New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-10
RIVALS OF THE OCEAN.
SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT TIE COMMERCE.
OF THE LAKES.
THE SEASON NOW OPENING WILL DE TIE BIG
GEsT OK REcoRD-L.KE VESSELS WHICH
OUTsTRIP THE OCEAN LINERs-CAN-

GEST OK EECOED-L.KE NISSELS NHi'u
oUrsTRIp THE OCEAN LINERs-cAN-
ADA's LOSING FIGHT.
Eun,Io, April TAT recent dinner in Duluth
President james j. Ill., OF inc Great Northern Rail
way. which OWLS the six great steamers ~ the North
ern steamship Company made some ASTONISHING pre-
dicions in connection with tho growth OF The lake
trade astonishing even TO those well acquainted Win
this trade 1--WE building said he. 1.-TWO steam
ers capable OF carrying $50 rsclass passengers ana
OF making the trip from Buffalo (" Duluth. distance
OF ], 900 miles. comfortably In fifty hours. These
steamers will have speed enough to run around the
Teutonic or any other steamships Wing between
Europe and America I'm any six hours OF the twenty
four I believe that IN the end we shall have six
steamers and q daily line.'
That Is to say, that the commerce OF the lakes Is
preparing to rival the ocean in ill points Already
be lake steamers average larger than craft and
with the lake passaGeways deepcncd to twenty i'r rs
they will be by 1906 the size Is bound TO grow rapidly
boreofier The outlook Inspired NJ. A. Bradley. OF
Cleveland the largest individual vessel owner on the
lakes TO SAY lately that the coming season IN proh'
nlde he will in 1894 build steel tow large OF oooo
tons capacity There Is little reason to doubt 'ha 'he
season Will be prosperous There has not been losing
season I'm over dozen years. and never were promises
50 fair rs now In al that time the coal carried west
on the lakes and lumber brought east. have never run
en- short rs now The elevators OF Chicago and Du-
Iutb are bursting with the largest holding OF gram
they have ever had in Chicago alone there Is ALREADY
,ver 600 OCO bshls acat II Is expected TINT 'hcSe
two ports alone will serd to Bufalo fully l00oo,Coo
bushels Of grain. mostly whcn In the first feet maj
ran get here after the ice is gone Buhalo last year
received 10 900 coo barrels Of -four by lake, an III
crease of 900 900 barrels year for several years
MANY OF the great milling companies beyond Lake
Michigan now send from half 10 two-'hirds OF thcir
Aour ouput direct TO EuiIao by lake. The limit OF
this traffic Is found ut present only IN lack OF whrho"s
room here and rnil facilities eastward
The ou.look OF the package freight trade both cast
and west Is beyond anything ever known before 90
great Is the expectation in tis drecu"h Ihh' 'he N
lines are parceing ont the oas,bound freight 10 'he
roads y, RugoIo and Erie and all effort is to he eN-
ortcd to make earnings adequate to the amount
handled.
The lake lines are not only preparing to pool their
wcstbound canal business here. but TO become ca'"'
shippers Of grain, plan OF great significance, anu ~,
omen confession that the trunk lines. running east
from Buffalo are becoming entirely unapt 10 H''e III"
take the freight handled en- the lakes.
n, body who has not studied lake traftc Appreciates
,hc wonderful fe,ihiy OF It. Abundance OF 1feign'
ovovs means Il secretly OF cars, md no advance ID
rates will help matters. but rails" lake rates -
conf OH q hu,hel OF wheat @" 10 cents OH w" WI
coal and in one day there will be plenty OF 'oh""s'
waiting for II. III busy or stormy uh'S II ''".'
anywhere from ten 10 hIicen uHHS W p'",H 80
t-ou, bcvond Lake Michigan by rail to Euiai". 10y
,olc II can he regulated to arrive within IaFeh ho'
cav c,rhv hours from Chicago and ninety from Du'n'
70. trcsc reasons without reference to the mtch
emaor cost Ivy lake. this routc can never hho i i'"'
competitor in the rail lines . -
However This was not always thought to be 80.
dozen wears ago the NewYcrk Central ia l'oad WIN
The lameniel John Allen at the heaa OIL "s i'" INV
,ore was full OF the notion that by this tine grain
Inf fr0m
NINTH cheaper by rail than by lake. That company
steadily resisted the lesson taught by the newly
arrived Iackawanna. which was picking up "h''f
frontage as fas, az II could even ut hah prices Nv"
the Central finds Itself paying dcmurrase charges Oh
lake cargocs that its grain elevators cannot hande,
and sees Buffalo only three seasons past her hrh'
receipt Of 1oO.0Oo.OOO bushels OF grain by iaRe' ye'
ca far mast that limit that to return to 1t ever again
would be q humiliation
Dufalo IS the sixth port OF the woriu ior nho'"'
NJ water freight handled being close upon ChFaeo,
which Is the fifth. Were the canal tonnage aoaea
n Tho lake aggregate il would surpass Chicago 1h'
&c 70 say that but one port ia America ana three III
Fnrop. ou,rant these ports in the am0iR OF freight
received and discharged by vessels. The o'oVerh-
mcnt official who made this discovery last season was
greatly asonished at the fact but this did MOI or'e
him ont uf the conclusion he lad reached bS HIS co'h
pilatlons. .
Let il not be denied that. in spite Of the great
amount of freight 70 he moved on the lakes this sea-
son there il no movement Of account yet even III he
fixing OF rates The existence OF a hard winter,
which has frozen the lakes 10 an unusual depth mas
nothing TO do with this The pig iron trad" Is duii'
That is all The biggest item In the whole lake trade
is the 100000 tons of 10 be brought down from
the Lake superior mines. Ore frcigits average hot
far from 81 ton, and on account Of the enormous
amount 10 be earned by vessels In this trade alone,
ore frcshts always set the pace for everything else
rig iron is picking up and Is slowly beginning to
SELL but the furnace men are not eager enough ior he
taking 81 great blocks OF ore which regularly occurs
before navigation opens. The 200 100000 bushels OF
grain 80 900 900 OOO feet of lumber, 100000 tons
Of coal that are TO be moved by water next summer
NAV reach an opening rate this before ore starts
for good paying ore rate Is expected, hut II VIII
be unusual fix other rates first. Rates on package
freight monopolzcd by the roads and their lake
lines and are usually started high and gradually cut
down by warfare to about half the original figure.
Last year q point less than half the hNcd' rates on
wcstbound package freight was reached.
There IS no industry in the world that mas proud
o history ship-buldlng on the lakes The necessity
for making shallow passages and entering shallow
barbors makes II impossible to build models
and craft has been evolved that meets all Tie re-
q,iremcnts with scarcely half the depth OF ocean
carriers Yet the lake steamer Is everywhere
acknow edged TO be quite the equal OF any, aud the
Clyde-built craft that occasionally strays into %!e
lakes ambitions railroad liners some OF them have
never In any way outrankcd tie homemade vessels
There are probably seventy i've vessels. mostly
steamers varying In carrying capacity rom 1000 10
900 tons. under construction In lake shpyards To-
aav Their value Is not less than 100000. mast
OF them being steel. This rate OF building has been
kent up almost without cessation since the first
2OOOton Iron steamer came out In 1882 and was
found TO he more profitable than anything smaller.
Time and again careful observers have cried out that
over.buiding was bound 10 kill the lake trade; yet
this year. with all this activity reports are coming
an from some Of the few lake craft that have sraye1
into salt water that they are coming back as soon
as they can get here. ocean frcights promise 10 BE-
an dull that twelve months there not worth
eight months on the lakes. :" | made $50 on my
share In our steamer last fall" said the son OF
vessel owner lately The steamer Is one Of t'e
larger steel patterns that came out SO late tina; she
only made IA trip and 9alf between here and
Chicago 1t Is doubtful II the Young shareholder
had more than ~ 600 In the vessel This Is an IN
stance of the peculiar advantage enjoyed by the