, 1859-03-24
4re8a &Gributte.


LAKE PORTS.
Many Of our citizens will remember that
when it was proposed By Richmond Co.. in
1856 to send the Dean Richmond direct from
Chicago to Liverpool, with cargo Of wheat,
no Insurance Company could he found that
would take risk on vessel Or oiargo. Tho
enterprising owners were in doubt whether
they ought to assume the entire venture them
selves, and at one time it wns thought the
project Of sending her to Liverpool would bc
abandoned. The difficulty was At last sur
mounted bya numdor Of our substantial citizens
each assuming portion Of tho risk for what
was supposed to be fair remuneration. They
were determined the experiment Of sending q
vessel direct from Lake Michigan to Liverpool
should not fail for lack Of insurance. The Dean
Richmond accomplished her trip gullantly.
She was the first vessel from tho Lakes tl,at
ever crossed the Atlantic, und suudry hand
some presents can now be fonnd in the fami-
lies Of several Of our citizens, bought By tho
premiums paid lnr insurance on the Dean Rich
mond.
Our fel1ow-citizeu, Thomas Richmond, Esq,
pioneer in the navigation Of Lake Ontario,
had the sagacity to lead of in the great cnlcr~
prise Of direct trade between the lakes and
Europe. The voyage Of the Dean Rich
mond was due to him, and lis son a. Charley
has the houor Of having first sailed from Chi
caSo to Liverpool The rcasonings Of Mr.
Richmond, and the articles on direct trade,
which we published then and since, hare been
ridiculcd By cur very wise u contemporaries;
hut tic whole subject has been growing on the
minds Of commercial men, till it is now assum-
ing both responsibility aud Importance. This
result l.as been achieved much sooner than the
most sanguine had anticipated.
The Madeira Pet made tic voyage from Iiy-
crpool to Chicago, and returned, in tue summer
Of 1857, and Capt, Pierce, Of tue Kers',aw, and
perhaps one or two others had the enterprise
to engage in this trade. Last season, despite
the hard times, some halr dozen vessels or
more cleared from lake ports to Europe, and
now some fifteen or twenty are understood to
be preparing to engage in direct trade between
the Lakes and Europe. And how stands the
ulattcr Of insurance now, less tllan three years
from the time when our citizens were forced as
private individuals to insure the Dean Ricll-
mond? We are permitted to copy the follow
ing letter from one Of the best Insurance Com
panies in New York:
OFFICE OF THE sus MurcAL 1ss1nAscE Co,
No. ~ Wall Street. !
NEw YoRk, March elkt 1859.
Nc*srs. Mason i Co., Chicago, Illinois:
gents II am in receipt Of your favor Of the
18th inst. Upon q conference with the Atlantic
Mutual Insurance Company We will, in conjunc-
tion with TINT Company, each take half Of the
proposed amounts on said vcsscls-say at and
from Chicago or my other port on the Lakes,
through to London or Liverpool for per cent,
and on:cargocs, half cash for st per cent 1t being
condition that the owners become t1,eir own
Underwriters for the respective sums namcd On
the hulls: Your obcdicnt servant,
4. u. VEIL, Secretary.
We need scarcely add that the importance
which direct trade between tho lakes and E,,-
rope 1ss already assumed, is a matter Of great
interest to all our readers. Its growth here
after eau scarcely Gll to be rapid, and with
the increase Of capital in our city, and the cx-
pericncc now rapidly accommodating, the trade
between Chicago and Europe will soon begin
10 figure largely III the commercial statistics Of
tho nation. Before the next great commercial
rcvulsion shall have swept over the world, the
Georgian Bay Canal will have been completed
the St. Lawrence canals enlarged, and the
arrival and departure Of vessels Of thousand
ions burthen from Ill the principal ports Of
Europe will lie a matter Of daily record in tie
columns Of tue Press AND TRIBUNE We re.
gard this as one the results sure to bo real
'ised by the entcrprising men who compose tho
leading members Of our present Board Of
Trade. Let them address themselves to tic
work, and SUCCESS will l,c sure 10 reward their
efforts.