The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1882-07-01
LAKE SUPERIOR.

The statistics of measurement of this great
lake are rs follows greatest length, 355
miles greatest breadth 100 miles; mean
depth $40 feet; elevation 627 feet; area IN
square miles $4,000.
The physical features of the basin Of the
great lakes and the St. Lawrence river, and
the influence it must exert on future moral
developments, are without parallel and his
torical precedent. 1t is an American trea-
sure-its value to be estimated less by
what it has already accomplished, than by
what it must achieve in its progress The
western extreme of the basin of the ST.
Lawrence has receivee larger share than
any other portion of our country of the
valuable addition to our national riches
arising from the industry, intelligence and
wealth Of the hundreds of thousands who
have recently landed on our shores. 1t is
impossible to estimate the enormous and
continuous accumulation Of wealth having
its basis on the ample resources and natur-
al riches Of this great western region over
which the star Of American Empire seems
now to rest
The completion of the ship canal around
the Falls of st. Mary, has opened to the
lower lakes a navigation of fully a thousand
miles. Our shipping now has continuous
sweep over waters which drain more than
one hundred thousand square mile of a re-
giOn Astounding in mineral and agricultural
wealth, which may be waterborne nearly
half way across the continent Its fisheries
are exhaustless. Nature has developed its
mineral treasures upon a scale as grand as
Its waters. Its copper mines are the most
extensive and productive in the world. The
whole southern shore abounds in copper in
vast veins of almost virgin metal the ex-
tent of which is UNEMPLOYED and incalcul-
able. Its iron mines, near the shore of the
lake, surpass those Of Sweden or Russia in
extent and i'll the excellence of their ma.
terial. 1t is predicted by acute metallur-
gists, that its silver mines, though as vet
undeveloped, will one day vie with those of
Mexico. The tributary rivers Of this lake
are numerous, and, bringing down a vol.
ume of water, afford superintendent water
power for manufactures the most extensive
IN the world, between two of which, the
st. Louis and Nemadii-lies Superior, and
both of these streams flow through the vast
pine regions and yearly empty their trea-
sure into Superior bay, right at our very
uOCi. L hC l4OulS dlSO IuIulSHtS a VAST
water power, one almost unsurpassed on
this continent. A company has just been
organized, with capital of $l,0O0,OO0 to
improve this water power, and work on. the
same Is now progressing as fast as men
can push 1t. Under this head of 'Lake
Superior we may quote from an official re-
port made some years ago by Hon. G. T.
jackson, Md, at one time United States
Geologist and Chemist, and later Mass
achusetts State Assayer:
Lake Superior is the largest sheet of
fresh water on the face of the globe, and it
Is the most remarkable of the American
lakes, not only from its magnitude, but also
from the picturesque scenery Of its borders,
and IN the interest and value attaching to
It's geological features. As mining region
1t IS one Of the most important in this
country, and is rich in veins of metallic cop
per and silver, as we'll as in the ores of
those metals. At the present moment it
may be regarded as the most valuable min
ing district in North America, with the ex-
ception only of the gold deposites of Cali
fornia.
None of the American lakes can CON-
pare with Lake Superior in healthfulnesssof
eAihate uuilhS the Suinulef months, ana
there is no place so well calculated to re-
store the health of an invalid who has suf.
tered from the depressing miasmas of the
iever-breeding soil of the southwestern
States
III IS known that Lake Superior never
'Ha middle. nor anywhere except
near its shores, from which the ice very
rarely extends to more than ten or fifteen
miles distance.