El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-10-27

. skyscrapers, and the scouting smoke
stacks Of steel works and automobile
Z plants. Here the river is full Of traf-
I fic- You pass ore steamers. long
narrow steel shells, naked Of rigging
and great vessels. including an occa-
siousl whaleback. carrying wheat
down the lakes. You see coal vessels
going up 70 Duluth and passenger
steamers OF one kind OF another load
ed with people ] remember one boat
coming down en- route for Denmark
II was built IN the river and viii pass
through the Welland canal out 70 the
ocean, and take its chance with the
submarines and mines Of the North
sea
After crossing Lake Huron you en-
ter the Sault Ste, Marie river. which
IS the doWnspOut from Lake Superior
into Lake Huron. This river is so
miles long and it ranges in width
from a few hundred feet to six or
seven miles. now expanding into a
wide lake filled with beautiful low
lying Islands, heavily wooded. and
now decreasing TO a stream so mar
row that you could almost throw a
stone across it Tt has islands which
are miles in length and some which
are mere patches Of green upon the
waters.
The channel is marked by range
lights and buoys and the route out
lined fo- the steamers Is as definite
as the track Of a railroad
At the entrance TO the river YOU
pass two ore boats which recently
mistook the signals and crashed into
each other. one was a snip belong
ing 70 the United States steel cor
poration- II contained 1000 tons Of
iron ore The other, which was owned
oy anotner company. was going Up
with an equal amount Of coal. The
coal and the ore came together IN a
nead-on COLLISION and the ships sank
as one body. They are now getting
out the carEoes, and when the yes
sells have been emptied they viii
force air into them and thus raise
them 20 the surface. ships Of this
kind are worth hundreds Of thousands
OF dollars. and there is fortune
there, half buried in the waters. II
has been charged that these ships
were sunk by the Germans doubt
Il. although I venture It might have
been done by changing the lights
Flagship Of steel Corporation.
And Just here want 70 tell you
something about the steamer on
which we are travelling II is typical
Of the traffic Of the Great Lakes and
OF the enormous business these
waterways are doing IN behalf OF the
war. The vessel is the James A. Far
relL the flagship OF the United States
steel company, which has more than
a hundred other steamers enga Eed in
carrying iron ore from the mines o.
Minnesota Wisconsin and Michigan
down to the steel plants OF Pennsyl-
vania. Ohio and Illinois
The james a Farrell makes from
80 to - trips every season. travelling
in eight months about $4,000 miles.
or farther than twice around the
globe. II carries 1000 tons Of ore
every trip. and il has shat much in
its hold as I write. r makes the
round trip from Lake Erie 10 the
head OF Lake Suoerior within seven
days and 10 viii carry down more
than $4,000 tons OF ore this wear
Fleet Of More Than SH0a vessels.
There are other ships like II be-
longing TO other great companies and
the whole forms a fleet Of more than
5000, which does more in less time
than any other fleet fin the world
The greyhOunds and freiChters that
cross the Atlantic work all the year
round. but tkey lie idle fin port half
the time to"do their unloading and
make their re Pairs. These ships OF
the lakes are in service only seven or
eight months. but they keep up steam
from the beginning To the end Of the