Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1901-08-03
is LAKE ERIE DRYING uPq
Startling Report Which Comes From q
Government official

Government official.
tradition has 1t that once upon q
time, for single day, since civiliza-
! ton obtained footing on this CONT
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 sun
light from century to century. 1t must
suggest to most people a 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
1t Its life current would ever perceptibly
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
a 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 a
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 1t 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 Its present
basis viii 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 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 it's 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 it's floor, increas-
| Ing its depth toward its outlet. The
upper portion has level floor with
an average depth of about thirty feet
| The middle portion, taking In the prin-
cipal part of the lake, has a mean depth
or from sixty to seventy feet The
lower portion varies from 90 to 240 feet.
| These measurements were taken
number of years ago and are not ap.
| plicable to the reduced depth that has
been reported.
The area of the lake is 1900 square
miles, or more by nearly a fourth than
that Of the State of Massachusetts.
But 1t drains only narrow margin of
| country around it and receives no riy-
ers of Importance, the Maumee being
the largest on the American side 1t Is
more than 300 feet higher than Lake
| Ontario. 1t Is one of the most import
ant factors in our system of lake navi-
CATION, and furnishes business for
many fiourishing towns and cities. The
present report concerning 1t 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
full investigation of the conditions, to
say the least.-Boston Transcript.