Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-10-01
On the
Business
Front
BY WARD SCHULTZ
Dstron rime, r,naoclal Ednot

| M w n ~ U. A.
- - -, 80.
Ds''" i""'' '''''''' 80 1890
,Eecsnaha MICHIGAN plpuiation
60 49,. 49,. ,,,rl,,s LARGEST
4'''''' = ~ -
Iron ore shiPiNHa port '' '''
spring.
Glenn Cummings az The Wall
c.. ro,r-si re,.r,s from n
-, ...-...... "a ,,...,r-ss
trip with the iolioVDs outline OF
the situation.
THROUGH q co,ernr,ogt.frarced
80 100 40, -. .-.. ..,,..,1,..,s
~>'0. '''0'oO' f'0.',1
peoihag The ore sAii-tt''.S l-'e4-----2
Of eight railroads and The constitute
fjo1 Of siy now ore loading docks.
:. d., u.i,l no .s,s,,le ~ l,,Dsl.D-
- -, - - =, -. 80
oV'VVo'UVV 'ol.S "a '-~ '' '''1 '''''
mat cper~'''cr''c--'' st-'r-t-'i tti---
| lower Great Lakes. This usually
lasts from about N7rcr TO De-
-
SeHloeI l. ....
This year. about W. u'l nJ1 tons
oi iron ore are S1heoaled 10 move
from mines 10 Sicel MUS. OF lnI>,
SfO0oOOO VIII move loiol-n me
500 locks IN me 81 AiaIN hNtI
connecting Lake superior, ana III Lake
Huron ana oVu"uV9 ions IilI"uIr
Escanaba. Next year ~ IS plannea
10 move total OF lOoJJVu'o tons
OF ore.
The EScanaba port development
project VIII provide insurance
against sabotage or q Sllclle
bombing rald on the locks al Sdult'
Ste. Marie. through "hIeR-al!4le>t
all this nations IRON ore passes
on IFS journey from the great IRON
ore ranges oil Minnesota ana nol m
ern Michigan 10 me steel mills
adlacnet 10 Lake Erie poIiS anu
along the southern IiF1 oi Lake
Michigan.
An important advantage or tne
EScanaoa port deVelopWeHt VIII
be The freeing oil a-conSldcrapie
number OF lake ships next year 10
carry grain and ofher commodities
Only IL small ships are IN the.
gram trade this year, win capacity
sufficient only 10 keep the Buffalo
mills operating.
Grain elevators and farm stor-
age bias are filled with gram that
cannot be moved. In the grain
trade II IS said that the loss OF
grain that cannot be put under
cover this year viii be enormous.
Thai the 500 locks are now the.
Achilles heel of the whole United
iNetfes4s- iNar-e1Iort was attested
by an inspection trip 10 the area
by UnderSecretary of War Robert
P. Patterson and a group OF top
army officials on September IL.
lock now being rushed to compile
ton, inspected the elaborate sys-
tern Of defenses designed 10 pro-
tect the locks against damage, and
then flew TO Escanaba 10 get q
first hand picture Of the strategy
that makes the Escanaba project
imperative.
While on his Michigan tour
Undersecretary Patterson said
that I'VE are less than q days dis
lance from Germany and within
bombing range OF aircraft soon TO
be produced"
To emphasize this point, he re-
lated that only a few days earlier
five Canadian fliers ate breakfast
in Ottawa, Canada, after having
bombed Saarbrucken. Germany.
the day before. Thus by indirec-
ton, the undersecrctary pointed
out that the war department
fully realizes how important is the
for moving iron ore through Esca-
naba.
Ore shipped from this point does
not have 10 pass through the 500
on its way TO the steel mills at
Gary, Detroit. Pittsburgh, CleVo-
land and other steel centers
whereas the present important ore
ports - Marquette Ashland, SUI
perior and Duluth--all on tho
shores OF Lake Superior, are en-
tirely dependent upon the 500
route.