The Calumet news., 1911-02-13
Big STEAMERS
ABANDON CANAL
LARGE THROUGH BOATS DO NOT
USE PORTAGE LAKE WA
TERWAY BECAUSE OF
SIZE.

'From now on the commerce pass
ing through the Portage Lake ship
canals will gradually decrease in vol
ume," was the statement of Junior En-
gineer George II. Banks this morning
in discussing the recent report on the
marine commerce passing through the
Portage Lake waterways during 1910.
"The decrease will be gradual but will
be very noticeable In the future an
nual reports from this office. The rea-
son for this decrease in the commerce
passing through the canals is the con-
tinual increase in the size of the boats
plying the great lakes, making travel
on the open lake much safer and de-
cidedly shorter and cheaper"
when the canal was first built"
Mr.. Banks continued, "the tonnage of
the vessels passing through here was
very small, and when l first took hold
of the work here in 1892, a vessel with
a tonnage of 1000 tons was a mon
strosity The larger vessels now trav-
cling on the lakes, vessels like the
Moreland which now lies stranded at
Eagle River have a tonnage of 10000
tons. These large freight carriers
never enter the Portage canal They
are so large that the storms on the
lake have little effect on their stabil-
ity or speed. and as the lake course
furnishes a much quicker route than
the canal the result is that much of
the commerce which once passed
through the canal is now diverted TO
the lake route. More and more OF
these boats are built each year and
soon only the local commerce will fig
ure in our annual reports"
Figures Support Statement.
A diagram in the annual report. is
sued by Mr.. Banks. giving the freight
east and west bound in the calendar
years 1892 TO 1910, inclusive. shows
that the commerce through the canals
increased from 496,2S3 tons i'm the year
1892, to 2.532,323 tons in 1902. At that
time the building of larger freight
carriers for the great lakes was be-
gun and since 1902 the commerce
through the canal has remained prac-
tically the same from year to year and |
I'm 1910 was less than in 1902. Accord |
ing to Engineer Banks more and |
more Of the boats plying between Du- |
luth and eastern ports will abandon |
the canal as a passageway Boats on
the lakes will be built as large and (
larger than the Moreland
A diagram showing the largest sin /,
gle cargoes passing through the Por- |
tage Lake ship canals for the calen- 1
dar years 1892 to 1910. inclusive sup /
ports Mr.. Banks statement. In 1892 4
the largest single cargo taken through /
the canals was 1907 tons. In 1899 this /
had only increased 20 3,41O tons and /
in the year 1908 the limit reached /
when a cargo of 1880 tons passed |
through the canals. The largest cargo 1
passing through last year was 10116 /
tons. Much larger cargoes than this |
are daily taken on the great lake .
freighters. The commerce on the great /
lakes increases with each year. The
report of the commerce into the ports
of Duluth and Superior for the year
1910 totals 36,6s4,57S tons. Under for
mer conditions very large part Of
this would have passed through the
Portage canal but this year only l.
231,049 tons Of that commerce passed
through the canals. The local COM
merce or commerce from and TO Por-
tage Lake ports for the year 1910 was
l,153,627 tons, showing that freight
come through the canals only
when they have cargoes 10 unload at
Portage Lake ports.
Concerning Local Commerce.
II is only within recent years that
The figures on local commerce were in
into the annual report. The