The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-11

The commerce of the Great Lakes in the
! navigation season of 1900 has exceeded
that of any preceding year. The report
! Of the Treasury Bureau of Statistics COW
/ ering the business of the principal ports,
/ combined with the reports of the officer
in charge Of the Sault Ste Marie Canal,
! Tor the year ending December 81, 1900
and the comparison of these figures with
those of preceding years, fully justify
| this assertion.
| The work of the Bureau OF Statistics in
| 1900 was the first attempt to classify and
study the movements in the great articles
from port to port on the Great Lakes, and
while 1t was not found practicable in this
experimental year to include in this work
some of the minor ports, or to obtain
| data in all cases for the opening month
| of the season, the figures may be accepted
| as presenting a fairly accurate view OF
the port to port commerce of the articles
and classes of articles which form the
bulk of the traffic on this great internal
waterway.
According to the figures secured by the
bureau, there were received by vessels
the Great Lakes, between April I, 1900,
and the close of the year. total of 1885,
23i tons of flour; 52,S34,256 bushels of
wheat; 7O,S05 sol bushels of corn; $780,
1857 bushels of oats; 11,526,501 bushels of
barley and $40, S92 bushels OF rye. These
figures. relate purely to the movements be-
tween United States ports, and do not,
! therefore. include the shipments to or
from ports on the Canadian side of the
canals or through the Welland Canal.
The great bulk of the grain traffic or
iginated at Chicago and Duluth and had
Buffalo as its point of destination. So far
as can be judged from the discrepancy be-
tween the figures representative of ship
| ments and receipts, respectively, after
making allowance for the grain in stor-
age on vessels both at the beginning ana
close of the season, and shipments from
small ports are included in the seasons
compilation, the movement of grain by
way of the Canadian water routes did not
reach the proportions which had been
predicted for 1t.
The receipts of iron ore by water at the
ports embraced in the bureaus compila-
| ton reached a total Of 16.26S, 027 tons, and
this may be accepted as about So per cent
of the entire movement of iron ore both
ny ran anu NdltF All INC lIbtlpAl VI Cr
receiving and shipping ports are covered
| by the bureau statement. OF the 1929,
027 tons handled, Il, S43. 6S1 tons are shown
to have been shipped from the six ports
OF Two Harbors, Duluth. Escanaba, Ash
| land. Marquette, and West Superior, and
| 3,623, 500 tons were received at the six
| ports of Ashtabula. Cleveland. Conneaut,
South Chicago Buffalo, and Erica re-
| markable exemplification of the extent to
which the iron ore traflc is concentrated.
Many different classes of commodities.
such as provisions. dry goods. and hard
ware, are reported under the general head
of unclassified freight This movement at
| the principal lake ports during the past
year reached the aggregate of 3,i71, 131
tons.
In this traffic the city OF Chicago led.
with s42, POI tons. The receipts at other
ports were: Buffalo Sos. s91 tons: Cleve-
land. 275, 673 tons; Detroit, 234,4S2 tons,
and Milwaukee. 1926 124 tons.
In view of the effort being made by the
owners of the lumber carrying vessels en-
the Great Lakes to effect a combination
with the purpose of maintaining rates, it
is perhaps interesting. as illustrating the
scope of this branch of inland commerce,
to note that lumber shipments were made
during the season from thirty-two Of the
| thirty-seven ports the commerce of which
the Bureau of Statistics kept a record, re-
ceipts being recorded at an equal number
OF ports. The total receipts aggregated
/ 2i22, 403 thousand feet.