The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-09-19

Harbor possibilities were much bet
be entered only at high tide, and then
would not admit ships of more than
26 feet draft, while at Churchill pro-
vision for 30-foot could be made at any
tide. The cost of completing the work
at Churchill was estimated to be less
than at Port Nelson, and the engi-
neers estimated that it could be ac-
cOmplished in three years less time.
A permanent wharf was built, moor
ing buoys installed, the channel deep
ened and the harbor otherwise i'm
proved. With the completion of the
railway, great freight sheds were con-
structed and cattle pens set up.
Today the one outstanding landmark
of Churchill from any approach is the
giant grain elevator. It is a towering
white skyscraper that seems oddly out
of place along the fiat and barren
shore, which is frozen the year round.
1t holds 100000 bushels, and pro-
visions have been made for enlarging
this capacity to 100000 bushels.
Wheat stored there will keep" almost
indefinitely because of the year-round
low temperatures that produce natural
refrigeration.
Patrol Ice Areas.
Another imposing building is the
power house, with its three generators
capable of carrying load of $500
kilowatts. 1t takes power to operate
the four grain car unloaders at the
elevator, each capable of emptying
eight cars, total of 10000 bushels,
every hour. After the grain has been
elevated it can be delivered to the
deep-water wharf by a four-belt con-
veyor system which runs in gallery.
The shipping gallery in it's 1,462 feet OF
length, provides berths at the wharf
for three ships at one time under the
gallery spouts. Twenty-three boat
spouts make it possible to deliver four
streams into ships at the rate of 90
900 bushels an hour for each stream.
All of the port facilities are COM
in the development of the Hudson
Bay route is the improvement of navi-
cation in the bay itself and in Hudson
strait. The waters are patrolled by a
sea-going, ice-breaking tug, the Ocean
Eagle, which makes scouting trips
each year at the time the ice breaks
up. 1t must be remembered that it is
very cold in this part of the bay terri
tory; the mean yearly temperature is
about IL degrees, and the strait and
bay are navigable without ice-break-
ers only about six weeks Of the year.
The ice in Churchill harbor usually
breaks up about the middle of June
and closes up again during the last
two weeks of October.
The Canadian government operates
an ice-breaker, the Stanley, to keep the
strait and bay open as long as possible
and maintains an aerial scouting pa
troll to keep navigators posted on the
ice conditions with which they are
likely to meet.
About the only thing this new North
west Passage route needs to become an
important factor in world commerce
is shipping. In 1881 two ships cleared
Churchill harbor; in 1892, 10 ships
in 1888, 10 ships; in 1884. 10 ships. At
the time of this writing only two ships
had cleared Churchill harbor in the
entire summer of 1885.
Should European interests see fit
to build up Churchill as a shipping
point for manufactured goods bound
for the Orient, the shipping should
multiply many times. The facilities
rail, harbor and return pay-loads-are
there. The Canadians who built the
Hudson Bay Route are confident that
eventually the new Northwest Passage
will be busy one.
g Western Newspaper Union.