The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-24
boOSTLAKE ROUTE
Director of Great Lakes-St.
Lawrence Tidewater. Assoeia-
ton Coming.
Dinner Planned to Stimulate
Interest and Action in Kansas.

Interest and action in Kansas on
the project of securing a seaport in the
Middle West, is to be the object of
dinner to be given at Z o'clock Friday
evening, September 80, at which
Charles P. Craig, executive director of
the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tide
water association, will be the guest of
honor. The dinner is to be held at
PelIetier's tea room. Chief Justice w.
A. Johnston of the state supreme court,
will preside.
The committee on arrangements will
be composed of: Gov. Henry ]. Allen,
J. H. Lee. Carol Merriam, Frank P.
MacLennan, Marco Morrow, Charles
L. Mitchell, George T. McDermott,
Robert Pierce, David Page. Elmer F.
Strain, Clyde NJ. Reed.
Tickets to the dinner will cost $1.00.
The states composing the association
are: Ohio, Michigan. Indiana. Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas. Colorado, Wisconsin,
Iowa. Nebraska, Wyoming. Minnesota,
North Dakota, South Dakota, Mon
tana and Idaho.
kansas and the central western
states are particularly interested in the
results that will come from the OPEN
ing of the st. Lawrence river to ocean
going vessels thru a reduction in the
transportation cost of wheat and flour
and other grain products to European
markets" Reed said today. lone mile
of all transportation, roughly speak
ing, costs about the same as five miles
of water transportation. Moving the
Atlantic seaboard to Chicago brings
deep water within $50 miles of the
boundaries of Kansas.
Mr.. Craig is a lawyer and a we'll
known, public spirited citizen of Min
nesota who is giving his time to the
=
in this project. He is an excellent
speaker and will have motion pictures
illustrating the many incidents of the
recent "trip of the American-Canadian
party composed of IT'S American gov
ernors, senators, members of congress
and others which left Niagara Falls
July IL for an inspection of the site
Of the proposed improvements.
Governor Henry J. Allen, Senator
o. o. Wolf of Ottawa. and Clyde NJ.
Reed of the pulic utilities commits
sion were the Kansas representatives
on this trip, which extended down the
river as far as Quebec. inspecting
harbor facilities in Toronto, Montreal,
Ogdensburg, New York and other
ports on the-lakes and the st. Law
renee.
1.-THE main feature of the proposed
improvement plan is the construction
of two dams in the st. Lawrence that
will drown out the rapids now pre-
venting navigation. The estimated
cost is PSI million dollars, about one
half the cost of the Panama canal.
The time required to complete the
project is estimated to be about one
half the time required for the con-
struction of the canal across the 18TH
mus of Panama" Reed said.
Besides making it possible for
ocean going vessels to enter the Great
Lakes there dams will generate some
thing over one million horsepower
The sale of this power, It is believed
will cover the carrying costs of the
improvement. A most eminent engi-
neering authority has examined the
project and pronounced it feasible and
it addition the international Joint
commission representing the United
States and Canada has given its ap-
proval to the plan.
"Concretely it is claimed that Kan
sas will benefit to the extent of a re-
duction in the transportation cost on
its wheat and flour to Europe amont-
ing to an average of from TO cents
a bushel. Kansas is the largest wheat
raising state in the United States; 81
per cent of the wheat crop of a series
of years has been exported either in
the shape of grain or flour. because
of its Importance as a wheat growing
state Kansas is primarily interested
in this project.
aside from the direct interest of
Kansas and other western states the
( effect of moving the seaboard to the
Westernmost limits of the Great Lakes
+, will have a market effect upon the
| industrial activities of the country.