The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-08-10
IMPROVED NAVIGATION

0ublENGns
New York Journal Of Commerce: 1t
Z, a question both curious and inter
.stlng what would be the present con-
d,,ton Of the iron and steel industries
Of the world had the improvement OF
the navigation of our Great Lakes been
neglected. The conditions of that nav
cation are absolutely dependent on the
depth Of water in certain narrow straits
or passes" such as the Limelkiln
crossing below Detroit, the st. Clair
river above it, and the St Mary's river
connecting Lake Huron with Lake su-
perior. In the latter case the task Of
Getting round the Rapids has been of
stlIl greater difficulty than that of ov-
grooming the shoals. It is interesting
10 note how closely the process Of deep
cn,pg these channels has followed the
industrial growth OF the country, and
how very essentiol a part,ot 1t this
nrocess has of late years become. With
the virtual exhaustion Of the iron ores
Of Pennsylvania, OHIO and New Jersey
n new source OF supply became abso-
lutely necessary for the north fur
naces. and while that source had al
ready been found on the shores OF Lake
superior, the price at which 1t could be
brought to the furnaces was the key of
the whole future development OF the
industry. With an interval of thou
sand miles between the ore and the
coke, nothing but the very cheapest
transportation could male 1t possible to
place the MANUFACTURED of iron and
steel on a basis where 1t could chal-
Ienge the competition of the world.
The lowest possible rail- transportation
would have meant handicap of at
least Ave dollars on each ton Of pig
iron. as compared with rivals whose
ore and coal were found3ln close juxta-
position. Nature had, fortunately, sup
piled highway over which the cost Of
transportation could be lowered in pro-
portion to the size of the vessel engag-
ed In It. But the draftpt the vessel
was deoendent on the depth Of the wa
ter In the cheanels and the harbors of
the lakes. and with maximum Of ten
feet in these channels there could new
er have been any approach to the scale
Of freight cost which the growth of the
iron and steel industry demanded. 1t
has taken some forty years to secure
continuous minimum depth of twenty
feet Of water from Duluth to the Lake
Erie ports, though in the harbors Of
two or three of these ports vessel
drawing over seventeen feet might
stu run aground.
The net result has been an apparent
cutting down by two-thirds of the av-
erage freight rate on the lakes and an
actual reduction in freight cost of con-
slderably more. SO for as the business
Of carrying ore is concerned. 1t is be-
coming more and more part Of one
great enterprise, which begins With the
mining and ends with the transforma-
ton OF the ore into steel. The current
rates of ore freight which are, unless
where previously contracted for, say
n dollar a ton against about fifty cents
last season, are. therefore, no just
measure OF the extent to which i'm
provsments in lake navigation have
benefited the iron and steel industry.
The great companies that own the
mines and the ships which carry the
ore taken out of them can show hand
some return on their marine invest
ments while charging no more than
fifty. cents ton for carrying ore nine
hundred miles through the lakes. AS
matter OF fact, the bare cost OF the ser
vice to the companies paying for it
does not exceed twenty-five cents per
ton. and a liberal allowance for depre-
citation, repairs and insurance would
amount to less than twenty cents more,
That, of course, is conditioned on the
employment of steamers and barges OF
the modern type-the steamer carry
ing from 1000 to 1000 tons Of ore and
the barge Of about equal capacity. With
every foot Of water that is added to the
lake channels the capacity Of the new
est Of these steamers and barges can be
increased by from six hundred to one
thousand tons with the slightest posi-
BILE addition to the cost of navigating
them. The Eze of boats that are build
ing always keeps well ahead of the
drift attninable at the beginning or
their career, so that while eighteen feet
three inches is the limit Of safety IN
loading to-day, there are steamers and
barges already on the lakes which could
be loaded down to draw twenty feet. In
other words, the limit OF economy in
lake transportation will not be reached
until the work of deepening the lake
channels has been finally suspended OF
the capacity Of the locks OF the Ameri-
can and Canadian canals at the rapids
of the St. Mary's river has been reach
ed. Considering that the country is alb
solutely dependent for its supply Of
Bessemer ores on the Lake Superior
mines, and that on our unlimited COM
mand of these depends our supremacy
in the iron and steel markets Of the
world, the question OF the future OF
lake navigation must be held to be one
OF vital importance.
One point is already forcing itself on
the attention NJ men engaged In the