The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-06-24

| wooden cars, which succeeded four
| wheelers. holding dozen ton. apiece.
| will hold from 20 to go tons OF ore. while
replacing the wooden ones. carry 20 to
| 80 tons and sometimes 60 tons.
The trains. drawn by the largest,
strongest and most modern engines. con-
sist Of 30 to 30 cars. and carry from
1900 to 1000 tons Of ore apiece. In
Minnesota alone three railroads are de-
voted to this traffic. their general freight
and passenger business being but q
minor feature on their balance sheets.
Some idea OF their activity may be gained
from the fact that Minnesota's per cent
tax on the gross earnings OF railroads
brought IRON these three roads last year
something like $4,000 toward the sup
port of the state.
The docks from which the vessels are
loaded for the long haul down the lakes
are themselves most ingenious and inter-
esting contrivances. At a distance they
look like long. tall railroad trestles.
which. indeed. they are. for the ore cars
are run out upon their decks. They ex-
tend far out into the harbors, some Of
them 2.4OO feet, and they stand In some
cases nearly 100 feet clear from the
water One or two tracks extend the
full length Of their decks. and the cars
are drawn directly out upon them. The
jerking of q lever In each car dumps Its
freight into the pockets In the dock.
| where It awaits the coming Of the vessel
| that Is to take It away. These pockets
are deep bins, some of them holding $50
| tons Of ore.
The vessels are drawn alongside the
docks by tugs and long chutes or spouts
| are lowered from the side Of the dock
into the open matches. Then little gates
| at the bottom Of the pockets are opened
| and streams Of iron ore run down until
| the matches are full. Then the gates are
closed. the spouts are drawn up again,
| the matches are covered and the vessel
is ready for its long trip down the lakes,
| which 1t will make. when running witho1t
| a tow, In little more than three days
Thus the ore IL dropped from the car
into the pocket. and from the pocket
| into the vessel, entirely by gravity, and
| but few men are needed. Originally much
| az this work was done by hand. and In
| addition men were employed to trim"
the cargoes, distributing them over the
hold 80 as to give the vessel balance.
| Nowadays they no longer stop to trim
| trouble Ia experienced vessel carry
Ing 5000 tons will be loaded In the man
ner described above In two or three
| hours.
There are Is Of these ore docks on Lake
Superior. as follows: Six at Escanaba.
| Mich; three at Ashland, Wis; i've at
Two Harbors, Mimi; four at Duluth.
Mimi; three at Superior, Wis; three at
Marquette, Mich, and one little one at
Michipicoten. Ontario. They range from
| II pockets at Michipicoten to SS4 10 each
| of the four Duluth docks. the greatest In
| the world. The latest dock constructed.
| the Duluth, Missabe and Northern's No.
| dock at Duluth, Ii taller than any of the
! rest, standing nearly 100 feet up from
| the water Of st. Louis Bay. and 10 built
| particularly for the accommodation of the
| larger type OF lake vessels. those carrying
| 5000 tons and oyer. Her storage capac-
| ity is $4,000 tons, and the q docks on
| Lake Superior will hold at one time
| 100, 600 tons Of ore.
| These docks range In height from 100
| feet down to about 40 feet from the
| water to the deck or top. Their extreme
| width is e6 feet inches, and the spouts
| which conduct the ore into the holes Of
| the vessels are from q to 81 feet In
| length, depending upon the height Of the
| dock
| All Of these docks are lighted By cleo
| tricity and at night, from . distance,
their sparkling arc Lights look