Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1904-03-11

inc Canadlan Faclhc. one OF Mr.. Hills
strongest competitors.
Officials who will manage the com.
pany that will control the big ships
when afoat have ready reply to the
question, how will Mr.. Hill get cargo
to fill his enormous ships, when finally
they are in commission. and become
a daily expense for maintenance
and operation. They simply point
to the fact that during last year
the total west bound tonnage of but
one Of the lines that will contribute to
the enormous bulk Of goods that will
fill the holds of the monsters was more
than 5,7OO,c0O tons. Not all of this
was export business. but an immense
part was.
The powerful transcontinen,al lines,
contributing total west bound tonnage
of 15,000,000 tons year, of which a
large part is export business, will make
cargoes for more than two such ships,
and this takes no account of the tre-
mendous volume of business that will
be built mp, from the wheat plains of
the Northwest, from the mills of Mimi
eso,a, from the Pacific slope and from
the ranges of the intermediate west,
when, as Mr.. Hill predicts ton will
be hauled ten miles for one copper
cent" Low rates, they say. always Gre.
ate business, and will create business to
fill the ships, yet whether they do or
not, there is already business in pro-
gress of delivery every day of the year
at the Pnget sound ports which will
make cargoes.
COMPARATIVE F1RURES.
If Mr.. Hills ships were TO ply be-
tween ports on the Atlantic they would
be less remarkable, because in recent
years several huge ships have been
foated for transatlantic traffic, the ia.
nous Cedric of the White Star line,
with her 81, ,O35 tons gross being the
largest and most powerful. Yet even
the Cedric is not go large as the Mime
sofa, nor the Dako,a. But on the Paci
fc. where the fight for supremacy has
not been 80 keenly waged, the Hill lin
ers have immeasursble advantage
Graphically expressed, here are a few
facts that show their relation to the
competing craft:
Either ship is equal to the fremont
or Shawmut, the most powerful craft
now in commission on the Pacific, with
the Empress of India thrown in fol-
good measure.
The Minnesota is equal in gross ton
mage to all three of the crack Canadian
Pacific ships with fourth of equal size
added. ,@
All the Northern Pacific ships togeth.
er are but trifie more than third the
tonnage of the Minnesota or Dakota.
The Hongkong Maru, American Ma
ru and Nippon Maru of the Toyo Kai.
sen Kaisha line consolidated, lack 1000
ton of equaling either,
If the three great"A & A. ships were
consolidated with the Gaelic or Doric,
they would only equal the Dakota.
"The Minnesota, said Great North
ern official yesterday. could stow
away almost any one boat of the pres
ent Pacific service in her hold, and at
that it would rattle around unless it
were blocked in with cargo"
Down at New London the big Mime.
sofa is lying in the slip, with hundreds
of workmen putting the finishing
touches to her.
Will 60 Into Commission.
In three months she will be ready to
70 into commission. Her deck works
are being fitted and her huge tunnels
are in place, greatly accentuating he1
beautiful appearance. Although huge
and tremendous in all her lines, as she
nears completion she becomes more and
more a graceful and harmonious whole.
When her flag is raised she will present
a handsome picture.
The big Dakota, launched early this
month, will not be ready for service for
year. A tremendous amount of work
is still to be completed and immense
crews will be months in putting in her
fittings.
Meantime the work of preparing for
the big boats goes merrlly on at Smiths
Cove, on Puget sound, and $1,000, 900
is being spent in providing docks at
which the two ships can load and un.
load, No expense is being spared to
provide the very best facilities skill can
devise for rapid handling of cargo. and
the engineers assert that when the docks
are ready, either craft will be able to
take on or discharge cargo as quickly
as can any other craft in Puget sound
waters.
One more honor awaits Mary Belle
Pennington, the North Dakota girl who
christened the Dakota. President Hill
has decided that when the big ship goes
into commission she will carry in her
main saloon a full-length portrait of
her sponsor. The compliment is indi-
cative of the respect and friendship the
Glendale girl won not only from Mr..
Hill, but from the Dakota g builders and
all that are interested in the task of
placing the ships On the high seas
Happy, Healthy Children
ANY child can take Little Early Ris.