St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-05-24
The Duluth Road Arranging to Connect
With the Canadian Pacific at Port
Arthur.
What Moves the Different Railroads are
Making to Gain Points on Lake
Traffic.
JayGould Asks Several Eastern Trunk
Lines to Cooperate In Restor-
idg Rates.
Grain and Flour Movement from
Chicago by Rail Decreasing
Steadily.
THE DULUTH,s NEW OUTLET.
A Connection with the Canada
Pacific from Port Arthur.

A Connection with the Canadian
Pacific from Port Arthur.
General Superintendent Fisher and Gen
eral Freight Agent Dodge, of the ST. Paul
s. Duluth road, and General Freight Agent
Kerr, of the Canadian Pacific, were up at
Duluth yesterday, making arrangements,
SO it was stated, for another outlet to the
East for the ST. Paul & Duluth road. This
company has been doing business to
Toronto, Montreal, and points East in
Canada and the states by the Northwest
Transportation company to Sarnia, and by
the Grand Trunk railway. from thence.
This route, though, is a very long and slow
one for passengers, except tourists, and az
engagements are being made with the
Canadian Pacific line to have line of boats
run from Duluth to Port Arthur, and the
Duluth road will then be able
to do both an Eastern and
Western business in Canada. The plan has
been under consideration for some time,
though it could not be perfected before the
Canadian Pacific line was completed around
the north shore Of Lake Superior. But it
is now continuous from Montreal, and this
new route from ST. Paul and Minneapolis
to Montreal will be nearly if not quite as
This will be
OF GREAT IMPORTANCE
to the Canadian Pacific likewise, as immi-
grants from Eastern Canada to points in
Minnesota and Dakota can be brought by
this new route more cheaply than via the
Chicago ronte. To make full arrangements
MessrS. Fisher and Dodge will leave for
Montreal ON Monday, and consult with Can
adam Pacific officials at that place.
This move ON the part of the st. Paul s.
Duluth has been necessitated by strange
events that have been going on all on the
quiet in railroad circles, the past week or
so, in forming plans to gain points on lake
traffic, both receiving and forwarding from
the ports of Duluth, Washburn and Green
Bay. The Duluth road depends almost en-
tirely upon the trade it gets from the boat
lines on upward business, and the freight it
takes from terminal and local points on its
line. Within the past year or two this old
Superior routeha not had things all its own
way, OF since the Omaha and Northern Pa
cific road began competing for lake traffic.
With this strong competition and the low
rates which are ruling on flour and grain
east from Chicago the earnings of the ST.
Paul & Duluth road have been on steady
decrease for the past month. There has
not been any flour to speak of going by the
lake route this season. 1t Is limited that
rates by the Washburn route have I.
NOT BEEN STRICTLY MAINTAINED
or the greater portion of flour would not
have gone to .Washburn for shipment, but
would have takeif the route it has for many
years past via Duluth. 1t might be, though,
that something else causes this change of
10 koTo ox,;f hoI
the ports of Duluth and Washburn were
free pOrts."e This was to have more COM
petition from boat lines entering these
ports and it was agreed that the railroads
should not make any contracts with any
one steamboat company to interchange
business. There are nominally four rail
road lines entering Duluth, and of course
such an agreement was met with favor, as
there is plenty of business for more steam
boat companies than were running there
last year. But only one line, the Omaha,
enters Washburn, and of course this
line would have to do an
enormous amount of business to
supply two or three lake lines with suffi-
cient freight to pay them for entering the
port. If the railroad line could not do
this, the result of having Washburn free
port would be of little satisfaction, for the
lake companies would soon see that in
competing for business from that port they
would be losing money and they would
soon have refused to enter. 1t has trans
pired that all these ins and outs were thor,
oughly canvassed at a meeting some time
ago at Buffalo, and it was decided not to
open Washburr as free port this year but
hold it as before and interchange business
with certain steamboat company, and the
result has been that the Omaha Railroad
company and the Lake Superior TranspOr-
tatiOn company formed an agreement at
Buffalo last week to only do business with
each other This is most likely the reason
why most of the flour goes this way, as the
Lake Superior Transportation company can
undoubtedly make lower rates privately on
a ton of freight than it can On hundred
pounds.
DULUTH WILL BE GREATLY BENEFITED
by the closing of Washburn as a free port,
as three more companies are running there
this season than last. 1t has been learned
that Of the steamers W. L. Frost, w. 81.
Hoskell and W. J. Averill, built by the
Detroit Dry Dock company for the Lake
Champlain Sc OgdenSburg Railway COM
pally, and forfeited by them on account of
inability to pay for their construction, will
be in for the competition for upper lake
traffic. The Frost will be one of the two
steamers comprising Words Green Bay
line, and the others will pool with the boats
of the Detroit Transportation company
This practical consolidation of two of the
most important lines of steamers on the
lakes, comprising some of the. finest boats
ever constructed ON fresh water. will form a
combination that will make strong bid for
Lake Superior traffic. They will not COM
pete entirely for the grain and flour bust
ness, but will attend principally to the
transportation of ore. The traffic business
is becoming quite interesting from st. Paul
and Minneapolis by the lakes, and the pub
lie is keeping close watch to see which
railroad company comes out ahead.
JAY GOULD,S GAME.
He Writes Letters to Trunk Line
Managers TO Cease HOstilities.