Evening star., 1898-03-12
THE COMMERCE OF THE LAKES
iotai tonnage of the 500 Double
That of the Suex Canal.

fotai Tonnage Of the 500 DoubIe
That of the Suez Canal
From st. Nicholas.
Ihe commerce of the lakes is enormous
The outler from Lake Superior to Lake
Huron has always been a serious obstacle
TO commerce, in that it was not deem
enough to allow the larger freight and
passenger boats to pass comforta bIy
through. Locks have been built at gov
eminent expense, at the cost of many mill
IONS OF dollars, which now allow the pass-
age OF large boats; and two more locks are
being built-one by the Canadians and one
py the Amerfcans-whfch will still further
increase commerce. The new lock on the
American side Is larger than the old, and,
when completed, will be one of the most
wonderful pieces of masonry to be found
IN the country. 1t will allow the passa ge
OF vessels drawing twenty-one feet of wa
ter: 1t has cost several millions of dollars.
ard will not be completed for a wear or
two.
For many years the great Suez canal
was looked upon as the most wonderful
piece OF commercial engineering in the
world. carrying enormous cargoes through
Its gateway from the east But in This
newer land the commerce of the lakes has
dwarfed the Suez canal. The total ton
mage OF the 500 during the year 1897 was
16,5OO,OOO. The tonnage of the Suez canal
in 1896 was 1000, 900. This tonnage of the
500 does not by any means represent the
entire commerce Of the great lakes; it is
only portion Of 1t. Hundreds of thou
sands of tons of merchandise and supplies
OF all kinds are shipped annually up from
Lake Michigan points through the Straits
OF Mackinac eastward. which do not pass
through the 500. and many thousands
more go eastward from points below the
500 on the other lakes, to be exchanged
FOR other supplies for points also below the
500.
Year by year this immense traffic is
growing. From the great west there come
to the gateway Of the 500 wheat and flour
ard lumber and iron ore-aIl the natural
products from vast area Of country
drawn to the lake route because it is so
Inucn cheaper to move goods by water
than Dy rail-. In return. the east sends the
west vast quantities Of manufactured goods
and immense supplies of lard and soft
coal. The west furnishes raw materials:
the east manufactures these materials and
sends back the products of her factories
and mills. There were received at the
ports Of Duluth and Superior during the
year lSs6-that Is, during the lake season
1,775.712 tons of coal
On the margins of these lakes parti,u-
lariy on the shores of Superior, there are
ore-bearing rocks containing iron silver
copper and gold. The iron ore is of re-
markable commercial value and practically
fnexhausttble in amount Immediately trib-
utary to Lake Superior, in some cases on
its very banks, are iron mines, the output
o1 WHICH rivals that OF any mines in the
world, and the supply in "sight," as the
miners say, will furnish the world with
iron for centuries to come.
Some OF the lumber which goes east by
way Of the lakes is sent away on to South
American points without separation, TAX
ing first a journey of perhaps several hum
dred miles down the rivers to the mills
then a thousand miles and more on the
lakes to the St. Lawrence, passing through
the Welland canal to get to Ontario, and
then trying few thousand miles of calf
water-a picturesque voyage indeed.