports. This company acquired, through purchase and con- struction, a fleet comprising nearly all of the largest, staunchest and fin- est appearing sail vessels then afloat. They declined to carry insurance on their property, and resolved to devote the money that might other- wise be contributed to marine risks to the construction and maintenance ofa powerful wrecking tug, fully equipped with steam pumps, hawsers, etc., in the Straits of Mackinaw, which constitutes a most dangerous thoroughfare to navigators of the upperlakes. It was thus that the Levia- than sprang into existence; but she was destined soon to change hands, The financial crisis of 1857 crushed the great would-be monopoly and all of its floating property was disposed of at ruinously low figures, either by private sale or under the hammer. Capt. Hart then became the owner of the Leviathan, but a few years later sold her to the Columbian Insurance Company ‘and retired from the command. He was succeeded by Capt. Naughton, of Buffalo, who had served as mate under Capt. Hart. In the course of time the Columbian wentto the wall, and the Leviathan was purchased by Lemuel Ellsworth, of Milwaukee, when Capt. Naughton was displaced by Capt. Charles McNally. About this time the owners of the large lake and river tugs began housing them in forward and the Leviathan was subjected to similar treatment, which not only added materially to her: appearance but also. to the comfort of the crew in heavy weather. From Lem. Ellsworth’s hands the tug next passed into the possesion of Wolf & Davidson and Capt. Chas. E. Kirtland, the latter assuming the position of commander and wrecking master, which he held until compelled by ill health to sell out and retire in favor of Capt. Peter Anderson, now master of the Iuter Ocean Company’s steamier Massachusetts. Capt. Edward Thorpe, now of the steamer John Owen, succeeded Capt. Anderson,and when Wolf & Davidson sold out to S. B. Grummond of Detroit, Capt. Martin Swain, now part owner of the wreck- ing tug Favorite, took charge. Upon Capt. Swain’s retirement, Capt. Kirtland again succeeded to the command, only to be followed, after an unsatisfactory season, by Capt. Laframbois, who has to yield her her up a prey to the flames. In her palmy days the Leviathan was without a peer on fresh water as awrecker. Her light draught and twin screws, propelled by powerful double engines, rendered her very handy, especially in effecting the rescue of vessels stranded with cargoes on board. She was peculiarly fortunate also, never having been entangled in any serious trouble while engaged in the performance of wrecking service. Even in her closing years, when a few heavy thumps upon a hard bottom, would have been sufficient to shiver her time honored frame, she seemed to bear a charmed life, escaping from the danger which often encompassed her by hair-breadths as it were. Of all the commanders whose names have been associated with the his- tory of the Leviathan, Capt. Kirtland was undoubtedly the most scientific as well as the most successful in difficult undertakings. His rescue of the steamer Amazon and her consorts, the tow barges E. T. Judd and C. B, Jones, from the rocks on North Manitou island, is without parallel in the history of lake wrecking operations. His release of the schooner Alle- gheny from Racine’s north point was another difficult task skillfully accomplished, as was also the release of the barge J. H. Rutter, witha cargo of corn on board, from the treacherous sands of the east shore of Lake Michigan near Iudington. lL. B. “Straight-Back” Freight Carriers. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. DETROIT, Mich., Dec. 10.—‘Straight-back” is the name given to the new type of freight carrier brought out by the Detroit Dry Dock Com- pany, and for which a reduction of cost in construction and economy in operating expenses are claimed as leading features. Drawings of the new style of boat have been exhibited at the office of the company for some time past. The Anchor line steamer which this company will build em- bodies the principles of the “straight-back.” The dry dock company now has four boats under contract and the ship building situation is assuming an active appearance. In addition tothe Anchor line steamer and the boat to be engaged in carrying pig iron for the Cleveland-Cliffs Mining Com- pany, a steamer to be named Wyandotte will be built for the Clark estate. She will be an 18-mile boat, especially adapted to replace the steamer ‘Riverside, which has been running betweez Detroit and points down the river. At the shipyard proper there is one wooden ferry boat under contract, which when completed will be far better in appearance, finish, comfort and capacity than any of the boats of this kind on the lakes. ; The Kasota is in the large new dry dock, ready to begin work as soon as the cofferdam is completed, which it will be this week. She presents a very dilapidated appearance, and is practically broken in two. This will be an all winter job as it will require a great deal of labor to put the boat in commission again. There is some serious talk of lengthening her which could be very easily done and at very little additional expense. Canadian Grain Exports. Special Correspondence to the MARINE REVIEW. KINGSTON, Ont., Dec. 10.—The forwarding business is done for the year. A statement showing the quantities shipped from Montreal this year as compared with that of last will be interesting. The figures for 1891 are: Wheat, 6,135,043 bushels ; corn, 2,187,578 ; peas, 1,982,931; oats, 744,257 ; barley, 812,178 ; rye, 2,253,514. In 1890: Wheat, 2,161,817; corn, 4,805,035 ; peas, 1,382,224 ; oats, 210,000; no barley; rye, 240,863. The totals are : 1891, 14,115,402 bushels ; 1890, 8,799,939 bushels. Last season was the largest in the history of the St. Lawrence trade. J. B. Fairgrieve & Co. of Hamilton, will this winter build a new steel propeller to cost $60,000. The steel plates will be imported from England. The ship carpenters, who had little or nothing to do last winter, expect plenty of work this winter, because the dry dock is expected to have several large jobs. The recent improvements to the mail steamer Spartin’s engines are calculated to give her a speed of fourteen miles an hour,