The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-22
NAVIGATION ON THE LAKES.
Enormous increases Reported Dur
ing the Past Ten Years.

ing the Past Ten Years
The prosuect Of an early opening of
NAVIGATION on the Great Lakes and the
preparations made by the Treasury Bu-
reau of Statistics 10 continue its work.
inaugurated in 1859. of gathering st'ttis-
ties of that commerce, lends Interest Z" Il
review of last years business on the
lakes compared with that Of earlier years
revie.. Of this character has just pre-
pared 10y that bureau The entire com
merciaI development 81 the Great Lakes
and of the territory contiguous thereto
has been embraced within the century
which has just closed. and the more in
leTestins phases Of il are presented by
the record of the past ten years. Prior
to that tine the growth had been by
+ leaps and bounds. interspersed with Pc
ricds Of depression, and during the IKE
years following 1873. when rail coupeti-
ton first became active, there was Il
very appreciable falling off both in vessel
tonnage and The volume OF freight traffic.
Taking up first the accessions 70 the
tonnage engaged in the carry ing trade on
TIE faland seas it may be noted that new
ct prior to 1898 had the lake tonnage
reached an aggregate of 1.00e,G90 tons In
that year the aggregate tonnage WAS l.
! C5S, GJ4 tons. ANA from that time until the
( present day an almost steady Increase
/ has been noted. Never since 1SSs has the
I total dropped below the 1,900,GD mark,
and with the single exception Of 1894 th1re
/ has been no year wherein the tonnage
{ sum has not shown an increase over the
preceding twelve months. The minimum
I yearly increase during the decade was
/ 1853 tons and the maximum S5035 tons.
/ the latter having been recorded in 1891.
/ while the year previous has "A gain of
S2.G0S tons TO its credit The aggregate
! tonnage on the lakes al the close Of the
/ last fiscal yea June 81, 1860. was SO,
I 5S7 tons. a gain of -l24 tons. or - per
! cent during The interim covered by the
! comparison.
! In 1881. when the aggregate tonnage un-
der the American flag was 4,Gis,75s, the
/ tonnage Of the lake craft amounted 20
/ 1.154.SI0 tons. or over y per cent The ag-
> eregate tonnage for the nation increased
/ very gradually prior to 1909. and thus in
1855 and 1897. when heavy additions We're
! made to the complement Of freshwater
: carriers. tbs shipping of the inland seas
REPRESENTED as high as 2 per cenl Of the
/ whole According to the latest statistics
. complied by The United States C0mmis-
/ sioner OF Navigation, the aggregate bur
/ den OF American vessels is 5.164,S19 tons.
and the Great lakes with l.535.5S7 tons.
be noted, for purposes Of comparison, that
the tonnage OF vessels now owned on the
/ Atlantic and Gulf Coasts OF the United
States * 2-I11-SgZ tons and thus exceeds
by a per cent the tonnage on the Great
( Lakes.
| Taking up the subject of iron and steel
/ vessels exclusively. the Great Lakes
make d much more favorable showing
OF the l.552Sjl tons - iron and steel ton
/ mage in the United states, inclusive of
/ Hawaii, there are ON the inland seas bSi--
/ 16y tons, or - per cent The Atlantic and
/ Gulf Coasts have 7G2 NJ tons OF less than
II per cent in excess OF the lake fleet as
compared with an excess OF - per cent
when craft Of all kinds are taken into
I consideration The triie significance OF
the fSuces indicative of the relative
! strength OF shipping on the Great Lakes
and atlantic ana Gulf Coasts Is only
gained. however. when d comparison Of
the number of iron and steel vessels III
each locality IS presented in conjunction
. with the statements OF tonnage
OF the aggregate of i-2Z5 iron and steel
vessels flying the American flag the Great
Lakes have but 20. as compared with s5i
on the Atlantic nd Calf Coasts In 9th
CT words, the inland waterway. with but
d per cent of the metal vessels II the
American feet. has g per cent OF Tho
tonnage, and whereas the iron and steel
feet owned on the -atiaBJiC and Gulf
Coasts numerically e2tcet dis that on the
lakes by 80 per cent, IN tonnage the eN-
cess j.. as has been stated, less than II
/ per cent To carry this comparison fur
/ Their. II may be OF interest TO consider the
! appOrtiOnment OF the larger iron and steel
/ EeSSelS-thOSe Of / .u0g tons each and over
now operated under the American flag
I OF this class of tonnage out of total in
the United States and Hawaii of as yes
| sells of 40 i56 tons there are to be found
| on the Great Lakes - vessels of 9li533
| tons. Ii viii thus be seen that the lakes
! have 81 per cent OF the whole feet and 3
per cent of the tonnage
| In numerical strength the lake fleet e1-
ceeds that OF the Atlantic Coast and Gulf
/ Of Mexico BY Isl vessels or - per cent.
and in tonnage by g7I.3St tons. or = per