New-York tribune., 1911-11-26

successful machines used a. Superior and
other Great Lake ports could be employed.
While the Mississippi lacks "a single
reputable harbor." its STEAMBOATS, arc stlI
Of the ancient Civil War type--wooden. aat
bottomed sternwheelers. Barges are still
mostly of wood. Due 10 This inferior equip
ment is "a high insurance rate. amounting ~
third of the freight rate
If the river is improved and developed n
should be able 10 gain considerable traffic
from the opening Of the Panama Canal
Pacific Coast freight sent eastward by way
of the canal
Mississippi River improvement plans call
for a depth Of six 70 nine feet Fourteen
feet has been demanded. James J. Hill
thinks that an aishteen-footship channel
would not be too much This would make
thinks that IN eghteen-foot ship channel
a real lakes-to-the-Guf deep waterway. %,
which the first link is the twenty four-foot
Chicago Drainage canal Some govern
meut engineers have advocated a canal
parallelinC tho Mississippi. others hold for
channel control and dredging. a thirty
foot channel from the lakes 20 the Gulf has
been estimated 10 cost upward Of s900Go0 0oo
A large plan 10 regulate the water in the
Mississippi and other great American rivers
has been set forth bv the chief ~ the
photographic Office. ~ Washington. " o.
Leighton. AZ ono stroke Nr leighton
would prevent Destructive floods. gain power
and provide navigabe depths Of water IN
the rivers ot al seasons io would build
reservoirs in q proposed national forest,
holding back the fcod surplus Of the No
nongahela. Great Kanawha and other tribu-
taries Of the Ohio River. IN summer and
fall the waters would be gradually released
made TO produce electric power on route
and the Ohio would have an all-yesr
| channel Of from nine a. twelve foot instead
of its present inordinato rise srd c0rrc-
| spending fall 30 six feet no low water.
The Mississippi would profit from this resI-
lation OF its tributary and could DE- d.-
rectly improved by the same treatment al
its sources.
The Missouri River typical Of naughty
and seemingly incorrigible waterway wan
dering far from its channel and threatening
railroads and cities, can be tanned by the
proper. local treatment About fifty miles
of the worst part Of the river have been
bank-revetted and dlked with woven willow
l
deep channel This treatment II extended.
would cost $4,000 mile. or 500 600 ooo
! for the 2.2S5 miles from Fort Benton TO ths
Mississippi This would provide O. twelve
foot channel all the way Tie cost j. less
than that Of the improved Rhine of les
depth.
Canada plans 70 increase tho minimum
depth Of her Great Lakes-lloutreal sea
route from fourteen TO twenty-ouc feet
so that sea going ships will load up the
wheat Of Manitoba and Saskatchewan a.
Duluth or another Lake Superior port
! 500 miles inland from the Atlantic, and
not unload until they reach some'port At
the other side of the globe This is TIE
project that alarmed tho Washington
statesmen as a deadly blow at the COM
mercial supremacy of New York ana
! caused the recommendation Of a deep
water channel from the lakes 10 the Hud-
son--instead Of which the new Sl0l0OV'
O00 Erie barge canal Is being built nv
the new Trent Canal navigation system
Montreal is brought about 25o miles
nearer Lake Huron. Lakes Erie Ontano
and most of Huron are eliminated
Another string 10 the Canadian bow -
, Fort York, on Hudson Bay, which could
he directly connected by internal water
ways with the wheat centre OF Winnipeg
Not many persons may know that Fort
York is nearer Liverpool than is New
Nork-2,966 against 3.O62 miles
From the military and naval standpoint.
Rear Admiral Sperry has remarked that
cur internal waterways along the coasts
are important factors in the national DE-
fence. They afford not only . safe pas
sage for smaller naval vessels. but are
an outer line OF defence, the ditch o'
the fortress" Torpedo boats drawing siN
feet have with difficulty made the inlani
passage from New York 70 Key West
Some time ago four torpedo boats dis
patched from Philadelphia 70 Charleston.
unable 70 make the inland route owins
to the shallowness of the Chesapeake ana
| Delaware and other canals. tried 70 pass
! around Hatteras-" the graveyard ot ne
Atlantic'-and were nearly wrecked AZ
times no coasting sail freighter dares
brave Cape Hatteras The inland rou's
from New York TO Hampton Roads pro'eo
too small even for such craft as the Han
Neon and Clermont. ship models "
1909 and 1907 which figured IN the Hua'
son River celebration not long ego.
depth of fourteen feet and = greate'
width are needed II the New York-he'
West route serves our destroyers and sun
marines. These small war vessels cSh-
not work in tho open ocean, and thr'
operate best from secure and comforts
bic base. not too distant from the SEEM
OF hostlities
II anything unpleasant should occur "
tween this country and England or can
| ada, we would have no way OF geulns
navy into the Great Lakes. England no.
fourteen foot passage and more planne.
our lake cities Chicago and tAe
would have 10 ask the enemy kindly ~
TO blow them into smithereens A. pre-,
ent. by treaty. there are no warshipS
either power in the Great Lakes
our illustrations are reproiuced h2m,,.
7 Clapps The Navigahle Rhine. og T,s-
, of the publishers 'hc Ho2gh'on N'0'W
panN.
Many an ideal turns out after W.
riage. % be only an ordeal