The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-30
CoMuErcE ON the LAKES.
The Big Vessels Are CrowdinE tile Little
Ones Out of Business.

Ones Out of Business.
BUFFALO. Oct. 29.-The growth and develop
ment of the TRANSPORTATION system on the
great lakes. from the sloop OF the pioneer to
the mammoth freighter Of the present day. have
been most marvellous. To-day the trend of
shipbuilding is toward larger vessels. and'neNt
season may see the realization of tho dreams of
lake shippers. and the waters of these inland
seas be ploughed by the prov Of a 50O-foot
steamer. To-day this mark is all but reached
in the Bessemer Steamship Companv's latest
acquisition. the new steamer Samuel b. Morse.
Her length over all is 4T6 foet. with 456 feet
keel. 80 feet beam. and q depth Of 20 foet.
Many other freighters have a length Of 400 feet
or more. while many others of larger size and
capacity are being planned, but at the present
the Morse is the largest vessel on the lakes
Slowly but surely these mammoth freighters
are driving out of the business the smaller
barges and schooners. Ten years ago a vessel
carrying 5000 net tons WINS the limit, and In
those days the owners of the 1.500 or 1000 ton
vessels complained that the larger boats were
detrimental to the interests of the vessel own
ers. But the past decade has seen a mighty
change. and to-day vessels capable Of carry
ing 5000 to 5000 tons cargo are be-
ing turned out. and the smaller YES
sells must succumb before their competi-
'lSil. ~ AANit CIV iiOuo lHANA ouH
therefore the lessened expense Of transporting
freight. these enormous carriers control the
situation. and the trend of events may be best
vessels OF the lakes have been leased to New
York companies for use In the Atlantic coast
THE sun Their transfer TO the coast will place
them where they may earn a livelihood. an
almost impossible feat when they are, forced to
compete with steamers Of the size OF the Morse.
Naturally. one result of the building OF mann
moth freighters has been larger cargocs, and
breaking csrgoes on the lakes. Yesterday the
Western Transit Company's, new, 4n3-foot
SI s TSnaf ca the T II Soh put tv into % this port Sm Nv Nth Iht the
In all she carried 1900 barrels. or nearly
5000 tons. Of that commodity. equal to 800
ton the New York Central. OF. which railroad
t the Tsstg reeeiy rEp? sat al Z r tae car l1ke G spIs
shipment from Minneapolis TO the coast. thus
effectually settling the long-mooted. question,
Does i pay to build large carriers T.
Though the record made by the Troy IL the
commodities have been transported. The
Of iron ore. carried by the Bessemer Steamship
Gompany's schooner John A. h9ebling from
RSot6er t oi tho S6S9 sa%s com IN a1 f boats. f tSe t9Ps;
Fritz. carried from Duluth to Conneaut a cargo
Of 1.195 net tons Of iron ore. II was expected
trip, hut owing to an accident, which. pre-.
was able to load but $3.50 net tons. 80" Nv
The Superior City, owned at Duluth. a 475-
footer. and the second largest, vessel on the
lakes. recently carried from Chicago TO Owen
Sound q cargo of 266, $50 bushels OF corn, equal
to 1883 net tons. The same steamer recently
put into Buffalo with a cargo OF 10000 bush
els of wheat and 10000 bushels OF faxseed,
Weighing in all G.S20 net tons. while from
Escanaba to Chicago the Superior City carried
1892 tons Of iron ore. Other large grain
cargoes are: Steamer w. r. Linn, Chicago to
Owen Sound, $4,000 bushels OF corn. equal to
Chicago 70 Buffalo. 210.53a, bushels OF. wheat.
Carnegie. which recently brought from Mont
towoc Il. this port 1872. 100 bushels OF oats. max
ing a cargo Of 1913 net tons.
=, Coal being the principal commodity shipped
lbyi lake from this port, many enormous car
goes have been loaded this season. On her
initial trip the steamer Hendriek &. Holden
took from this port to Duluth a cargo of 6.432
tons OF anthracite coal. breaking all records.
the best previous record being that OF the
schooner Polynesia, which some time ago car
ried from Cleveland to Dulut 1854 net tons
OF bltuminous coal.
The building OF these large vessels and the
mammoth cargoes they carry will necessitate
the deepening and widening Of harbor chan
nels in the near future. Especially at this sea-
son OF the year, when the water in the harbors
is low. are these monsters apt to get stranded
on the bottom; and during the past week sew
0ftentimes delaying traffic for several hours.
When the harbors are improved and the facili-
ties for handling larger vessels nre better than
at present, the freighter with a cargo capacity
of 10000 tons will become \ factor In the trainc
OF the great lakes.