The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-23
LAKE ROUIE 70 MONTREAL
LLOYDs' REPRESENTATIVE SAYS
THE WATERWAY Is SHALLOW
IN SOME PLACES
BELOW FOURTEEN FEET DEEP
Minister of Railways Blair VIII
Find out by Trial whether
His Engineer Is Right
CIR Wrong.

OTTAWA, Dec pa Buffalo svnA-
cate was organized over a year ago to
pulId elevators in Montreal and to run
line of steamers between that port
ana the great lakes for the purpose of
conveying grain to the seaboard w 7
Connors, of Buffalo. and some of his as
soclates were here during the week see
ing the members of the government in
regard to this matter.
II appears that When the syndicate en-
tered into its contract with the govern
ment they We're assured of fourteen
loot waterway all the way from the lakes
to Montreal. AS the canals We're con-
structed to this depth, and were only be-
ing finished, there was evidently no
doubt upon that point. Indeed. no one
seemed to question it, since it would
have been utter folly to deepen the can
ais from twelve to fourteen feet if this
depth did not prevail in the river por-
tons.
1t now turns out, or at least it is as
serted by certain parties who are sup
posed to have some knowledge whereof
they speak, that there are several points
in the river below Prescott and elsewhere
that will not permit a vessel drawing
more than twelve feet to pass through
Letters have been written to the de-
partment in Ottawa calling attention to
this, and stating that vessels drawing
fore they could get to Montreal.
Capt. w. ]. Donnelly, Of Kingston, a
representative of Lloyds, writes that
there are not fourteen feet navigation in
the river. He says that at different
points there are great shoals of rock in
the bed Of the river, over which vessels
have to pass, and where it is impossible
to get even twelve feet of water. This,
therefore, being the case the Buffalo
syndicate asserts that 1t is no use for
its placing a fleet of steamers on the
river and lake when fourteen feet can
not be obtained. Their agreement calls
for fourteen-foot waterway from the
government, and capitalists would not
be induced to put any money into the
scheme if this was not the case. Indeed,
the capitalists whom they intended ap-
preaching in regard to the matter have
already been advised that there is no
such depth, and consequently refuse to
put up the money.
An extra foot for navigation purposes
means a great deal. In this case it prac-
tically means that with it a company
might be formed to cope successfully
with the existing routes from Buffalo to
the seaboard, while without it it would
be impossible to do so. For years there
have been tWelve-foot waterways, and
the reason for increasing the depth to
fourteen feet was to attract more of the
traffic which was finding an outlet by
Buffalo and the American seaports to the
Old World The history of all this is too
we'll known to require any recapitulation
here: it is enough to say that after the
expenditure Of millions of money and
years Of hard work in deepening the
canals, which was first commenced twen-
ty-ffve years ago by the late Sir Alex
ander Mackenzie, it has now been dis
covered that Canada is not much further
ahead in its project for diverting the
grain trade Of the West by the st. Law
renee waterways than it was in the
first instance, because the river beds will
not permit of more than twelve feet
draught, and some assert that even thai
cannot be had at certain points, between
Prescott and the City of Montreal.
When this condition Of affairs was
brought to the attention Of the minister
of railways, A. G. Blair, by the members
of the Buffalo syndicate, he was in no
mood to believe them. Still they pro-
duced what appeared to be credible evil
dence. He assured them that when he
started pushing through the work Of
deepening the canals, after being appoint
ed to Office in 1896, he was told by the
chief engineer of canals, Collingwood
Schneider, that the necessary depth of
water was, in the river. He had no
knowledge of the facts himself, but he
was satisfied that the officials of his
department knew, or ought to know,
what they were talking about. Mr..
Schneider was sent for by Mr.. Blair, and
it is said, assorted in the presence of
the minister that there were fourteen feet
navigation. all the way from the Great
Lakes to Montreal, aud upon that point
he was perfectly satisfied, no matter
what any one else might say or assert
to the contrary. He went on to say that
he had all the facts before him, that he
had personally visited many times all
the points referred to, and was certain
grossly mistaken.
Mr.. Blair was placed therefore, in
rather difficult position. His chief en-
gineer, and q man who has been in the
department for a quarter of a century
or more. insisted that everything was
all right and as stated by him in the
first instance-namely, that there We're
fourteen-fOot waterways throughout; on
the other hand, experienced navigatOrs
deny that there were, producing what ap-
peared to be good evidence that what
they said was correct. After looking into
the whole matter fully Mr.. Blair has de-
cided to have q steamer loaded at Port
Arthur next spring, when navigation
opens, drawing fourteen feet of water, and
to have it run through to Montreal with
out moving any Of the cargo If the
steamer succeeds in reaching there all
right then it will be shown that there
is sufficient water in the river, and If
not it will be high time that the depart
ment Of railways had a new chief en-
eineer of canals