The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-08-19
ST. CLAIR SHIP CANAL
IMPORTANT INFLUENCE IT WOULD
HAVE on LAKE TRAFFIC,

"A Cut OF Fourteen Miles at An Expense o
sS,6OO,oOO Which Would Save Seventy
!: nine Milss-Recent development Of Com
mercs Throughout Lake System.
The prospects for the construction
of the st. Clair and Erie ship canal Il
the near future have recently attracted
a good deal Of attention among bust
ness and shipping men. 1t is stated
upon what Is believed to be good au.
thority, that within year operations
will be begun. Two years work
would be required In any case before
the canal could be completed and open
ed for traffic. The purpose of this
canal is to shorten materially the sail
ing distance between Lake st. Clair
and Lake Erie and to afford deep
safe and direct channel in place Of the
present unsatisfactory, tortuous and
dangerous one through the Detroit
River.
Leaving the old course in Lake st.
Clair at a point about five miles from
the foot of the st. Mary's River. the
proposed course strikes southeast d.
rectly across Lake St. Clair in bee
line for Cleveland. 1t cuts through
the low-lying neck of land which sep
arates Lake st. Clair from Lake Erie
and debouches into the latter at point
about sixty miles easterly Of the usual
route through the Detroit River. This
low-lying land forms the southwestern
extremity Of Ontario. In general con-
formation It resembles somewhat the
lberian peninsula, Lake st. Clair TAX
ing the place Of the Bay Of Biscay and
Lake Erie Of the Mediterranean. In
this view the st. Clair Canal would be
a counterpart Of the long-projected
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Canal.
The direct saving In distance would
be seventy-nine miles. The actual
cutting necessary is about fourteen
miles, and the expense Of constructing
the canal is estimated by the engineers
at about $5,500,000. The management
believes that o toll Of three cents ton
on the freight, which may reasonably
be expected to pass through this chan
mel upon its completion, would justify
the outlay for construction and repay
all expenses Of interest and manage
ment. II two-thirds Of the tonnage
now passing Detroit should avail itself
Of the advantages Of the canal the tolls
would meet these anticipations. At
the rate mentioned it Is not apparent
why all the through traffic now pass
ing Detroit would not take the new
route. That portion of the thousand
mile journey to the seaboard to be
rendered more safe by the proposed
canal is passed over by all through or
long distance traffic, for the tonnage
passing through the Detroit River has
always served with approximate ac-
curacy to gauge the development of
commerce throughout the whole sys-
TEN. Thus, for example, in 1889 the
cargo tonnage carried through the De-
troit River in American vessels land
exclusive Of that carried in Canadian
vessels) was 19,7l7,s6O tons, while the
shipments from all American lake
ports aggregated but 25,027, 1903 tons.
The proposed construction In this
new link in the chain of magnificent
waterways which connect Duluth, Chi
cago, and other western lake ports
with the tide water again calls atten-
tion to the enormous growth of the
lake marine in recent years, its steady
and continuous advance, and the re-
cent improvements both in the vessels
themselves and in the facilitiesof dock
Ing, loading and unloading. The mag
nitude of this commerce, as demon
strated by the accurate official reports
now kept for considerable series Of
years, while well known to shipping
men and to most residents Of the lake
side cities, is well recognized cause
If surprise and astonishment to the
great bulk of otherwise well informed
Americans, to say nothing of foreign
.rs whose ignorance of the trade de-
nands OF our country might more
'eadily admit Of excuse. To take the
igures Of this commerce for the last
en- years only, and omit amounts
mailer than one million tons, we find
hat in 1887 the registered tonnage
'assing through the Detroit River
mounted to about 100000
ons. Advancing each year in
steady growth by one or two
million tons, this tonnage amount
d In the year 1892 to 100000,
t which 1t now stands. The enor-
1ous extent Of this business Is more
eadily appreciated when one is re-
linded that these figures indicate a
onnage four times as great as that
,hlch passes through the suez Canal,
vice as great as the combined tonnage
I the ports Of London and Liverpool,
nd double the entrances and clear
noes at the port of New York. This,
20, is for the annual shipping season
eight or nine months at most, while
le Suez Canal and the English ports
re open all the year around.
Not alone In regard to the amount Of
image now employed is the record q
arvellous one. The character OF the
image has undergone within q de-
lde a most wonderful change for the
sitter. Steam has been substituted
II canvas altogether and steel ships
r wooden. 1t Is believed thut no.
here In the world can steel shiDs now
J built more cheaply than in the lake
Do shlpyards. The only reasonable
nit placed upon length IL that es-
blished by the necessity of steering
Q vessel through crooked channels,
ID the principal existing Limitation Of
AIDING depth Is fixed by the shoals I
et with In the Dstroit River and in
. western end of Lake Erie. Were .
obstacles to free navigation remov-
the vessels now building would
opt the dimensions Of ocean vessels.
1868 the average size OF sailing ves-
q on the lakes was 1853 gross tons. r
/ years later II bad Increased to 200 Il
Is, and twenty years late. to 1853 tonA s,
-