The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-10
LAKE COMMERCE . DURING LAST SEASON Reaches Unprecedented Fetal of 83,387,919 Net Tons TEN PER CENT INCREASE Large Increase Is Due Mainly to Larger Ore and Coal Shipments.
 Lumber and Flour Show
 Decrease.
TEN PER CENT INCREASE

Lake commerce during the 1907 sea- son, as measured by the volume of shipments from the various lake ports and reported by the bureau of statis- | tics of the department of commerce and | labor, reached the unprecedented total of S3,Ss7,919 net tons. This total is almost 10 per cent larger than the cor responding 1906 total and about 20 per cent in excess of the 1905 shipments. The increase is due mainly to the large ore and coal shipments, though the movement of grain and miscellaneous merchandise likewise shows larger totals than for the preceding season, the only items showing smaller ship ments being lumber and flour.
 The iron ore shipments, by lake for the wear, exclusive of about 275,00O tons exported to Canada, were 40,727,- 1 972 gross tons; the largest shipping ports, in the order of their importance, were Duluth. credited with 1S,s26,527 gross tons; Two Harbors, with S,051, = BPS gross tons; Superior West Superior, with 7,231.O74 gross tons; Escanaba, with 5,594,708 gross tons; Ashland, with | S,3s5,574; Marquette, with 1,6ss,s45, and Presque Isle, with 1,267,731 gross tons. The greater part of this ore, namely ! 35,2S0,29S gross tons, was received at the Lake Erie ports of Ashtabula. | Cleveland, Conneaut, Buffalo and North | Tonawanda, Dorain, Fairport, Erie, Toledo, Huron and Sandusky; the rest is credited mainly to Chicago, Indiana l 50 per cent of the total shipments are credited to the two ports of Duluth and Superior.
 The eastward grain movement for the season included 63,s49,5S5 bushels of wheat compared with 47,726.77S bushels shipped during the 1906 season, the main shipping ports, in the order of their importance being Duluth, Su- perior and Chicago, which are credited in the aggregate with over s3 per cent 1 of the total wheat shipments by lake. l The corn shipments, 44,355,s90 bushels, about 91 per cent of which originated in Chicago were somewhat larger than the 1908 shipments of 4S,5S1,540 bushels.
 | bushels, mainly from Manitowoc, Mil waukee and Chicago, were 3s per cent below the 1906 total, while the barley shipments. 13,564,074 bushels, mainly from Superior and Milwaukee, show 8 ! 26 per cent decrease as compared with the 1906 figures.
 importance of Buffalo.
 1 The importance of Buffalo as re- ceiving port for grain shipped from the upper lakes Is seen from the fact | that S7 per cent of all the wheat, GA per cent of all the corn, 52 per cent of all the oats, and S3 per cent of all the barley received by lake, is credited to that port; the other important grain receiving points on the pakes being Erie, Ogdensburg and Ludington.
 I The flour shipments from Duluth-Su- perior, Chicago and Milwaukee mainly, l. 314ss7 net tons (of 10 barrels each), were slightly below the shipments reported for | the preceding season and were directed chiefly to Buffalo and, to smaller ex- | tent, to other Lake Erie ports.
 The lumber shipments for the season, 1 1880 .2S4 M feet, show a considerable de- crease compared with the total of the l preceding year, 1,S07,57O M feet. The !, gradual exhaustion of the lumber supply 1 fin the territory contiguous to the Great Lakes is seen from the fact that the lake shipments of this article have decreased 1 about 42 per cent since 1901-the first year for which the bureau has complete rec ] ord of the lumber shipments by lake. 1 The westbound traffic was made up 1 largely of soft coal shipments from Lake | Erie ports to the upper lake ports, t>>' 1 principal shipping ports in the oroer oi l their importance being Toledo Cleveland, 1a Q O. l gate shipments from these five ports con | stitutlne over 70 per cent of the total shipments. 15,s ,2s7 net tons. The hard l coal shipments for the year, 4,O1s,lfi net tons. proceeded mainly from Bunalo' | though considerable shipments Of this l article are also credited to Erie and US | weeo The destination of these ship Inents were largely the head Of the lakes. Chicago and Milwaukee The quantity of bunker coal supplied to lake 1 yessels in the domestic trade during tho wear was 2.O17, ,231 net tons: no figures | are available regarding the quantity of l bunker coal supplied during the year to vessels in the foreign trade, the ngures l>for the last quarter of the year peine oo'- SIP net tons.
 Vessel Movements.
 The vessel movement on the lakes az sregated 73,769 vessels of 99,l66,4o9 net l tons register cleared from the various lake ports compared with ;6.o97 vessels of 94,0s43l6 net tons register cleared during the preceding season.
 The freight traffic through the canals at sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and On ] tario. Canada, for the season just ended, aggregated 5S. ,214 net tons, of whlch 4o.- l 544.s1s net tons represented. an eastbound, 1 1a. .672 .Ss5 net tons westboynd movement. Notwithstanding the earlier closing of the canals. the, figures for the past season show a substantial increase over those for 1906. which comprised 41,5S4,S05 net tons moved east and 10166,175 net tons moved west Of the total freight moved, B. .594944 net tons. or 6 per cent or tno total eastward movement was represented bv iron ore. This total represents prac- ticallv the entire Lake Superior ore movement except the quantity delivered to the Algoma Steel Works, Ontario, Can l ada. just above the Sault Ste. Marie canal including, however, certalf amount of Canadian ore shipped ron Take Superior to the lower lakes ano not included in the figures of domestle shipments reported by the bureau Of sta tistics. An analysis of the bureau ng' ures of iron shipments from Lake su' perior ports shows a substantial agree ment between the figures published py tns canal authorities and those appearing II I the summary. ! Other important eastward movements through the canals include wheat, nA' 1sb.775 bushels, compared with s4,zhSo' o ana 6s. .32l. .2SS bushels reported for the l9u
 and 1905 seasons; other grain, 4o'4oi, lo' l bushels. compared with 54.3SS. 4o6 ana os'
 92s.375 bushels reported for the Soo ane
 1903 seasons. These figures however include eastward shipments or wnea. ,so,l ,l