Boston capitalists are interested in a steamship line in the Pacific between Seattle and Chinese and Philippine ports. The Boston Steamship Company, which is the corporation name, will operate the new steamers Shawmut and Tremont, besides the Lyra, Hyades and Pleiades. The Shawmut, Tremont and Lyra will be run to Manila via Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki, Shanghai and Hongkong, and retura by the sane course. The other two vessels, the Hyades and Pleiades, will ran to Viadivostock, Chemulpo, Port Arthur, Tientsin, Kiaochow, Shanghai, Kobe, and Yokohama.
For the present the line will be conducted for freight purposes only. It will be operated conjunction with the Northern Pacific railroad, with Seattle as the terminus, and Tacoma, where the Waterhouse Company will establish a branch office, as a port of call. The deal also involves the taking over within a short time of all of the Northern Pacific shipping business maintained by the Dodwells, by Waterhouse. Later it is probable that the Shawmut and the Tremont will be operated in conjunction with the two mammoth steamships which James J. Hill of the Great Northera is now building on the Atlantic for the Oriental trade. The Shawmut is 505 feet long, 58 feet beam and has a depth of hold to the upper deck of 40 feet. It is thought certain that the present arrangement bs which the Pacific Mail, the Occidental and Oriental, and the Toyo Kisen Kaisha lines alternate every month in sending one boat out of San Francisco to Manila will terminate as soon as the trade with the Philippines reaches any size. It is regarded ax very probable that a special line of ves-fels will be put on the'run and will be operated independently of the regular boats. Itis regarded as very probable that the American-Hawaiian line has its eye en the Manila business. Two twin screw 12,000-ton vessels are nearly in commission for this company, and they are just such vowels as would handle the Manila—San Francisco trade to advantage.
The Coal Miners' Strike The chief labour problem now before the country is the strike of the anthracite coal miners. Something more than 100 000 men have been idle for four weeks now and, roughly -peaking, not " pound of coal has been mined in that time. The strike is for higher wages or shorter hours, but the coal operators (the generic name for the employers), have not only refused to concede any part of the demands, but have also refused to allow the differences to be arbitrated. The National Board of Arbitration, of which so much was hoped in circum: stances like these, and which indeed, been the means of averting or ending many and the Republican members were returned ' important labour troubles, in this instance has been powerless. Two or three of the coal carrying railroads which wre among the largest employers of miners have been the burst obstinate in refusing to arbitrate. {On account of the season of the year, the Jarge reserve supply of coal on hand, and the fact that only the hard coal mines are affected, general business as not yet suffered materially, but the price of coal has advanced by more than a dollar a ton.
The Isthmian Cenal.
The next bill to come before the Senate is that providing for an inter-oceanic Canal, Long and bitter debate on the advantages and disadvantages of the Nicaragua and Panama routes anticipated trid prediction of the outcome is now futile.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.