The L'Anse sentinel., 1921-06-17

there is nothing in the plan or scope of the en-
terprise which goes beyond well established en-
gineering precedent calls for constructions
that are experimental, and regarding whose ul-
innate cost there is any serious doubt; that the
opening of this great waterway by canal, canal
lied river, and deepened channel thereby en-
abling deep-sea ship to load at Duluth and not
break open her matches until she reached Ham,
burg, London Marseilles. is as certain of being
taken In hand as II is that the sun will rise daily
So it asks: 'Why not today?"
The project is an international one Canada.
at its own expense tabout $50.000.OOO) Is recon-
structing the Welland canal between Lakes Erie
ard Ontario, in order to give oceangoing ships
access to Lake Erie Thanks to the enterprise of
Canada, the problem broadly reduces itself to
submerging certain rapids lying in the interna-
tChal waters of the st. Lawrence river between
Lake Ontario and st. Regis, and then dealing In
Il similar way with that stretch of the river ex-
tending from st. Regis TO Montreal. The esti-
mated cost OF the international river Improvement
is S60,OOO,0OO and of the Canadian river $5O,OOO-
GOO. The establishment of power plant sites
would entail additional expense.
An argument brought forward for the project
is thet 1t saves distance. From Duluth through
the Detroit river by deepdraft vessel the distance
is SOB miles.
Following is extract from an ofciaf state
ment read into the Congressional Record by Rep
resentative John M. Nelson of Wisconsin,
with only TWO barriers removed even the
present depth of channels and harbors of 21 feet
will enable large numbers of ocean vessels 10
steam directly to the ports of the Great Lakes.
The two barriers the st. Lawrence river rapids
and the Niagara Falls. The barrier of the Niagara
Falls is already being overcome by the Canadians
in the reconstructed Welland canal. The differ
of lake level, will be overcome by seven locks
in the new Weand canal In distance of %
miles. These lock chambers will be 1000 feet
long, so feet wide. and will have lock sills sunk
to depth of 80 feet that will permit the passage
of vessels of % feet draft when the channels are
dredged to 30 feet From the Welland canal to
the foot of Lake Ontarioithere are 1G0 miles Of
straight sailing and then open navigation in the
wide st. Lawrence river. Out Of the total of 49,
miles to Montreal there 10 miles Of improved
channels, with at present 40 miles Of canal. With
this project, with dams and six locks of 800 feet
in length, so feet in BREADTH and possible depth
of 80 feet with slack wafer, midsream navigation
would reduce the total canal and lock navigation
to 20 miles or less
'eThe proposal Is to build dams across the river
with locks in the dams Vessels navigating the
river will not pass through narrow canals around
the rapids as they do now In the present 14-foot
Canadian canals, but will sail majestIcally dow,
the center of the stream in slack water produced
by the dams and pass from level to level through
the locks.
Assuming that ocean vessel has passed
through the Lakes to Superior or Duluth and has
loaded q cargo OF western grain and Is sailing
for Liverpool, the first leg of the journey, the
length of Lake Superior will be 1888 miles of open
navigation. Then comes the st. Mary river 63
miles long. This Is all open navigation, except 33
miles, which Is improved river channel and q
canal 1.6 miles with one lockage. Past this re-
strcted channel the vessel will have go miles Of
free sailing through the deep water Of Lake
Huron. 1t will then pass 27 miles Of open naviga-
tion and 13 miles of restricted channel In the ST.
Clair river, 13M miles Of open and 80 miles OF
restricted navigation in Lake 81. Clair. and %
miles of open and miles Of improved navigation
In the Detroit river. Again. It will have free nav