Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1899-09-14
ITS UTILITY NEARLY OVER.
s. : + !
Modern Lake vessels Find the Wei
land Cnnal Much TSo Small.s i

Chicago Chronicle: The province Of On
carlo is becoming alarmed over the SEEM
ing decadenee Of the Welland canal,
and strong pleas are being made for har-
Dor improvements at Port Colborne, its
Lake Erie terminal 1t is urged that the
lack of harbor facilities at, this port is
largely responsible for the loss in traffic.
= The harbor lis If the same condition
that it was seventeen years ago, when
the Welland canal was opened. The lake
vessels now require such depth of wa
ter that none of the largest class attempt
to enter Port Colborne
The Welland canal is twenty-six and a
half miles in length. connecting Lake
Erie and Lake Ontario by cutting
through the narrow Niagara peninsula.
There is fall Of 32t;aA feet in the twenty
seven miles Of canal, recessitat ting twen-
ty-six locks. These locks are 30 feet
in length b. As feet in width. The canal
has depth of fourteen feet, and when
it was opened it was supposed that pro-
vision had been made for the largest
lake craft. But the deep Sault Ste. Marie
canal has permitted the construction of
such deep freight carriers that most of
tine vessels that could navigate the Wei
land canal have been driven out Of the
carrying trade. -
enter the Welland canal, Tightening was
| resorted to. Tho Grand Trunk railway
built a branch line parallel with the
canal. Enough of the cargo was trans
| ferred to the railroad to enable the YES
| sci to pass through the canal, and Their
the cargo was taken on again at the other
| terminal. This expedient has worked fair.
ly well until recently; but in the mean
| time the lake vessels have been growing
in size each year, and with eacf
increase came lower freight rates
driving the smaller vessels ou
| ~f with
| 600 bushel capacity now control the car
| rying trade, and these cannot enter Por
| Colborne harbor. The vessels that car
enter are growing less in number eacf
season and soon even the experiment Of
Tightening vessels will not suffice to bring
| traffic to the canal.
| While the Canadian government admits
the necessity of a better harbor, it seem:
unwilling to take immediate steps toward
| providing one. 1t Is urged that THIS will
prove Of only temporary value unless the
canal Is enlarged as well; and if the cana
is enlarged so as to permit the larges
| lake craft. there will still be heavy ex
penditures required on the St. Lawrence
route, which does not even have a four
teen-foot channel for its entire length
although that depth is expected to be Sc
cured this season.
The Weland canal up to date, has COS
the Canadians S24.1733j2. Its best veal
in tonnage was 1893, when 1924 1913 ton:
of grain and merchandise passed through
1t east and west. Since then, the decline
in grain shipments has been especially
marked, although the grain traffic n the
lakes increases every year. In 1873. the
grain that passed down the Welfand wa:
about 16 per cent Of the grain receipts a
Buffalo; in $685. it was about per cent
or loss of 43 per cent as compared witt
Buffalo The grain that passed down the
Welland last year was less than I'VE
wears ago, while the grain receipts a
buffalo we're nearly three times VIVA
they were ten years ago.