The Portland daily press., 1898-06-25
THE WHALEBACKS.
The Biggest Vessels in the World cn
the Lakes.

Marine Statistics at Lake Ports RivaHnc
the Chief seaports of the Ocean-De-
tails of the Great Alexander McDou-
call-Mr. Rockefeller's Fleet.
Correspondence of the Boston Trans
cript.
Houghton, Mich, June 19.-The pro
gress made during the past ten years bJ
the marine interests of the Great Lake.
is indesd surprising. The growth has
been equally noticeable in the business
handled and in the increased size of the
vessels plying these unsalted seas. A
single item will serve as an illustration,
though scores might be given: In 1881
the shipments OF iron ore from ports OF
Lakes Superior and Michigan aggregated
4, 1852, 107 gross tons, while in 1897, just
one decade later, the shipments were
10, 469, 63S gross tons, and will this year
exceed l3, 600, 900, and may reach IA, 900. COZ
tons. Similar comparisons on the ton
Acee3O VI VhOehu, OSLil3 OhuS, tltAADO13 SOplfOA
and coal would show remarkable growth,
especially in the business of Lake Supe
rior ports; this great sea, which was al
most unknown a quarter of a century
ago, now showing marine business OF
realry one-thIrd of all the tonnage of the
chain of lakes
In the line of marine construction the
lake ports are but little behind the great
est seaports of the ocean. The great coal
and ore piers at Duluth, Two Harbors,
Superior, Ashland and Marquette on
Lake Superior, Esoanaba on Lake Mlchl-
gan, and Cleveland, Fairport, Ashtabula
and Conneaut on Lake Erie, are without
uperiors in the world in size and equip
ment. Cargoes of coarse freight, such as
iron ore and coal, are loaded and un-
loaded with marvellous despatch. At the
ore shipping piers great h"ppers are let
down into the matches of the vessels and
a cargo of thousands of tons placed on
board in q few hours. The unloading Is
by machinery and almost equally expedi.
tious. At Cleveland there are piers where
a car loaded with coal is hoisted forty
feet. turned bottom side up, and replaced
on the ground with the apparent ease that
a good housewife dumps a box of straw.
berries. The grain elevators on the lakes
are without parallel in size, those at Du-
luth, West Superior and Buffalo being
200, 200 bush els of wheat are loaded in
few no urs and discharged with little less
despatch.
Tomorrow there will be launched at the
West Superior yards of the American
Steel Barge Company the largest s'wbale.
back" vessel ever constructed. This
typo of vessel is built of steel, setting low
in the water and with rounded, ungainly
deck and swinish snout, it is not difficult
for the observer to guess why sailors call
the whaleback barges ''pigs." They are
not handsome, but they are staunch,
enabled them to make their way against
almost unanimous opposition. The
Worlds Fair steamer. Christopher Co.
lumbus, is whalebaok and is the largest
steamer in tho world, having
a carrying capacity of five thousand,
which number of persons she has COM
fortably transported on a number of oc-
casions The Chris as this big steam
er is known to her friends. is 1862 feet in
length, has engines of $500 horsepower
and makes twenty miles an hour with
surprising ease. The apparently awk-
ward forefoot of the vessel kicks up but
small surge even when the boat is travel
ling at top speed.
The vessel to be launched tomorrow at
West Superior will be named the Alexan-
der McDougall, In honor of the inventor
of this type of craft. She is 430 feet in
length, over all, and will be one of the
very largest freighters on the lakes. The
first whaleback was less than $50 feet
long, and the largest built until the Nc
Dougall was tho John Ericsson, owned
by John D. Rockefeller and engaged in
:hs iron ore trade, which is 400 feet over
all.
Mr. Rockefeller, by the way, owns
fleet OF twenty steamers, all engaged ex-
clusively in the transportation of iron
ore and coal, and known as the Bessemer
fleet, The vessels are named for those
who have been prominent in iron and
steel discoveries or manufacture. The
Wheeler shipyards at Bay City are now
building three new vessels one steamer
and two barges for Mr.. Rockefeller,
which will have combined capacity of
$4,000 gross tons. There will be but few
freighters on either the Atlantic or Pa
cific which will equal them in size.
On June all previous cargo records of
the great lakes were broken at Escanaba
when the steamer Superior City took 61e
gross tons of ore from the docks on her
maiden trip, a cargo of 1866 net tons.