The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1892-08-02
THE 900" CANAL.
rhe Great Commercial Importance Of
This Waterway.

The Great Commercial Importance Of
This Waterway.
All the commerce of Lake Superior
that is sent to or from it must pass
through the Sault Ste. Marie canal, un-
til the Canadians finish the parallel
waterway, which they are building in
order to be in all respects independent
of us. Nature makes the waters of SUI
perior to flow into Huron by means Of
the Ste, Marie river, but in doing so
they drop to Huron's level, which is
somewhat lower than that of the king
of lakes. They make eighteen feet of
the descent suddenly by the rapids
which give to the artificial waterway
built to avoid them the name of the
Sault. Ste. Marie canal. $500" and
800 Saint Mary" or "Susan Mary" as
it is often called are western forms
the words take. Comm ercially speak
ing. this canal added Superior to the
great lake system or route, connected
It directly with the Atlantic and the
world at large, and shortened very
greatly the railroad carriage of ore and
grain to the east, and of coal and gen.
eral merchandise to the far west The
canal accommodates an amount of traf.
fic which for years has been greater
than that of the Suez canal. In 1885
freigh ting through the great African
canal amounted to gross tonnage Of
S,1S3,313 tons, but it has decreased, if
am not mistaken, while the tonnage
that passed "the Soo'' in 1890 was 9,O41, :
S19. 1t is interesting to note that Of
this sum the proportion of freight car
ried by Canadian vessels was only six
per cent in 1883, and four per cent. in
1889. II is also worth while to note
that of the nine millions of tons foated
through the canal in 1890, about 4,5O0,-
600 were east-bound and 2,600,OO were
west-bound.
But the canal is inefficient; wofully so
in the opinion of the extra energetic
shippers at the Lake Superior ports,
who assert that its inability to pass the
largest vessels fully laden operates to
the advantage of their great rival, Chi
cago. The depth of water in the canal
in 1890 ran from fourteen feet and nine
inches to fifteen feet and three inches,
and during the first half of 1891 it va
ried between thirteen feet and ten
inches TO fourteen feet five inches. Such
vessels as are now being added to the
lake service draw sixteen and half
feet, and in view of the present depth Of
water in the canal it will be seen that
they lose several hundreds of tons a
trip by carrying only partial loads. The
government is awake to the situation,
and the new lock which is now building,
at a cost of four millions of dollars, will
be 100 feet in width, 81 feet deep and
1900 feet long.
The fact that the canal does more
business in seven months than the Suez
canal effects in year does not give SO
clear an idea of its Importance as is
gained from the consequence of slight
accident to the lock year before last.
This necessitated closing the canal tenn
porarily but it cost the men and COM
panies who use the canal a loss of about
one million dollars. There were at that
time one hundred and eighty-three YES
sells waiting to pass out of Superior, and
nearly as many going in the other direc-
ton. Ralph, in Harpers Maya
zine.