The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-12-27
SINGLE SPAN BRIDGE
 LONGER THAN SCOTLAND'S

1 excellent rock formation on either side for the enormous piers necessary to sup port the 1s00-foot span, the cost of the suhstrueture will not exceed s1OOo,OOo. The ground on both sides rises rapidly from high water, necessitating. therefore. only comparatively light approaches, and as the land on which they will be built is unoecupied. the builders will thus be l spared the cost of condemnation proceed ings, one of the principle items of ex- pense in the construction of a bridge in a large city The cost of the super structure will be s 100000, and the esti- mated cost of the whole bridge s5.OOO0OO.
 Three railways will make use of the new bridge-the Intercolonial, which is owned and operated by the Canadian | government; the Cape Breton railway, and another railroad now in process of 1 construction, and in which pr. W. Se- ward Webb and other New York capi 1 talists are interested. Nine miles of new tracking will be necessary to connect the bridge with the present railways. Com 1 pared with the present ferry service there will be a saving of three miles in distance, and hours time for all freight and passenger traffic. Another difficulty obviated by the bridge will be i the 150-foot climb which the railways now have to make on both sides of the strait.
 The recent remarkable rise to import ance of Cape Breton as a producing een- ter. which has made the building of the Canso bridge necessity. is the work of l fet number of moribund coal companies, re- i opened the mines and afterwards estab- lished the s25, eco plant of the Dominion Iron and Steel Company.
 The quality of the coal found in every county of the island is almost equal to Welsh coal. About 100 years ago the General Mining Association, an English concern, invested large amount in de- veloping the mines at North Sydney, and for many years earned good dividends for its shareholders There was great de- mand for Cape Breton coal duAng the | civil war, and half a dozen companies | opened up mines in different parts of the island. During this time a reciprocity treaty was in force between Canada and the United States. by the terms of which coal was admitted here free of duty. At the close of the civil war, however, the reciprocity treaty was abrogated, and a duty of 75 cents a ton placed on coal That duty was practically prohibitive, and as the Canadian coal markets were limited, a number of the mines closed operation.
 l Ten years ago II. M. Whitney of Bos- ton conceived the plan of consolidating the old companies. and it was not long 1 before nine concerns were united under one management. MT. Whitney, when he l first planned to operate the mines, had reason to believe that Canadian coal would be put on the free list. and with cheap labor in Cape Breton, and a short water haul to the New England states, he would there find a profitable market. The duty. however, was not taken off. l It was then and in order to make mar ket, that MT. Whitney planned the erec- ton of the great steel works at Sydney, 1 which are now in successful operation, i and shipping steel billets to Pittsburg and Harrisburg The steel works and coal l mines are now under one management, i and the coal output which four years ago l was 900 tons annually, is now 4,000- 1 GOO tons. Another steer plant of equal l capacity, the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal ] Company. is now in process of construc- l tion on the opposite side or Sydney har- l bor