The St. Johns herald., 1901-10-05
IS LAKE ERIE DRYING uPq
Startling Report Which Comes From a
 Government Official.

Government Official.
 Tradition has 1t that once upon a time, for single day, since civiliza- tion obtained footing on this conti- nent, the bed of the Niagara River was dry and the cliffs down which the mighty waters have since plunged with out cessation stood forth naked and black and frowning and grim. The phenomenon was explained on natural grounds. The same thing may happen again under similar circumstances, though such an occurrence would at tract more wondering visitors probably than does the great cataract now as 1t roars and surges and flashes in the sum- light from century to century. It must suggest to most people surprise of hardly less degree to be informed that Lake Erie is in danger of becoming so shallow as to offer serious obstacles to navigation. We can conceive of the Niagara being damned at its source, but few have ever dreamed that the vast expanse of water which furnishes
 
 shrink.
 That is the startling report, how ever. that the chief engineer of the Ma rine Department of Canada has just made. He has returned to Ottawa from tour of inspection of the upper lakes, and states that Lake Erie Is lower than was ever known to be the case before. This condition is due, he thinks, to series of dry seasons, to the drain made by the power development works at Niagara Falls and to the fact that dredging the Tonawanda canal has made it easier for water to escape from the lake. He considers it imperative that the United States government adopt remedial measures at an early date, else navigation upon it's present basis will be seriously interfered with.
 He offers no suggestions as to what remedies should be applied The sea- sons are not likely to remain always dry, thought when a body of water like this great inland sea is appreciably af- fected it is about the most startling commentary yet noted upon the policy of stripping the country of its rain- gatherers in the forests of the North west. Lake Erie at best is one of the shallowest of the great chain. There are three divisions in its floor, increas- ing its depth toward its outlet. The upper portion has a level floor with an average depth of about thirty feet. The middle portion, taking in the prin- cipal part of the lake, has mean depth of from sixty to seventy feet. The lower portion varies from 60 to 24O feet. These measurements were taken a number of years ago and are not ap- plicable to the reduced depth that has been reported.
 The area of the lake is 9,6OO square miles, or more by nearly a fourth than that of the State of Massachusetts. But it drains only a narrow margin of country around it and receives no riy- CTS of importance, the Maumee being the largest on the American side. It is more than 300 feet higher than Lake Ontario. It is one of the most import ant factors in our system of lake nayi- gation, and furnishes business for many flourishing towns and cities. The present report concerning it may be a false alarm, passing sensation, though we do not expect representa- tionS for the sake of sensation from scientific gentlemen in government ser vice. No harm can come from a care ful Investigation of the conditions, to say the least.-Boston Transcript.