An official report, compiled by the Chief Engineer of the St. Mary’s Falls Canal (United States), contains a detailed statement of the commerce of that canal for each year, from 1855 to 1895, and goes far to substantiate what has already been said as to the magnitude of the lakes’ commerce. The number of vessels that passed through in 1895 was 17,956, with a registered tonnage of 16,806,781 tons. The number of sailing vessels was 4,790; of steamers, 12,495; and of unregistered craft, 671. The number of passengers conveyed from lake to lake was 31,656. As to the cargoes of the vessels, these are a few of the chief items: 2,574,362 net tons of coal; 8,902,302 barrels of flour; 46,218,250 bushels of wheat; 8,328,694 bushels of other grain; 107,452 tons of copper; 8,062,209 tons of iron ore; 740,700,000 feet of sawed lumber; 100,337 tons of manufactured and pig iron; 269,919 barrels of salt—in all, 15,062,580 net tons of freight. The freight traffic of the St. Mary’s Canal, in seven months of 1895, was more than twice that of the Suez Canal, which is open all the year. During the year 1897 it was much greater than in any previous year, the registered tonnage being 17,619,933, the tons of freight 18,218,411, and the number of passengers 40,213.
ST. MARY’S FALLS SHIP CANAL OF 1881,
STATE OF MICHIGAN, U. S. A.
The gradual development of steam navigation on Lake Superior is shown in a table of parallel columns, extending over thirty years. In 1864 the sailing vessels that used the canal were three times as numerous as the steamers; but in 1895 the steamers were three times as numerous as the sailing vessels, and they had increased enormously in tonnage. The number of sailing vessels built on the Great Lakes in 1896 was nineteen; in that year there were built seventy-five steamers, aggregating 75,743 tons register, and of these thirty-five were built of steel, with a combined tonnage of 63,589 tons. The principal ship-building yards on the Upper Lakes are at Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Bay City, Milwaukee, Chicago and Superior. At most of these points there are plants for the construction of iron and steel vessels. It is said that Cleveland is the largest ship-building port, and also the largest iron ore market in the United States.
The transportation of iron ore, it will be noticed, forms a large element in the commerce of Lake Superior. Not only is the ore found in great abundance in that region, but it is the best in quality and the most in demand of any in the United States. Over 100,000,000 tons of this ore have been mined in the lake region within the last forty years. Owing to its great bulk and weight it is nearly all carried by water; the estimated capital engaged in mining and transporting the ore to the 120 furnaces in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Buffalo and Chicago is about $234,000,000.[53] But for the number and the size of the steamers thus employed, and the facilities now in use for loading and unloading them, the trade could not exist. The largest vessels in the iron ore trade are regularly loaded in three or four hours; 2,500 tons of ore have been loaded into a vessel of that capacity in an hour and three-quarters.[54]
The Erie Canal.
This great artificial waterway, lying wholly in the State of New York, and under State management, connects Buffalo with the Hudson River at Albany. Although of comparatively limited capacity, it is to-day the most formidable rival the St. Lawrence route has to compete with in the transportation of freight from the west to the seaboard. The Erie was first opened for traffic in the same year as the first Lachine Canal (1825). It was originally 363 miles long, with eighty-three locks, each 90 feet by 15 feet, and 4 feet depth of water.
The first enlargement of this canal was commenced in 1836 and completed in 1862, at a cost of $44,465,414, making the entire cost up to the last-named date over $50,000,000. It is now 351¾ miles in length, 70 feet wide on the surface and 56 feet wide at the bottom having 72 locks, each 110 feet by 18 feet, and 7 feet deep. The limit of the canal for navigation, however, is only 6 feet of water, restricting its use to vessels of 240 tons capacity, say, 8,000 bushels of wheat.
Navigation has hitherto been carried on by horse traction—the boats running in pairs—and by small steam tugs towing three or four boats, after them. The tug often pushes one boat ahead and tows the others behind. In this latter way a load of 900 tons will be moved at an average pace of about 2½ miles per hour while in motion. Including lockages, the distance from Buffalo to New York may be covered in nine or ten days. The boats are about 98 feet long and 17 feet 5 inches wide. They make on the average about seven round trips in the season. The average price received for the transportation of wheat in this manner from Buffalo to New York is about 3½ cents per bushel, which allows a fair margin of profit to the boatman.