Evening star., 1925-03-07
LAKE SHIPPERS GET
$65,0D0,0DO YEARLY
Hold Weeks Ruling on Drain
age Means That Sum in
Yearly Profits.
BY j. G. ROYLE.

special Dispat tch TO The Star.
NEW YORK. March 7.-Great Lakes
commerce will profit 100000 a
year eventually by the decision rem
dered by Secretary OF War Weeks on
Friday. settling the long controversy
between the city of Chicago on one
side and the Lake States and Canada
on the other. over Chicago's diversion
of water from Lake Michigan for the
disposal Of her sewage. The decision
is hailed by lake shipping interests
as great victory, although it's fruits
Will not fully ripen for five years.
Ruling Of vital Import.
The Secretary's decision. reach ed
after the case had foundered long
through the courts, permits Chicago
70 continue turning into her drainage
canal for the next five years $500
cubic feet of water per second, as
against the 10000 feet the city has
been consuming in the past, with the
resultant lowering of the lakes level
by six inches.
During the five years, however,
Chicago must modernize its sewage
disposal system in such a manner
that the water diversion from 1880 to
1885 will be only $500 cubic feet per
second. By 1885 the city must be
prepared to reduce the diversion to
only 4,167 cubic feet per second. The
sewage treatment place which the
city must construct to take care OF
this program. il is estimated. VIII
cost $4,000 000-less by s11,000.0 900
than shippers claim to have lost
through the city's needless use OF
lake water
Lakes to Regain Old Levels.
Meanwhile, the great lakes Will be
slowly creeping up again to their old
levels, facilitating the handling OF
water-b borne commerce, which agSre-
gates annually a tonnage equal to
| one-fourth that transported by all the
railroads of the country.
The six inches that the lakes have
fallen under the drain of Chica gos
water consumption, shipping engi-
neers say, makes all the difference
between efficient and non efficient
water transportation. Before the di-
version commenced lake shippers had
hit upon a comparatively standard
iZed type of vessel which, with maxi
mum load of coal, grain or ore. could
barely enter the lake ports of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Mime
sofa, Ohio and Pennsylvania, as well
as the so ports of Canada.
River Course Changed.
AS the waters receded shipping
interests were put TO Two eXpedientS,
first lighter. and hence less economi-
cal loading of vessels, and second, ex-
pensive dredging operations in some
of the ports in order to keep their
vessels from striking bottom.
Another effect of Chicago's diver
sion OF lake water has been the
changing of the course of the Chica go
River, once a docking area for much
of the lake commerce. Now the cur
rent has been made so swift that fe W
boats dare to venture up it's tortuous
course, and those that do, shippers
say, can carry only so per cent of a
normal cargo.
Canada Also Dissatisfied.
Canada will not be entirely salts
fed with the solution of the lakes
problem. Her grievance is that the
water now diverted. IL left intact
would flow through the Niagara and
st. Lawrence Rivers. developing 500
600 horsepower OF electrical power
the equivalent of 5,00e. eco tons OF
coal annually. This lost power she
values at $35. .0OO,00 a year, and con-
tends that even the compensating ng
works Chicago is to build at the head
of the lakes to keep levels up will
NM OF hack