Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-15

through its narrow channel is almost in
credible In 1887 the ships that passed up
and down that river aggregated 100000
tons; in 1892 the total increased To % eco 600
tons; in 1897, 70, 600 tons, while last year.
according to the report of Col. Davis. the
United States engineer in charge, vessels
representing a total of 65,0a0.000 tons
carrying cargoes valued at $4,000 600,
passed up and down that route.
| haven't the figures for the Thames. the
Mersey and other great water thorough
fares. but 1t is not possible that the ton
mage of either equals these figures, while in
| 1906 the gross tonnage passing through the
SueZ canal was only 1S,Slo.113 tons. or
| less than one-third as much as that of the
Detroit river.
Mr. Harvey D. Goulder of Cleveland who
| often comes to Washington 10 represent
| the Lake Carriers Association. estimates
| that by 1920 the Detroit river traffic will
amount to 140.O00.c00 tons and by 1890 10
| 300 100000 tons, which would be only
reasonable increase.
Indeed rapidly is the lake traffic ad-
vancng that the army engineers are al
ready beginning to discuss ways and means
| for securing another channel. because under
present conditions the Detroit river cannot
| carry much more. 1t has been proposed
! to cut canal across lots through the
| Canadian peninsula which lies between
| Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie and if you
| will take your map you will notice that
| at one point it is very narrow, not more
| than twelve miles wide. 'Most of the dis
lance. l am told, is low and swampy ter
| ritory, although rock formation lies along
| the north coast of Lake Erie, which will
make difficult digging This project is
! called the st. Clair and Erie Ship canal
| and the surveys strike directly southeast
| from st. Clair in a Decline for Cleveland.
| locating the Lake Erie entrance sixty miles
| east of the mouth of the Detroit river and
almost directly north of Cleveland. 1t is
! estimated that such canal would cost
S6,000,GOO and would shorten the sailing
distance between the Lake Erie ports and
| a hundred miles. 1t is estimated also that
| the coal consumed by the present lake
| fleet In making that distance will pay ) per
! cent interest upon a sum several times as
| large as the estimated cost of the i'm
| Drovemants.
Other engineers consider it more practical
| to widen the channel at Limekiln Crossing
| In the lower part of the Detroit river from
300 feet, at present. to 800 feet, which,
with depth of twenty-five feet, will cost
about S66OnOOO or about the same the
canal With such width of channel 1t is
believed that the Detroit river can float all
the commerce that possibly be handled
| at lake ports during the next fifty years.
Other engineers think that it would be
wiser to deepen the present channel, that
the steamers can be enlarged and thus in
crease the traffic and the tonnage with
| out adding SO much to the number of the
| fleet
| tons of freight vessel than on three,
| four or five vessels. because it requires no
| more hands to handle a large vessel than a
small one. and wages are the principal eX-
| pense. With straight and deep channels
| there is scarcely any limit to the size of the
vessels, but the shipbuilders have already
reached the maximum that can run through
| the channels of the Detroit river. ST. Clair
| flats and the 500 and float in the harbors
| of our lake ports.
Increase in Average Tonnage.
In 1865 the average tonnage of vessels on
bn lax in he ane
| was 2I1 tons: in 1880 427 tons; in 1897, 551
| tons; in 1898. $40 tons. and in 1897, 1880
| tons. Indeed. small vessels are not built
! any longer. ana sailing vessels are obsolete.
| Between Buffalo and the Straits of Mack
| mac l did not see one vessel under sail.
Every ship we met was an enormous
steamer, deeply laden with ore or coal. All
| of them had twelve fourteen matches for
| receiving and dischargng cargo. / saw
| several with twenty-fOur, thirty and thirty
! two matches. and ! am told that there are
now on the lakes six coal and ore carriers
| COZ feet long, IS feet beam and i2 feet deep.
with carrying capacity of l4,G90 tons OF
iron Each of these had thirty-siX
! matches.
| The records of the government engineers
! show that more than 2J,aG0 vessels passed
| through Detroit river during the season of
| navigation in the year 1895, which EXTENDED
! over % days These vessels carried Io,oJooO
| tons of freight valued at $i5. .O0O. and mad
! an average of one vessel carrying 80 tons
! passing the city of Detroit every thirteen
/ minutes. In addition to these freight
/ steamers. fourteen regular frst-class pas
Senger steamers passed up and down De-
! troit river regularly during the year, carry
ing about 1,J,nOO3 passengers. As | have
said | do not believe any other river in the
! world can show such traffic. and il IS in
creasing at the ate of 10 per cent a year.
! The largest part of the cargo wheat
! coal and iron ore. Four-hfths of all the iron
and grain and flour produced in the north
/ west passes through Detroit river to the
| ports of Lake Erie. Buffalo receives nearly
! all the grain and -four, while Cleveland.
/ gainesville, AshtaOula. COnnedut and Ell
receive nearly all the iron ore. The harDors'
| of northern Ohio handle more freight than
all the ports of France combined, o. all the
| ports of Germany, most OF 1t coal ana IRON
: ore The consumption of iron ore has In
| creased until now the United States
quires twice much as Great Britain. and
| our consumption of coal is nearly three
/ times as large as that of England. We are
| making nearly one-half of all the iron pro-
! duced in the universe. and have nearly
| doubled product within the last SIX
years.
| In 1880 we produced 12t1OOo tons Of steel;
| in 1890, 4,2IT,0D tons: in 1880, 1o,lSS,coo,
and in 1896. 22.OJO,CN.
The eastbound tonnage-that is, the prod
ucts of the wheat fields, the lumber mills
| and the iron mines of the northwest-is very
| much greater than the westbound tonnage,
| which is chiefly coal and merchandise In
| 1890 the difference was two to one: in 1896
| that the vessels going west up the lakes are
| only partially filed, and also that coal and
| manufactured merchandise, which furnish
the westbound cargoes, take up more space
| for their weight than grain and iron ore,
| which are very compact and pack in closely.
Low Freight Charges.
The freight charges the lake steamers
are amazingly low, and as the steamers In
| crease in size the rates reduced cor
| respondingly. The railroads of the country
| can never hope to compete with the steam
ers. In 1895 the average charge for freight
upon the railroads of the United States was
four mills per ton per mile, while mat by
| vessels upon the great lakes was but four
tifths of mill per ton per mile. The
| computations of the international water
ways commission last year show that the
| saving in freghts to the shippers who used
| the lake carriers instead of the railroads
| was S116.0OO.GO0. This economy is felt in
| every industry and trade that uses iron and
| steel. The difference per ton may seem in
| significant. but when the enormous volume of
the traffic is considered it is easily realized that
| a deduction of even a fraction-of mill in