Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-07-30
CAPE COD CANAL
OPENED TODAYBY
AUGUST BELMONT
New Waterway Shortens the
Coastwise Shipping Dis
lance Between New York
and Boston by 20 Miles.

Buzzards Bay. Mass, July SO.-The
Boston, Cape Cod and New York canal,
connecting Buzzards Bay with Massa-
chusetts bay and enabling coastwise
vessels to avoid the dangerous passage
around wreck strewn Cape Cod, WAS
formally opened yesterday by August
Belmont of New York. president of the
constructing and operating company.
The canal shortens by 70 miles the
shipping distance between the ports to
the north and the south Of it.
Although the canal has actually been
open from one end to the other since
early this month, no vessels other than
those belonging to the owners of the
canal have been allowed to pass
through 1t. The canal was opened to
traffic today and will be completed
in all It's details about the first of
October
The Cape Cod canal is 10 miles long,
including cut through sand and
boulders from Buzzards Bay to Sand
witch. Mass. 1t has a bottom 100 feet
In width, shelving out to 500 and 400
feet at the passing points, and has a
draught of 25 feet at low tide. Greater
in it's dimensions than the Suez canal,
as originally constructed, 1t can ac-
commodate the largest coastwise YES
sells afloat, with one or two exceptions
Protection From Storms.
At the estern end is a massive
breakwater 5000 feet long which con-
tains more than $4,000 tons of granite
This is designed to protect vessels us
ing the canal from the storms that
sweep across Cape Cod bay.
The S12,000,000 which has been ex
pended in the constructing of the canal
has been spent largely in excavating
some 100000 cubic feet of sand and
boulders. In order to keep the wash
from passing vessels from wearing
away the banks they have been rip
raped, or paved with granite blocks
and small boulders. This rip-rappmg,
a large portion of which was done by
hand, runs from six feet below to four
feet above the high water mark At
the eastern end much money has been
spent in the building of a sand
catcher" a device calculated to keep
moving sand from choking UP the
mouth.
The canal is in reality a river, max
ing all of Cape Cod an island, for there
10 NOll04OGA awe h4lAtA NAANN bCANCOlA tAAo
tides In Massachusetts bay and Buzz
yards bay, causing a sluggish current
Important Part in Commerce.
The canal is destined to play an i'm
portant part in the future commerce
along the Atlantic coast of North
America. At the present time more
than 25,0OO,OOO tons of freight are
transported over the Cape Cod route
annually, including coal, 100000
tons; stone 100000 tons; Nova Scotia
plaster, $4,000 tons; Rockland- Rock
port lines. 10000 tons; cement, Co.
600 tons; Oil, 30 tons; ice, 800, 600 tons;
lumber, 2009,ooU tons. and sand 60,-
900 tons. Other commodities carried in
barges and freighters amount to S,000,-
600 tons, while regular steamship lines
of the higher class carry as cargo
100000 tons of freight around the
cape every year.
An absence of fog along the course
of the canal will make it particularly
desirable to both freight and passenger
carrying vessels. Because of the heavy
fogs that prevail off the cape at all
times of the year many freighters and
barges are forced to lay to until the
weather is more favorable for a pas
sage.
Traffic Will Be Heavy.
1t is estimated that 100000 persons
a year are carried around Cape Cod.
In the past 60 years, it is said, 1000
vessels of various kinds have been
wrecked while attempting the passage
and between 700 and 500 lives have
been lost.
Tolls for vessels passing through the
canal will average in the ncighborhood
oe seven cents per cargo ton per pas
rage and for vess0 without cargo
over 500 tons gross register, the rate
will be about five cents per ton. Motor
boats. yachts and other vessels not en-
gagged in commercial trace may pass
through the canal for as small toll
as So. The tolls depend upon gross
tonnage and length overall